Is Anybody Running Windows Vista Yet?

A while ago, I had mentioned that I installed a Site Meter for this blog. One of the statistics that the Site Meter keeps track of is operating system. I've noticed that none of my blog visitors are running Microsoft Windows Vista yet. I know that Windows Vista hasn't been widely released, since most versions of Vista won't be available until January 2007. But I do know that many beta versions of Vista exist, and the business version of Windows Vista has already been released.

On a related note, I recently purchased a new desktop computer at Micro Center. The new machine is a Compaq Presario SR2050NX. It uses a dual-core Pentium D processor 820 running at 2.8 GHz. But the main features that I was shopping for were a DVD(+/-)RW burner, a built-in card reader, and 1GB of RAM. Also, I held off on my buying decision until Hewlett-Packard (the parent company of Compaq) agreed to provide an update to Microsoft Windows Vista. Currently, the computer runs Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005, and I'm supposed to receive Windows Vista Home Premium after the general release in January 2007. I only have to pay for the shipping charges.

Free USB Flash Drives

Over Thanksgiving weekend, my DW and I attended an investment conference in San Francisco. I enjoy collecting the freebies that are made available by exhibitors at these conferences. I have discovered a new trend in freebies: USB (Universal Serial Bus) flash drives. A USB flash drive is a portable computer memory that plugs into a computer USB port and can be used like a small hard disk. USB Flash drives are also known as thumb drives.

In the past, exhibitors have used a variety of media to get their messages across. Typically, they have used glossy brochures, and CD-ROMs containing information about their companies. Now, some companies have put their annual reports, company press releases, PowerPoint slides, and other data onto USB flash drives that they give away as freebies. I was able to snag a couple of these 512MB drives from a booth at the conference. My DW also got a free MP3 player for herself. In this case, the 256MB MP3 player also contained soft copies of company literature from the sponsoring firm. Of course, the casing of each USB flash memory is printed with the company logo, so it is unmistakably a freebie. After viewing the information on the USB flash drive, the memory can be re-used for whatever purpose the user wants.

I think this is a shrewd move on the part of the exhibitors. When their company literature was contained on a CD-ROM, I might choose not to view it. However, when the information is on a USB drive, I pretty much have to at least glance at it once (even if it is only to delete the data so that I can re-use the flash memory). With a bunch of new freebies in hand, I've chalked up another successful investment conference!

I'm not sure of other venues or companies where these free USB flash drives are available. But if anybody else knows where to get more, I'd be interested in hearing from you.