Windows Vista / Office 2007

I finally got Windows Vista installed (the 5308.60 build), and while it failed to install drivers for my aging motherboard's built-in network adapter, I was luckily able to find my original CD with drivers for the I865 chipset and install something that would get me on the net. From there, updating the video, network, and sound drivers were a piece of cake. Still, a very basic universal network driver is a MUST, since everyone will be expecting 'Net connectivity to update their drivers.

So far, it's pretty impressive. The desktop rendering is very slick, and text is very smooth looking (especially in IE7). I really don't care for the default skin used in Aero Glass, though. It just looks rough, and it doesn't help that some of the icons aren't scaling up yet.

Still, it makes a pretty good first impression. I'm looking forward to seeing how they continue to refine it over the coming months.

As for Office 2007, this build is FAR more stable than Beta 1, not to mention sporting the spiffy new user interface chrome Jensen Harris has been talking about.

The new IGX graphics incorporated into Office are truly amazing. I've churned out what I think are very impressive looking documents complete with charts and graphs with very pretty color schemes. There's only one real problem ... once the new Office is out, everyone's documents will look this good, and I'll have to find new tricks.

I haven't had a chance to really put the new version of OneNote through it's paces in the new build. The Beta 1 version was a huge memory hog, frequently locking up when I'd try to add a little more paper to my notes, prompting me to start new sheets very often. It was a real pain to be taking notes and have the thing lock up in the middle of a lecture, so hopefully that won't be an issue Spring quarter.