Posted by
ryuzaki0
on from the oh-yeah-remember-that dept.
ruszka writes "CNN has a good article on the release of Windows XP in London and NYC.. The BBC has their own article." I find it amusing that I didn't really even notice until I saw this submission. I know this affects a fair number of users but for the life of me I just don't know why ;)
Guerrilla(sp?) marketing
by
dmorin
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Know what really, truly scares me about XP? This morning on the Howard Stern show he gave time to 3 callers (well, 2 actually because he got bored) to blatantly do a commercial. And when I changed the channel, another morning talk station was talking about it too! I mean, the hell?! Since when does the release of a new piece of software from the world's biggest software company suddenly mean everybody has to start plugging it?
On a good note, the first guy was so boring (talking about why XP is cool because it's on a 32bit kernel, not a 16bit one on top of DOS like Win98/ME) that Howard and crew got very bored. So he gave the second guy a chance, who pointed out the bit about having to register every machine, etc... to which Howard summed up "So let's all get together and not buy this thing." And that was the end of that. Gotta wonder if that third guy was gonna be pro or against Microsoft.
No more blue screen of death?
by
opusbuddy
·
· Score: 5, Funny
I dunnaknow. I've kind of gotten used to the blue screen of death. Tells me when it's time to go to the bathroom.
-- If this were easy, they wouldn't need us to do it!
Re:No more blue screen of death?
by
swordboy
·
· Score: 5, Funny
No more BSOD?
Does XP come with some sort of a utility to chage the color of the screen of death?
I could go for a nice mauve or perhaps a pale green (easy on the eyes).
--
Life is the leading cause of death in America.
Re:No more blue screen of death?
by
SilentChris
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
You could always change the blue screen with a few registry hacks up until ME. Green always freaked people out, though.
More cash for useless features
by
haplo21112
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
Well here we go, Microsoft, says give us more money, to upgrade your OS, cause we have 10,000 new features(that are really enhancements to old ones, aka fixes)...and of course if you don't we are gonna drop support for the old OS anyway so your gonna have to eventually...even now the manuals for supporting 98,ME,2000 are being destroyed at our support centers, why would anyone need those when we have this spiffy new thing.
-- Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
the XP release date
by
nachoworld
·
· Score: 3, Insightful
If people were really excited about getting Windows XP (there are quite a few of them), then they would have got their hands on it earlier. eBay had some up for sale. My brother got a copy of XP a little less than a month ago and offered it to me, but I told him to just get the money he could make from an eBay sell (it was about $350 back then).
I think release dates are getting less and less important now in the days of advanced comunication and distribution. Remember those days when people would line up for hundreds of feet Tuesday at midnight for the release of a CD? Those days have been dwindling, and the lines are getting smaller. If one really wants that CD he'll download it before the release date and then take his time getting the CD after it's released. Tower record parties on Newbury Street in Boston are nonexistent anymore. Just 3-4 years ago they were incredible with radio staion vans parked everywhere and hundreds of people croweded around.
--
---
I'm just an ordinary man with nothing to lose.
Surprisingly, a lot of negative press
by
Masem
·
· Score: 4, Insightful
Sure, I'm going out tonight to buy XP, but only because my gaming machine is 98, and I'd like a bit more stability in it.
But I've been listening to reports and reading articles, and while the industry seems hyped up about it, most pundents (that are not typical MS fanboys) appear to be believe that for most businesses, already in the Win2000 migration, XP is not a good choice, and for those on home machines, you have to have some oomph in your box to be able to take advantage of it.
Most of these critics think that the stability is a great point, but other aspects, including look, integration of WMP and other programs, and the *amount* of blatent advertizing for MS on the default install is put-offs for them. They definitely feel that the engine behind XP is worthwhile being built on 2000, but they could do without all the glitz.
And many people expect very slow sales of XP. There's no lines-around-the-corner as with 95, but they do expect a modest amount of sales today. But they don't believe that XP is going to be a big economic burst into the market as Microsoft tried to make it out as; again, since most seats of the OS are sold to business, and most appear to be sticking to 2000 until necessary, there's going to be very few sales from that market.
