Pardon us as we deal with some new technology. I bought a new device/ laptop/ tablet.

One thing that I do that drives everyone I know absolutely crazy is:  be perfectly happy with Microsoft products.

Well, sort of.  A few years back I obtained a new laptop PC with Windows 7 to replace my dying Windows Vista desktop box.  Well, the Windows 7 laptop had been acting up for a while, and I have now upgraded to a Lenovo Yoga with Windows 8.  It's a sort of tablet and PC in one running a full version of Windows 8.

"But, Mr. Blogger, why do you stick with MS devices?"  I work in MS all day long, and it generally works fine.  Except when it doesn't.  And I'd rather eat my own hat than deal with someone called a "Genius" while getting my ankles nipped at by mall rats.



What's been most shocking is realizing how we've reverted to the late 90's again while I wasn't looking.  Google, Apple and MS are no longer playing well together, and all while we're making the move to the cloud.  My Windows 7 machine is keeling over and needs some tender loving before it can get put in computer hospice, but I do plan to keep it going for a while if I can rehabilitate the thing.  It just won't be my primary device for doing things, like, say, blogging.

The Windows 8 tiles aren't any dumber than anything else, but it did take me an hour or two to adjust to the switch between the Tiles display and the desktop for Windows 8.  Or that the computer wants to swap back and forth depending upon what you're doing.

I settled on the Yoga from Lenovo as it was the least ridiculous of the tablet PCs as you pop back and forth between tablet and laptop formats.  Really, the laptop format is pretty great, and I'm already finding ways to use the tablet, such as - it is a bad ass comic reader. I was going crazy through my Monkeybrain books last night, and I think I'll be switching to digital for Atomic Robo in 2013.  The display is 13", so I'm getting a full page reading experience rather than the guided view I'm used to, and while I see value in both - when I'm reading old Wonder Woman comics (as I was last night), I want to read it as printed.

I don't talk much about technology, even though I work around and in tech all day every day.  I have things I like, such as Google and some of what MS brings to the table.  And we'll save the Google conversation for another day, because, man...  I am really impressed by their moves this year to move into the PC market.

CanadianSimon is an expert in Android tech, and I need to talk to him about that at some point.

What's clear is that we're living through another sea change brought about by mobile devices and the cloud providing options that I'm just really getting my head around.  The big players are making walls again like in the PC vs. Mac wars of the 90's, and I'm not sure what will happen, but I can tell you it's a pain right now and I wish I were less rigid in how I think of media.  I see a lot of hackwork or manual work ahead of me to make sure all my stuff gets preserved as I'd like and I foresee a mix of Google and MS for me for the next two years til this gets sorted out.

So, tech nerds...  tell me why I am wrong.