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Guy Barrette

Microsoft Regional Director, Montreal, Canada

  • The breakpoint will not currently be hit

    12 Comments

    I was hit with the dreadful "The breakpoint will not currently be hit" problem this week.  Searching the Web, looks like it is a common problem both with VS 2005 and 2008 however, it was the first time I experienced it.

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  • Acer Aspire One First Impressions

    5 Comments

    I grabbed an Acer Aspire One this weekend.  The Windows XP model was on sale at FutureShop for $299.




    Here are some random first impressions:

    • The form factor is very cool.  Not too small but very light.
    • FutureShop (Canadian reseller) only sells models with bilingual (English or French) keyboards.
    • The Canadian models allow you to select XP in English or French.
    • The whole setup process takes less then an hour (didn't timed it).
    • The color choice I had was between sapphire blue and sapphire blue.
    • Sapphire blue is a fingerprint magnet.
    • The power supply is very tiny.
    • Deinstalled Office Student 2007 trial and Mcafee.
    • Installed Free AVG, Spyware Doctor and Picassa (both from Google Pack).
    • I had an old 5.25" external USB enclosure so I stuffed in there a DVD drive to install Office Ultimate 2007 and Visual Studio Team Suite.
    • Installed SQL Server Express 2008.
    • Some dialog boxes have a height of 600 pixels.
    • Copied some files to the netbook using an external 2.5" USB drive.
    • Wifi works without problems.
    • External VGA can output more then 1024x600 if the netbook screen is disabled.  The driver can go up 2048x1536 however I wouldn't dare go as high.  I tested it with an output of 1280x800.  Nice!
    • If you want to use it as a presentation machine, you must have a podium like setup where you see the output from an external monitor and the projector.
    • XP boots fast.
    • A fresh boot leaves me with 500MB free memory.  Shocking!
    • Visual Studio takes about 8 seconds to start.
    I see me using it when:
    • Doing presentations that don't require a virtual machine or not CPU intense.
    • On a plane to watch a movie or work on a document or presentation.
    • As a photo viewer when I go see family and friends.
    • Bringing a laptop with me just in case.
    • Bringing a backup presentation machine.
    • On vacations to dump the daily pictures.

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  • The Ultimate Steal - Office Ultimate 2007 for $60

    1 Comment

    If you're a student or know one, do you that students can get a heavily discounted copy of Office Ultimate 2007?  In the US, the price is $59.95 US and in Canada it's $64 CDN.  The offer is available in about a dozen countries around the world. 

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