Computer

Okay, this isn't an encounter that is uniquely Irish...but it's something I've been dealing with nevertheless.
Three weeks ago I was given a brand-new Dell computer for my office, with Windows Vista. Uh-oh...I was skeptical about the new Vista, but sure, I'd give it a try. So I spend several hours downloading and installing the software I need for my research. Turns out, several of the packages aren't compatible with Vista yet. (In particular, I really needed to use MikTeX for my presentation last week...) The university has a software client that allows users to access the university's many applications...but that client is not compatible with Vista. So the university gives me a machine that it doesn't support??
I called IT Services, they put in a request to have Windows XP installed on my machine. In the meantime, I couldn't do much work on the computer, both because I didn't have the programs, and because I knew everything would get wiped off when they reformat it for the different operating system.

A week later I got an email saying they don't have a license to distribute Windows XP by disc. I replied that I didn't want a disc, I simply wanted them to come over and install it on my machine. A few days later they replied warning me that all my files will be deleted. I replied that I'm aware of that, which is why I'd like this to get taken care of as soon as possible so I can get to work. A few days later they replied asking what my current RAM is, what the hard disk space is, and what the operating system is--this annoyed me, as clearly in my emails that were quoted below in their reply, I had already explained that my operating system was Vista and I needed XP, blah blah blah. Okay, so the next day I get a reply that they are going to have to transfer this request to another building/service in order to get resolution. What??

So yesterday I made some calls to the IT Services of the School of Mathematical Sciences (instead of the university IT folks), to see if they could help. The answer was they have no license to install XP, and they were already familiar with the compatibility problems of math software with Vista, but there's nothing they can do, except offer me Linux. Oh boy. Now Linux is indeed powerful and what a hardcore mathematician/computer scientist would use... But then the IT folks warned me that they offer no support for Linux--"if you are good enough to use Linux, then you're good enough to not need any help." Well, I used Linux for 6 years getting my Ph.D., but I'm not an expect so I think I'll still with Windows...

Finally, today a university IT guy came to my office and said he could install XP, and it would take about an hour. Yea! So I piddled around, trying to occupy myself...but soon 3 hours passed, and he was having trouble getting on the network. Evidently it's missing some drivers needed to get on the network (i.e. no Internet). So he calls Dell, and they say he must put Vista back on, as it's not designed to have XP. What?? The guy hangs up, tries some other things, nothing works, so he says he will call Dell back and insist...

In the meantime, I went home, still without a computer working...