Vista Vexation

I am a reasonably techno savvy person who likes to have the newest gadget when I can afford it.
So, when my old laptop died, I jumped at the chance to get a replacement that was state of the art.
Since Vista operating system for Windows is the newest therefore it must be the best right?! Well, yes and no but mostly it was more hassle than the trial version was worth.

A trial student version of Vista office suite 2007 was pre-installed on the Hewitt-Packard Pavilion notebook I purchased. It crashed when I downloaded Mozilla Firefox, stopped working the day after I registered on-line (which was a lot shorter than the advertised 2 month trial period), does require repeated permission to complete any change (just like the Mac commercial) but its worst sin is lacking backward compatibility with any earlier windows version without a Microsoft download patch.

The e-mail I received for registry confirmation of the trial version of Student said “File Conversion kit – Your friends and colleagues will need this kit to convert files and documents created using the trial program back to a version compatible with older software.” At this site you can learn more about Vista and download the 60-day trial version. (It is a cheery yellow color too-perhaps to offset the angst of consumers.)

When it stopped functioning a day later, I discovered there is a lock feature that will only allow viewing of the existing document. This lockdown was supposed to occur at the end to the trial-not the beginning. I tried in vain to cut and paste my lengthy document into another prior version of windows version I’d hastily installed. When it locked up I was under a deadline and needed to get it working without spending the money for the full version. My eventual solution involved installing a Windows office suite version 2003 on my PC and retyping it from the locked Vista office 2007 version of Word.

The same compatibility issue plagued my transported jump-drive documents. If I wanted to take my work and continue it at any FCCJ computer-I couldn’t. I wasn’t able to work on my writing projects because Vista’s documents will not translate to the old office suite. And I don’t have administrative rights to download software onto those machines. The documents created in Vista won’t even open so you can retype them on a machine that lacks a Vista installation.

This is monopolistic behavior by a large corporation forced upon consumers. Microsoft has a stranglehold on the world-wide production of documents. The upgrade expenditures alone will be dramatic not to mention the training cost and time.

Vista is not all bad. (Though it did hi-jack my document.) It is a valiant attempt to advance Word by adding many bells and whistles. Additions to word include new colorful easier to read horizontal bars that visually display previews of various fonts, sizes etc. when the cursor moves over them. It makes sending information via snail mail much easier and automates bibliography research papers’ styles such as APA and MLA. Vista has a new translate function and allows quick insertion of tables and other graphics into the text. Many more time-saving details have been incorporated to automatic from manual. Several documents can be displayed at once on the desktop in a variety of ways. One of the most useful new functions for students given a writing prompt is an automatic word counter that tallies the number of words in real-time as the document is created.

It is the future of Microsoft operating systems so I registered again and downloaded again. Vista is functional for the moment…
Vista’s marketing boasts “It’s a new day. It’s a new office.” But set-up time for the new way is inconsistent and time consuming and productivity is essential to any office. My advice is to stay with Windows XP or earlier version and boycott these unfair practices by Microsoft. When faced with these growing pains, I pine for that Mac book Pro I considered buying.

After learning of my ordeal are you ready and willing to ‘upgrade’ to Vista?

TV on your PC

http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/chicagotribune/access/1211177331.html?dids=1211177331:1211177331&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+6%2C+2007&author=Eric+Gwinn+Eric+Gwinn&pub=Chicago+Tribune&edition=&startpage=4&desc=Your+television+is+getting+more+competition

This article from the Chicago Tribune by Eric Gwinn discusses the advances in wireless technology. Specifically the most important relevant advance is the fact that network broadcasters can stream television shows and blog fodder straight to your computer 24 hours-seven days a week.
With so many great alternatives to standard television entertainment on the web like youtube.com and myspace.com-one wonders if broadcasters will retain the mainstream power they have always held. The principle shortcoming of network broadcasting compared to the Internet is its rigid programming schedule. Because of its flexibility the internet is the best thing to happen to the medium since TiVo. If they so desire consumers may even port Internet shows to their Televisions or project them on the nearest wall.
Websites where viewers can partake in their favorite major network TV shows include: www.nbc.com/video/rewind, cbs.com/innertube, abc.go.com, and myspace.com/fox. Internet viewing’s principle drawback is that not all broadcasted shows are available on-line but as demand grows the consumers will compel the networks to go on-line.
Do you agree that consumers will demand television shows on their personal computer and make broadcast obsolete?television shows on their personal computer and make broadcast obsolete?

Can you say Blogger-tizing?

Blogger Advertising Boom

In my last post I discussed the first amendment and its provisions for the rights of journalists and the freedom of the press. While researching that topic, I came across this intriguing sight that asserts that bloggers are part of the media field and have become the “fifth estate” in the electronic revolution we are living through.

The link says that a new internet platform has been created for advertisers by all the bloggers. The mass distribution of audience for bloggers fractures the edifice of traditional advertising. But fortunately, “…blogger enthusiasm turns into advertising.”

Major advertisers have begun launching their campaigns at least in part on-line. The link says the super bowl commercial posting boom is one example of the new theory of advertising.

A more recent example was on NBC’s broadcast Monday night of the popular show “Heroes.” The network ran an exclusive teaser commercial for Spiderman III and then invited fans to log onto nbc.com to view a 7 minute sneak-peak at the movie that will only be available for 24 hours. No doubt this practice is catching on.

How do you feel about the revolution in internet advertising making bloggers the “fifth estate?”