You know that ole saying “O, Woe is Me”. That’s me today 🙁 My new laptop is not making my life very happy. It’s not the laptop, the hardware is fine. It’s the new operating system, Microsoft Windows Vista. Vista is, quite simply put, a nightmare! We have had problem after problem. I can’t get most of my programs to run under Vista. I can’t get a lot of my data transferred (from Outlook) into their new mail/calendar program. We’ve already had to wipe the hard drive once and start over. That worked for about 3 days and now I’m having more problems. Last night, my email locked up and I lost a lot of mail. So, if you’ve emailed me lately and are waiting on a reply, there’s a good chance I no longer have your email to reply back to. I’ve also lost all the emails I had stored in folders, to save.
I really am quite exasperated, and I don’t know what to do. I really want a laptop and I love everything about this one except Vista. Tim, I think, sort of wants to take it back, but we don’t have a lot of options. We can’t walk into a store and buy any brand of laptop that doesn’t have Vista on it. A Mac or iBook is not an option for me. Neither of us know the first thing about Apple computers. I come from a Windows background, as does Tim, as well as him being a Unix guru. We’ve both thought about wiping the hard drive and installing Linux, but we haven’t gotten that drastic. For one thing, I don’t think I can use iTunes (for my iPod) on Unix.
ACK! My head is about to explode. I’ll try to post later today with a fun question or maybe something remotely interesting. I have a book that I finished that I wanted to review, but quite honestly, I’m so distraught about the laptop right now that I can’t quite think straight. Later, alligators 😀
Oh Stacy…I’m so sorry! How unbelievably frustrating that all must be! I, of course, have no advice (especially since we’re die-hard Mac people here), but I do hope you get things all up and running smoothly very soon!
Oh, I’m sorry you’re having such a difficult time, Stacy! I wish I had some advice, but truly the only thing I could offer is that a.) Microsoft is EVIL 😉 and b.) that’s the beauty of a Mac — you *don’t* need to know anything about it. It’s out of the box easy. You *can* get Microsoft Works for Macs (It tends to work better than MS Works for Windows.)
Hang in there! We’ll be here when you get back. 🙂
Oh my… I wish I could have told you first!! I didn’t get to you in time! Lol. At my house I would wipe the hard drive and reinstall XP so fast somebody’s head would spin….. but I’m guessing you don’t have original XP discs?
I would be taking that thing back, and fast, and probably along with a well-worded letter to Microsoft. I just don’t think it’s right to pay that much money for something that won’t work. I’m sad to hear that Vista didn’t turn out well. The conservative in me is screaming, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” I don’t know why they have to change computer stuff so often. Improvements are one thing, but…
*steps off soapbox*
I hope you get things worked out soon, somehow. Until then, go play frisbee with Beau if it’s as beautiful down there as it is up here today!
That really sucks. Macs aren’t hard to use at all. My husband likes macs so that’s what we have at home, but when I worked, I used a PC. There really seriously aren’t many differences (for users) except the shortcut key for a mac is commad (letter) instead of control (letter) and the buttons are on the opposite side of your browser window.
Good luck!
i am always skeptical about running the newest version of Windows. i didn’t get XP until it was 2 years old & they had worked out many of the kinks & all my software had versions available to run on it. i would bewiping it & installing XP on it until they get the wrinkles out of Vista, but that’s me.
Man, that stinks. I’m sorry it’s turned out to be a nightmare; it seemed like a dream gift. 🙁 I hope you can get it all worked out. I hate that you’re having such a hard time, when you should be sitting back and enjoying your new laptop and all its features.
I can’t fathom how Microsoft stays in business when they produce such crappy products.
I’m not trying to push you into a Mac, but just to reply to the things you mentioned, the beauty of a Mac is that you don’t have to know a thing about them or how they work. No computer or Mac knowledge needed, ever. They’re extremely user-friendly, something Microsoft has never been able to accomplish. You just take it out of the box, turn it on, and voila…it works, and it works like a dream, and it continues to do so for years to come. Philip’s had his current Mac for 7 years; it’s used all day every day, and never once has it had a single issue, repair, crash, whatever. It just *works*. I’ve had my iBook for a year now, but we bought it used…it’s had several years of use. No issues with it, either.
Hey, Philip said to tell Tim that Macs are Unix-based, and that he would love having a Mac!
The hubster works for Intel and he has told me not buy anything with Vister (snark) in it, so I am still running XP Home, and that is just fine for me. I trust his IT engineering wisdom. I am sorry you are having such a hard time..take it back and get a Mac!
I have to agree with everyone else – try a Mac. Since reinstalling XP doesn’t seme to be an option, I’d try a Mac. My brother-in-law uses it, and has never used a Windows machine, and just RAVES about it.
Unfortunately, I don’t have any experience with Macs but I have heard great things about them.
I wish I could have warned you about Vista. I’ve been reading about them for a while and nearly everything I’ve read has NOT been good. The problems you mentioned are just some of the things I’ve been reading about.
I’m still running Windows 2000 and will continue to run 2000 until I absolutely have no choice but to upgrade to XP. I have a machine with XP (I have two computers – long story) and rarely use it because I hate XP. Everything in 2000 is so easy in comparison. The differences in upgrades are usually pretty minimal – they only “upgrade” to make more money.
The only time you need to upgrade is if you’re trying to run a program (and it would have to be a program I couldn’t live without) that doesn’t run on the current OS. I’ve run into that problem once.
I’m so sorry you’re having such a hard time. I KNOW how frustrating this all is and I hope you guys can take it back and maybe try an iBook instead? It sure beats jumping through hoops for Microsoft.
((((hugs)))) Hang in there, kiddo.
I’m sorry to hear you are having difficulties with Vista, Stacy. Wish I am able to offer some advice… I am one of those people who is always skeptical when a new program is released while the hubs usually get all excited. We haven’t tried a Mac but we do think about it. I hope you will get the problems fixed quickly! Good Luck!
[…] Another uninspiring day for photos. I literally spent all day working on my laptop. I am not liking Microsoft Windows Vista. Check here on my regular blog if you want to read my mild rant. […]
Jeremy told me this morning, before I read this or your comments, that you should have gotten a Mac! He said they’d gotten some new ones for work and that they really work well.
I still say, Take that thing back! That’s what you should do!
Ugh….nothing worse than computer woes!! Sorry, Stacy. I hope it gets better soon!!!
I’m so sorry. Beef did tell me that there were several programs that won’t run on Vista yet. Hope things get better!!
My hubby loves Linux. He has Ubuntu installed on his computer, along with Windows, too! LOL! I’m sorry Vista is being a pain! I guess I won’t complain about my Windows XP!
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