The reason it's the fastest selling is because Vista was such a disaster and there are tons of people wanting to get off of that OS.

When is Google going to just integrate everything into Google Wave and be done with it? :) #googlevoice

VOTE: Pidgin

I'm taking two since my vacation resets June 1. I already took a week and I'll take another one in Sept. :D

For any new version of windows (that I'll actually continue to use i.e. not Vista) I do a clean install. I believe it's much better to just clean everything out of the registry that windows fails to remove and start over.

Is it just me who would love to see the MS operating system customizable and efficient to the point of cutting the system resource usage in half by disabling stuff you don't use? I'd love to have a stripped down, no frills windows OS.

The only experience/thought I have on this is if you are cornered and feel like you have to give a number, shoot high but also mention that you are very interested in the position and don't want them to eliminate you as a candidate due to your salary requirements. Though again it still feels like you're on the losing…

Also I have used TestDisk before with pretty good success, though I wish I could have found a more in depth and comprehensive explanation for what all the options mean. Anyone happen to know of one?

@minealone6: I hate to say this because of the rules and all, but have you tried using linux? Perhaps you can boot off of a live CD then put your other CD in. It might work as I have done it before. I haven't heard of any other tools for reading info off of CDs or DVDs.

Everyone, IMHO, should take into account all of this advice and tweak it to benefit your specific situation. That being said, I'd like to hear some advice about how much one should have in an emergency fund. Any ideas besides 8 months worth (that seems like a lot, but maybe not if you can't find a job) or "a couple…

I've used Syncback to remotely back up some stuff from work, but I chose a linux server and that didn't play nice with windows files. Just something to think about. I have it set up at home now in case another hard drive crashes.

Wow, thanks. I was just now wondering how to transfer a file between my 2 computers here easily without a flash drive.

This would be awesome. Now if only I could snag an account.

Oh yeah.. one suggestion is to turn off Universal spellcheck.. that was causing some weird things for me. I'm sure it has already been mentioned in this thread though.

I think these may be tremendously helpful. Thank you.

Wow, this really takes me back to when I first saw this type of thing on my Apple Performa 550. It definitely helps me stay organized and see only that which I need to see at the time.

Is there a way to have a selection of text be converted to all uppercase?

Finally! I was thinking about this the other day. So painful to upload 11 things.

Extensions are a must for me as well. I use about 8 every day.

I'm also always surprised when someone says they say "i'll mapquest it". I mean wtf?