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XP Deathwatch, T Minus 2 Weeks

CWmike writes "June 30 is Microsoft's deadline for mainstream computer makers to stop selling new PCs with the old operating system, and the date that it will stop shipping boxed copies to retailers. That's just two weeks away. Computerworld offers a FAQ about XP's approaching retirement after Microsoft's most recent relaxation of the retirement rules, with some details about which machines big-brand computer makers will be selling with XP after June 30. First FAQ: Any sign that Microsoft will reprieve Windows XP's retirement? Sort of."

597 comments

  1. I hope so by omar.sahal · · Score: 2, Insightful

    With Liunx getting in to there market (with moblie PC, sub note books) this can only help.

    1. Re:I hope so by hardburn · · Score: 5, Informative

      There's an explicit exception for the mini-notebook market, for the very reason that Microsoft is afraid that Linux will sweep it.

      --
      Not a typewriter
    2. Re:I hope so by alexborges · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Thats only for XP home isnt it? And thats a dog of an Os. Even more so than vista home.

      --
      NO SIG
    3. Re:I hope so by omar.sahal · · Score: 2, Interesting

      yeah I know but its still a market that Linux is very competitive in. XP cant be in that market segment for that long (they say 2011). What will Microsoft's new product for this market be?

    4. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 5, Informative

      iirc XP home is crippled in a number of ways. The ones that spring to mind are.
      * it can't join a domain
      * the file permissions and file sharing permissions sytems are crippled
      * I don't think it can be a remote desktop server (but i'm pretty sure it can be a remote desktop client)

      I don't see any of theese as showstoppers for an ultraportable.

      BTW you will still be able to get XP pro though vista buisness or ultimate downgrade rights and the big brand OEMs are now allowed to supply downgrade media and even ship systems pre-downgraded.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    5. Re:I hope so by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      > There's an explicit exception for the mini-notebook market, for the very reason that Microsoft is afraid that Linux will sweep it.

      True. I wonder if that'll help. My daughter (13) last Saturday bought an EEE (with her own money!) and specifically requested Linux because the XP versions were comparatively sluggish. Was soon frustrated with easy mode, but after we got the full Xandros desktop loaded, she's been very happy with it, and hasn't looked back. (I think Asus should just default to the full Xandros desktop -- it's pretty, and even Windows users would be comfortable with it.)

      Point is, she chose Linux over XP on the EEE for the same reason we've been choosing XP over Vista on desktops -- less complicated, fewer issues, faster on the same hardware. Put simply, the lighter weight OS provides a better user experience on the same hardware.

      Moreover, considering the use to which these sub-subnotebooks are being put, there's very little reason to run XP, any more than a PDA or phone needs to run Windows. (They can, but they don't *have* to.)

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    6. Re:I hope so by roc97007 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      > yeah I know but its still a market that Linux is very competitive in. XP cant be in that market segment for that long (they say 2011). What will Microsoft's new product for this market be?

      After XP is gone, all they'll have in that space is Windows Mobile. I can't imagine Microsoft coming up with a *new*, lighter-weight OS. It's not how they work. They're stuck with Vista, and the next version will be even more hardware-intensive.

      Idle thought -- how does Microsoft's business model work in today's "green" market, where running white-hot hardware and upgrading every two weeks is no longer the norm? Will it be global warming that finally kills Microsoft? :-)

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    7. Re:I hope so by CastrTroy · · Score: 4, Informative

      Also, it doesn't come with IIS. Again, not a dealbreaker for most installations, althought if you're a web developer who uses IIS, it could be quite a problem. Also, there's no more than 5 concurrent clients allowed to connect to your file shares if I recall correctly. Again probably not a deal breaker.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    8. Re:I hope so by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      Yeah, but even given the choice, a lot of people will still choose windows. I got a laptop and installed Linux alongside the included Vista. My wife continues to use Vista, even though it's extremely slow, and she constantly complains about all the cancel/allow dialog, and how now it's currently stuck in "configuring updates" mode. Linux works fine, and is nice and snappy.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    9. Re:I hope so by EvilRyry · · Score: 4, Interesting

      By the time XP is really gone or starts smelling too bad, most ultra-portables will probably be able to run Vista anyway.

    10. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Ah, a pedophile joke with your bio and phone number on your homepage. I think you should've posted as 666. The Anonymous Coward route. Or started an account called pedobear.

    11. Re:I hope so by MightyYar · · Score: 4, Interesting

      I suspect that they will indeed "be able" to run Vista as performance is likely to improve a bit, but it wouldn't surprise me to see the tech (and money) go to lighter, thinner, more storage, and more battery life.

      So long as these things can play video and render webpages in a reasonable amount of time, people aren't going to really need more power.

      So then we're right back where we are today... they can spend the extra money on Windows or they can get a machine with more space running Linux for the same coin. So long as these machines are under $300, MS (or any OS maker) is going to have a very hard time getting rich off of them.

      --
      W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
    12. Re:I hope so by FishWithAHammer · · Score: 2, Informative

      That's not Bruce Perens. Note the . in front of the name.

      --
      "You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
    13. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      She chose Linux over XP because it is less complicated and has fewer issues? It sounds like you made her chose Linux over XP so you can post a heart warming success story.

    14. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      No, Linux people should want XP withdrawn, the sooner the better. That's because there are a lot of corporate buyers who have nightmares about the support problems Vista-based machine represent. If MS pulls XP as planned, I predict that major PC vendors will start offering Linux/Wine/Microsoft Office bundles very soon. I wouldn't be surprised if they're already QAing that setup, and are ready to announce it next month.

      But here's another prediction: MS will give XP another stay of execution. They don't want to — it must be damned humiliating to spend a 5 years developing an OS upgrade, only to have everybody reject it — but they must know that killing XP will give Linux a unique opportunity to break their monopoly on desktop systems. Pride will make them wait until the last minute, but dollars and cents will keep them from pulling the plug. Until Windows 7 appears, I think XP is safe.

