I just installed Windows Vista Beta 2 which is free for download from Microsoft. When I first installed it, I thought that it was going to be a warmed over piece of crap with potential like Beta 1. Damn was I wrong. The difference in daily usability so far is like night and day. This version actually runs well and the new 3D interface is amazing. I now think that desktop Linux may have little future unless something this radical becomes the norm among Linux distributions. Why? It actually feels faster than Windows XP does on my laptop (Pentium M 1.7Ghz, 1GB of RAM, Radeon Mobility X300 w/ 128 of RAM) and Linux tends to be slower than Windows XP on this machine if I am using anything mainstream.
Let's just say that this is the first time I have not had an "oh $h1t" reaction to a new version of Windows coming out. I might actually go out and buy an upgrade license which would be a rarity for me. It'd be the second time that I've bought a non-academic Microsoft product license that didn't come with a new PC. Don't worry, I have no completely sold my soul to the Washington state collective. I am running GAIM, Firefox, XAMPP and OpenOffice on it.
Okay, I'm a computer illiterate geek for the most part.
What does this thing actually do?
Windows Vista has a new 3D-accelerated user interface. It uses the graphics chip on your computer to process all of the GUI logic instead of the main processor. Basically it uses the same techniques to build the interface that are used for 3D games which amounts to a massive performance increase in the long term, even if it means less RAM in the short term. That and it's a gorgeous interface.
ok. cool.
Hey, Mike. Quick OpenOffice question: is there a way to export tab delimited files from the spreadsheet? I couldn't find it and so had to re-install my Excel Educational Version after a hard-drive crash.
Did I miss something or is this a major oversight?
Exporting to a CSV or TXT file might do it for you. I think those formats might be close to what you're looking for.