I personally own a dozen computers, mostly for my law office. However, I have several ones at home, including a laptop for sitting outside on the patio, and one that actually is on my television. I’m inundated with computers wherever I turn.

I became quasi-computer literate in 1989 with my first computer purchase. I actually built it myself so I had to understand what RAM memory was versus hard drive memory, etc. The old computers were run with DOS and there were many varieties from which to choose.

Through all of the computer advances over the years, I’ve tried to stay on top of all of the newest changes. It has been very tough, since new hardware and software is being developed and introduced every day.

I purchased a new machine last year, before all of the news hit the streets about this new software. I was excited. I really loved the idea of getting something new and different, and I liked the thought of a “change.”

I thought that maybe all of the old ways of looking at my computer needs had changed. Therefore, I didn’t feel as guilty for not knowing about all of the newest processors and software patches; all I needed to know was found in this new computer. It was New, Different, and all about Change.

Almost mockingly, I stood tall as I opened my new computer. While all of these computer geeks were using their old and outdated Windows XP machines, I was moving forward, well past their feeble attempts in trying to update their old, tired out version of Windows.

I was becoming a computer-illiterate very fast, and this new computer was the answer. The advertising said that this new software was faster ... hmmm, I like that. It said it was different ... hmmm, different is good. It said it would “change” my computer habits ... hmmm, I like new and different things because I get easily bored. So I bought my first Windows VISTA computer.

Wow, it was so cool. It had all of the neatest features. The way the graphics could move from window to window caught my eye immediately. Man, oh, man! This machine was extremely cool. I proudly announced my intention to become a Vista Man.

Then after I had invested all of my time, energy and money into my new Vista machine, I started noticing something was wrong. The many changes that it made were mostly unnecessary and really were more smoke and mirrors.

I asked myself if I wanted a glitzy desktop array of colorful items, or did I want to be able to work on the computer efficiently and with some degree of simplicity. I started to figure out that when something went wrong. And when things went wrong, I couldn’t figure out how to fix it.

All of the options had changed and I couldn’t find my way around the maze that had become part of the Vista’s operating system. Did they really have to make this so complicated? Did we really need all of this change?

Sure its more colorful, new and exciting. If only there had been a try-it-before-you-buy-it option. Should I have read the in-depth reviews first, instead of excitedly buying the first machine I could find whose slick advertising promised me all of these new features?

I read an article the other day about the differences in XP and Vista, which started me to thinking. The current thinking is that Vista is and was a huge mistake. Microsoft spent millions on the ad campaigns which caused Americans to buy into this new product, but then they discovered several things.

The Vista product had not been tested or tried over long periods of time. Its many new components seemed to conflict with any legacy software or products. It ignored my pleas to use other programs, and plainly and arrogantly told me that it could not use my older programs. I would have to buy the newest versions of every software that I owned. It said I had to expect this as routine.

Instead of pretty graphics, I was having to shut down or to “restore” to an older version. It said that the virus problems were not its fault and that I had to buy additional programs to protect the many holes that it had left open.

Somehow, it was my fault for not knowing what I was buying. But what about all of the broken promises that this new Vista was revolutionary and would quickly replace the old run down software called XP?

I scratched my head and wondered, Who tested this machine? Who made sure that its programs were written correctly? And who decided that the old programs and software like XP really needed the kind of changes that Vista forced upon us?

Then it dawned on me. My experience with Vista was similar to America’s experience with Obama. People with little experience with computers/politics are buying into this product, not knowing that it lacks the hardened testing that years of use can give to it. That merely because something was new didn’t mean it was better. That merely because something was glitzy with lots of cool bells and whistles, didn’t mean it could do the job any better than the old reliable workhorse I’ve had sitting on my desk for years.

Many computer geeks have written their reviews in comparing these two products, XP with Vista, and I wondered if that comparison might also compare Obama to McCain. Well, here are their reviews.

Third party software: Vista is not capable of using any software that hasn’t been approved by Microsoft.

Obama is not capable of using any ideas that haven’t been vetted by the liberal leaders of his party. His voting record is the most liberal in the Senate. There is no way older programs will be used in his administration, and certainly none written by a Republican.

