Handbags   (The sad, the bad and the ugly. Non-productive stuff here.)

I just chose to try a different route to see how it works out, not saying Ive found a better way, time will tell.

Ive found there is still a problem putting short cuts onto the desktop,Ive started to add regularly used web sites onto my favorites bar, it helps with quick access.
Bing is faster so i'll stick with for now.

I threw off Firefox, not my cup of tea.

May consider a different OS but I need time to investigate first.

My once new laptop has proved to be a bit of a pain, a Sony Vaio i5, I bought it on the strength of an excellent and now ancient desktop Vaio which is still running strong on XP, it has one of the finest processors Intel ever made IMO,the Pent4 3.2Ghz inside.
It still does a job of work but is slower than more modern units but very reliable and stable, a good photoshop base,its nearly redundant but has good software in it that's no longer available.

it will become a small coffee table eventually