Windows Vista on an Old Notebook
30 12 2007
The negative publicity around Windows Vista has been relentless since its debut in November 2006. It’s been called slow, incompatible, a resource hog, and most recently featured in CNet’s “Top ten terrible tech products” of all time. So much has it been maligned, that even I, a self-professed technophile and early adopter have held off for more than 12 months before even giving it a look. Admittedly, I own a four-year-old notebook, about the worst possible computer to upgrade to Windows Vista. Every reviewer would scream danger and warn of headaches with proprietary drivers and the like. To me it smelled of a challenge. So I bade farewell to XP and booted up Vista’s install DVD on my trusty old Acer TravelMate 370. The results, I have to say, have been mixed.
Categories : Tech
Long-term stability on the Balkan peninsula is still attainable, however some difficult decisions, and changes in entrenched views, are what is required. 
The Balkans are undoubtedly one of Europe’s most tumultuous regions. Partly due to centuries of friction between great empires, and partly because of the unusual heterogeneity of its ethic composition, it is often compared to a “powder keg” for good reason. The coming months will witness a time of even greater than usual tension in this region, as Kosovo moves towards independence, and Bosnia-Herzegovina grapples with its unworkable political structure. Some commentators go as far as foreshadowing renewed conflicts. The growing antagonism between Russia and the West, played out through their proxies in Belgrade and Pristina, rekindles memories of another major conflict sparked in this very neighbourhood, almost 100 years ago. Much of the tension today however, is a result of the international community’s inadequate (and often misguided) response to the collapse of the former Yugoslavia in 1991. Part one of this two part series will look at the state of the Balkans today from the viewpoint of the major ethnic players in the region. 
