Fixed. Gotta go All Mac.

The past few days I've been fixing some problems with Windows on this computer, which runs Vista. My modus operandi is to buy a computer with what I need on it pre-installed, then not change it. That works rather well, BUT when Windows induces problems, it doesn't.

When I bought this computer from Dell about three years ago, Dell offered a pre-installed MacAfee antivirus program. So I figured, that should be safe, & I bought it.

F.

[That's a grade, not a curse]

The MacAfee antivirus did not work - caused crashes. I called MacAfee and was told to do a complex process to fix it. I told them to "bleep" themselves and got a refund.

Of course Windows is a defective product by nature, requiring an antivirus program. I turned to ZoneAlarm, which I have on my three other computers that run Windows XP. I bought the ZoneAlarm product that was "supposed" to run on Windows Vista. It worked a while, but then I started having strange "blue screen of death" crashes. Eventually I traced them to the ZoneAlarm product.

I uninstalled it and put Windows OneCare on the computer. That worked fine, BUT Microsoft stopped supporting it a couple weeks ago. Nice. Only a monopolist can act so imperiously to customers. I needed a new antivirus program.

I bought ZoneAlarm again, figuring that over the intervening years, they had fixed it. And even Microsoft said it worked.

F.

A few days after installing it, I got another "blue screen of death" crash.

Sooooooooooooo ... I uninstalled it again and put on "Microsoft Security Essentials", which is a free antivirus from Microsoft. It's really the antivirus program that was in Windows OneCare, but without the other features like backup, etc.

So far, so good.

You can tell that I'm sick of Microsoft and their absolutely abysmal operating system, Windows.

I'm NEVER going to buy another computer that runs Windows only. My plan now is to buy an Apple iPad in a few months, then learn how to use it. Once I do that, I'll replace this computer with a new Mac. And then, I'll start using Apple's "MobileMe" that unifies those two to my iPhone. I've subscribed to it for a few years, but never learned how to use it. All that has to change.

I expect to be All Mac, All the Time by the fall.

Actions

Doing nothing. Krypto has some cash left, but futures are up strongly this AM. That's OK. Trying to be perfect in stock investing is a fool's game. Good enough is fine.

Word of the Day

"Verisimilitude" - noun [$10]
Verisimilitude means 1. the appearance or semblance of being real or true; 2. a statement that appears true.
Sentence: Windows' verisimilitude of being a well-constructed operating system collapses with use. The program is a p. o. s. riddled with bugs and it induces many problems that the Microsoft should be liable for, but naturally they can hide behind their licensing agreement.