Night After Night

Writing, a blog, and a newsletter. By Steve Smith.

Nico wuz right.

Having spent the past hour-plus composing a post on my unexpected and amazing weekend rendezvous with Lucy in Houston, only to see my efforts trashed by the fabulosity that is Windows (Vista apparently included), I’m wishing that Nico Muhly’s warning had arrived a day or so earlier. Feh.

Which is not to mention that the good Dr. L.P. reminded me — pretty much as soon as I informed her I’d bought a new Windows machine under duress — that earlier I’d as much as decided to switch to a Mac at my next opportunity.

Apple. I’m begging. Can’t you please bring the prices down just a little? A couple hundred dollars would probably have prevented me from having to type this. Please?

Steve Smith

8 responses to “Nico wuz right.”

  1. A.C. Douglas Avatar
    A.C. Douglas

    Apple is very much the WRONG way to go. Like the fact or not, Windows is the only way to go. On a properly set up machine it works flawlessly — at least Windows XP-SP2 does. Windows Vista needs a couple more years wringing out.
    And for heaven’s (and your own) sake, get Norton Ghost backup software, and an outboard backup hard disc (Maxtor OneTouch is perfect), and back up your entire machine hard disc regularly (I do it every day). It’s painless (the Ghost software does it on your own schedule in the background if you wish to use a schedule), and ensures that you’ll never lose any data, and can even rebuild your entire machine from the backup files using only a few simple mouse clicks should your machine HD go south.
    ACD

    Reply
  2. Alex Ross Avatar
    Alex Ross

    Allow me to testify for Apple. I have been using their computers for twenty years. I back up data on a hard drive regularly but I have to say that in those 20 twenty years it’s never actually been necessary: I have never lost any data. I have never had a virus. I don’t remember any of my computers crashing in recent memory. When I’ve bought new computers, it’s usually because I want to trade up to more memory and faster speed, not because the old one’s broken. You save money in the end. I have occasionally tried to use Windows on others’ machines and have found it a total brain-boiling nightmare.

    Reply
  3. Marc Geelhoed Avatar
    Marc Geelhoed

    The blood feud between the Douglas and Ross clans continues. Can’t there be a cross-familial marriage arranged to join the two in peace and happiness?

    Reply
  4. A.C. Douglas Avatar
    A.C. Douglas

    Blood feud? No, no, a thousand times no. No feud, blood or otherwise. I’m quite fond of Alex. It’s just that he has these wrongheaded and misguided notions about what constitutes real music, about proper classical music concert etiquette, and about all things Apple «spit!». I’ve not given up hope that eventually Alex will come around to the right side on these matters, and then we can be fully “join[ed]…in peace and happiness.”
    ACD

    Reply
  5. Steve Avatar
    Steve

    Thanks for the good advice, ACD and Alex. Now that I’m calmer, I’ve decided to stick with my shiny new machine for the time being — by and large I’m impressed with it, and, as ACD points out, Vista will take a bit of time to settle. Meanwhile, I’ll try to remind myself that blog posts should always, always start in a text editor anyway.

    Reply
  6. DJA Avatar
    DJA

    I’ll try to remind myself that blog posts should always, always start in a text editor anyway
    I’ve been asking Typepad for an autosave-as-draft feature for a while now.

    Reply
  7. andrea Avatar
    andrea

    Apple is very much the RIGHT way to go. Like the fact or not, Apple is the only way to go. On a properly set up machine it works flawlessly — at least Mac OS 10.4 does. Mac OS 10.5 needs a couple more years wringing out.
    Funny, how that works.
    ALR

    Reply
  8. Eric Avatar
    Eric

    You were in Houston?!!!

    Reply

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