Previous | Memories | Tell Someone | Next
 
hsapiens
hsapiens
15 December 2009 @ 01:37 am
Yatta!  
I have a new computer! (Well, a new CPU.) It runs Windows 7 -- and I'm favorably impressed. It's well-designed, it runs ALL of my favorite freeware downloads, it runs the 32-bit software I already own, and it runs all of my hardware of varying ages. Sad that this is a surprise but I'm grateful nonetheless. If I can just figure out how to make Windows Explorer show me the file extensions, I'll be a happy camper. (I'm sure I'll get used to the loss of menus in various applications but I'm slow at adapting to this particular change.)

I cannot say the same for Word 2007. What in the world did they do the menus? More importantly -- WHY?!? It took me far too long to figure out how to find, "Save As..."

In a perfect world, I'd have purchased a 27" iMac, a brand new license of Photoshop CS4 for Mac for it, and had two huge monitors. (I dream of having all the Photoshop palettes on one screen and my graphic on another.) Alas, money was the determining factor so I chose to go with a Windows box. I'm not unhappy, though, as my new toy is zippy and works with my very nice quality speakers, my printer, my monitor, my array of external hard drives, and my iPod.
Tags:
 
34 comments | Leave a comment
 
( Post a new comment )
ext_1336[identity profile] winterfish.livejournal.com on December 16th, 2009 12:43 am (UTC)
I didn't *choose* that; in fact, I was told that the computer came with XP pre-loaded and an upgrade disk for Win 7.

Whut! I guess that's one way to get people to try the new operating system. O.o At least it seems to have worked out in the end.

Oh god the confusion over versions! I feel like closing my eyes and throwing a dart at the screen is the way to pick what I need. :P
Mish: Sam --Technobapple[identity profile] hsapiens.livejournal.com on December 16th, 2009 01:15 am (UTC)
The biggest difference between Home and Professional that *I* found important is that Pro allowed me to download Windows Virtual PC from Microsoft. What does that do? That allows me to run Windows XP if I need it. That's a HUGE security blanket in my world.

It came in handy because I thought I needed to install my full version Photoshop 7 before I used my CS2 upgrade. Windows 7 wouldn't install PS7, though. A quick pair of downloads later and look at that -- I have a window running Windows XP and it's installing my PS7! (Turns out I didn't need to install PS7 first; just putting the disk in the DVD drive was sufficient but I didn't know that at the time.) Now I can revert to XP whenever I need. So if I *do* run into anything sticky, I can solve it. Or, so I hope.

Win7 Pro has some other features but those don't mean a lot for me with my very simple set-up. If you have a home network to back up to (a server, I assume) or log-in from home to a work server, it has some enhanced features. The 64-bit version is only worth it if you're getting one of the dual or quad core machines. It is supposed to be faster; I have no proof of this. I am constantly impressed by me new system but I'm upgrading from a 10 year old computer so I may not be an unbiased judge.

Since you're thinking of purchasing a new computer, you'll probably be buying at least a dual core and so the choice between the two will probably already be made for you. :)

Edited 2009-12-16 01:20 am (UTC)