I’ve tried to get Xen working properly under Debian Etch, and haven’t had a whole lot of luck. Not entirely sure what I’m doing wrong. I don’t have any error messages handy right now, and I’m not asking for assistance just yet. Please hold your “RTFM” flames for now. I’m going to take another stab at it and perhaps seek assistance from my faithful readers… so get ready 
OK, before I get carried away, here… Let me start off by saying I have not had to do a “detailed” install of Microsoft Windows on bare hardware in about 10 years. I suppose between the simplicity of VMware Tools and the limited amount of software I’ve needed to put on MS Windows, I never really gave it a thought… but, MAN, I hate installing MS Windows.
I mean … just installing th OS from a CD sucks. SUCKS. Once you have that done, then you need to install all the drivers… something you rarely have to do with most modern Linux distributions… then, y’know, there’s no software of value, so you need to go poking around on the internet for basic stuff like file compression utilities and PuTTY and a decent browser… cripes. … and if you need commercial software (and you’re an ethical bag of protoplasm), then it’s off to 666Buy or OfficeDespot with your credit card.
Oh, and to be honest, I haven’t really USED MS Windows in a Desktop context (even for work) in about 4 years. I forgot how hard it is to get things done. It’s PAINFULLY slow. One workspace?! What’s that all about?! Why doesn’t center-click-to-paste work?! The CLI is worthless. There’s no package management system.. like yum or apt. I guess I got spoiled by how smoothly and easily things work under the much-maligned Debian GNU/Linux distribution. I think I’m gonna donate some money to those fine folks.
There is one thing tho… I now understand why people are so reluctant to re-install their OS when they run MS Windows… They spend so much time collecting and installing basic commodity software and getting the machine tweaked so they can actually get something done that it’s pure agony to have to go through all that again…. I mean… there’s no “lowest common denominator” driver for networking.. so if you’re so unfortunate as to have a network adapter that Windows doesn’t natively support, you’re sunk, because you can’t get on the Internet to download the right driver.
My experiences over the last couple days have really reinforced my hatred for MS Windows. Grr. Die, Microsoft, die.
Don’t get me wrong, now… I haven’t drunk the Kool-Aid or anything like that. I know that all the Linux distributions have their flaws. Some come from the Linux kernel and its design, some come from the GNU tools and other software packages built on top of the kernel. … and, fair enough, you may have to edit a text file or two to take advantage of some of the more advanced features. Is that so bad? Over the course of the last three years, I’ve performed somewhere in the neighborhood of 200 Linux installs. Most of them, Debian, some Fedora, a few Ubuntu and others. The only Linux distribution I’ve worked with that I hope never to work with again is Gentoo. I know there are enthusiastic Genoo boosters out there, and I don’t want to take any wind out of their sails… but I see no benefit in spending half my CPU time compiling updates for my operating system.
But really… if MS Windows is SOOOoooo superior to Linux, why am I pulling my hair out and banging my head against the desk and blurting ceaseless expletetives after only two days dealing with it?
Soon, very soon… The “old skool” UrsusPacificus site and this Wordpress thingy will be coming together in a giant mass conflagration on a completely different box! Wow!
Yes, I am using the default theme for WordPress. I may change it later. Maybe not. You’ll just have to learn to cope. I’m more concerned with content than aesthetics at this point.
I DO feel comfortable enough with WordPress, tho to hang it out on the Inter-webs. So… I hope you’re sitting down!