Switching Channels...

There were two major tech sites on the Internet in the Blogging Age: Engadget and Gizmodo. To satisfy their readers' neverending lust for gadgets, they chase after new releases like paparazzi. To entice their readers, they introduced humor, and later wit. And when the readers become bored by wit, they introduced sh*t-talking, to harmonize with the anonymous comments that were as disrespectful. When even sh*t-talking is not enough, they introduce rumors, false rumors, biased reviews, and disposable reviews that did not even bother using the product fully but focus fully on the joy of bashing. And last of all, photos of girls to make you think you are reading Maxim Magazine.

Of course, there is a limit of how much of these "humors" an average reader can take. Therefore, occasionally, when the editors realize that their readership is falling, they would clean up their act a little bit and do some better reporting.

However, as their readership increase again, the quality of articles decline.

I found myself switching back and forth between these two sites back in the days. The switch is now over. I doubt I want to read either of the sites. There are much more interesting topics to be obsessive about, and there are a lot more other sites that would be willing to spend the time to give unbiased and insightful reviews of gadgets.

To illustrate the last two paragraphs, here is a graph I drew up:

One Year into Windows Vista

I had used Windows Vista for a year.

Microsoft, in many ways, failed to market the product. It used the word "Wow" to describe how great the new operating system is. Yes, the OS is not bad, but "Wow" is too subjective a word to be used.

For geeks, Vista is not a "wow", because Microsoft had disclosed way too much information for the 5 years of its development. No matter how good the product is, the excitement is already over for the geeks. New features, in the days of Instant Culture, are the most exciting only when it is unvealed, not when it is being used.

For normal people, Vista is not a "wow", because it does not save them from their bosses, does not help them finish all the work of the day quicker, and does not attract lovers. And it crashes when the graphics driver is poorly written.

For frat boys, Vista is not a "wow" because it is not a status symbol.

For Apple fanboys, Vista is of course not a "wow". (Is it just me or is Leopard way too grayish?)

It is a not-so-bad transition, nevertheless. Perhaps it proves that the operating system is slowly graduating to an infrastructure - like the power grid, water supplies or your sewage pipes - an upgrade is not about marketable excitement anymore. It is about "It just works".

Anyway.

"Astrogirl" - Pentium 4 3 GHz, 1.5GB RAM

The first computer switched over was my home computer, a year ago. (Specs are listed not to show off, but to show you how poor I am.) It seems pretty slow and sluggish in the beginning (and it is sometimes pretty sluggish, like how the text does not appear immediately in Windows Live Writer as I am typing right now), but it seems to improve over time and updates. I plugged in my old hard disk to run Windows XP another day, and realized that the old system loaded up much slower.

In my first install, I had UAC turned off. However, I clicked a wrong link a month or two later in a hazy dreary night, and my computer was filled with spyware. I reinstalled Windows as a result. Soon I realized that most of the UAC dialog pops up when I arrange my Start Menu items. Once I got through that stage, UAC is not so bad. (Someone please make a software to make Start Menu arrangement less annoying?)

I am most satisfied with the ability to view photos nice and big in Explorer and Windows Photo Gallery. Other than that, it seems I could have done most of the tasks in Windows XP... Besides, Windows Live Photo Gallery is now available for XP as well. The new Network Center and diagnostics tool is a great addition though.

"Elian" - Xeon 'Irwindale' 3.4 GHz, 2 GB RAM

The second computer upgraded was my office computer, a couple months later. Work is important, so if the work computer is down it would be disastrous. The computer also seems slower after the upgrade, in spite of a better graphics card.

One biggest problem after the upgrade was the incompatibility of critical programs. Flash 8 would switch between scenes very slowly (It bugs Scott a lot, a hell lot), and Flash CS3 was not released half a year later. Paint Shop Pro XI is also painfully slow when saving files.

"Bluebird" - Pentium 4 2 GHz, 768MB RAM, Laptop

Before Christmas I upgraded the hard drive of my laptop (It seems very urgent at the time, but now I forgot why, hmm (ah, out of space to install CS3)) and a reinstallation of the OS as a result. It had always been running XP Chinese Edition, so I installed the Chinese version of Vista for it. To my surprise, the OS is very fast to load - probably because it doesn't use Aero. However, Microsoft Windows Vista cannot find the drivers for the Microsoft Wireless Adaptor Card. Therefore, my laptop hardly ever has Internet access.

"Alfie" - Celeron 2 GHz, 1 GB RAM

The last computer I upgraded was my family's computer. Although Aero is not running in this system, to my disappointment, Windows run very slow here. It also takes me a while to find all the drivers.

After one year, Windows Vista is not too bad, but is entangled with speed and hardware problems. I am currently building a new computer these days, and hopefully this will finally be a speedy computer. I still have very hazy memory of a very slow Windows XP Beta 2 on my Pentium II 300 MHz PC though.