For regular readers of my blog...  I think there is one of you, maybe two... you'll be excited to learn that I got my new computer today... finally!  There was a little drama associated with it arriving here.  There were 3 separate boxes it was delivered in.  The first box which contained the surge protector/UPS arrived very early on, maybe 2 or 3 days after I ordered the computer.  The second box arrived on schedule yesterday the 8th, even with inclement weather.  However the third box was delivered due to bad weather!  That's right, apparently the weather was perfect to bring the second box, but when it came to the third box, which oh by the way, contained the computer, the weather was too poor to risk an excursion.

So besides a little shipping drama, I'm uber-pysched that I've got this computer.  Windows 7 is surprising snappy.  To be honest I've never understood why in Windows XP it takes forever for the Start menu or Program Files to be rendered out.  Whatever the reason, they've fixed it.  I think small things like that speeding up the menu bars and things is what gives Windows 7 that overall snappy opinion that everyone seems to have of it, myself included now.  I would also like to point it, it just looks more awesome.  I've never been more disgusted of a UI than I am of the Windows XP default theme, which is basically the same one from Windows 98.  So after a decade of basically all the same look and feel, I'd say we're due. 

A few more cool features I'd like to mention, keep in mind these are first impressions as I've only had the computer for about 7 hours now.

1. Desktop Peek - A very cool feature, just highlight over the bottom task bar and it lets me see the desktop.
2. "Shake" Feature - I'm not sure of the name, but if you have four hundred windows open and you want to minimize all but one, just click on the window and give it a shake.  Its more handy than it sounds.
3. Program Search - Finally! I rarely remember how many levels deep something got installed or where its at, I just know what it's called.  Now you can do a search and it brings the results to you, no more clicking through endless menu options.
4. Improved Windows Task Manager - Besides the fact I can see all 8 CPU threads, that's right, its awesome, it also distinguishes processes that are services versus the applications that I have running.  There is also this handy "Resource Monitor" that breaks down processes by CPU usage, disk usage, network usage and memory usage.  I really wish I had that feature at work.

Well that about wraps it up for today.  There are more features I have yet to explore like Windows Virtual PC, aka virtual machine and I'm sure there are tons I've yet to see.  Check out the pics below of the unboxing and the final setup.