My experience with trying to beta test WHS seems to me to be nothing short of comically tragic...or tragically comic, so I thought I'd put it down (since I can't be bothered to do anything else with my blog of late).
Application Day
"Yep...got that...yep, got that...lessee...how many computers do I have? Let's only count the ones that are running and my husband's...that comes to...uh...let's just say seven...Yep...yep...yep...submit!
"Ooh...wait...did I just tell Microsoft that I had a spare hard drive that was at least four times the size of any of my current spares? Uh...I think I did...well, I suppose I can go out and buy another hard drive...or replace that dual 166MHz Proliant that I can never find matched processors for heeheeheehee."
[starts checking eBay for Proliants, not liking the selection, mostly due to insufficient hard drive capacities]
Friday, March 2nd
"I do believe that application did ask for more hard drive space than I have...hmmm...well, I suppose I could get a PowerEdge, but I've already got a Dell.
"Well, it isn't an issue unless I get--
"Hooray! I'm in! Now I've gotta buy a hard drive!"
[heads off to CompUSA after work]
"Hmm...where the heck are the IDE drives? SATA...SATA...external USB...external firewire...notebook drives..."
[wanders around the whole store looking for a cheapo bin, gets distracted looking for Tablet PCs and UPSs; eventually comes back to the hard drives]
"Well, I guess I could buy that 120GB notebook drive that's on sale, replace my Tablet's 100GB hard drive, then use my 40-pin to 44-pin adapter--wtf? What happened to the lights! Aww, sheesh, it would be just my luck the power would go out! Maybe if I just stand here, the power will come back on in a few minutes."
Unseen CompUSA staff member: "Hey [name forgotten], we should have all the customers gather up front so no one falls down."
I think to myself, "You mean so no one gets a five-finger discount while the security system is down!"
I quickly turn on my Pocket PC phone, hit the camera button, and use the flash to light up the shelves before me. As a floor dude comes to herd me toward the front, I ask him a quick question about the sales price, grab the box and go where I'm wanted. I am still stupidly hoping the power will soon be restored. My hopes rise when a clerk announces that her terminal is still on. Another staff member tells her that she will have power for a few minutes, until the backup power is exhausted. A manager announces to those of us milling in the front of the store that cash purchases can be made for the next few minutes, but credit cards cannot be taken. I debate counting my cash, but I had hoped to use a CompUSA gift card to help with this acquisition, and I suspect that it will not work today. A young lady at the Customer Service desk confirms my suspicion. I consider waiting a little longer, but then I just give in, put the drive down, and go out. After all, Best Buy is right across the street. As I search my wallet for my Best Buy gift card, I'm nearly blown down several times by the wind, which is probably responsible for CompUSA's power loss. Alas, I don't have that card on me, so I head home to pick up my husband and meet my friends for dinner. We're late...can't imagine why.
To Be Continued (it doesn't really get better, not yet, anyway)...
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