digitalMoto.net

Windows 7

I have to admit I am totally jazzed about the Windows 7 release. I’m rarely an early adopter and I still avoid messing with betas. My mindset is usually, “I don’t have time to get everything done on my plate as it is. Why would I want to play with something that I know it is (probably) broken and doesn’t include any upgrade path when the full release comes out?” Still I’m really tempted to throw Win7 RC on the netbook.

Speaking of the netbook. I am falling in love with it. It is a crack up in so many ways. I am doing all of these things that you shouldn’t do to a netbook. I installed Visual Studio Team Edition with all of the add-ons. I installed Virtual PC so I can run a Win2003 Server in the background while I program. I’m plugging in my portable laptop drive then working off compressed versions of my files. All of these action shouldn’t be possible on a XP Home netbook. I don’t know how many times I got warning, but I still plowed ahead and did it. And EVERYTHING works. I can query my Win2003 server, which is running SQL Server 2005. My biggest problem is the small screen. This could be fixed with a higher rez or a larger screen, but then I am leaving the realm of netbooks. It is a challenge to work on such a small screen. At work, I have a 20 widescreen. At home, I have a pair of 20” flat screens on my development machine and a 22” on my test box. So the shift to a single 10” widescreen requires a bit of effort. Still… It works. Yeah, it’s slow. Yes, I coulda/woulda/shoulda done it differently, but pushing this little machine is kind of fun. Tuesday night, I was a PADNUG with everything fired up and running. I had my external drive, my Bluetooth mouse, Virtual PC running and active while I fixed a couple bugs in VS2008TS. It rocked.

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I installed ASP MVC on Wednesday after confirming I had already installed .net 3.5 SP1. It dropped in without any issues.

Which brings me around to the original topic… I am thinking about digging up another laptop hard drive so I can install Win7 on the netbook without mucking about with the default OS install. I know where I’ve got a 100 gig drive lurking someone where around the house.

Moto Crash: Update
The KTM should be back on the road next week. My new helmet might arrive today. I need to pick up some new armour on my way home from work tonight. I’m already lining things up for a shakedown run through the Cascades.

My body is starting to re-align. Muscles are less sore or sore from PT as opposed to sore from muscle spasms that last for days. I am back to tapping my foot at work. I tend to thump out the bass drum lines to the music I listen to while I program. I’m on the second floor of a steel reinforced building. When I get going, the monitors on the workstation next start to bob. It’s kind of funny for me, but I’m sure it annoys my co-workers beyond measure. I usually smile and stop as soon as I notice or someone points out the shake. I don’t mean to do it.

Guilty as charged.
100 Basic Geek-Skills for Geeks