![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/48/C64_startup_animiert.gif)
I've been a Microsoft supporter for almost as long as I've used a "PC". I started on a commodore 64, which ran "Microsoft Basic v2.0", however I wasn't aware of the fact that "Commodore Basic V2.0" was a Microsoft product. Back then I used a "300 Baud" modem to run my own "BBS"... those were the pre-internet days...
In 1995 I purchased an IBM Aptiva, which ran windows 95, on a Pentium I. It did so very badly, because IBM is one of those Microsoft haters, and offered every type of non-Microsoft software they could get on the machine. The machine kept crashing. -- To make things worse, I was one of those adventuress kids that would download beta software. -- I learned 2 things: 1: NEVER use beta software for your operating system, or anything tied closely to your operating system. And 2: if you can... run all Microsoft software, and you will have less crashes.
I've been living by that mantra for over 13 years now, and I'm happy to say, every year I have less and less crashes. [knock] [knock] [knock].
Ok, that brings me to today. I have been having 'speed' issues with IE7 (that's internet explorer version 7). Nothing I tried helped. So for fun, I downloaded the latest version of Google's "Chrome" browser today and tried it out AGAIN. I found two interesting things. 1: The browser DOES render NukeWorker.com a lot faster than IE7, and 2: It has a built in spell check that underlines in red (like MS Word) any word that it thinks is spelled wrong.
So... I just might start using this Chrome browser as my default browser of choice, it really is a lot faster. Especially with things like our facility info/map software, and when you click preview..
Here are some links to IE's competitors (
Firefox,
Opera,
Chrome, and
Safari).