    15. Re:I hope so by home-electro.com · · Score: 5, Interesting

      The cost of Vista itself bars it from UMPC market. Not just it's h/w requirements. With PC price under 400USD, who wants to pay even $20 for Vista? That's a significant portion of the margin that h/w maker can't afford to give away.

      Low price of h/w is a new reality that MS failed to grasp when they worked on pricing for Vista.

      Interestingly, most normal suppliers that I deal with, when they want to obsolete a product introduce new one, with better specs, providing full compatibility with the old one, and costing LESS. (I'm talking about semiconductors here.) Then everybody have a good reason to migrate.

      MS did exactly the opposite -- worse performance, no compatibility, and higher price.

    16. Re:I hope so by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > She chose Linux over XP because it is less complicated and has fewer issues? It sounds like you made her chose Linux over XP so you can post a heart warming success story.

      Oh, you know that's not what I wrote. She chose Linux over XP "because the XP versions were comparatively sluggish". The important thing to her was how well it worked, not what OS it was running. You're implying I'm giving her too much geeky credit for picking Linux by name. I'm *saying* she didn't care about the OS, she only cared about whether the appliance could do what she wanted. It's us geeks that say Oh, it's gotta run Ubuntu or Windows Mobile 6 or whatever. Real people, who haven't been indoctrinated, pick what does the job. Especially for small specialized electronic devices, the OS truly doesn't matter.

      There *have* been a few minor issues -- I had to remember how to configure Samba, it took some time to discover how to make the wifi settings persistent, and we had to get it out of "novice mode". Once those issues were settled, it did exactly what she wanted it to do and she's perfectly satisfied with it. Scary? I hope so.

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    17. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      After you've used Linux for a while, or really any GPL software, listening to someone go on about your "downgrade rights" is just damn funny. People pay money for "downgrade rights". Gotta love that pointy headed boss corp speak.

    18. Re:I hope so by jaxtherat · · Score: 3, Funny

      Shouldn't that then be !Bruce Perens ?

      --
      http://www.zombieapocalypse.tv/
    19. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 2, Informative

      Which support nightmares are that? Vista accidentally came on about 30 laptops I ordered. I converted 10 of them to XP but left the rest and no one has complained at all. Of course our internal apps are all web-based and work just fine with Firefox so that has a lot to do with it.

      The only issue I ran into was with the 64bit version of Vista but I have the same issue with 64bit XP in that the Sonicwall VPN client wasn't supported. There is now a functional beta for it and all is well.

      It's not even that slow in our environment so I'm wondering why business users would be so afraid of it.

      Home users I think would have the hardest time with it because its more geared towards business users. UAC is trivially easy to disable but it shouldn't be popping up on day to day activities.

      Windows 7 will be based on Vista so I wouldn't expect it to be a whole lot different.

      I'm comfortable and happy with XP although my work laptop is being converted to Ubuntu with VMWare for the Windows only stuff. The biggest problem I run into is the lack of enterprise level security for Linux. For instance I use currently a fingerprint scanner to turn on the laptop and decrypt the drive. Truecrypt works great for an individual laptop but I don't see a way at least to deploy it company wide. HP Embedded security on the other hand is trivially easy to deploy. I keep three USB thumb-drives with the restore keys, one goes in the safe, the other stays locked in my drawer, and the third is off-site. I rotate when I install a new batch of machines.

    20. Re:I hope so by negRo_slim · · Score: 1

      minwin comes to mind as a possible xp replacement in the long term for such devices, since they have so bluntly stated win7 is going to be an evolved vista... really dashed my hopes for a sleek gaming rig of the future...

      --
      On the Oregon Cost born and raised, On the beach is where I spent most of my days
    21. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      The cost of Vista itself bars it from UMPC market.
      I thought MS charged about the same for XP home and vista home basic.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    22. Re:I hope so by fractoid · · Score: 1

      What? Having chosen Linux over XP myself a year ago for exactly those reasons (it's less processor intensive, harder to break unless you get into its guts with a text editor, it's free, and unless you're already more used to XP than your windowmanager of choice, it's just as easy to use), I find that quite reasonable.

      Remember her old man almost certainly runs Linux on their home computer, so it'd be what she's used to, and hence "more intuitive".

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    23. Re:I hope so by KillerBob · · Score: 2, Informative

      XP Home isn't an SMP kernel. XP Pro is. That may have changed with SP3 (I honestly haven't bothered to check), but with SP2 and earlier, XP Home can't utilize more than a single logical or physical processor. Since most computers are going dual core.... *shrugs*

      --
      If you believe everything you read, you'd better not read. - Japanese proverb
    24. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      It's not even that slow in our environment so I'm wondering why business users would be so afraid of it.
      There are a few reasons

      A lot of companies use either in-house applications or specialist applications for thier specialism. In house and specialist applications are very often pretty shitty. People tollerate them because there isn't much choice and the alternatives are often equally badly written. Sometimes specialist hardware with custom drivers get involved too. Such apps are very likely to have issues with a new windows release.

      A lot of buisnesses like to keep a single image. With the recent economic downturn many places are trying to put off luxuries like new hardware and windows upgrade licenses for as long as possible.

      It is a fact that vista is slower than XP on the same hardware, and most people don't see any compelling advantage to it. Why upgrade to something that is slower unless it offers some killer advantage.

      Finally it was traditional to skip every other windows release in many companies. XP's long life meant that almost everyone upgraded to it which may well mean that a large proportion of big companies will skip vista.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    25. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 3, Informative

      where did you get this information? XP home supports dual core just fine (from SP1 forward IIRC).

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    26. Re:I hope so by home-electro.com · · Score: 1

      >> I thought MS charged about the same for XP home
      >> and vista home basic.

      I don't know for sure, but it would not be logical from their pricing perspective. They want to make MORE money per PC when they did with XP. (Btw, bold strategy when everybody else in the industry are making LESS per PC. ;) )

      Hence they want to get rid of XP so bad -- it is a cheaper option to have an OS on a PC.

