I make no attempt to start a flame war - my statement is perfectly valid - it follows from that other thread where I made intelligent posts about the limitations of Microsoft exams and all I got was some turkey saying the usual Microsoft-worshipping claptrap about the :real world".

Some people do worship Microsoft. They do not recognise the faults of its products and policies. I make no apology for pointing out the idiots on this forum who would buy a black of manure if it has Microsoft written on it.

No. I did not put the USB sticks in the microwave, radioactive nuclear power plant, dustbin hopper, washing machine, tumble dryer or anything else. I have provided multiple USB stick examples. I add that all 3 USB sticks have had these issues on 2 different machines with Windows Pro 7.

I will always follow objective and scientific processes of evidence - multiples examples and eliminated side variables.

The standard of discussion on this and other threads seems to be very low on this entire forum.

I'm not sure. I have CS5. But I have half a mind to not upgrade and get into Inkscape, GIMP and Scribus instead. I understand that Adobe isn't allowing upgrade pricing after CS6? I feel that as a customer I am on the long end of a leash. I skipped CS4 and went from CS3 to CS5.

Microsoft Word.

I have to use it because insurance formats come in it. It is the crappiest, ugliest piece of trash. The rest of the time I use LibreOffice.

Dishonorable mentions go to Microsoft Outlook, IE, Norton's Antivirus, Kodak Shareware and Visual Studio.

I am not an expert. But I can give some excellent sites for learning. I am NOT engaging in adverts. I am also not going to give links. Because I don't know the rules of these forums. Anyway...

First place to go - W3Schools online web tutorials. Will these make you a professional? No. But for free lessons on web technology and programming this site is unbeatable. It is also experiential - you do the web learning with real browser output at every stage. That is a magnificent learning aid.

Second, you need to get hands-on with some web technology. Doesn't matter if you continue with it or not. Just download it and play with it. You should download:

- LAMP, MAMP or XAMPP stack [which one you get depends on your computer] . XAMPP has excellent online documentation. Read it, install, set the security settings, do a test web set up without exposing it to the public beyond your own internal computer.

- Google web application framework when you need a challenge. Have a go at the Ruby on Rails web application framework.

All of the above is free. I feel that as far as books and courses other people are better placed to give advice than I am.

Enjoy!

I will never buy this:

can I pull it open and put in more RAM? Can I buy the parts to repair it or will I be restricted "apple-care" style by Redmond being the only creator of parts for the Surface???

I want to do what I want to do with a device. I don't see that with this or with the 4000 dollar Apple laptop or the Ipad or so much other "consumer-orientated" gadgetry.

So thanks but no thanks.