I find that many earlier simple Windows routines have now been made unnecessarily fiddling and complicated, while several of XP's programmed busybody antics can be most irritating at times. Like a balloon that springs, unsummoned, into view telling me that "there are unused icons on your desktop" and offers to invoke the "desktop cleanup Wizard" to clear things up... (why this twee invocation of "Wizards" ?)

Not being on the internet, I get fed up with screens persistently appearing when things occasionally go awry, telling me to contact the web-site. And all sort of devious tricks have to be resorted to when software geared to earlier Windows progs is snootily ignored by XP. I have acquired several manuals in my efforts to cope with XP's idiosyncracies, but I usually shout for help when expert son no.1 is in the vicinity... ■

15 October 2004