The short story from what I've read: it's great that MS finally has a NT-based, stable OS for the home user, as it's been 5 years that it's been needed, but it appears to carry a lot of extra weight that is unnecessary and possible questionable in light of several legal cases.
--
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
What does XP offer me over and above my current win2k? I'm tired of updating to the latest and greatest just for the fun of it. My current os runs all of my applications without much trouble, so what do I get for my money?
Nothing whatsoever: you actually get less with XP.
XP (Home at least) is not an upgrade to W2K users- it's W2K with a candy colored shell, some bundled software, no multiprocessor support and the ability to join domains removed.
We're sticking with W2K here. (We're an almost all MS school, but I'm pushing OSX hard:^)
OTOH, it's a massive upgrade to W95/8/ME users. Anything to finally put a stake through that miserable series of crapware is a good thing for the world.
Eric
-- "Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
My First Impressions
by
Enonu
·
· Score: 5, Informative
The new look of Windows XP to me could be described as bubbly. With the default theme, it's Ficher Price and bubbly. I know that perhaps it's because I'm used to the old L&F that I don't like the new L&F, but it seems like a fair amount of people I've shown XP to can only ahhh and ooooh as well as say "I want that on my system." Just goes to show how right Steve Jobs was when the iMac and AQUA L&F came out.
XP handles crashses better on my system. It's like they didn't happen. However, they occur more often than in Windows 2000. So even though my system doesn't become any bit more unstable after a crash, I get to see that error report dialog box a bunch. This is really a pain for apps that don't seem to like XP entirely. For example, Real Player 8 gets a bit upset from time to time. My system shouldn't crash at all. I have brand name components (ASUS, Hercules, CAS2 Corsair, etc.) and Windows 2000 rarely if ever crashed.
The boot time for XP is freaking amazing. I think it's faster than ME even. I have a sub 10 second boot from pushing the power button. Another nice thing is that hibernation is transparent since there is only the option for Standby, Shutdown, and Restart when you go to Start/Turn off Computer. The only weird part is that it takes longer to turn off my system than it does to turn it on. I think it's because of the nVidia drivers I have installed, but I can't confirm that.
I like to have multiple folders open on my Desktop at the same time when doing file management. When there are > 5 or open, at a resolution of 1600 x 1200, the taskbar will group all these folders together in one button so that the taskbar doesn't get overly crouded. You can then close all these folders as a group, etc. This is one of my favorite features.
There's loads more to talk about, but it all boils down to one thing. My productivity has not increased one iota. If you have 2000, it's not worth upgrading to because of this. It's not like the upgrade I did from 98 SE to 2000 I did a while back, where all the sudden everything ran flawlessly.
Re:My First Impressions
by
cybrthng
·
· Score: 3, Informative
The fact it can boot up in 30 seconds on my dell laptop is sweet. When i come into work and have a tons of stuff to catch up on, having my pc booted by the time i get my coffee is worth it.
The task bar sorting is nice, grouping applications together cleans up the desk space alot.
VPN seems more stable, i don't have weird problems like i did in 2k. (IPsec)
Builtin PPoE is a godsend for verizon dsl customers, no more having to chase down 3rd party vendors for software. I have a linksys that does this for me, but for some people, this alone is worth the money for the upgrade.
Interface is "bubbly" but just goes to show you how much you can change these days.
Stability is nice. I have random complete reboots in 2k, doesn't happen under XP.
i work better, it has smoothed out the rough edges of 2k as far as compatibility and speed, and kept the stability as well as added support for DX8, better media support and whatever.net has to offer.
Plus Java 1.4 with the WinXP look and feel makes java look native as far as interface and you get the added benifits of the new release.. even if.net doesn't take off it is still a great java platform!
Re:What does XP stand for?
by
windi
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
AFAIK, XP stands for the 2 greek letters pronounced khai and rho.
Khai-Rho == Cairo, IIRC, the codename MS used for the first 32bit Windows
the real meaning of XP
by
clarkie.mg
·
· Score: 3, Troll
Ok let's go.
1. XP is for eXPensive
Never in the history of the PC has the part of the operating system been so pricey.
2. XP is for eXPires
Microsoft has invented the software that eXPires as the customer can only install the software a certain number of times. If you have a virus, need to upgrade your hard drive, want to clean up your HD, add another component, change PC or any other reason to install, your software gets closed to death.
