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Software Tool Strips Windows Vista To Bare Bones

Preedit writes "A free download that can cut Windows Vista's gargantuan footprint by half or more is developing a big following on the Internet. vLite is a configuration tool that lets users automatically delete a lot of unnecessary Vista components — such as Windows Media Player and MSN installer — to pare the OS down to a reasonable size. The software is catching on. An InformationWeek story notes that a forum that asks users to suggest new features has drawn nearly 50,000 page views. Meanwhile, Microsoft officials have themselves conceded that Vista is "bloated" and are developing the next version of Windows on a core called MinWin, which is smaller than Vista by an order of magnitude."

5 of 472 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Vista XP is here! by dave420 · · Score: 0, Troll

    If you think the OS is the GUI, then fine - you got me. But, if you know the OS isn't the GUI, and you knew of the new features of Vista, read this post for a decent break-down of some areas Vista excels at.

  2. Re:Vista XP is here! by somersault · · Score: 0, Troll

    Apart from the fact that I've never really wanted to use any Microsoft OS (I do appreciate a couple of their products though - I liked VC++ 6, and the Exchange Server/Outlook combo is pretty decent.. other than that they don't really make anything that others don't do better - and usually for much cheaper or even free), then yes. And apart from the fact that that goes against my whole philosophy on coding and computer use in general. The OS shouldn't be using the majority of your resources. It should be managing the hardware, allocating memory and time to apps, blah blah, and keeping the hell out of the way the rest of the time. I'm sure my Macbook Pro would have no issues running Vista, but I don't care, I'm not giving MS money for creating something that is an affront to my sensibilities. The sooner they die, the better off the world will be. When I started off with computers, I was using a Commodore 100, several Amigas from OS 1.3 to 3.0, and Macs from the original Classic (not sure what version of Mac OS it used). All of them have been somehow just nicer to use than Windows. All of them were generally more responsive than Windows too, running on processors that have 1000 times less power than what we have today. I know the system bus and speed of HDs, RAM, and so on affects performance as well as clock speed, but we should have a lot more than we do have. Microsoft are finally starting to get seriously threatened by the Linux camp these days, and it can only be a good thing for everyone.

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    which is totally what she said
  3. Re:vista ultra-lite - rm /dev/sda1/* by evilbessie · · Score: 0, Troll

    AVG Anti-virus is free for home and non-commercial use (not within non-commercial business though). Home in this case does not mean used in the home as you seem to suggest but for personal/private use.

    From the AVG license:
    AVG Anti-Virus Free Edition is for private, non-commercial, single computer use only. The use of AVG Free within any organization (including non-profit organizations) or for commercial purposes is strictly prohibited.

    So you can use it on a laptop, mayhap you shouldn't comment on things you don't understand.

  4. Re:vista ultra-lite - rm /dev/sda1/* by ediron2 · · Score: 0, Troll

    Don't forget the depreciation advantage of Macs. Used macs sell for more than equally-aged PC's.

    Personally, I just buy 'em because I got tired of 'honey the living room PC's wifi is dead again' after a long day of work. And because the other parents at my school think I'm a video *GOD* because I hand them dvds of kids' performances the next day thanks to iLife. At work I use Ubuntu, Debian, RHEL, SuSE and XP. Other hardcore techies here use Gentoo. Nobody here seems remotely interested in Vista, except in the context of accumulating experience or just comparing XP to Vista as they research cybersecurity risks.

  5. Re:Vista XP is here! by Inner_Child · · Score: 0, Troll

    So... Are you getting paid by the word or by the post?

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    Today is red jello day - all workers must eat all of their red jello. Failure to comply will result in five demerits.