      Anyway -- even cost of XP is critical for UMPC makers.

    27. Re:I hope so by Dragonslicer · · Score: 1

      XP Home isn't an SMP kernel. XP Pro is. That may have changed with SP3 (I honestly haven't bothered to check), but with SP2 and earlier, XP Home can't utilize more than a single logical or physical processor. Since most computers are going dual core.... *shrugs* That would be interesting, since I remember running an SMP box before XP was released (can't remember if it was Win2k or Win98). SMP support would be a strange thing to remove.
    28. Re:I hope so by Machtyn · · Score: 3, Interesting

      UltraVNC will work just fine on WinXP Home. Though it is not suggested, but Apache will work on WinXP Home. WinXP Home is limited by the number of connections: 5. At least you will be able to do some dev testing (think the 15 year-old trying out his skills at web-dev).

    29. Re:I hope so by RealGrouchy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Will it be global warming that finally kills Microsoft? :-) That would be quite ironic, considering the competition uses a penguin for its logo.

      - RG>
      --
      Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
    30. Re:I hope so by iamhigh · · Score: 2, Interesting

      it must be damned humiliating to spend a 5 years developing an OS upgrade, only to have everybody reject it Maybe, but at this time most are rejecting it becuase the previous version is still a pretty good option. Nearly everyone upgraded to 2000, becuase it was a great advantage. EVERYONE upgraded to XP. Now I can buy a dual core computer that runs XP darn snappy for $400. I can also buy used computers for $150 with a P4 2.4 that run XP just fine. Plus all those computers we bought 3 years ago are still running strong on XP.

      Where is the Vista advantage? Each previous version was just MUCH better by default of how computers were changing so rapidly. But now, I can stick with XP. It runs office apps and most work related stuff (for typical office) well on old and really good on new hardware.

      And while I realize there are still things that XP could be better at, for the most part it works. Did MS finally put out a decent OS and kill itself like people joke about?
      --
      No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
    31. Re:I hope so by dmsuperman · · Score: 1

      The file permissions aren't crippled, that I remember, but I do know that it has a hard time with sharing (you can only share something if you put it in Shared Documents, and even then the permissions are globally read-only).

      --
      :(){ :|:& };: Go!
    32. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 2, Insightful

      While all your points are technically accurate about Vista they are not unique to Vista or caused by Vista.

      Single images are the very reason Vista is attractive to businesses because it's a hardware independent image based installation. XP required custom boot drivers for each platform.

      I don't upgrade the OS on any machine, as the warranty expires I go with what's available and well supported. My new laptops run Vista at acceptable speeds with no noticeable lag. The eye candy is of course turned off as a matter of group policy, same with UAC as my users don't run as admin to begin with.

      The fact that practically every aspect of the user experience can be controlled through group policy also makes Vista very attractive to businesses. Add in the custom performance metrics for your applications to monitor their crashing centrally and you have something that makes sense for large organizations.

      I know I am fortunate in that my apps are standards based web applications so I can use them on whatever platform I choose. This meant that when we started buying Macs for the graphics department because the art director was more comfortable with them, that they were able to contribute without needing a virtual machine.

      I've never seen companies skip Windows releases unless they are in financial trouble and not growing. Otherwise new computers purchased would usually come with the latest version of Windows. I've never experienced a company skipping releases but that does mean admittedly little given that I am just one person. I can certainly understand why companies would do that if they aren't growing.

    33. Re:I hope so by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      minwin comes to mind as a possible xp replacement in the long term for such devices, since they have so bluntly stated win7 is going to be an evolved vista... really dashed my hopes for a sleek gaming rig of the future...

      Well you only need to look at the delays of Vista to figure out that by the time Windows 7 comes out you can do your gaming on GNU/Hurd emulating Linux using QEMU, running WINE on that to run Cgywin to emulate Linux to use WINE to emulate Windows to play your game. Well, perhaps the part about GNU/Hurd becoming usable was a bit far-fetched, but really by the time that Windows 7 will be out WINE should play most games with no trouble on Linux and even ReactOS may be to the stage that it can support some gaming too.
      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    34. Re:I hope so by Darkness404 · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      The fact that practically every aspect of the user experience can be controlled through group policy also makes Vista very attractive to businesses. Add in the custom performance metrics for your applications to monitor their crashing centrally and you have something that makes sense for large organizations.

      Great, it finally caught up with UNIX-like OSes that have been doing that practically since the advent of modern computing. Good to see that Vista caught up to a more then a decade-old system. Oh and it is sad to see that crashing has became such a central part of our computing world, it seems like the only platforms in need of something like Xkill are those that don't support it.

      I know I am fortunate in that my apps are standards based web applications so I can use them on whatever platform I choose. This meant that when we started buying Macs for the graphics department because the art director was more comfortable with them, that they were able to contribute without needing a virtual machine.

      And so, if all your apps are standard across all platforms wouldn't Linux be a more logical choice? I mean it is free, easy to support (you can usually figure out what is wrong with it rather easily), virus-resistant, don't need to spend a fortune in specialty software (anti-virus, firewall, anti-spyware, etc), secure from user error (so long as you don't let them log in as root 24/7), and runs on more hardware platforms.

      I've never seen companies skip Windows releases unless they are in financial trouble and not growing. Otherwise new computers purchased would usually come with the latest version of Windows. I've never experienced a company skipping releases but that does mean admittedly little given that I am just one person. I can certainly understand why companies would do that if they aren't growing.