3. XP is for eXPloit
Knowing the care microsoft gives to security, this meaning is close to become reality.
4. XP is for eXPlosion
eXPlosion of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks as windows XP gives raw socket acces to the mass of home users. (read http://grc.com/dos/winxp.htm and http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19332.html)
5. XP is for eXPected
It took 10 years to microsoft to deliver a operating system that doesn't crash or need a reboot multiple times a day. At last !
6. XP is for linuXPreferred
For all the above reasons.
Any other ideas ?
-- Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russel
Re:the real meaning of XP
by
Anonymous Coward
·
· Score: 3, Funny
It's a smiley. Pronounced "Windows Bleh".
Marketing's all Bill's got left.
by
SgtChaireBourne
·
· Score: 3, Informative
Microsoft's revenue streams are in danger of drying up unless they can get a lock on people through MS-Passport. MS can leverage Hotmail and other online services by purchasing them and forcing migration to MS-Passport, but that can only happen on the desktop through upgrades to XP.
XP has improvements, but there's no exciting reason to upgrade. Plus, with all of the security concerns finally,the press release the other week coming down on publishing exploits is a tacit admisision that MS products can compete in a real world security environment.
-- Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
GOOD news!!!
by
the_2nd_coming
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
Howard Stern was talking about Win XP and he decided that there was no compeling reason for him to buy it, then when a caller told him about how you could only put it on one computer per copy, he said "well screw that!!" I was excited, do you know howmany not computer literate people listen to him and take his opinion to heart? not to mention that XP just got some negitive press in popular media....
I am so happy....:-)
--
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Gates on Regis yesterday said ...
by
zummit
·
· Score: 4, Interesting
Yesterday morning, Bill Gates was on the Regis show and I would like to share a direct quote which he said in reference to the idea that WinXP doesn't crash as much as other windoze OS's.
"The average user will save about a week a year."
[When I shared this with a friend, he replied, "Someone should file a lawsuit alleging that Windows was defective and that the licensing was an ineffective waiver of rights because of M$'s monopoly and their collusion with hardware manufacturers to force their product on consumers. I figure that since 1996, Biull G. & Co. have waster about $8,000 of my time."]
Re:why it affects us
by
micromoog
·
· Score: 4, Funny
...many people who work it IT have to come in to contact with windows...
Except for those who work in the server room. Sunlight messes up the air-conditioning.
Re:why it affects us
by
well_jung
·
· Score: 3, Funny
We have a glass wall in our Server Room. All those purty lights impress the VC's.
-- Carl G. Jung
--
"With one breath, with one flow,
You will know Synchronicity" -La Policia
Re:What does XP stand for? Emoticon.
by
TeknoHog
·
· Score: 5, Funny
Users' impressions of different operating systems, expressed as emoticons:
Linux::)
Windows: XP
-- Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
Windows XP Update Package, October 25, 2001- Download size: 1.9 MB - This update resolves all critical issues that were found in Windows XP between August 2001 and October 2001, and is discussed in Microsoft Knowledge Base (KB)
Article Q309521. Among the updates included in this package are several that eliminate security vulnerabilities. Download now to ensure that you have all the latest critical updates for Windows XP.
You'd think they'd at least hold onto the last release-candidate for a month or so to make sure no critical issues come up, before making it a master and sending it off to be pressed, no?
-- Belief is the currency of delusion.
Unlocks the full power
by
kindbud
·
· Score: 5, Funny
...it unlocks the full power of the PC and enables them to enjoy the best of what the digital world has to offer.
Slashdot Mirror
On a good note, the first guy was so boring (talking about why XP is cool because it's on a 32bit kernel, not a 16bit one on top of DOS like Win98/ME) that Howard and crew got very bored. So he gave the second guy a chance, who pointed out the bit about having to register every machine, etc... to which Howard summed up "So let's all get together and not buy this thing." And that was the end of that. Gotta wonder if that third guy was gonna be pro or against Microsoft.
www.HearMySoulSpeak.com
If this were easy, they wouldn't need us to do it!
