Okay, okay … I’ll admit it. I didn’t figure out how to create the graphics for this new layout all by myself. When I thought I was done, my brother pointed me to a GIMP tutorial that explained how to create Vista-style buttons. I tried it out and liked the result good enough to use it on here.

Keep in mind that my use of buttons that look like Vista does not mean I am advocating that operating system in any way. I explained in a conversation on Facebook yesterday that I’m fairly opposed to using the OS. I haven’t used it much, but from my brief experiences, following are my complaints. In short: Windows XP works great for me. Why do I need something different?

1. Vista puts stuff in different places. I don’t know whose bright idea it was to move so much stuff around. Higher learning curve means fewer people will be willing to adopt it quickly.
2. That Mac vs. PC commercial that pokes fun at the new security stuff in Vista is pretty accurate.
3. I tried to connect to a Samsung laser printer connected to an XP machine from a Vista machine and couldn’t get it to work. I tried all sorts of stuff, looked online, etc., etc., for like an hour or so. Then, I added it to my XP laptop and it took a whole 1-2 minutes.

In summary, Vista is lacking in compatibility, learnability, usability, and Erich-friendliness .