The first time (part 2)...

Of course there are many "first times" in one's life.  We experience new things (and people) over the decades, years, months, weeks, and even days as we move along.  If we just maintain the same things around us, then it only means we are stagnant, never expanding our perception of our universe.

OK, enough of philosophical musings.  What I want to lay bare here is actually something most of us will one day have to face: changing our computing experience.

From somewhere in the yore of the mid-80's, I've followed the DOS route which transformed itself into Windows later (only Bill Gates knows why he had to name it such).  I could have followed the CPM route (err.. it is NOT a communist acronym) and be a Steve Jacobs' follower, but I didn't, and don't ask me why not.

I stuck on with Windows when it again morphed into various nomenclatures: from 3.0 to 3.11, 3.11 For Workgroups, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP.  Somehow I've managed not to be thrown out of the window by other operating systems that suddenly appeared almost out of the blue skies along the way.  I supposed it was because the window behind which I sat was rather smug (and perhaps hermetically sealed?).

While happy with the rose-tainted glass window I was behind, I began to notice discernible cracks.  The cracks even had names to them: Windows ME and more recently, Vista. Actually, from what I've read, Vista isn't just a mere crack: it could be deemed as a big slit or even a major slot that opens itself to penetrating opinion attacks by users and non-users alike.

Anyway, recently I had a "first time" hands-on experience with Windows 7.  And it is a 64-bit version no less, although it's just a Home Premium variant.  The operating system was pre-installed on this rather cute small sub-notebook (gosh.... the terms they come up with) which is smaller than a "normal" laptop but doesn't qualify as a NETbook (which uses the less-than-satisfactory Atom processor).  This sub-notebook uses a Pentium processor.  The red sub-notebook is from Acer and is the 1810TZ model whose battery can last 8 hours!!

I get to have that first time experience because I was asked by my friend to buy it on his behalf and to configure it for him.  Well, I was thrown into the deep end since I have absolutely no inkling what Windows 7 would be like.  Anyway, it is the best chance to learn, right?  In any case, I did read quite a bit about it before, so I didn't tremble with fear.

Even though I have used laptops before, none was as small as this Acer: the first thing I did was try to locate where in tarnation is the font size setting.  Everything seems to be not where they ought to be (since I'm used to XP).  Therein is the first thing about Windows 7 menu and settings: it's not at the places most of you would be used to.  It took me almost half a day to figure out the most basic setting changes I want to make... oh gosh.. it certainly didn't feel encouraging.

Over a couple of days, I kept exploring it and found most of the things I wanted.  I think Microsoft designed Windows 7 for nerds because all you need to do is type in what you want once you click the Start icon.  Sometimes it throws up very patronising questions to further refine what I was looking for.  But who am I to complain since I AM a nerd to this new operating system... hahahaha.

I do find it boots up much faster than the XP I am used to.  But also perhaps it is partly due to the fact I upgraded the RAM to 4gb to take advantage of what a 64-bit operating system can recognise and utilise.  It is a pleasant surprise that it can run most of the older 32-it softwares which I have been using flawlessly (well almost).  However the thing to know is that crucial softwares like antivirus and firewall need to be 64-bit ones, or at least 64-bit compatible.

I successfully installed Avast antivirus and ZoneAlarm free firewall to begin with, and both work fine so far.  It was only after both were installed that I connected to the internet to get updates for the operating system proper (which there were quite a few over the last 48 hours or so).  I also managed to install and run Photshop 7 (the CS2 version won't run after launching the software once installed: it says I don't have the administrator priviledge to do so, and I am still wondering why).  ACDSee Pro 2.5 runs perfectly, so does CorelDraw Xara4.

Best yet, my old and trustworthy MS Office 2000 installed and ran as expected, although the Office Assistant animated helper now has a coloured background instead of being transparent.  I just switched if off since it is really of no assistance anyway apart from being an amusing distraction when having a writer's block.  I also managed to install all the needed codecs for movie playback to use KMPlayer instead of the built-in Windows Media Player which still is a bit tacky for my liking despite its numerous makeovers by Microsoft.

As of today, I am beginning to like this Windows 7 despite its "helpful" pop-ups to notify what's happening when I am using it.  It's perfect for the grandpas and grandmas who want to just use it without worrying too much what to do once the basic settings are put in place.  Or if you are using a non-power user of a desktop system, I guess using the defaults are fine.  The most enticing feature is its ability to run most of the 32-bit softwares I am currently using without a whimper.  But again, I have to consider the old working scanner I am still having.  I don't yet know if an updated Windows 7 driver is available for it.... *sigh*