Slashdot Mirror
Vista - iPod Killer?
JMB wrote us with a dire warning, as reported by the San Jose Mercury News. Apple is cautioning its Windows-using iTunes customers to steer clear of Vista until the next iTunes update. The reason for this is a bit puzzling. Apparently, if you try to 'safely remove' your iPod from a Vista-installed PC, there's a chance you may corrupt the little music player. They also claim that songs may not play, and contacts may not sync with the device. Apple went so far as to release a detailed support document on the subject, which assures users that a new Vista-compatible version of the software will be available in a few weeks. Is this just some very creative FUD? If it is not who do you think is 'at fault' here, Microsoft or Apple?
iTunes works fine on Vista. I've been beta testing Vista since build 5270, and each time I reloaded, iTunes on Vista worked fine for me, and my iPod. Thats my experience, yours may vary ...
Maybe you can upgrade from version 2.6.123456 to version 2.6.123457 and expect all your drivers to continue working, Twitter, but I doubt this is the case with major version changes. Correct me if I'm wrong (that is, someone who knows something, not Twitter).
Ignorance is difficult, isn't it Koreaman?
I've taken computers from 2.2 to 2.6 with very few problems. The only issue I've ever had has been with a two really nasty old ISA sound cards that never worked well to begin with. The trend has been for each new kernel to support more, not less hardware, despite major design changes.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
'' Of course, if they just implemented the iPod as a USB mass storage device, there would probably not be any issues at all. ''
Yes, this should be modded as insightful, except that the iPod _is_ a USB mass storage device...
For every problem there is a solution that is obvious, simple and wrong.
Of course by making these claims you force people to go into details of how a kernel upgrade might fail, which is not exactly a popular theme around here. I learned early that the best way to "upgrade" Linux was to just backup ~/ and do a clean install. Which is no different from Windows.
but in the Linux world, when you are finished with your upgrade, your devices still work. Oh, and you don't have to backup anything. The files most people care about are in their home directory, which should be on a separate partition, and have nothing to do with the binaries. If you have fancy commercial software, you were careful to install it on /opt and it's a separate partition too and requires no further effort except the usual non free library dependency hell. Oh, and most distributions have binary kernel packages which just work and don't require any further effort. In short, a GNU/Linux upgrade is nothing like the reboot filled, driver floppy swapping, registration pained, occasionally binary registry hacking disaster a Windoze "upgrade" is. It is much better any way you like to do it.
and this has nothing to do with Vista not getting along with iPod. It should work right out of the box. M$ broke it, on purpose or by accident it does not matter.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.
They should have just blamed M$. Why bother with debate, you ask.
"Who's fault do you think it is" doesn't imply Apple or Microsoft is at fault - but it opens up a debate that can't possibly be intelligently executed. There's no evidence of anything ; we don't even know what happened. You might as well sprinkle M&M's all over a busy freeway beside a Richard Simmons retreat. People are going to rush into this one and end up looking pretty stupid.
The only people who look stupid are the people trying to sell a snazzy new OS that does not work with 80% of the world's digital music players. That's not really debatable.
Friends don't help friends install M$ junk.