My trusty Win2k box is so old it is beginning to suffer Alzheimers and is finding it difficult to get out of bed in the morning. So I have acquired a new companion, a bright shiny silver laptop with zippy drives and a flashy screen. On the advice of others I allowed it to come with Vista pre-installed.

As I open it and turn on the power it is love at first sight. The led's blink, the screen flashes, and I am off and running. Oh frabjous day, callooh, callay! I start to move into my new playground. I install my development software. It runs! I can compile! I open the INI file to set my custom workspace! I save the INI file. I open my compiler and... I am saved from myself. Vista ignores my desires and uses the installed settings. Obviously it knows more about how my dev platform works than I do, and it knows I will be much happier this way.

I try my mail and newsgroup software. Edit the configuration files (see "Configure", Verb, The act of changing) and save my desires. I fire up the mailer and again I am saved from myself! My mailer runs from the original settings which have been spirited off to some dark space for safekeeping from the evil user demon.

I go to my usual support spaces and whine. I am told it is better this way, get used to it. This is a saftey feature that will insure no unscrupulous cad will take control of my destiney and destroy the world with an unprotected computer. My bright shiney new laptop no longer looks so shiney inside of it's electronic condom.

All I know is I cannot use the software I have purchased in the way it was meant to be used. And the most distressing part about the whole revelation is, the evil bad hackers and nefarious spammers will figure out all the in's and outs of getting around these safeguards long before I do!

But I am fine. I breathe deep. I meditate. I accept that which I cannot change. In this fashion, I am certain, Vista will surely lead me to enlightenment.