timxu

Well, I think I’m pretty much settled into this new semester. It’s definitely pleasant to have this happen three weeks into the semester. I’m quite busy, with five classes and a lab, along with a plethora of organizations and clubs and the job, but I wouldn’t have it any other way. I still have time to be (somewhat) social, to get my work done, and to relax and watch a bit of TV when I need to take a break.

I’m quite happy with life at this point. I’m rarely bored, and there’s a good mix of fun and work. Of course, stress happens occasionally, but what’s life without excitement?

In other news, happy birthday to Daniel and Tasia! I hope you guys enjoyed the party (and the gigantic card) last night. It was certainly fun to plan. Also, my Obama HOPE poster came in! It’s quite the backdrop to my workspace. If I ever need inspiration while banging out the last hundred words of a paper, I just have to look up!

And yes, I am working on a paper as I write this post. I’m just taking a break! Seriously!

Here’s my tentative schedule for this semester, pending a few lotteries and whatnot. I’ll know what it is for good by the end of the week.

Well, I’m pleasantly surprised. I’ve been using Windows 7 Beta 1 for a couple of days now, and I have to say – Microsoft has redeemed itself after Vista. The new features aren’t superfluous, and are really quite useful. Despite the new taskbar being (unsurprisingly) very similar to Mac OS X’s dock, it still works well, and is aesthetically pleasing.

The intangibles are all there. Boot times, even on my MacBook, are nearly as fast as Leopard. Within the OS, everything is quite snappy. There really isn’t any of the sluggishness I experienced in Vista. When I open Chrome, it opens. It’s refreshing, especially when compared to Vista. Also, I look at the system resources, and Windows 7 is buzzing along at a mere 25% of RAM used, with a browser and IM client open. That’s really impressive. Altogether, it’s really a huge step in the right direction for Microsoft, and I really hope they can carry this success through to release. 90% of the world uses Windows, and it’s about time that Microsoft gave them something that works more often than not.

That said, I haven’t tried going through some of Windows’ usual pains. Networking, on the surface at least, has improved, with the wireless icon in the taskbar now no longer completely useless. Compatibility with hardware I also have not tried, but Vista SP1 seemed to have fixed many of the issues, and I expect that Windows 7 has kept that up.

For those of you who haven’t really looked at Windows 7 yet, here’s a run-down of some of the new features.

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