[PcTech] choosing an OS and getting comfy with a new pc

[rick.baird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Hey all,

i'm soon to be the proud user of a new pc.  IBM thimkpad, I thimk.  big.  i
mean really mindbogglingly big, at least compared with my current desktop.

It's been a LOOOONG time since i've had to set up a new one and try and get
it as 'comfy' as my old one.

Mostly, I'll be running CODE, client access, IE, notes, domino designer,
sametime, most of office, maybe a little VB and VRPG, and probably a lot of
playing around in and about the whole websphere family (low end, not the
one with enterprise java beans - yet) until I get comfortable with what
would fit our goals. - then I expect to hit that side of it heavily.

the last time I did this, it took me at least a day or 2 to transfer the
stuff I needed from one to the other, and to configure the new one to the
way i like it. - you know, keymapping, shortcuts, taskbar options, folder
options, and all of the little things that you grow accustomed to that you
never remember how you changed it in the first place.

my questions are:

1.  we're in a mixed desktop OS environment - some W98, W2K and XP - I can
probably have my choice of OS - based on the above, do you prefer W2K or
XP?
2.  does everyone go through the same thing I described above, or is there
a shortcut or series of shortcuts that could speed the above process along?

thanks,

Rick