KEY POINTS:
There's nothing like using a brand-spanking new computer. Everything happens quickly, you've enough power to run the best new games, and there are buttons and fancy features you've never had the chance to use.
That's pretty much the experience I'm having with my new laptop - the dainty 13.3-inch Dell XPS ($2599). Among its specifications is a 2.2GHz Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of memory, a 250GB hard drive, an Nvidia GeForce 8400 graphics card and an HDMI port, so I can plug the laptop into my LCD screen via a high-definition connection.
At present, I'm on honeymoon with the XPS. It has a sleek "tuxedo black" case, a bright, crisp screen. There are no crumbs in the keyboard yet, no scratches or bumps to ruin the aesthetics. But it never lasts. Within six months, they usually show signs of senility. It's not the computer's fault - we ask it to do things it's not comfortable with. It answers with subtle hints like "not responding" and "an unexpected error occurred".
I've had all of that in the past so I'm determined this time my new computer will keep running as smoothly and efficiently as the day the courier dropped it off. I decided Windows Vista would either help me do that or get in the way of it.
My first foray into Vista territory started swimmingly. I loved the embedded search function, the Aero interface, the more efficient way of running programs. It seemed to be an improvement on Windows XP. But things began to go wrong when I plugged in devices like digital cameras, mobile phones and external storage drives. Vista didn't recognise half my gadgets.
The drivers needed to run them on Vista weren't available. Then, when I added new programs and put on more demands, its performance deteriorated. My computer had 512MB of memory, enough to run Vista, but not enough to run it well.
The big bust-up came when I tried to install a new Vista-compatible graphics card driver. My Wi-fi stopped working, and trying to reverse the problem resulted in Vista telling me the relationship would be over if I didn't reactivate within 30 days. I dumped it and went back to XP.
Since then, Microsoft has released an upgrade for Vista - Service Pack 1 - and more drivers are available. A first big test went well - I plugged in my USB hub and within a couple of minutes, Vista identified them, found the drivers and they ran.
Vista runs smoothly thanks to the surplus of memory I now have. If I do my share of the housework it will be a match made in heaven. Microsoft has had a rough year with Vista and just as it appears to be putting some of the major issues behind it, it faces comparisons with Apple's new Mac OS Leopard.
The software, which runs on Apple Mac computers and was released in the United States on Friday, is the sixth upgrade of its operating system in as many years. Microsoft was accused of ripping off the best parts of its predecessor Tiger, for the make-up of Vista. Leopard adds things like Time Machine, a nifty tool to back-up and archive your hard drive, and Boot Camp, which allows you to run Windows and Mac OS on a Mac computer, is bundled into Leopard. A number of other technological and aesthetically pleasing features could tip the balance further.
I stood in the Apple store in Palo Alto last month and thought hard about buying a MacBook. I decided against it - the value proposition was still better in the non-Mac world and I didn't want to be hopping between Windows and Mac OS every time I wanted to use an application the MacBook didn't support. So no Leopard for me. I'm moving on with Vista.
