Today we head to Europe for a couple of weddings, one in the UK for a niece and another in Italy for my wife’s youngest son.  We are travelling with the net book and this will be the second time we have travelled with it (we took it to New York last moth).  However, one big difference is that this time my wife will have her own account setup on the net book with her email and Windows Live Writer set up.

The major difference for her will be that it is Windows 7.  She still has Windows Vista on her PC but has never ventured near Windows 7 despite it being on the other computers in the house.  This will be a great test bed for determining if we will upgrade her PC when we return.  It will also be a great way to see how someone who is not a tech person (be her own admittance) deals with the new Windows 7 interface.

My only complaint is that I will not be able to use Windows XP Mode which means I will not be able to access my Outlook Web Access for my work email during the trip.  Windows XP Mode requires hardware based virtualization and the net book does not have that capability at the moment.  As I described in my recent post about Windows XP Mode to the Rescue – this is the only means I have to access my older USB based CAC card reader which is required for me to access my work email. I guess I will just upgrade the hardware eventually to get compatible down the road.

So more from the road as we get the trip going.  Stay safe!