I belong to a great Video Editors Group on Yahoo http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/amateurvideoediting/ . The discussion has been going on for several months now about the problems many members have encountered with Vista in regards to incompatibilites and problems with most of the popular video editing software packages. Most of us agree to stay with XP...prove it will work...fix the broken S..t! and come back when you can prove to us that it is the end all of operating systems.
One of the more prominent members of the group had this to say:
BEGIN RANT
Operating systems are supposed to be headed in a direction where someday they will be TRANSPARENT.
Did we know anyone who claimed that GTE had a clearer dial tone and faster connections than Bell System? We did?
But riddle me THIS, Batman....did you ever hear anyone complaining that they could NOT CALL a GTE phone via the Bell System or vice versa?
Did we ever have to take a Bell System phone in for service every six months so that the handset could be updated in order to function with the network?
People still have ROTARY DIAL PHONES out there.
The point I am making is that "operating systems" are NOT the center of attention.
The work we get to do with the machines IS.
Is this a wrong attitude to take? Should we be polishing the cases with a soft cloth and marveling at the way the grain travels on the DVD-ROM door?
Should I have my Vista CD's framed like little Gold Records?
Aren't more than a few of us a little tired of hearing and seeing the various operating systems jumping up and down and screaming "LOOK AT MEEEEEE!" , as if it's some sort of Coke vs. Pepsi fight.
I'm looking to edit video, not worship an operating system or proclaim brand loyalty.
If I could edit in a washing machine I'd do it.
It just so happens I have to use a computer, and when the machinery works I don't notice it anymore because I'm caught up in the damn story, but when the machinery and all the gears start screaming for attention, that is when I realize once again that computers and operating systems have NO SOUL and they sometimes reach out in an effort to suck mine dry.
I want my toaster to toast all kinds of bread and not just the kind made for the toaster, and I dont want to change toasters every time a new kind of bread comes along and if by God I want to cook my bread over a damn campfire I'm going to do it.
And I don't want to "interact" with the company that made the toaster or walk around with a tee shirt that says "Hamilton Beach" on it, looking down my nose at all the Proctor-Silex users.
We're all just trying to make sandwiches, aren't we?
I turn off all the cute little themes on my cell phone for the same reason.
I don't get a little woody when I hear "T-Mobile!", I just want to talk to my wife or my clients.
The day computer software companies figure out that they are supposed to make a product that works silently in the background is the day they will figure out what they are in business for, unleashing human creativity.
END RANT OFF SOAPBOX.
JeffH in TX