The Fate of Tyrlon and other Dubious Things

At work I primarily use Windows XP but we also are starting to see more and more Windows Vista machines since a lot of students have them and the University is officially switching over to Vista this fall.  Using Windows XP and Vista both i’ve occasionally encountered issues where an application tries to do something illegal and then crashes on me, resulting in the loss of my data.

You should hear some of the students complain when it happens to them and they forgot to save the last hours worth of work!  The time that this seems to happen the most is either: the night before a major project is due, or during class when all the students are using the machines and they *must* work.  Sometimes I think that these application developers put in checks to make sure that I don’t get more than a few hours of smooth operation to keep me on my toes!  I guess if everything worked properly those of us in the IT industry wouldn’t have jobs though, so in a way it is a good thing.

Windows Vista has some nice new features that should help a little bit with some of these issues though such as a more advanced system restore and just a better overall way of storing data that is more consistent between applications.  Another nice thing about Windows Vista is the small business support that you can get.  One of the challenges of running a small business is the knowledge that your livelihood depends on the quality of your own efforts and how well your business is doing.  You have to have the traditional worries about losing your job, but you could also result in other people losing their jobs if you don’t do things right and get the right software.  With Vista Small Business Assurance you get support from 10am to 7pm (Pacific Time) Monday-Friday!

With free support for businesses and thousands of applications now supported as well as built-in drivers for nearly every camera or scanner or printer that you could possibly want, Vista has come a long ways toward improving its image and reliability.

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