Still using Windows…

I “play” with Windows.  I “use” OS X.  However, there are a few programs that still run under Windows only, and there just isn’t a suitable (or any) replacement for the Mac.  A couple of things I only use very infrequently, such as Visio or AutoCAD, or even ArcGIS.  For that reason, the Mac works well, and does the things I need so much better.

But, I do have different flavors of M$ Windows running under VMware on my Mac.  I’ve dedicated an external FW800 drive for the images of XP Pro, Vista Business (32-bit), Vista Ultimate (64-bit), the Windows 7 RC (still not sure I want to pay for an upgrade), and Ubuntu 9.10.

Today, I applied some upgrades I held off with installing for quite a while.  My XP installation is pretty lean, and only used for the applications listed above, as well as for Outlook to my work Exchange account.  Since I work in the Mac all the time, it’s just easy to use this Outlook, as opposed to running my Dell while at home solely for the purpose of staying connected with that email account.  I find that not loading it up with a bunch of junk doesn’t bog it down, and for the most part is pretty stable.

Anyway, I took some time to apply the latest updates, and included the Windows Live applications.  It will never be a Mac (although they make a half hearted attempt with these applications) but I was curious.  The thing that caught my attention was the blog writing software.

So here I am, giving it a test with Jim’s New World.  It didn’t like my theme, and probably has limited functionality as a result, but it might work in a pinch for an offline editor.  This post will serve as a test.