OT: annoying British girl says Windows 7 is "miles simpler(!)"

Submitted by Dan Man on

So there's that Microsoft commercial where the British chick says that Windows 7 is "miles simpler(!)" in a British accent ("my-els simplah") - which has now become a catch phrase for me. She, like many others, claims that Windows 7 was her idea.

But then at the end of the commercial she seems to say enthusiastically to the person driving the car she's in, "On witch driver!" What the F is that? Are British people typically driven around by witches?

Does anyone out there know what the F that woman is saying? I don't know where else to turn to figure this out...

Dan Man

April 3rd, 2010 at 12:36 AM ^

I'm pretty sure she says "miles" - but that's a good point. Do Brits even have miles? Yet another thing that doesn't make sense about that commercial. I'm glad we've started a dialogue here...

On a related note, as Steven Wright once pondered, in England do they call him Kilometers Davis?

jmblue

April 3rd, 2010 at 9:47 PM ^

The UK has partially adopted the metric system, but not completely. The European Union is trying to bully them into fully adopting the metric system and banning the imperial system, which is just one of many reasons why the EU is strongly disliked over there. In everyday language, most people will use the imperial system.

pasadenablue

April 3rd, 2010 at 3:01 PM ^

Have you ever watched Top Gear? They use miles, and miles exclusively. They make fun of the Germans when they want to use kilometers.

And the presenters of Top Gear are about as British as you'll ever get.

Mr. Robot

April 3rd, 2010 at 1:17 AM ^

They still use the English system over there to a degree (I'm pretty sure nobody goes into a pub and orders a liter).

I was just making a joke about the metric system, since its official over there. Centuries of measurement standards don't just go away, you know. And besides, no country will ever be in the right with their standards until they're using Kelvins to measure temperature.

UMxWolverines

April 3rd, 2010 at 12:40 AM ^

Ohhh kind of related to a problem I have. My computer got the blue screen of death and since I lost the xp start-up cd, I was wondering if I could use my friend's vista cd and install that. My computer is sort of old (2004) and I'm wondering if that is too old to support vista? Your answers are appreciated. Until I get my computer fixed I'm stuck using my iPod touch

Dark Blue

April 3rd, 2010 at 6:31 AM ^

Since you have an older computer, I probably wouldn't go with Vista. That OS is such a resource hog, that unless you are running at least 2GB of RAM you're not going to get the performance you want. But yeah you could do it, you'd have to use some kind of key generator program.

MGoRob

April 3rd, 2010 at 12:51 AM ^

I was wondering if I could use my friend's vista cd and install that. My computer is sort of old (2004)

If your friend has already registered it, then likely not. When you install an OS, your computer's specs are sent to Windows and trying to install it on a computer with a different configuration won't work. However, it will work if you know your own registration (ID) number/code.

and I'm wondering if that is too old to support vista? Your answers are appreciated.

That helps us not. 2004 could mean anything. Compare your computer's specs (MHz, RAM, etc.) to the requirements for Vista.

Meth

April 3rd, 2010 at 1:24 AM ^

There is a very very simple way to use someone else's CD and key to install on your system. I cannot post that info here of course. But if there is a way to contact me I could share if someone REALLY needed it. I don't know how all that contacting thing works on here though.

DoubleMs

April 3rd, 2010 at 12:55 AM ^

The brits still use the phrase 'Miles ahead', one of my good friends in high school was on exchange from england and he used it regularly, even though he measured everything in km.

Also, the phrase she says is "I'm Witch Dryver" or something - they always say their name.

Expatriate Duck

April 3rd, 2010 at 8:15 AM ^

Haven't seen the commercial, so I can't comment on what she is actually saying. However, I think I can clear up the whole English vs Metric thing.

Distance is measured in miles.

Speed when driving is measured in miles per hour.

Beer and cider (when served in a pub/bar/restaurant) is measured in half pints and pints.

Milk is measured in pints, all other liquids are measured in milliliters and liters.

Weight is measured in grams and kilograms, unless the item being weighed is a person, in which case you use stone (1 stone = 14 pounds)

Hope this helps.

Eck Sentrik

April 3rd, 2010 at 3:13 PM ^

I've heard the phrase "miles from" various things. Marsellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction used a variation of this with "I'm pretty f'in far from okay"

Expatriate Duck

April 3rd, 2010 at 8:35 PM ^

Just watched the commercial a few times and she's definitely saying "onwards driver". For a second opinion I asked my English girlfriend to watch it and she agrees that she's saying "onwards driver".

On a side note, am I the only one that finds these new Windows 7 commercials really annoying?

Geoff

April 5th, 2010 at 8:46 AM ^

You could install with your friends CD, you just wouldn't be able to use his code. Windows Vista and Windows 7 don't require a CD-key on install, just sometime within the first month of install. That can be delayed for something like 90 days using a rearm command (you can find it on the internet). So as long as you reinstall Windows once every 3 months you really could get by without ever using a key. Not that it is particularly practical but you could do that to see if your PC will even run decent with Vista.