[quote]rainjack wrote:
I build computers for people as a hobby/side business. I have just never been into the dos prompt, command line, or having to know the right syntax to open, or copy a file.
I was not into computers until 1995 - right before Win 95 came out - so I missed the whole dos thing by a good 5-6 years. [/quote]
The command line gets to be very useful in certain situation, most of which do not concern home users.
For example, if you’re administering 50 servers, it’s a lot easier to write a small shell script that does job X and then run that script on the 50 servers, than it is to walk to (or remotely connect) to each of those server and click around with a mouse.
I administer a bunch of UNIX family servers (AIX, SCO, Linux, etc) and most of them don’t even have the graphical environment installed.
On my personal PC and at home, I run Windows. I tried Linux on my wife (on her computer I mean), and it didn’t go over too well…
I most certainly will not be running Vista for years, if ever. I’ve been vicariously following its development and testing as my roommate is a computer engineering major, and I really don’t think I like what’s happening. There are a bunch of security errors still, among other things. They wanted to build this OS from the ground up, as almost completely new. I dunno how true that is in detail as I haven’t researched it in depth, yet. I made the conversion to the Cult of Mac early August last year because I was tired of jumping through Microsoft’s hoops, and haven’t looked back since. I’d still like to try Linux, but I’m not that up on the nuances and want to get used to OSX first.
Anyone who likes to run high quality sound or video from their Windows box should probably check this link out–
btw, great site for Audio/Visual reviews and info.
My biggest concern is the effort being made to lock down OUR computers to tell US what we can and can’t do with something we supposedly own.
Vista is a DRM trojan horse with a bunch of eye candy.
They are trying to lock down and tightly control every bit of digital content. I am an IT consultant, and I’m not too concerned for my clients, since for business they will be less affected than the home users out there. I will be running XP for a LONG time, and eventually I will probably switch to UBUNTU in the future for my own media applications.
[quote]Tvirus wrote:
Ace. There are other techies here. Those about to code (and lift) I salute you. New MCTS anyone? I’m in[/quote]
2nd year comp sci here. Pretty interesting field, although there are frustrating times due to really tough assignments and having the algorithm figured out but can’t remember certain commands in the language to put it to code, lol.
It’s a tough program I think, for a BSc distinction. I just hate how some of my friends in business, arts, or education get to piss around half the time, when I’m stuck with hours of coding, lol.
[quote]bigflamer wrote:
Anyone have any thoughts, concerns, comments on the upcoming Vista operating system? I’m curious since I just purchased a new computor that comes with a free upgrade to Vista when it becomes available on the 30th. and I’m not sure if I want to run it.
Hmmmm.[/quote]
I would keep the XP disk that came with your computer. I have run the final version yet but I ran the beta and release candidates which convinced me not to buy it anytime soon. It;s the usual eye-candy frosting on top of massive invasive programming.
It is really good for reporting to MS everything that you have running on your computer and better ways to detect a less than valid license for all MS programs installed. If you want to install two of the main features download Windows Media Player 11 and IE Explorer 7 (both run fully on XP).
After that its about security and the new "neon’ look. Oh the reason you have to have a faster stronger computer? The “bloat” code is huge and the new graphics are performance hogs…
Thats some heavy shizzle right there. keep your eyes on the prize man the rewards are definately there. Lucky ol me jus doing the mcse so not so intense and too old to worry about the social thing.Jus me my girl the books and the weights
[quote]RoadWarrior wrote:
I would keep the XP disk that came with your computer. I have run the final version yet but I ran the beta and release candidates which convinced me not to buy it anytime soon. It;s the usual eye-candy frosting on top of massive invasive programming.
It is really good for reporting to MS everything that you have running on your computer and better ways to detect a less than valid license for all MS programs installed. If you want to install two of the main features download Windows Media Player 11 and IE Explorer 7 (both run fully on XP).
After that its about security and the new "neon’ look. Oh the reason you have to have a faster stronger computer? The “bloat” code is huge and the new graphics are performance hogs…
[/quote]
I’m not sure what the bloat is you’re referring to. My computer is decent (though by no means a beast) and I’m running Vista Ultimate without problems. Supercaching has improved load times for a good number of my apps, so far I’m impressed with it. Readyboost makes a noticable difference as well. There are still some driver issues, but they’ll mature.
Of course the graphics are performance hogs, there’s a shitload of operations being performed. Why would they design a new graphics standard that wasn’t designed for future graphics hardware? The newest generation of cards can handle it just fine, and older cards can handle it without the candy turned on. What’s the problem?
The security popups can be a pain in the ass. That does need to be fixed, I was prompted 6 times when I tried to empty the trash bin. Other than that, though, it’s a two click install usually.
I don’t get what the big deal is about sending Microsoft what hardware config you’re using. Oh shit, M$ knows I’m using 2 gig of G-Skill RAM!!! THEY KNOW TOO MUCH!! I’m ruined!one!
If someone could explain that part to me I’d really appreciate it. I see absolutely no problem.
Linux is NOT (yet) ready for most home users…if you think otherwise, go work at Circuit City or best buy…or even just walk in and listen to some of the questions that get asked.
Linux IS a great OS (for all the reasons already mentioned)…but not for everyone. Most recently I struggled to get wireless networking…working on a laptop.
Macs are nice (I don’t have tons of experience with them) but my brain has a hard time giving up the command line.
I’ve been running Vista at work for a couple of weeks now…I haven’t tortured it or anything and it seems pretty good…and it definitely has lots of eye candy.
Another alternative to the poster that has financial software that they need, but thought about trying Linux is maybe using VMWare? I use it at work and it’s pretty nice…just another option.