I received my new laptop at long-last today. On average, Program Managers in my group can expect to get new laptops every 24 months. Last month I celebrated my two-year anniversary with Microsoft by ordering a shiny, new Sony Vaio S580. Well, truth be told, I ordered the laptop three weeks ahead of time, on October 23rd. The theory was that I would have the laptop by the time I flew off for my grand old time in Hawaii.

Of course, things being what they are, I finally received the laptop today. After weeks and weeks of back order status, FedEx not being capable of delivering the laptop to our receiving building, and our mail room promptly misplacing it I finally got to remove it from its packaging, slide the battery in, and turn it on.

initial reactions:

  1. The standard battery sucks. A lot. I ordered an extended battery, but it has yet to arrive. I’m going to have to figure out these power management settings thingies.

  2. Office 12 Beta 1 is phenomenally cool, but i have no idea whatsoever about how to use it. Powerpoint 12 is proving to be the bane of my existence, with its truly inscrutable text layout options. Eventually I’ll learn the Ribbon, but for the time being it’s been learning me good, instead.

  3. XBrite screens are just gorgeous. G. O. R. G. E. O. U. S.

  4. Windows Live Messenger Beta is nifty. Friends of mine, email me if you want an invitation to use it. On an amusing sidenote, I was sitting at Victrola earlier tonight trying to figure out why Outlook 12’s RPC over HTTP feature hated me so much (turns out I need a Hotfix) when I met another Microsoft PM whose weblog I had just started reading days earlier.

  5. Having a laptop capable of running Civilization 4 is both exciting and terrifying. I will never, ever work again.