XP Becomes Extinct

It’s happening. It’s really happening. XP is going the way of the dinosaur and the Commodore 64, according to CNET. I’ve got a secret for all you cool cat techs, computer mavericks, and technology miscreants out there – I’m not superbly computer savvy. I know, big shock – but I’m not completely computer illiterate either; I know enough to like what I like and hate what I don’t. Windows XP works for me – and Vista makes my soul cry. Windows Vista makes a lot of people’s souls cry, but that doesn’t mean much to the bottom line. Dell’s already let go of Windows XP, setting it free like the proverbial true-love butterfly, but it’s pretty clear that XP was never meant to be for a lot of us. Folks who prefer Windows as an OS just got kind of screwed without either lube or the courtesy of a reach-around. Dell’s just a step of ahead of the game; other computer manufacturers are due to start phasing out their XP machines, and they should all be out of the way by 2009.
Windows in general and XP in particular have a lot of problems and get a lot of crap; I bitch about them myself often enough. But it’s still sort of disturbing that despite the majority’s rabid hatred for Vista, it’s getting the nod as Windows supreme. It happens, though. It’s quite akin to the way AOL is now basically AIM.

Tales from an iPhone Convert

I have seen the face of the Second Coming, and it is the iPhone 3G. All right, that’s a little hyperbolic, but considering the fact that I have long been anti-Apple and anti-iPhone (this is mostly because until, oh, now, most cell phone service – including AT&T wireless – in my area has been non-existent; plus I cannot use a Mac to save my life. No matter!), it’s still a big deal. This phone is beautiful. The other day I was doing something that required me to read a TIME article on Steve Jobs’ new baby, and before I was halfway finished, I became a complete convert. If Apple or AT&T would take an IOU for the promise of my first-born child, I’d be right there in the thick of the frenzy that’s sure to take place nationwide on July 11, when the 3G’s set to go on sale.

Apparently, this thing can load up graphic-heavy web sites in 29 seconds (whereas the original iPhone takes nearly a minute). That’s all thanks to the 3G network. It’s got honest-to-goodness GPS tracking and navigation (and the demonstration, Jobs showed the audience real-time footage of a 3G user going down San Francisco’s famously twisting Lombard Street – and evidently they actually cheered for it) and there are going to be tons of applications for it. Among them are games so awesome that they rival the graphics on the PSP.

What’s seriously awesome, though, is the price. According to TIME, the 8GB iPhone 3G is supposed to start out at $199, and at $299, the 16GB 3G is still one hundred dollars less than the price of the original iPhone’s 8GB model.

So I’m not saying that I’m going to rush right out and buy one in July – but I am thinking about it, and I will covet anyone who has one. I will covet them sharply, with brand new #2 pencils.

Checking it out!

Before paying out huge amounts for new software, try it out first. Too many programs look cool, but then turn out to be kludgy in actual practice. Worse, they may not be what you are looking for, either because they don't quite have the functions you are looking for or it may create issues with your existing software or OS. It's not just kicking the tires, but making sure it runs.