After considerable thought, earlier tonight, I finally got rid of my 33-month old Vista x64 install on my desktop. Like anything else, the circa May 2007 install of Vista Ultimate was starting to signs of age. Certain things within the OS were broken, some programs liked to hang, and I've noticed a general slowdown as I had installed more programs and saved more files over the years.
Why did I chose to install Windows Server 2008 R2? Because I got it for free through Microsoft's DreamSpark program. Otherwise the software would cost me in excess of $400, which I don't have right now.
Windows Server 2008 R2, being based upon Windows NT 6.1, is fundamentally the same as Windows 7, but with a few changes. All of the consumer "goodies" in client Windows are missing, although some, such as Windows Media Player, Windows Defender, and all of the Windows Aero eye candy can be re-added into the OS through the "desktop experience" feature in the server manager console. 2008 R2 also doesn't include the wide range of drivers that Vista and 7 do. After I installed the server OS, I needed to hop online to find audio and video drivers.
On top of all that, there are some pressing application compatibility issues present in Server 2008 R2 (and most other versions of NT Server). In order to install a conventional client anti-virus program, like Avast, you have to hack the registry. I've also had some problems with video editing software, like Windows Movie Maker not cooperating properly with some file types I throw at it.
Despite those issues, I've had a generally positive experience thus far, but I feel like I may need to dust off my Vista DVD once more in order to run programs not compatible with Server 2008 R2. I may either dual-boot Server 2008 R2 and Vista, or simply install Vista inside a virtual machine and run it that way.
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This past Wednesday, we had out first true blizzard in ages. After getting significant snowfalls on December 18-19th, February 5-6th, and February 9-10th, the winter of 2009-2010 will be one of our snowiest in years.
For the first major snowstorm back in December, I had quite an adventure which left me and my car spun out into the median on a major US highway because I had two final exams on that Saturday morning. Also, my grandfather had a heart attack that day shoveling snow. He was left in the hospital for nearly two weeks.
The next major storm, which was just a week ago, had me racing home from school on a Friday afternoon in order to make it home before the snow started accumulating on the ground. I made it home at 4:30, right when the first flakes started laying on the side streets.
And the latest storm, a true blizzard, just happened a few short days ago. It started snowing on Tuesday afternoon, at about 4:30 again, and didn't stop snowing until about 4:30 the next day. By 1:30 on Tuesday afternoon, Tuesday evening classes were canceled, and at around 8:00 Tuesday night, classes for Wednesday were canceled (my first snow day since an ice storm in 2008). At about 4:00 pm Wednesday afternoon, they canceled classes for Thursday, because many of the roads in the area were simply impassable. On Thursday night, I had the pleasure of digging my car out of about 20" of new snow. Myself, and two others got it out from the snow in about an hour.
The forecast is calling for more snow on Monday into Tuesday, my roommate and I are taking his truck back to school instead of my car. Many of the side streets are still in very poor condition. On my drive home today, I had to be detoured around the side streets of a small town, and the streets were barely wide enough for two cars to pass.
I really hope spring comes soon...
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So as you might be able to tell, I haven't quite been updating my blog on a regular basis. In fact, it's been nearly a year and a half since I've said anything here. Why? I don't really know. I suppose it's had something to do with a combination of laziness and the simple fact I've really had nothing on my mind to blog about. Well, I'd like to change that.
A few weeks ago, I told myself that I'd blog again, but that hasn't happened. With the combination of the holidays back in December, working back in the first few weeks of January, and the start of the spring semester two weeks ago, I've been very busy. I can already tell this semester of school will be one of my busiest yet. While I don't have anymore credits than I normally have, I think I'll have a much higher workload than normal.
Since I feel I'll be so busy, I may not be able to provide regular updates here, but I'll try to be a bit more consistent with the blog posts.
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Yep, it's late August, so that means it's time to go back to school. Well, in reality, I've been back at school for a week now, but that was for a week of band camp. Classes start Monday (tomorrow, already!) and I guess I'm ready. I still need to go over my schedule again, but I think I only have one class on Mondays, so that should make the transition a bit easier for me.
As I mentioned, I moved in to my room for the year last Sunday, and I've gotten quite comfortable in my new home already. It was a lot easier moving in this year, as opposed to last year when I was a freshman. I had no problems connecting to the school's network this year, unlike last year.
This year, the dining opportunities on campus seem even more limited than last year. First off, the main dining hall, Gordinier, which last year was open from 7am through 7pm every day not has limited hours on Sundays; it now opens at 9:30am and closes at 7pm. It doesn't really concern me that much as I'm never awake before 9:30am on Sundays, but I'm sure at least a few are.
The other main dining establishment I use on a regular basis, The Galley, which is a food court-like area in the Student Memorial Center, has also cut their weekend hours significantly. Yesterday when I tried to go there for lunch around 1pm, they were closed, despite their new Saturday hours from 11am through 3pm.
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(though the timestamp for this post will probably be 2:39am because the time on the server is an hour off).
What am I doing up at this hour? Well, not much. I just thought I'd pop by to let you know that I haven't forgotten about this blog.
In the coming days (probably not before Tuesday the 29th of July), I hope to review a new purchase that I made. Stay tuned!
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