      By now most major companies are starting to look into other OSes other then Windows. Also, it just plain stupid to pay $100 to "upgrade" every system to Vista when if you bought cheap XP computers they are going to run slower then XP. Vista gives you 0 reason to upgrade, even less for a business. Really, what reason is there to "upgrade" from XP, and even the reasons that are there they all evaporate when compared to Mac or Linux. Basically, the smart companies don't throw money at a problem, they look for the best solution. Only companies who are driven by utter fools would blindly upgrade systems to Vista, even foolisher are those who aren't looking to get out of the Windows loop. Basically, there are tons of reasons not to upgrade to Vista if you are a business: A) costs $$$ B) Slower performance C) not tested with all the applications D) DRM E) still full of security problems F) Windows 7 is supposed to come out in a few years G) No advantage.

      Basically, you are an idiot if you think Vista is good for businesses. You are an idiot if you think Vista is a decent OS. Basically you offer no proof on how Vista is better then XP, Mac or Linux. And I bet you if you put in a Ubuntu CD, the "acceptable speed" on your laptop would become "great speed".
      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    35. Re:I hope so by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      Which support nightmares are that? Vista accidentally came on about 30 laptops I ordered. I converted 10 of them to XP but left the rest and no one has complained at all.

      It isn't the users complaining it is just the absolute waste of resources Vista is. For example, set up a dual-boot of Vista and XP on the same machine. XP will almost always be faster then Vista. Now to the average Joe Sixpack user, it doesn't matter. But if you are "upgrading" a machine from XP to Vista you will certainly notice the speed difference. For example, if I wanted to get a desktop and only use the stock OS (so no changing to Linux or changing Windows versions), I would have to buy a $600 Vista computer rather then a $400 XP to get the same speed. And really, Vista doesn't offer anything more then XP, perhaps UAC but that thing is more of a pain then it is worth. Basically, if installed by the OEM Vista won't get anyone complaining until they see the untapped resources of the machine.
      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    36. Re:I hope so by vuffi_raa · · Score: 1

      Point is, she chose Linux over XP on the EEE for the same reason we've been choosing XP over Vista on desktops -- less complicated, fewer issues, faster on the same hardware. I use a wibrain B1h because it runs a full version of xp. It gives me full app support and I can run photoshop, cinema 4d and ableton live on it- I can't do that with linux. If you just want to surf the net and do basic things I guess linux is fine, but what I like in an ultraportable is as much functionality I can cram in a small box- otherwise there are other things that I can use to achieve the same results that aren't a pc. Thoug I do want a pandora http:\\www.openpandora.org
    37. Re:I hope so by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 0

      harder to break unless you get into its guts with a text editor dpkg -r dpkg

      says differently

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    38. Re:I hope so by porl · · Score: 1

      i bet your little windows box can't run ardour (www.ardour.org) either. the linux version of eee can. how about development environments? i guess for playing games and a few specialty apps windows is fine, but i want to cram as much flexibility as possible in a small box... so what was your point again?

      porl

    39. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you willing to bet $100 on it? :)

    40. Re:I hope so by fractoid · · Score: 1

      The command line... edits text. :P

      OK, if you're talking "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing", Linux can be asploded with the root password and 2 seconds on a console window. But in terms of letting a kid / one of my fiancee's bubblehead friends / some random onto my computer, I'd prefer Linux over Windows because your average non-techie has as much chance of permanently breaking it (find out root password, type arcane command in prompt) as they do of successfully getting a legacy video capture card working (ie. zero :P )

      Windows, on the other hand, just needs them to vapidly click "ok" on every window that IE pops up, and suddenly you've got a face full of f**king smileys animating on your desktop sending kiddie porn to the FBI and filling your hard drive with bank details. Or vice versa. Either way they're after your megahurtzes.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    41. Re:I hope so by Tim+C · · Score: 1

      No, XP Home will not utilise two physical processors, but dual core (and HT-enabled) processors work just fine. The laptop I'm typing this on right now is running XP Home and using both cores of its Core Duo just fine.

    42. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      By the time XP is really gone or starts smelling too bad, most ultra-portables will probably be running Ubuntu anyway.

      There, fixed that for you.

    43. Re:I hope so by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      I heavily disagree. When XP retires we have to start converting Windows user from Vista. Not only is converting from Vista a much bigger pain in the ass, Wine will not be able to run DRM packed games. Right now there is all kinds of support for XP integration, but zero to none for Vista (file systems (not to mention encryption with BitLocker), protocols and formats).

      --
      Here be signatures
    44. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      That's because there are a lot of corporate buyers who have nightmares about the support problems Vista-based machine represent. If MS pulls XP as planned, I predict that major PC vendors will start offering Linux/Wine/Microsoft Office bundles very soon. Yeah because if you ran Windows up until now, that switch will be smooooth, with no support problems.
    45. Re:I hope so by MadMidnightBomber · · Score: 1

      No EFS (file encryption) if I remember rightly. To the other poster, the lack of IIS is a good thing.

      --
      "It doesn't cost enough, and it makes too much sense."
    46. Re:I hope so by mjwx · · Score: 1

      For a Windows developer (using VS2005/2008) an ultraportable is not an option for development work even if you are doing the the majority of your builds on servers. these type of ultraportables will not have the grunt to simply run XP and VS2005 let alone allow someone to develop on it.

      --
      Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
    47. Re:I hope so by johnw · · Score: 2, Funny

      Also, it doesn't come with IIS. Surely this is a plus point, no?
    48. Re:I hope so by IkeTo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      > The cost of Vista itself bars it from UMPC market.

      No. The price of an additional license of Vista is 400USD, of course. But the cost of an additional license of Vista is essentially zero. If MS want to bar Linux from entry and Vista does the job, it can start offering 10USD sub-laptop only licenses to OEM. The problem is, Vista doesn't do the job. It would run too slow. It would eat battery too fast.

    49. Re:I hope so by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      By the time XP is really gone or starts smelling too bad, most ultra-portables will probably be able to run Vista anyway.

      I'll be amazed if most UMPCs won't be able to comfortably run Vista by the end of this year.

    50. Re:I hope so by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      The cost of Vista itself bars it from UMPC market.

