Why I hate Windows Vista
I suppose I was an early adopter of Windows Vista, probably because it came out the year I got serious about college. So I used it to take classes online and play WoW, and music and basically the stuff every college kid uses a computer for. Only recently, I started carting it to class with me.
It's a pain #1 because its heavy and #2 because the tech staff (who are all subcontracted apparently) can't seem to set up computer tables without gluing (yes, with glue) power strips in these insane locations that don't work for hooking up the computers to, and just leaving them there so you need one of those scooters mechanics use to look underneath your car to see where and if you can plug in your laptop. And I have to assume its a perfectly acceptable thing to do, given that there are 12 of us and 7 computers [six if you exclude the one for instructor use]; and given that the tech people are subcontracted on top of not having any clue how to due their jobs, I question if they have any authority to tell me not to hook it up anyway [actually I question if they have any authority at all, but that's not the point]
The point is, cables are a pain. Especially when a bunch of infants make plugging them in a lot harder for you. So sometimes I don't bother with them, and switch the laptop into "Power-Saver" mode. So, I have made a list of all the programs that don't run, or don't run well, in that mode.
Programs I can't Use with Power Saver Mode Enabled
1. Windows Explorer [with anything else] - Doesn't matter what, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, GIMP, Photoshop, Word, Paint, ect. I will probably have to reboot it at least once an hour, or more likely whenever I try to open a file.
2. GIMP/Photoshop - These don't even boot up; they crash midway through it.
3. Anything that involves typing. The words come onto the screen in spurts. So unless you stop typing and wait for the computer to catch up your writing will look liketh is or may be like thissss. Which means you have to go back and fix it, and possibly delete too much, since we all like to hold down that backspace key until everything we don't want is gone.
4. Firefox. I'm assuming Internet Explorer will do this as well. Aside from the typing thing, a common error, especially with graphicy or flashy sites is your connection to the server at [web address] has timed out. Basically, you connected to the site, but your energy addled computer couldn't communicate fast enough so you couldn't load the page. Oops.
5. Anything with sound or video. This may make you have to reboot, especially if its a video that has sound. Yep. Either the sound plays and no video, or they're out of sync or it stops and starts so much you might as well be listening to a CD you lent to your cat; which totally defeats the purpose of an MP3. Eventually, the computer will catch on, probably when you try to close the program and it will shift to Not Responding Mode. Clever.
Then, after several hours of frustration, clearing crap off the hard drive and seriously considering running a defrag...you check the power settings and poof, there they are, still set in Power Saver. I'm seriously considering an iPad...
It's a pain #1 because its heavy and #2 because the tech staff (who are all subcontracted apparently) can't seem to set up computer tables without gluing (yes, with glue) power strips in these insane locations that don't work for hooking up the computers to, and just leaving them there so you need one of those scooters mechanics use to look underneath your car to see where and if you can plug in your laptop. And I have to assume its a perfectly acceptable thing to do, given that there are 12 of us and 7 computers [six if you exclude the one for instructor use]; and given that the tech people are subcontracted on top of not having any clue how to due their jobs, I question if they have any authority to tell me not to hook it up anyway [actually I question if they have any authority at all, but that's not the point]
The point is, cables are a pain. Especially when a bunch of infants make plugging them in a lot harder for you. So sometimes I don't bother with them, and switch the laptop into "Power-Saver" mode. So, I have made a list of all the programs that don't run, or don't run well, in that mode.
Programs I can't Use with Power Saver Mode Enabled
1. Windows Explorer [with anything else] - Doesn't matter what, Windows Media Player, Windows Messenger, GIMP, Photoshop, Word, Paint, ect. I will probably have to reboot it at least once an hour, or more likely whenever I try to open a file.
2. GIMP/Photoshop - These don't even boot up; they crash midway through it.
3. Anything that involves typing. The words come onto the screen in spurts. So unless you stop typing and wait for the computer to catch up your writing will look liketh is or may be like thissss. Which means you have to go back and fix it, and possibly delete too much, since we all like to hold down that backspace key until everything we don't want is gone.
4. Firefox. I'm assuming Internet Explorer will do this as well. Aside from the typing thing, a common error, especially with graphicy or flashy sites is your connection to the server at [web address] has timed out. Basically, you connected to the site, but your energy addled computer couldn't communicate fast enough so you couldn't load the page. Oops.
5. Anything with sound or video. This may make you have to reboot, especially if its a video that has sound. Yep. Either the sound plays and no video, or they're out of sync or it stops and starts so much you might as well be listening to a CD you lent to your cat; which totally defeats the purpose of an MP3. Eventually, the computer will catch on, probably when you try to close the program and it will shift to Not Responding Mode. Clever.
Then, after several hours of frustration, clearing crap off the hard drive and seriously considering running a defrag...you check the power settings and poof, there they are, still set in Power Saver. I'm seriously considering an iPad...