Well here we go, Microsoft, says give us more money, to upgrade your OS, cause we have 10,000 new features(that are really enhancements to old ones, aka fixes)...and of course if you don't we are gonna drop support for the old OS anyway so your gonna have to eventually...even now the manuals for supporting 98,ME,2000 are being destroyed at our support centers, why would anyone need those when we have this spiffy new thing.
Power Corrupts,Absolute Power Corrupts Absolutely, leaving one person(group)in charge is absolutely corrupt.
If people were really excited about getting Windows XP (there are quite a few of them), then they would have got their hands on it earlier. eBay had some up for sale. My brother got a copy of XP a little less than a month ago and offered it to me, but I told him to just get the money he could make from an eBay sell (it was about $350 back then).
I think release dates are getting less and less important now in the days of advanced comunication and distribution. Remember those days when people would line up for hundreds of feet Tuesday at midnight for the release of a CD? Those days have been dwindling, and the lines are getting smaller. If one really wants that CD he'll download it before the release date and then take his time getting the CD after it's released. Tower record parties on Newbury Street in Boston are nonexistent anymore. Just 3-4 years ago they were incredible with radio staion vans parked everywhere and hundreds of people croweded around.
---
I'm just an ordinary man with nothing to lose.
But I've been listening to reports and reading articles, and while the industry seems hyped up about it, most pundents (that are not typical MS fanboys) appear to be believe that for most businesses, already in the Win2000 migration, XP is not a good choice, and for those on home machines, you have to have some oomph in your box to be able to take advantage of it.
Most of these critics think that the stability is a great point, but other aspects, including look, integration of WMP and other programs, and the *amount* of blatent advertizing for MS on the default install is put-offs for them. They definitely feel that the engine behind XP is worthwhile being built on 2000, but they could do without all the glitz.
And many people expect very slow sales of XP. There's no lines-around-the-corner as with 95, but they do expect a modest amount of sales today. But they don't believe that XP is going to be a big economic burst into the market as Microsoft tried to make it out as; again, since most seats of the OS are sold to business, and most appear to be sticking to 2000 until necessary, there's going to be very few sales from that market.
The short story from what I've read: it's great that MS finally has a NT-based, stable OS for the home user, as it's been 5 years that it's been needed, but it appears to carry a lot of extra weight that is unnecessary and possible questionable in light of several legal cases.
"Pinky, you've left the lens cap of your mind on again." - P&TB
"I can see my house from here!" - ST:
What does XP offer me over and above my current win2k? I'm tired of updating to the latest and greatest just for the fun of it. My current os runs all of my applications without much trouble, so what do I get for my money?
Nothing whatsoever: you actually get less with XP.
XP (Home at least) is not an upgrade to W2K users- it's W2K with a candy colored shell, some bundled software, no multiprocessor support and the ability to join domains removed. We're sticking with W2K here. (We're an almost all MS school, but I'm pushing OSX hard :^)
OTOH, it's a massive upgrade to W95/8/ME users. Anything to finally put a stake through that miserable series of crapware is a good thing for the world.
Eric
"Seven Deadly Sins? I thought it was a to-do list!"
The new look of Windows XP to me could be described as bubbly. With the default theme, it's Ficher Price and bubbly. I know that perhaps it's because I'm used to the old L&F that I don't like the new L&F, but it seems like a fair amount of people I've shown XP to can only ahhh and ooooh as well as say "I want that on my system." Just goes to show how right Steve Jobs was when the iMac and AQUA L&F came out.
XP handles crashses better on my system. It's like they didn't happen. However, they occur more often than in Windows 2000. So even though my system doesn't become any bit more unstable after a crash, I get to see that error report dialog box a bunch. This is really a pain for apps that don't seem to like XP entirely. For example, Real Player 8 gets a bit upset from time to time. My system shouldn't crash at all. I have brand name components (ASUS, Hercules, CAS2 Corsair, etc.) and Windows 2000 rarely if ever crashed.
The boot time for XP is freaking amazing. I think it's faster than ME even. I have a sub 10 second boot from pushing the power button. Another nice thing is that hibernation is transparent since there is only the option for Standby, Shutdown, and Restart when you go to Start/Turn off Computer. The only weird part is that it takes longer to turn off my system than it does to turn it on. I think it's because of the nVidia drivers I have installed, but I can't confirm that.
