When I check under XP, my computer is running about 300 threads at idle (that is, no programs running). Does an O/S really need that many threads? When I boot under Windows Server 2003, I find 500 threads at idle. And when it's running under Vista, the number is almost 800 threads.
Obviously, Vista works a lot harder to do the same amount of nothing. No wonder my laptop crashes sometimes when I ask it to boot to Vista… it's saying "please, no, I'm tired!" Just like when I ask my students to do more homework?
A few months back, I said goodbye to Ubuntu. But now I'm reconsidering. Vista is getting on my nerves, again. Nevertheless, I had a major insight, yesterday, at work, as I was trying to do something (anything!) constructive with the new install of Microsoft Office 2007 (or some recent year). It doesn't help, obviously, that I'm stuck with the Korean language version at work, and that it doesn't let you switch to English. But why is it that every time Microsoft upgrades something, they change all the keyboard shortcuts? Do they think that no one uses them? I really despise relying on my mouse to get things done, and since I'm working with the Korean version, figuring out the keyboard shortcuts basically boils down to randomly pressing keys and collecting data on what it does.
Oh, so, what was I talking about? My major insight… I prefer teaching to working with computers for one very simple reason: computers always make me feel stupid, and kids at least sometimes make me feel smart. There's nothing complicated about that.