Lucky 7, 2 x 3
I’ve been running Windows 7 Ultimate at home for several months and have been very pleased with it so far. I have been anxious to run it at work. My new Windows 7 workstation arrived this week. I wasted no time getting to work.
I have had 3 or 4 new workstations over the last few years. Each time I got new hardware I elected to simply back up the old workstation and restore the OS intact onto the new hardware. Using this method made the migration quick, but it also lent itself to making my pc into a huge cluster f of software. You can see what my desktop looked like. When I opened all of the programs on the start menu it literally almost filled up the entire screen. Anyone that works in IT knows a PC benefits greatly from starting over from scratch once in awhile. I just had SO much stuff on my pc I dreaded doing it.
Well going to Windows 7 was enough motivation for me to finally bite the bullet and start from scratch. For the past two days I have been going through the arduous process of sorting through my stuff and determining what I really need, reinstalling apps and moving data. I now am using the Windows 7 box as my main computer. I still have my old pc up and running so I can easily access anything I may have forgotten.
So far Windows 7 has been as great at work as it is at home. There have been a few challenges. I am running 64 bit Windows 7 Pro. There are a number of apps we use at work that won’t run in a 64 bit OS. A few years ago you would have been SOL in this situation. Well Windows 7 handles this in a very slick way utilizing Microsoft Virtual PC.
Basically you download and install Virtual PC and a Windows XP disk image (both free). After that is up and running you install your problem application into the XP virtual PC. After installation you need to make sure the application shows up in the All Users program group. Being in that group ensures the application will be available in XP application mode.
What is XP application mode you ask? Basically what happens is any app in that group will show up on your Windows 7 box as a sub menu under Windows Virtual PC / Windows XP mode Applications. When you click on the program it automatically launches a virtual XP session and then launches that app. It’s VERY slick and makes Windows 7 able to literally run almost ANYTHING that ran on Windows XP.
Just like my home system, my work pc is ultra fast and responsive even now that I have the majority of my apps reloaded. Of course I am also benefiting from the upgraded hardware, a Core 2 quad processor with 8 gig of ram. I am a BIG Win 7 fan.
Yesterday at the gym I followed up on my 3 mile run with Ali on Monday by doing another 3 miles on the treadmill. I can’t tell you the last time I ran two three mile sessions in a three day period. My knees have been doing quite well lately. The only side effect I have is a sore lower back this morning. It doesn’t feel too severe though.
Today is the big televised health care summit. Do you expect anything to come from it? Nope, me either.
How would you like to get chewed on by a killer whale? Wow imagine being in that crowd during the show and seeing that all go down? Traumatic.
I also would hate to be that speed skating coach that told his skater, who was on his way to locking up the gold medal, to change lanes incorrectly, resulting in the skaters disqualification. Imagine being directly responsible for costing a kid 4 years of training to achieve the ultimate, a gold medal. Wow, I cannot imagine the guilt. Sure it was just a mistake but it’s a mistake a coach at that level should just not ever make. I hope they have him under suicide watch.