I like to have multiple folders open on my Desktop at the same time when doing file management. When there are > 5 or open, at a resolution of 1600 x 1200, the taskbar will group all these folders together in one button so that the taskbar doesn't get overly crouded. You can then close all these folders as a group, etc. This is one of my favorite features.
There's loads more to talk about, but it all boils down to one thing. My productivity has not increased one iota. If you have 2000, it's not worth upgrading to because of this. It's not like the upgrade I did from 98 SE to 2000 I did a while back, where all the sudden everything ran flawlessly.
AFAIK, XP stands for the 2 greek letters pronounced khai and rho.
Khai-Rho == Cairo, IIRC, the codename MS used for the first 32bit Windows
Ok let's go.
)
1. XP is for eXPensive
Never in the history of the PC has the part of the operating system been so pricey.
2. XP is for eXPires
Microsoft has invented the software that eXPires as the customer can only install the software a certain number of times. If you have a virus, need to upgrade your hard drive, want to clean up your HD, add another component, change PC or any other reason to install, your software gets closed to death.
3. XP is for eXPloit
Knowing the care microsoft gives to security, this meaning is close to become reality.
4. XP is for eXPlosion
eXPlosion of Denial of Service (DoS) attacks as windows XP gives raw socket acces to the mass of home users. (read http://grc.com/dos/winxp.htm and http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/4/19332.html
5. XP is for eXPected
It took 10 years to microsoft to deliver a operating system that doesn't crash or need a reboot multiple times a day. At last !
6. XP is for linuXPreferred
For all the above reasons.
Any other ideas ?
Men are born ignorant, not stupid; they are made stupid by education. Bertrand Russel
XP has improvements, but there's no exciting reason to upgrade. Plus, with all of the security concerns finally ,the press release the other week coming down on publishing exploits is a tacit admisision that MS products can compete in a real world security environment.
So they have to compete through saturation advertising. The Register has had a few articles over the last few weeks. Here's last weeks warning about the salvo we're experiencing : Microsoft will kick off a $200 million marketing campaign on
Monday 15 October to create consumer awareness of upcoming Windows
XP.
They also explained how MS was able to insert a press release into Reuters.
Beta is broken and the link to classic doesn't work. Stop wasting our time or there won't be anybody left here.
Howard Stern was talking about Win XP and he decided that there was no compeling reason for him to buy it, then when a caller told him about how you could only put it on one computer per copy, he said "well screw that!!" I was excited, do you know howmany not computer literate people listen to him and take his opinion to heart? not to mention that XP just got some negitive press in popular media....
:-)
I am so happy....
I am the Alpha and the Omega-3
Yesterday morning, Bill Gates was on the Regis show and I would like to share a direct quote which he said in reference to the idea that WinXP doesn't crash as much as other windoze OS's.
"The average user will save about a week a year."
[When I shared this with a friend, he replied, "Someone should file a lawsuit alleging that Windows was defective and that the licensing was an ineffective waiver of rights because of M$'s monopoly and their collusion with hardware manufacturers to force their product on consumers. I figure that since 1996, Biull G. & Co. have waster about $8,000 of my time."]
Except for those who work in the server room. Sunlight messes up the air-conditioning.
We have a glass wall in our Server Room. All those purty lights impress the VC's.
Carl G. Jung
--
"With one breath, with one flow, You will know Synchronicity" -La Policia
Linux: :)
Windows: XP
Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
For the sake of clarification:
CHICAGO: Code name for Win95
CAIRO: Code name for NT 4.0
MEMPHIS: Code name for Win98
WHISTLER: Code name for WinXP
HTH.
dinner: it's what's for beer
I guess Microsoft is showing its commitment to security, because we already have the first critical update for WinXP out.
Citing HardOCP:
You'd think they'd at least hold onto the last release-candidate for a month or so to make sure no critical issues come up, before making it a master and sending it off to be pressed, no?
Belief is the currency of delusion.
...it unlocks the full power of the PC and enables them to enjoy the best of what the digital world has to offer.
Didn't they say the same thing about Win9x?
When will my PC's potential be fully unlocked?
Edith Keeler Must Die