      The cost of Vista is whatever Microsoft wants it to be. If they have to sell a special "UMPC licence" for $5 a pop to get it onto UMPCs, they will.

      (Why do so many people have trouble grasping that the retail price of Windows is utterly irrelevant to just about everyone ?)

    51. Re:I hope so by Lachlan+Hunt · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Also, it doesn't come with IIS. Again, not a dealbreaker for most installations, althought if you're a web developer who uses IIS, it could be quite a problem. If you're a web developer or server admin that uses IIS, you've got bigger problems to worry about!
      --
      By reading this signature, you hereby agree with the content of the above comment.
    52. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Single images are the very reason Vista is attractive to businesses because it's a hardware independent image based installation. XP required custom boot drivers for each platform.
      There were some tricks required to make XP images that could be deployed to a wide variety of hardware but it is certainly possible.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    53. Re:I hope so by theeddie55 · · Score: 1

      * I don't think it (XP Home) can be a remote desktop server (but i'm pretty sure it can be a remote desktop client) XP Pro isn'st a good remote desktop server either, without hacking it (which admittedly is quite easy) you can't have more than one user logged in, which means you can't log in remotely if somebody is logged in locally, this all but defeats the point of having a remote desktop server anyway.
    54. Re:I hope so by Eunuchswear · · Score: 2, Insightful

      dpkg -r dpkg

      # dpkg -r dpkg
      dpkg: error processing dpkg (--remove):
        This is an essential package - it should not be removed.
      Errors were encountered while processing:
        dpkg

      --
      Watch this Heartland Institute video
    55. Re:I hope so by home-electro.com · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I did not make myself clear enough: even the the cost of HEAVILY DISCOUNTED Vista or XP license is critical for UPMC makers.

      >> (Why do so many people have trouble grasping
      >> that the retail price of Windows is utterly
      >> irrelevant to just about everyone ?)

      It is probably a comforting thought that everyone around you is so stupid, but I assure you it is not the case. Sure, I think on sub $400 notebook +$110 goes to Microsoft, I'm just that stupid.

    56. Re:I hope so by dotancohen · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Moreover, considering the use to which these sub-subnotebooks are being put, there's very little reason to run XP, any more than a PDA or phone needs to run Windows. (They can, but they don't *have* to.) One advantage of running Windows on these portable devices is to sync with the 'big computer' at home. Even getting my Nokia 6288, which supposedly supports SyncML, to sync with Kontact is a pain. I currently don't have the week to invest in fixing this issue. I know that with Windows I would have been good to go the minute that the Nokia was out of the box.

      In the UMPC's own little world, Linux is fine. But Linux won't talk to the big computer at home for those who run Windows there.
      --
      It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.
    57. Re:I hope so by niceone · · Score: 1

      If you want XP Pro, just buy Vista Business and install XP Pro - the vista business license allows you to do this. Vista ultimate does too, but that is more expensive.

    58. Re:I hope so by Katchina'404 · · Score: 1

      Win98 did not support SMP.

      Win2k did, but remember that there was no Win2k "home", only Win2k Pro and Server, from which SMP was pretty much expected.

      Win NT 4 (WS and Server) actually supported SMP as well.

      --
      Ceci n'est pas une signature
    59. Re:I hope so by TummyX · · Score: 1


      I wouldn't be surprised if they're already QAing that setup, and are ready to announce it next month.


      Jesus. Fantasize much?

    60. Re:I hope so by donstenk72 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      This is interesting. Could you point me in the right direction as to how to enable to standard Xandros desktop? My grandad has a 6 months old EEE that works well but I have not figured out on how to run updates - there are a couple of glitches. Any help is appreciated, I am familiar with Linux but have not gone beyond the user interface of the EEEPC.

    61. Re:I hope so by hesaigo999ca · · Score: 1

      Actually there is a way to allow up to 40 connections at one time by changing a value in the registry.
      I love windows xp pro (only) and I also love linux, I wont be sad when the one dies, but wont be getting vista anytime soon!

    62. Re:I hope so by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      I have a HP Compaq 6710b laptop. Core 2 Duo, 1GB memory. Doing the exact same things (Firefox 3 and playing music), it gets 2 hours' battery in XP and 3 hours' battery in Ubuntu 8.04. Fiddling with Powertop in Ubuntu gets me another half an hour. I blame the AV in XP (McAfee) for the power suckage. (I think it's fair to count the AV for "out of the box" usage - no way I'd run Windows without an AV.)

      It has a "Vista Basic Ready" sticker on it. I shudder to think how it'd do on Vista.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    63. Re:I hope so by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      ashevin@SDG05693:~ $ dpkg -r dpkg
      -bash: dpkg: command not found
      ashevin@SDG05693:~ $

    64. Re:I hope so by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      Indeed. I know a lot of musicians who got Eee 700s and put XP on them for music software. Perfect live music workstation - solid state, small, light.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    65. Re:I hope so by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      Anyone who can use Windows will be able to use KDE no problems.

      (I used to get confused between KDE on my laptop and Win2k on my work desktop, when I expected something that was in one to be on the other ...)

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    66. Re:I hope so by David+Gerard · · Score: 1
      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    67. Re:I hope so by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      That's because there are a lot of corporate buyers who have nightmares about the support problems Vista-based machine represent.

      If MS pulls XP as planned, I predict that major PC vendors will start offering Linux/Wine/Microsoft Office bundles very soon. These two statements are completely contradictory. There is no way Wine+Anything is a smaller support nightmare than Vista. Believing the opposite just paints you as an anti-MS zealot.
    68. Re:I hope so by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      Yeah. I upgrade Mac OS X, I get a speed boost and more stuff working better. I upgrade Ubuntu, I get a speed boost and more stuff working better. People queue around the block for a new Mac OS X but shudder in horror at the prospect of a new Windows.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    69. Re:I hope so by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Perhaps I did not make myself clear enough: even the the cost of HEAVILY DISCOUNTED Vista or XP license is critical for UPMC makers.

