The Arcane and the Obvious

I just found out about a site this morning called Windows Networking.com. I found a possible solution to my Master Browser elections on the network for which I'm responsible.

Yeah... I installed some web statistic tracking tools for this blog.

I found out this morning that I was getting some hits for an entry almost two years old on Windows themes for IBM ThinkPad laptops.

So while I could have been responsible and eaten lunch, instead I researched a new location of said themes and updated my links. Of course, IBM doesn't own the ThinkPad trademark anymore, and Lenovo doesn't seem to have the same sort of community focus. I couldn't find anything similar there. As a side note, though, their driver support for older models is *excellent.*

After updating the journal entry, I downloaded a theme, installed it and tweaked it. I then went to another site for a desktop wallpaper.

When I looked at the clock, I had 5 minutes left out of my 30 minute lunch.

Whoops!

I'm all about skinning and themes. It's a fun way to make my computer reflect me, to be more "mine."

Even better are free themes that don't require a third party tool in order to apply them.

Check out the Royale Noir theme. Link (via Download Squad)

Well, if you like the Royale Noir theme I linked below, you might also like the Zune theme. Link (via istartedsomething)

There are two main differences I can spot. The Start button is orange, and it comes with an installer, making it oh-so-easy to apply.

Now where can I find those new Windows Vista sounds? I bought the customer preview, but it still has the old XP sounds. Rumor has it the new builds of Vista come with freshly composed sound effects.

I attempted to install the Release Candidate of Vista Service Pack One.

I've been running Vista (non-Aero) on an old Dell laptop. It has been slow but stable. Mostly usable.

After the service pack allegedly reverts changes (I've tried twice) Vista doesn't do anything more annoying than tell me there is a new service pack update to install. There is no loss of data or functionality. No new error messages.

But it's pretty disappointing. The Release Candidate for XP SP3 worked like a charm on an even older laptop and Windows XP seems to perform as well as it always has, if not better.

At this point, the Vista laptop is looking like an excellent candidate for conversion to Ubuntu.