I was leaning towards getting a Vista upgrade for our Thinkpad R40 which we use at home. It should cope – we’ve got enough RAM and the processor is pretty beefy. It would totally fall down on the graphics, but we’d just have to live with Aero Basic.
I’d thought about buying a nice new, large hard disk… say 100Gb… although it isn’t clear from the specs whether the R40 can support that size of disk. The plan was to install a clean version of Vista as an upgrade to our existing XP license. Then I read that you can’t actually do that – you can only install the upgrade version on top of an existing install… apparently it will offer to backup your existing Windows installation first… all very well when we’ve currently got a 40Gb disk with precious little space on it! Bah.
OK, OK… I expect Linux (or Mac) people to interject at this point. To curtail that argument: Ola uses Windows at work; I support family members and customers who use Windows; I need to have “hands on” use of it somewhere, much though I might not like the thought of contributing to MS profits; and stuff like Lightroom and the TomTom software doesn’t run on Linux, much though I wish the relevant manufacturers would sort it out. I’m far from being a Windows lover, but I have (what I think is) a realistic view about it. I want to try to have a good knowledge of as many operating systems as I can – it will make me more effective as an IT professional.
Anyway, the upgrade debate is a side issue. The real point of this post is to flag that Windows Vista has some new default typefaces. I’m reading that Times New Roman is no longer the default font in Word. The shockwaves will be felt across the globe!
Those of us remaining on XP can get the exciting new fonts by downloading and installing the MS Office compatibility pack for Office 2007 formats.
I’ve changed my desktop settings to use Calibri for the title bar, and Candara for messages, menubars and icon text. They are quite nice. Calibri at 10pt causes the title bars to squish down to about half the default XP size, but that increases screen real estate a little. Very readable. I’m liking it so far.
There is a workaround to do a clean install with a Vista Upgrade .. check this link http://www.neowin.net/index.php?act=view&id=37711
Which vista you going with?
I doubt I will go vista… In fact I’m downsizing to try and get rid of some of my pc’s (even down to moving from my Tosh M200 Tabletpc to working solely on my Thinkpad T60p)
Windows is just too heavy weight.. I have to use it for work.. even if MS is our main competitor.. for pleasure I use OSX.. and people are cottoning onto the fact that there are over OS’s.. TOMTOM’s now on MacOSX, admittedly not linux but its a starting point for opening up other OS’s
Vista sounds big.. and fat.. and sounds like another minefield for new hardware, bigger disks and more security holes..
and I dont like being told what I can and cant do with my hardware before I need to re-authorise stuff I brought that belongs to me š
Marius: thank you! great reference.
Steve: not sure. Probably Home Premium. Need to check that I can upgrade to that from XP Pro.
naquada: I have no argument with any of your points – I’d just repeat that I know I’m going to need to know it, and I learn best at home. I’d love to know OS X too, but can’t justify buying a new Mac (yet! better get a house, first).
Andy, I just wanted to be sure you read the following information on the Lifehacker blog: http://lifehacker.com/software/vista/vista-launch-day–get-a-guarantee-before-you-buy-232438.php
Cesar, thanks, I’d missed that. Why don’t I subscribe to Lifehacker? [he says, adding it to his reader]