Kicking Vista at this point may fall into the dead horse category because so many users have already vented their frustrations that there isn't much left to say. But, fellow Social Media Collective member Zoli Erdos has been having a lot of fun trashing Microsoft lately and my first encounter with Vista is still fresh enough to get my blood boiling so hear me out.

When my old computer died a few weeks ago I ordered myself a new Dell which came with Vista already loaded. I know from personal experience that installing a new Microsoft OS over an old one never works out well and it's always better to start fresh.Â

My first disappointment was discovering that my new Vista computer was no faster than my old one running XP-despite having 2 gigs of RAM. Vista is a ruthless RAM-sucker. That's not my least favorite thing, though.

My least favorite thing surfaced when I attached my Maxtor backup drive and tried to move some old files over to the new hard drive. I clicked on a folder and a message popped up to inform me that I didn't have permission to open the folder. I tried another one. Same thing.Â

Now, my wife checks e-mail occasionally on my computer but other than that nobody else ever uses it. All of the files and programs on it are mine. I put them there. Ditto, the Maxtor. So, I think, why can't I get access to my own files?

After about an hour of fumbling around, I discovered that through a laborious manual process I could claim "ownership" of the files, set permission levels, and open the folder. Sure, I thought, there must be a single button somewhere that I can push to tell Vista that all of these files are mine. Not even those CIA guys at Guantanamo would make a hardened terrorist go through this process for every single one of the 400 or so folders on the drive. I was wrong.  Bill Gates planned to make me do exactly that. Bottom line: I've had my new computer for six weeks now and there are still files on the Maxtor that I haven't transferred because I just can't go through the bullshit. I also have an access problem with an update client that the system blocks about three times a day-although I've given it permission at least 300 times. If I say okay that many times, shouldn't the system take my word for it that I want the program to run?

Of course, there is also the problem that all this access stuff is pointless. If I can continue to click and give myself permission to open a folder that means anybody else who sits down at my computer can do the same thing. Maybe the process makes a little sense in a corporate environment where you might have multiple users who log on with different identities but why punish the millions of home and home office users by making them go through the bullshit?

To be fair, there are some things I like about Vista. The look and feel are comfortable and it feels stable. The file organization is much improved. I particularly like the new Windows Mail client that replaces the old Outlook Express. It also has a decent calendar. In fact, I liked it so much that I uninstalled Outlook, the Microsoft product that I have come to hate most. No more, endless scanning of the archives because I "didn't' shut down properly," no more five minute searches of the inbox to find a missing e-mail, no more archive rot.Â

But, if Bill thinks I'm going to spring for an Office Update, he's nuts. There is just too much good Office 2.0 stuff out there and I'm planning to hold a grudge about the permissions nonsense for a very long time.