A few months back Adrian put a small box on my desk. Inside was 8 gigs of RAM and a message: "It's time." Time to go to Vista 64 bit. I resisted. The little box sat on my desk, staring at me for weeks.

I was scared. I was absolutely convinced that I would lose a lot more than I would gain with those 4 extra gigs. So I started out by taking inventory.

As it turned out there would be only one casualty of moving to 64 bit - my Microsoft Fingerprint Reader. This had been the stickler for a long time. Microsoft wouldn't give a clear message on whether they would be creating the software to support the reader on 64 bit. In fact the packaging on the Fingerprint Reader I got Adrian at Christmas gives no indication that it works only on 32 bit Vista! When Microsoft finally came out and said that they weren't ever going to make a 64 bit version there was nothing left to stand in my way!

(Luckily he had found the UPEK Eikon reader, which I think works even better than the Microsoft one, although the software takes a little getting used to.)

Installing Vista 64
Vista 64 needs a full installation (you can't upgrade from 32 bit). Because of this and a lack of time I installed Vista 64 on a new hard drive. The drive with 32 bit OS (and my data) is visible from 64-bit (and vice versa) so choosing which OS I want to use is just a matter of hitting F8 to bring up the boot loader on start up and choosing the appropriate drive. This made it really easy to bring my data across to the 64 bit install, making it a very fast transition overall.

And the extra RAM? It's amazing. My system just flies!

Hardware with 64 bit Vista Drivers
Anyway, here's a list of hardware that I've found works just fine on 64 bit. (Hopefully if you're contemplating making the jump, it might save you some time!)

• Logitech G15
• Logitech MX518 Mouse
• Wacom intuos 3 graphics tablet
• Wacom Cintiq LCD tablet
• CanoScan Lide 600F
• Logitech Quickcam Pro 9000
• Hauppage Win TV HVR 1300

This is the first post in my Wacom Cintiq 12WX experience.

First off, I've had it now for three weeks and I'm truly in love with it. I must admit that while I had wanted to get my hands on one of these for a long time, I could not see past the logistical problem of physically fitting it on my desk (alongside my existing dual monitors) and a bit of a pang at the thought of parting with my Wacom Intuous 3, which has been my trusty friend for a while now. I'd watched a few youtube videos about people using their Cintiqs, which really excited me, but several owners mentioned their old Intuos tablets sitting in the corner.

So it was with some mixed feelings that I greeted the Cintiq when it finally arrived. These were quickly swept away once I had it set up and started using it. It's a very natural creative experience. There is no guesswork required. Unlike the Intuos, you do not need to guage the your position on the screen against your pen's position on the tablet - (obviously!) your pen is right where you are looking. (This does take a little calibration at the start but once it's setup you don't think about it again.)

I was a little nervous about pressing on the screen at the start, but it's robust enough to use reasonable pressure when drawing.

The Cintiq has ten buttons which can be used for various functions and Photoshop modifiers. The top left button is set initally to transfer from the Cintiq screen to the main monitor when you want to use one of the Photoshop tools, pallettes etc. I found this cumbersome already having dual monitors. Switching back to a mouse was also troublesome, so I quickly reattached my 'old' Intuos tablet (which works just fine off the same driver and didn't require any further installation). I set the Intuos to work off the two 'real' monitors so now I only need to move my pen from the Cintiq to the Intuos and my cursor is back out of the drawing area and I can operate my PC/Photoshop normally. The pen that comes with the Cintiq works with the Intuos (and vice versa) so I don't even need to switch pens. It's really intuitive and doesn't interupt my workflow at all.

With eight the buttons on the Intuos that gives me 18 buttons which I altered to match the Photoshop functions that I use most frequently. (I will write more about that next time.)

As for my concerns about fitting the Cintiq and two monitors on my desk, it's worked out really well. The Cintiq tucks in sideways when I'm not using it, providing a third monitor for general PC use. It's handy for watching TV or DVDs, or for keeping work applications (like FTP or reference material) running visibly but still not taking up valuable main screen real estate.

I truly, madly deeply love the Wacom Cintiq!! (AND its best buddy the Intuos 3!)

If you have any questions about using the Cintiq, so ask and I'll do my best to give you answers.

Since applying the latest 1.2 Crysis version I've been continually getting "kicked from server" messages. Running a dedicated server on a network game (of which I'm the network admin!) this is rather annoying. I've found loads of posts on various forums about this happening to other people playing online games but haven't found any relating to network games. Rebooting both servers and clients helps sometimes. Reinstalling helped, for a while.

I weighed my handbag the other day. It weighed 8 lbs!
Apart from the 'normal' weight of keys, glasses, lipstick and hairbrushes, my bag also contained all my essential kit for the digital life of a writer/journalist/techie/web developer on the road:

What could I leave out?
First off, there's lots of duplication there ... apart from the obvious 2 MP3 players, the Olympus is also an MP3, so is the Garmin nuvi and so is the PDA. My phone is an MP3 too actually. Likewise the ipod Touch handles appointments, tasks contacts and email. I can watch movies on it, provided I buy them from Apple. The PDA however lets me watch whatever I copy to it. The iPod has some of my music, whereas the Zen has a whole lot more. I can't envisage leaving either one behind. The Garmin is great for listening to music or Audible books in the car, but I'm not seriously going to carry it round at the gym! Likewise the PDA or the Olympus.

The phone is also a camera, but the quality isn't good enough for photo journalism purposes (well neither is the Nikon, but it's good quality for incidentals - if I know I'm going out to get shots I carry an SLR).

The PDA is also a voice recorder, but the quality isn't anywhere near production quality (whereas the Olympus is good enough for capturing sound effects as well as a dictaphone - again if I know I'm going out to capture sound I load for bear with my trusty Shure mic).

So I'm stuck. I can't figure out what to take out of there.

Every so often I ponder the value of convergence devices, but each time I'm further stumped just what I would go for. I mean, would I want Garmin making my phone? Can a phone camera give good enough quality to be my every day carry? How about combining a phone and a PDA? (Would it work reliably as just a phone? Quick and straightforward, yet giving me all the flexibility of my PDA?) Would I trust a phone manufacturer's onboard GPS to guide me when I'm lost?

I've asked a bunch of friends what they would do. But none of my girlfriends are gadgetgeeks and none of my guy friends have a purse to carry their kit in. They just fill their pockets with what kit they think they'll need when they leave the house in the morning, or more often than not leave it behind. (Apparently gadgets have a grace period when they are new and shiny and braggable during which time they'll get carried every day, but after the novelty has worn off - or everyone else has one - then it'll just be a selective carry if and when it's needed.)

But me, I'm not like that. As a kid I used to feel bad for all the teddy bears that I didn't choose to cuddle each night, so I'd end up cuddling them all. Nothing's changed, I guess ...

If you have any ideas on convergence devices or if you're a gadget girl who's successfully made the giant leap of leaving something behind, let me know!