Returning from Vista

Business is usually the last to fully embrace any new OS but usually the 1st to complain about it. Replace Vista with XP when it 1st came out, the results are very much the same. I don't though you had problems, but it a PITA to relearn again what was so comfortably handled before. I agree MS office and Vista is full of too much overkill or gizwiz factor to basically redo the same stuff you did before. But, give it time it'll be 2nd nature. Allow several users to play with Vista and get the proper new s/w updates/upgrades to handle Vista, it will filter down after time. good luck, really -----Willy

Windows has been increasingly dumbed down starting with Windows95. Every version has gotten closer to the apparent goal of allowing a drooling idiot to be able to use the system by some kind of osmosis of intent from saliva.

There are plenty of reasons not to like Vista and Office 2007, but just because they look different isn't a valid one. Life is about change, and adapting to those changes. I don't care if you're 4 or 400, the rules still apply.

I'm tired of having useful options removed from newer operating system versions because someone thought it was too confusing for people. How hard is it to just IGNORE some option if you don't know what it does?

Computers are not appliances, and I don't know if they ever will be. It doesn't really matter anyway, because until they reach appliance status, they will require some basic knowledge regarding use AND upkeep. It's just a fact of life, and no amount of delusional wishful thinking will change that.

Put another way, it's in your company's best interest to encourage these people to be learning new things. The more active the brain throughout life, the slower the onset of senility. The neural pathways and connections in your brain need to be used regularly, or else they will be like a road that has fallen into disrepair. So, on the assumption that you want the best quality work out of these people you can get while they're on the payroll, you should be encouraging them to learn new things at every opportunity. You should encourage them to see change as an opportunity to learn something new, and thus a good thing, instead of something negative.

Bottom line, if you're unwilling or unable to do these rather basic things, you should just check yourself into a retirement home right now. Get out of everyone else's way who WANTS to learn. Who ENJOYS exploring the unknown, and ENJOYS the challenge of learning something new.

I've taught myself things ranging from general computing, 6-7 different programming languages, Linux, a fair bit about audio equipment, web design, networking... I went and learned everything I needed to know to install a modchip into my Xbox so I could use Xbox Media Center on it. When my car needed some repairs, I taught myself enough to do some simple things myself. I have 2 different 4 year degrees, and have been thinking about graduate school. I received a rather poor K-12 education on the whole, and my spelling and grammar are often left wanting. I've been steadily working on improving that during and since. I have mild dyslexia, which makes it difficult for me to remember numbers and do mental math... Rather than use it as an excuse, I look for ways around the problem. Lately I've been teaching myself how to use the Squid proxy server, using little more than information I can pull together from different websites and what I can figure out on my own. I had a job in college... One of my first jobs was to replace the toner cart in a printer. I'd never done that before, and it took me a little bit to work out how things went, but it was just another interesting challenge to me. An opportunity to learn something new. Until the day I die, I will never be done learning. I expect no less from everyone else, and yes, I am frequently disappointed by people as a result.

Come back when you have a real reason for disliking Vista and Office 2007, not just that it's different and you're too lazy to learn something new.