I downloaded Windows Vista RC1 and installed it on my PC. I have to say, it's (1)____________ amazing! The GUI ((2)____________ (3)____________ (4)____________) is beautiful and even my 2 and a half year old computer can run most of the special (5)____________. At first my sound didn't work, but I could download (6)____________ from my card's manufacturer's web site easily. I also installed my graphics card drivers. I didn't have to download Canon Pixus printer drivers because Windows Vista already supports it and the drivers look (7)____________ to the XP version.

The biggest change other than (8)____________ is the new security function. Every time you or a program wants to access a (9)____________ area of the computer, such as the control panel or user administration, a special pop-up box double checks that you want to do this. You can deny the program access or (10)____________ it permission to access or open the data. I think it's great, but can get pretty annoying. However, most people wouldn't (11)____________ that pop-up box very often.

I also downloaded and installed MS Office 2007 beta. This beta is for testing and costs $1.50 US to download but comes with the full suite. Office 2007 also looks great but the GUI is very different than (12)____________ versions. I kind of like the new interface but it takes some getting used to.

Office 2007 beta will (13)____________ in December and Windows Vista will expire next June.

I am also testing out another beta program from Microsoft (14)____________ Writer. This program is for making Blogs right from your desktop. It works like MS Word and I can (15)____________ directly to English-Japan.com and post a blog. In fact, this post, the one you are reading, I did using only MS Writer and didn't open my web browser (also a beta version of Internet Explorer 7).

I'm (16)____________ forward to the (17)____________ release of both Windows Vista and Office 2007.