      No, it's not. If you think an extra $5 on the price tag will stop someone buying a known quantity (Windows laptop) vs an unknown quantity (non-Windows laptop), you're crazy.

      It is probably a comforting thought that everyone around you is so stupid, but I assure you it is not the case. Sure, I think on sub $400 notebook +$110 goes to Microsoft, I'm just that stupid.

      Well apparently you are, because ~$500 PCs have been around for years, but strangely Linux hasn't managed to take over the world because Windows is so expensive. Why would you think sub-$500 laptops will be so much different ?

    70. Re:I hope so by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Great, it finally caught up with UNIX-like OSes that have been doing that practically since the advent of modern computing. Good to see that Vista caught up to a more then a decade-old system. Oh and it is sad to see that crashing has became such a central part of our computing world, it seems like the only platforms in need of something like Xkill are those that don't support it. Name one commercial Unix that supports anything remotely like Group Policy. Do you have any clue as to what that is? Just to be nice, I'll answer for you: Mac OS X. Which has been out less time than Windows NT, which had Group Policy from at least version 4.

      By now most major companies are starting to look into other OSes other then Windows. On the server only. I work at a major company (150k Windows workstations and about 10k servers, both Unix and Windows). There is no talk of replacing the workstations with anything other than the next version of Windows (currently that is Vista). From a (computer, not PHB) management position, Linux is not even in the running.
    71. Re:I hope so by vuffi_raa · · Score: 1

      ardour wouldn't do what I do and there really isn't any live performance app on linux at all- and even if there was I wouldn't be able to drop my tracks out and plop them on my laptop or sync them over usb, not to mention that there is no vst support, so unlike on mac and pc there is no library of synths/effects to pull from. trust me I have looked into it audio production and performance on linux is a novelty right now, it may change in the future- but that is way off, and which development environments? If I were using it for work it would be perl and .net, which I could scale to run on it no problem, and as far as 3d goes (I mentioned c4d) some people like blender, but to me, having used maya and lighwave and c4d for so long that the blender interface is really painful to use. Being someone that doesn't just scew around with audio (I do indie releases usually, though I put out on a number of labels remixing and on comps from time to time) and contracting doing other various multimedia projects- apps in those realms on linux really are watered down imitations of windows/mac apps
      (btw- I do have warcraft 3 and the sims2 on the wibrain as well- so gaming is fun on it sims is fun with the handheld touchscreen)
      like I said though, I do plan to get a pandora when it is released- so I will prolly play around with having a portable linux machine, and I will push it as hard as it goes, though I can't see it having the flexibility that I have in a portable windows machine

    72. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's another limitation, although again, it won't affect most people. XP Home is limited to 2 CPUs.

    73. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 1

      Yes it is possible with BartPE but it is quite difficult when compared to how simple it is with Vista installations. BartPE would load the correct boot drivers which is what I was referring to.

    74. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      BTW you will still be able to get XP pro though vista buisness or ultimate downgrade rights and the big brand OEMs are now allowed to supply downgrade media and even ship systems pre-downgraded. This is incorrect. You will not be able to downgrade (legally) after MS stops selling XP. You can do it now through OEMs only because MS is still selling the product.

      My organization is looking at our options for and Enterprise Agreement / Software Assurance, etc. You will be able to downgrade to XP only if you have an EA with Microsoft. This was the final word after all our IT execs met with Microsoft for nearly 8 hours discussing all things license related.

      After that meeting, I wanted to completely trash all our Microsoft products and switch all 17,000 desktops we have to Linux.
    75. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      microsofts minimum requirements for VS2005 say it should run on an EEE 900 series. How usable it will be is a different matter of course.

      --
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    76. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 1

      Linux would be a good choice for such machines like my own but the average user gains very little from having to learn a whole different platform. Vista despite what a lot of people claim does not require retraining for 99% of average day tasks.

      I'm afraid that my backend will be changed to Linux far sooner than the desktop end.

      I don't care about virus resistance of Linux, my Windows environment doesn't have a problem with it despite seeing millions of emails a month it is configured correctly. The only virus the company has seen in 4 years was ironically yesterday when one of the Administrators blindly installed an ActiveX component for some reason. He was also running as local admin despite the dangers it poses. Why he was using IE as well I've no idea but there was certainly too much trust in his abilities which are sharply declining.

      I would say the blind hatred of Vista that you express is far more foolish as I already gave several explicit reasons why upgrading to Vista would be advantageous and so it is obviously not a blind upgrade. Furthermore I also said I don't upgrade, I buy new, when I buy new it has the latest. My group policy ensures that all the right programs get installed and configured correctly and that the user gets a consistent experience. These tools just aren't there yet without going with SUSE and expensive Novell apps to manage it all. SUN has a comparable offering as well again costing a lot and then there is the lack of experience for the majority of support people out there.

      Additionally, on new harder Vista is not slower than XP on the older hardware, it has been tested with all the applications deployed in my environment, DRM is completely and absurdly irrelevant since we're not playing DRM content at work are we? No, we produce video and I might add we distribute it without DRM.

      The security problems it has I've not run into as I don't run as local admin nor do my users, you just seem to spout all the common bs about Vista that people spread everytime there is a new release.

      Finally since you resorted to name calling I'll assume that you aren't responsible for purchasing machines for your company as you seem to think Vista is more expensive when our machines cost less today than they did 4 years ago. Of course we lease machines for 3 years, hard wipe them and get them refreshed so we never pay the full cost of the hardware/software and we always have warranty support.

      My laptop already runs Ubuntu but thanks for trolling. No it doesn't perform faster because I have to run a VM with Windows in it and you're making bad assumptions that my laptop ran Vista to begin with. This speed increase you mention simply doesn't exist when you already have a performance template in place for Windows. This is especially true given the retraining required to switch to Linux. The average user gains very little in terms of productivity from the me too applications on most distros.

