Discopants and Haircuts

I have been using Windows Xp for the longest time ever in my life. With the limited space we have right now the laptop has been my window to the world. I can sit outside, enjoy a cup of coffee and surf. It’s been nice to be able to do that when the kids are sleeping and my Mac is sitting in the bedroom.

But I have encountered things I have never encountered before. Here’s a few.

-Viruses. My first ever. I was actually visiting Google when it denied me service because it said I had a virus on my computer. First I was shocked to see that Google knew, second I was thrown for a loop because I hadn’t been anywhere I felt compromised the computer’s security. Use this to check your computer.. it’s free.
-Trojan horses. I had a bunch. I went online and looked for stuff that could help make the computer run better. I stumbled across this very valuable little site. Use this app to fix a bunch. Again free. This also immunizes you against some common stuff.
-Inability to configure this stupid laptop touch-pad! I can’t change the settings. I want to get rid of the quick tap that represents a click! I keep inadvertently opening stuff I don’t want to open.

-Everything keeps slowing down. The whole system is getting slower despite the fact I haven’t really added too much. Almost nothing really. This seems to improve life. Free again.
I have pretty much grown tired of all this stuff. My Mac just worked. It always has. I never worried about where I was going, how to open stuff or what was going on behind the scenes. Xp is frustrating.

I do understand now why some geeks love it. They like constantly trying to solve a problem, just like a bad-ass crossword puzzle or a game of soduku. They like tinkering and improving. It’s like a mechanic taking on an old beat up car. They like the challenge, getting their fingers dirty. People who actually just want to use a computer for what it says it can do should find a Mac a grand choice.
The last week has been interesting but falls way short of  impressing me. I am going to load Ubuntu Linux onto this machine tonight with no love lost.. I gave it an honest chance. It doesn’t hold a candle to what I am used to and have used for 22 years.