Sftware Addiction

Yesterday, I shopped for a new office chair at our local Office Depot. You might think that it would be the worst day for anyone should be going anywhere near a store that sells computer software. Microsoft (MS) released their first full overhaul of Windows Operating software (OS), Vista. I didn't see any crowds. I didn't see any express counters with signs saying, "Vista Customers Express Checkout" No, it seems that the reaction at this store was measured.

But there was that big display. It was sitting there like a girl with a low cut blouse on a summers day by the lakefront with her hair and her skirt blowing in a warm breeze. The attraction is unavoidable, but like the girl I can and do avoid such temptations. It's just that niggling feeling that if I don't upgrade I'll be missing something.

My addiction to new software makes me want to avoid the reality that the software I have on our computer is already overkill for our needs. I want to ignore the threat that one of these days Microsoft is going to quit supporting my version of XP. Vista's immediate relative, the way they did with WIN 98 and the others. I don't want to face the truth of the statement that mine ain't broke so why would I want to fix it.

Upgrading is probably going to mean tacking on a lot of files to the system I have. The only way to start fresh would be to erase my hard drive and reload everything. I visualize my computer Operating system as a messy basement with all kinds of things I don't need taking up room for things I do need. I see my information having to detour around piles of cardboard boxes in order to find the right box with the answer. If it was the basement I could clean it, but not my operating system. Be sure, if I were to delete anything from my operating system I would find out the next day that it was absolutely essential.

One of the perceived problems with Vista is the memory demand. Why worry, I'm told. It's only memory and memory is cheap. Yeah, I've heard that ever since I've bought my first PC, back in one AD. (After DOS era), when were just getting a graphical inner face software I was told I had enough memory on my laptop to last a lifetime. I would never need more memory. The capacity of that hard drive was smaller than my ROM cache is today.

So the question remains. One voice asks me, Why do you want to spend a couple of hundred bucks to install a new Operating system and go through the learning curve and readjustment period that could take weeks. The other voice asks why don't I take a pass until MS dumps me on the doorstep of obsolecense and forces me to change my OS. I want to say no. I want to say, It's probably great, but I'm going to let someone else work out the bugs. That way my eventual buy will include the traditional Service Pack with all the fixes for the the post release bugs that will take a hour to download if I buy now. But than the other voice whispers, "You might be missing something."