When someone comes to eat me alive, well I like to see their teeth

[venta]

So, here I am just trotting off to bed when I remember that I meant to post some questions here. They're not my questions, but they're questions which have been asked of me recently and I've either not had anything terribly interesting to say, or not known the answer.


What is the difference between the various versions of Windows XP ? What does the Media Center Edition do that the Professional Edition or the Home Edition doesn't ? Or what doesn't it do that they do ? I've found a few pages which are full of marketing fluff and little meaning - can anyone actually define any known concrete differences ?

Has anyone ever used M$ Works, in particular its spreadsheet program ? Are there any limitations to it (compared to Excel), in particular on the maximum width/height of spreadsheets, or compatibility with Excel files ?

And the other question. Which was important. But I've forgotten it. Bonus points if you can answer it anyway.


The last enquiry isn't so much as a do-you-know-the-answer question as a request for feedback. You, yes you, could be the voice of the younger generation because my mother wants to know what said generation thinks about buying winter clothes.

Apparently some shops (like Next) are saying that the biggest effect anything had on their sales this season was the cold snap in Novemeber. Apparently everyone suddenly thought "shit, it's winter, I'd better buy a jumper" all at once. I certainly remember a conversation with a friend around then in which he expressed a requirement for warm clothes. "I have no memory of throwing out all my warm clothes last year," he said "but it looks like I just have done".

I, being very boring, simply raked the stack of jumpers out the back of the wardrobe. Fashion, you say ? What's that ?

So, did anyone feel compelled to go out and buy winter clothes in November ? Do you chuck away winter clothes at the beginning of spring ? If you know you need a nice new coat for winter do you start looking in Autumn, or do you wait til it gets cold ? Were you forced into purchasing an inferior coat in a hurry because you'd been stuck looking for one you liked, but were outpaced by the weather ? Enquiring minds wish to know.

Comments

[undyingking.livejournal.com]

My mum used to use Works, and the spreadsheet was incompatible with Excel, and also there was no import filter for it in Excel -- so you had to go out to CSV or whatever to move between them. Also, I seem to remember it was limited to something like 256 * 65536. That was a few years ago though, it might have improved since then...

I'm not sure I've ever brought a jumper -- they tend to be bought for me as presents (maybe because people think I look cold) and then reused every winter. After all, they don't exactly wear out all that easily... I've got a few that are at least 15 years old. I did buy my own winter coats (one overcoat, one smart overcoat, one padded jacket), back in the mists, but similarly they just come out every year. Gosh, that sounds dreadfully sad, reading it back! Maybe I should just hide in a cave all winter instead.

Perhaps your friend put his winter clothes in the loft, and forgot about it? In which case he'll have a nice surprise at some point in the future.

[wimble.livejournal.com]

Excel only supports 256 by 65536 as well (although it does suport multiple worksheets in one file, so properly designed files can work around this).