      I'm afraid the pain in the ass that is getting Ubuntu installed on the majority of brand new hardware is simply not worth the effort on the desktop side. On the server side sure, but the desktop side it's pointless as all I do is plug in a new machine to the network and join it to the domain. Automation takes care of the rest.

    77. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 1

      Out of curiosity how is OS X group policy supported? I didn't think it was nearly as far along as group policy in XP SP3 or Vista.

      I know SUSE/Novell has Zenworks for Group policy across Linux and Windows but it doesn't support OS X. SUN has a similarly functional product although I've no experience with it. Oracle also has an offering but of course all three are just as expensive as the Windows options.

      I do have a department of Macs though so it would be nice to reduce my admin overhead on them as right now they take the majority of my support time. Apple seems to have mangled Samba good and proper on OS X. I don't have any problems connecting to shares on any Linux distro around but OS X likes to disconnect randomly. It also leaves a trail of hidden files all over the network. Last time I did a purge I removed over 600gigs of hidden files containing the thumbnails I assume for all the photos they work with. Samba also never closes a connection to the file so routinely I have to manually kill file locks for the Mac users to allow others access.

    78. Re:I hope so by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > One advantage of running Windows on these portable devices is to sync with the 'big computer' at home. Even getting my Nokia 6288, which supposedly supports SyncML, to sync with Kontact is a pain. I currently don't have the week to invest in fixing this issue. I know that with Windows I would have been good to go the minute that the Nokia was out of the box

      My last two phones have been Palm based, and getting them to sync with the "big computer" is truly mindless. Haven't played with the Nokia, but it's demonstrably not true that you must be running Windows on the device to easily sync with the "big computer".

      > In the UMPC's own little world, Linux is fine. But Linux won't talk to the big computer at home for those who run Windows there.

      You've got to be kidding. The little Linux box shows up in network neighborhood in the proper workgroup, has it's own netbios name, shares printers, plays well with DHCP, what more do you want?

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    79. Re:I hope so by u-235-sentinel · · Score: 1

      With Liunx getting in to there market (with moblie PC, sub note books) this can only help.

      I've already moved over most of my home business to Ubuntu and any Windows apps needed run fine under WINE.

      Heck, even CounterStrike Source and Team Fortress 2 work pretty good under Ubuntu and WINE.

      Go figure :D

      --
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    80. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes it is possible with BartPE but it is quite difficult when compared to how simple it is with Vista installations. BartPE would load the correct boot drivers which is what I was referring to.

      For drivers at install time on XP, you can use Driver Packs. It's pretty much dead simple, and has the advantage of being able to support drivers not made when the original OS distribution came out. Vista (or any other OS) doesn't automatically support new hardware...you have to have drivers, and if they are critical for boot, you have to have them on the install disk.

      Every OS should come with a utility like Driver Packs that allows even the most neophyte user to add drivers for new hardware to the install disk.

    81. Re:I hope so by jp10558 · · Score: 1

      I'd take a look at Likewise Enterprise or Centrify Direct Control. The built in Apple tools require a Schema extension and using a Mac system to set policies.

      --
      Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3
    82. Re:I hope so by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      You can both connect to and serve remote desktop sessions from XP home. But you have to go through the "Remote Assistance" rigmarole to set it up.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    83. Re:I hope so by jrgp · · Score: 0

      I wonder if Microsoft is aware that simply using Linux is green in itself, because of how the OS handles resources.

      --
      Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home?
    84. Re:I hope so by jrgp · · Score: 0

      What do you mean Wine can't run DRM packed games? I only use linux and play windows games such as Halo, WoW, and others all the time through wine without a hitch.

      --
      Cannot the kingdom of salvation take me home?
    85. Re:I hope so by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Also, there's no more than 5 concurrent clients allowed to connect to your file shares if I recall correctly. I believe that's the same with XP pro. For more than 5 concurrent clients connected to your file shares you need a licensed Windows Server.

    86. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Which support nightmares are that? Vista accidentally came on about 30 laptops I ordered. I converted 10 of them to XP but left the rest and no one has complained at all. Of course our internal apps are all web-based and work just fine with Firefox so that has a lot to do with it. In other words, your counterexample is worthless. You only have one application you need to run on Vista.

      I run Vista (not by choice) and the ongoing headaches are ridiculous. Haven't had to face any driver or stability issues yet (crosses fingers) but there's no end of weird glitches and application compatibility problems.

      Oh, and note to system vendors: if you want to minimize support calls, don't ship Vista systems with 1 GB of RAM and Aero enabled. Either disable Aero or add enough RAM to support it. And note that some of the symptoms you'll have reported (like Microsoft applications locking up) have no obvious connection to Aero.

      Home users I think would have the hardest time with it because its more geared towards business users. Right, and that's why MS is encouraging home users to stick with XP. Plus, they don't have any "Home edition" or with consumer-oriented features. No, wait a minute...

      Windows 7 will be based on Vista so I wouldn't expect it to be a whole lot different. Well then, sell your MS stock now. But whatever it's "based on", I would expect that some of the features that didn't work out so well in Vista will be either removed or re-implemented from scratch. Also, the thing will be modular, which will make it easier to avoid the bloatware.
    87. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 1

      It doesn't look like you understand the issue with hardware independent imaging. You have drivers which conflict with one another based on firmware updates or any number of instances. I use nlite for making custom XP installations, I maintain an image for each type of computer because of this however. I don't use disks those, it's all PXE boot.

      With BartPE you can dynamically choose what needs to be loaded before you enter your Windows install so you get a whole different level of flexibility which can thankfully be automated by on model information.

    88. Re:I hope so by Vancorps · · Score: 1

      Thanks for the tip

    89. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 1

      There are real advantages to Vista. Nothing groundbreaking, but certainly comparable to the improvements XP made over 2000 and 98.

      Vista's problem is not its lack of advantages. It's the endless glitches. I've been using it for a couple months now, and I still have problems that just leave me scratching my head. Which is a first for me: I've been working with computer systems longer than I care to think about, and I've never faced this level of obscurity before.

