Re-fresh

After I got back from my holiday my laptop, which had had a rest for a few weeks, groaned back to life as I demanded yet more from it. As the days moved on it got increasingly sluggish until last week when the startup screen was replaced by (what looked like) an Italian futurist painting. My laptop had had enough.

Luckily I managed to salvage the years of writings, photographs and music and I even had a chance to export the bookmarks from the three different browsers I used, just before the machine gave its last wheeze.

I was also lucky enough to get my hands on a replacement laptop. But when the time came to set it up I began to question why I had three browsers. Why, indeed, did I have about five hundred sites bookmarked? Why, since we’re asking, did I have all those esoteric programmes and a huge collection of clipart?

So, being in a mood for change, I didn’t export the bookmarks. Instead I got a pen and some paper and wrote down the sites I actually visit regularly. I Have gone from 500+ sites to under thirty.

Then I made some brutal choices on software. I ported Ableton Live (a fabulous music making programme) across, but left almost everything else. Since I’m using a Mac, most of my needs I catered by the on-board software. iPhoto, iTunes and so on.

The huge library of clipart is gone too. The fact that it was a surprise to find I still had it was the excuse to delete it. Does anyone use clipart?

The only thing missing is Microsoft Word, which I couldn’t port over and will need to get a copy of, pronto.

The real test will be trying not to fill the new machine with so much junk. Fingers crossed.