Out in The Field

Finally, another holiday film.  This entirely uneventful stroll through some fields was edited together from the footage I shot last bank holiday, way back in August.  The reason for the long hiatus in my holiday films was down to the ongoing problems with the hard drive on my old laptop.  However, armed with a brand new, far more powerful, laptop, (purchased on Friday), post-production on the raw footage can now resume.  Hopefully, I'll be able to edit together the remaining footage into films fairly quickly now.  Video editing is something the new Lenovo laptop seems to handle with ease. Unlike its predecessor, on which the whole process could be painfully slow.  I'm also optimistic that I'll be able to resume the long-delayed next episode of 'The Sleazecast' now that I have a reliable and capable laptop once more.

Before leaving the subject of the new laptop, I feel obligated to mention Windows 8.  This operating system seems to have enraged many users, and I can see why.  The insistence on giving primacy to the 'Metro' apps screen (the one with all the tiles) and the relegation of the desktop to simply another app, even when the OS is installed on a laptop or desktop is more than mildly irritating.  It is, frankly, perverse.  For the majority of PC users the desktop is the main productivity area and shoul, obviously, have primacy.  Compounding this problem is Microsoft's decision to strip the desktop of many of its functions by refusing to install the equivalent to a 'start' menu. This results in a tedious and incessant switching between desktop and 'Metro' screen in order to access and launch various applications which should be directly accessible from the desktop.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Windows 8 is a bad OS in itself.  It certainly isn't.  But it is poorly configured for the vast majority of laptop and desktop PC users.  If I had it installed on a tablet or smartphone in this format, I'd think it was fabulous.  Luckily, most of the problems can be overcome through the use of freeware which installs a start menu and boots the OS straight into the desktop environment.  There are several out there to choose from.  Personally, I use Obit Start Menu 8.  Since I installed it, I've found Windows 8 a lot easier and more enjoyable to use.  It's just a pity I've been forced to use a third-party application to do what Microsoft should have done in the first place.