Usability: Vista again, has some wonderful graphics and is fun to play around with, but you can’t find where or how to use many of its very complicated features. When you do, you can’t figure out how to get back to that place again.

Obama is dynamic and exciting. Heck, they’re doing YouTube videos of him, with well-endowed women bouncing around him like he is a rock star. But when you try to get an answer from him, you get a blank look and then some asinine comment, e.g., meeting with foreign despots without any preconditions.

(Obama’s foreign policy sorely needs a virus protector, except in his case, it’s to protect us from the hidden viruses that are written into his base code by the likes of racists, Marxists, and domestic terrorists, who’ve been writing his code for years.)

Performance: Vista is unbelievably fast and dynamic when compared to XP ... unless you compare it to the programs that are useful, and then you realize the extreme costs. Because Vista would not work with any old program, you had to buy into all of these new programs that cost as much as the computer itself.

Obama’s newest policies — at least those he hasn’t “changed” his opinion on yet — can not adapt to the reality of our own lives.

From nationalized health care, that he claims isn’t socialized medicine, to his mindless expansion of writing new programs for every problem he faces on the campaign trail, Obama and Vista say they are the answer to all of our problems.

Reliability: XP has a few bugs in it, no doubt, but overall it’s a workhorse. When problems developed as new vulnerabilities were discovered, Microsoft was quick to correct the error with an updated version.

Vista has proven itself to not only cost more in the long run, but it’s not reliable at all. Re-booting and reinstalling drivers and hardware is the norm. Every time something happens on a Vista machine, it says I’ve committed an “illegal” operation. Huh? I was trying to answer my email.

Obama’s software is unique. It has many programmers writing his policies everyday. From Jeremiah Wright, Farrakhan, and even a domestic terrorist named Ayers, Obama’s programming is being written with many unknown bugs.

But when one of the original programmers is of no current use to him, he quickly deletes her. (e.g., he threw his “typical white grandmother” under the bus, instead of abandoning Rev. Wright. She must have committed an illegal programming act.)

And finally, one of the most central concerns we all face today as we surf the web is security.

Security: Those who bought into Vista are now learning that the software used to write its programming was corrupted from the start. The hidden programming, waiting for the right moment, will eventually corrupt the entire computer and all of the programs that have gone into it.

Vista’s system wasn’t vetted nor used in real office scenarios, so it’s sorely lacking the ability of the tried and tested XP machines.

Obama again compares wonderfully to the Vista. He, like Vista, has never been tested in real world/office conditions. While McCain was being “tortured” in a prison cell, Obama was being “tutored” in private Indonesian schools, so as to allow him to experience “diversity.”

While McCain was commanding entire air wings in the military, Obama was playing basketball under the name of Barry and studying with known Marxists, one whom he warmly calls Frank, while purposefully omitting his full name in his own book so that no one would know how much admiration he had for an avowed Marxist.

While Obama was organizing the people of South Chicago to fill out applications for more welfare benefits, John McCain was working with Ronald Reagan and other Republicans in bringing down the Iron Curtain.

While McCain would bring to the presidency a seasoned, experienced, and hard-working patriot, Obama brings little if any governing experience and only platitudes and catch phrases, reminding you that he is new, different and a “change.”

John McCain and Windows XP might be old, but they’ve been tested and vetted over time. Sure, they are not as glitzy or as exciting as Obama and Vista, but we know how McCain operates.

We have no idea of how Obama’s programming has been written. His programmers come from all walks of life. From the racists of his own family church of 20 years, to the terrorists that advised about Chicago politics, to the Marxists in college that he writes about with admiration, we have no idea of when that programming will kick in.

But I can guarantee you, it will be after the November election, and then, it will be too late.

Although America loves the newest and most exciting products to purchase, we must investigate this major purchase first. Otherwise, will be stuck with a president who cannot figure out how to operate with foreign dictators, who thinks taxes on the rich is the only answer, or who has never walked across the aisle to the Republican side while in Congress a single time in a bipartisan manner.

Obama is the wrong kind of programming for America. Lets hope we figure that out before we get another message from our computer, “You have made an illegal operation, and therefore the system must be shut down.”

Richard Hobbs

Fayetteville, Ga.

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