At sixes and 7s

This post is all about what I'm typing on right now. I bought a cool Vaio CW16 laptop with Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit). A beautiful blue colour that matches my room, too. I'm madly in love with it. Only, it booted in 13 seconds before any programmes were uploaded and takes 40-45 seconds now with all the installations :( Once on, it works on lightning speed.

I use Mac at the office, but give Windows more marks for sheer aesthetic appeal. Mac is...well...a bit too plain. I've used Win NT, 95, 98, XP, Vista and now, 7. Surprisingly, many people have complained about Vista. Can't understand why. Agreed, it is complicated, but isn't the aero effect stunning? Win 7 ranks even higher. A mere mouse-over reveals all the programmes running and a click opens exactly the one I want. Nice transparent effect for the taskbar means my Sharpe wallpaper is visible (partly) anytime. And Windows Explorer is neat and organised. Much easier to locate those missing files.

The start menu is interesting. No annoying 'Start'--just the windows icon. Uncluttered, with just the essentials. Altogether, the desktop and the taskbar have a very clean look. Thankfully, they've made the gadgets bar optional and I've done away with it. It was what I hated the most about Vista. Win 7 has removed it from the side and placed it on top. I declared war on it on day two and I won.

That sickening Quick Launch feature has been trashed and I'm celebrating. Now for what I hate the most--IE. I loved it the first few days. But now, when I try to open a link as a new tab or new window, it takes ages, literally. Seriously, I'd shift to Firefox if I wasn't so lazy. What happened to the one-touch, one-second of last week? Technowizzies, please help!

I must say they use nicer colour combos on 7. I hated the green and the blue on XP. This is nicely subtle and toned down. Shutting down is easier than ever. Only, you need to be careful and not click on it by mistake, as there is no confirm step. Hit shut down and that's it. The comp goes off in four seconds.

So that's the technologically challenged layperson's opinion of Windows 7.

On totally unrelated subjects, I was gifted a nice Pelikan 800 in tortoiseshell jade. A stunning beauty. Pics will follow later. I also bought an ebonite pen. I'm not sure what it is--it says Raja on the clip, Wyvern Made in England on the barrel and TDLR Co on the nib (The De la rue and co). Some kind of mutant...

So did I leave out those three verbs I was to avoid? Please point out errors. Next week: leave out UNDERSTAND, MUST and TRY.

A new exercise

A comment by Emily on my last post is responsible for this--in future (not this one, from the next post), I will either avoid one/more particular word(s) and/or use one/more particular word(s) in my blog. And those who wish to comment are also requested to use or avoid the same word(s) in their comments. And the word to avoid will not be 'floccipaucinihilipilification' (sorry if there's a spelling mistake), and the word to use will not be 'the'. Get the picture? The idea is to avoid words we always tend to use, and to use words we normally avoid. And yes, I will create plenty of opportunity for myself to fail the exercise. Thanks very much for inspiring this, Emily!

I read in the papers sometime last month that a survey has revealed that we have become vocabulary-challenged. We tend to use the same few words for every situation. The most annoying word, according to the survey, is 'whatever', followed by 'you know' and 'anyway'. I agree. And solemnly do swear (by the unbreakable oath of the River Styx, let's do this like the Greek Gods) NEVER EVER to use those three phrases in this blog, world without end, Amen. If I do not keep my word, please point it out to me and I shall undergo penance by abstaining from reading for 24 hours.

So what do you think about the exercise? As verbs and adjectives tend to repeat themselves in our vocabulary, I think I'll pick those for now. That should make it good. No point in picking nouns.

Words to avoid in the NEXT POST and comments to the NEXT POST: All forms of the verbs THINK, SEE and FIND.