Various Happenstances of Seth

September 8, 2005

   So, for a while at work, my computer has been the odd one out in the office. Most of the rest of them are running XP Pro, and Service Pack 2. I hate Service Pack 2, both because it crashed my home computer whenever I attempted to install it, and for the reason that it's so easy to hate big Microsoft products. My work computer was one I'd been using for a while before we had standardized everything, so it still ran XP Home instead of XP Pro. In addition, I dislike Microsoft Outlook*, so instead of using it like everyone else did, I just used webmail.

   This initially struck some of the bosses and tech guy as odd, but I protested that my system worked perfectly fine for my needs, and with my productivity and efficiency at work as testiment to its efficacy, they allowed me to keep it as it was. Which seems very fitting somehow. My computer, like me, wasn't quite in line with the way everyone else here was doing things, but since it produced faster and better work, complaints soon died away.

   However, this week we acquired a new piece of software that necessitated an upgrade** to my computer. As expected, I objected that this was entirely unnecessary, but I was overruled and my computer was taken to be upgraded, a process which should only take an hour or two.

   Four hours later, I am informed that my favorites are all lost, and the upgrade seems to be in a loop, necessitating a complete reformatting of the computer. Backup copies of my important work files were made, but my computer still languishes, and will have its heart removed.

   Meanwhile, the loaner computer they gave me is incredibly slow, and has crashed 5 times today. "I can't understand why," explained the tech guy, "Since we've already upgraded this one with what I'm trying to do to your computer."

   Because, yeah, that makes me feel so much better about the upgrade.

Lobster! -->

<-- Piano Man

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*Not only because it's a big Microsoft product, but also because it has this crash-o-matic tendency and locks up all the rest of my programs. Webmail, when it crashes, at least doesn't stop the whole computer.

Well, usually.

**"Upgrade" is one of those words like "feature", which is the tech-world equivalent of "interesting". It officially means something positive, and theoretically it should be positive, but in reality it tends to just mean something awful has occurred. Upgrades tend to add "features" that you don't need or want, while removing the few that you actually used. Things that worked fine will now be broken, and new things won't quite function the way they ought to. As an example, once you "upgrade" to the new Windows Longhorn, your new Windows Media Player will become incredibly crippled, not being able to play most movies or downloaded shows, in addition to the "feature" from the previous "upgrade" that prevents you from fast-forwarding through commercials.

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