debcook

The past couple of days have left me feeling less confident than before when it comes to computing. I have reloaded operating systems, I have changed out hardware – shoot I have upgraded the SSD in this netbook that I am typing on now – but working with Microsoft Vista has kicked my behind.

Admittedly, I have avoided Vista on my last two computer purchases. Dealing with a learning curve does not fit into my schedule at this time. Unfortunately XP is found on fewer computers and I knew that eventually I would be forced to try it.

My Mother-in-law recently purchased a new Dell Inspiron Desktop. I told myself that this would be my “opportunity” to delve into Vista even though I dreaded it. I was not surprised when my problems began.

QuickBooks does not play well with Vista. Unless you run version 2007 or above it will either not install or it will install with issues. Her version was 2003. I tried to install version 2005 and that did not work at all. Finally I installed QuickBooks 2006 in order to update her data files. Installing version 2006 worked out somewhat and yes, there were errors, but the limited number of features she needs does work OK.

A few other oddities I came across were:

• I wanted to set her home page. I tried to set it through Internet Options. Wrong – I should have clicked the little arrow next to the house icon.

• Favorites are no longer called favorites. Now we have Bookmarks.

• I needed to uninstall a program and I could not find “Add or Remove Programs”. Thank goodness for Google. I read there that it is still located in Control Panel but now it is called “Programs and Features”. Huh?

It seems as though someone had the idea to torture all of us. Our features are there but the names have all been changed. Hide and seek is the game Vista wants to play.

I figure those of you that have upgraded to Vista – and I say that under duress – may think that I am whining. Maybe I am but I bet that I am in good company.