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Diary of a Vista user – Part Two

by Nick Haywood on 6 February 2007, 09:55

Tags: Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Quick Link: HEXUS.net/qahtv

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Let's kick the day off with Office 2007



9am
Ok, my first proper working day... let’s see how we get on with Office 2007. I’m quietly confident on this one as I’ve been using the beta since it was released, so I’ve been itching to give the fully featured and, hopefully, less buggy version a go.

Hmmm, that’s a tad irritating. Vista’s less desktop hungry program tree from the start menu is all well and good, but why have Microsoft chosen to essentially turn it upside down? In XP, folders were at the top of each pane with individual files below... Now it’s the other way up. I suppose I’ll get used to it but with the amount of stuff I have to install for work, I now have a scroll bar to wheel up and down... so that’s not exactly more accessible than the old way is it?

No matter, let’s get cracking.

Ah, bugger. I haven’t installed my printer. That’ll make printing this document a tiny bit tricky. It’s not like it’s a new printer though, so how come there’s no built in support? Why aren’t the drivers part of the install package? Vista can see the printer and has it correctly identified in Device Manager... Ooh, here’s a thought: perhaps they ARE on the CD but only accessed if needed?

Right, let’s slap in the Vista CD and update the drivers.

Erm... go on then. Autorun the disk. I’m waiting. I’m still waiting....(sigh)Ok, ok, I’ll open the damn disk myself in Explorer.

What the hell? Where’s my DVD drive gone? Where’s my sodding DVD drive??? It was there half an hour ago! Right, this is rubbish. The drive open and closes just fine, so it’s not that there’s no power... Time to open the case and look for a dodgy connection I suppose...

10am
Right, I hereby promise myself that the next time I build a system, no matter how much I want a clean and tidy, air-flow friendly case, I will not use so many cable ties... It’s not like I even have a window on my chassis... I could stuff a Mexican midget in there and no one would know until my case started to seep, so why did I spend so long tidying wiring? Seriously, parts of it looked like the wiring loom from an F16, it was perfect.

Of course, that did mean that getting to such a thing as an IDE cable was near-on impossible without one of those keyhole surgery microscope things with pliers on the end. Still, it’s done now, I’ve replaced the IDE cable. Of course, the cabling’s now a mess and I had to hammer the case closed with a half a brick but at least I know my DVD drive will be back up and running.

Or not. Damn.

Right then, lets Google, I can’t be the only one.