    90. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Standard Slashdot the-world-revolves-around-me falllacy. Believe it or not, most computers are not purchased by gamers. They're purchased by people who want to run productivity/web applications. If computer makers can cater to these folks with a Linux/WINE solution, they will do so.

    91. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 0, Offtopic

      Excuse me, did you say something? No, I guess not.

    92. Re:I hope so by roc97007 · · Score: 1

      > This is interesting. Could you point me in the right direction as to how to enable to standard Xandros desktop? My grandad has a 6 months old EEE that works well but I have not figured out on how to run updates - there are a couple of glitches. Any help is appreciated, I am familiar with Linux but have not gone beyond the user interface of the EEEPC.

      The article below gives you several ways to do it. We chose "the manual way". Had no problems. You'll need an active wifi connection because it has to download stuff, and you'll lose a little bit of space.

      The desktop looks enough like Winders that anyone with pc experience should be able to use it. Even my wife, who's aggressively techno-naive, can make use of it without being coached.

      http://wiki.eeeuser.com/howto:getkde?s=advanced

      --
      Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
    93. Re:I hope so by fm6 · · Score: 1

      Oh, yeah, I must be an anti-MS zealot, because you don't agree with my analysis of the support issues. That's why I run everything on Linux...

      No wait a minute. (Stops to look at desktop.) My computer is running Vista! My god, how did that happen? Oh yeah, I remember, I analyzed my needs and decided it was the best solution, despite its (many) shortcomings. Of course it helps that I'm a hardcore techie and can provide my own tech support. But when a friend or family member asks me if they should buy a Vista system, I tell them to forget it. Because you know who they're going to call when something goes wrong...

      It's true that configuring a new application to run under Wine can be a nightmare. But most people run a few standard applications, and the heavy lifting to make them run smoothly under Wine has already been done.

    94. Re:I hope so by dotancohen · · Score: 1


      My last two phones have been Palm based, and getting them to sync with the "big computer" is truly mindless. Haven't played with the Nokia, but it's demonstrably not true that you must be running Windows on the device to easily sync with the "big computer".

      I did not say that you _must_ run Windows to sync between the Nokia and the desktop, I said that it was easier. Easier, in the sense that it is within the realm of the common user, you know, the one who won't google and join mailing lists and compile from SVN.


      > In the UMPC's own little world, Linux is fine. But Linux won't talk to the big computer at home for those who run Windows there.


      You've got to be kidding. The little Linux box shows up in network neighborhood in the proper workgroup, has it's own netbios name, shares printers, plays well with DHCP, what more do you want?

      What else do I want? I want my Korganizer calendar on my 6288. I want my Kaddressbook entries on my 6288. Having a netbios name, sharing printers, and playing well with DHCP have nothing to do with that.
      --
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    95. Re:I hope so by V!NCENT · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      "Why is my BitLocker USB stick not recognised?", "Why can't Wine install this DRM-packed latest incarnation of MS Office?", Or worse: "Why can't OOo open these DRM MS Office document?". And how is the world supposed to revolve around me?

      --
      Here be signatures
    96. Re:I hope so by mischi_amnesiac · · Score: 1

      There is a fix from http://www.lvllord.de/?lang=en&url=tools to raise that limit.

      --
      "Die endgueltige Teilung Deutschlands - das ist unser Auftrag." - Chlodwig Poth
    97. Re:I hope so by BrianGKUAC · · Score: 1

      Speaking of this, has anyone played with FedoraDS? I'm not the primary decision maker where I work, and I'm thus afraid of setting it up on my system in case it conflicts with our implementation of AD on 2003 R2. Is it a viable alternative in an environment where users have custom settings and fileshare access deployed to them automatically?

      --
      Menus: Linux=function, Windows=vendor, OS X=as little as possible. Makes a statement, don't you think?
    98. Re:I hope so by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1

      the file permissions and file sharing permissions sytems are crippled
      They are crippled on the UI level (i.e, in Explorer), not on OS level. You can work around that easily by using command line or third-party GUI tools, or even write them yourself easily (it's just a couple of well-documented API calls, and even easier in .NET/PowerShell) if you are so inclined.
    99. Re:I hope so by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1
      Come on, this is getting old now. How many servers in most stable top 10 run on IIS, again?

      Besides, if you want to develop for plain ASP.NET or SharePoint, you pretty much have to do so on IIS.

    100. Re:I hope so by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      got any reccomendations of such tools?

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    101. Re:I hope so by shutdown+-p+now · · Score: 1
      The standard way to manage ACLs from command line in any version of Windows is cacls.exe - run it and read the help. Alternatively, get PowerShell and run "get-help set-acl -detailed", and see what you can make of it. Otherwise, Google for '"xp home" acl edit', and you'll get plenty of hits.

      For advanced file sharing, the way to do it in XP Home out of the box is to reboot into "Safe Mode with Networking". In "safe mode", both advanced ACL properties and advanced file sharing properties are available. Again, Google will find you a lot more detailed descriptions of that and other workarounds.

    102. Re:I hope so by V!NCENT · · Score: 1

      And you set Wine to WinXP... Wait for deeply-integrated-in-Vista games using the TPM chip.

      --
      Here be signatures
    103. Re:I hope so by Dogtanian · · Score: 1

      That's not Bruce Perens. Note the . in front of the name. Yeah, I noticed that troll account a few days ago too. There's a similar case with Miguel de Icaza.

      Anyway, since the AC obviously didn't know who Bruce Perens was meant to be , I'm only half-joking when I ask what made he/she think that ".Bruce Perens" wasn't (e.g.) some horny, socially-inept 12-year-old boy?

      Okay, so they still wouldn't want the little git anywhere near their daughter, but it wouldn't make him a pedo, would it?
      --
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    104. Re:I hope so by mjwx · · Score: 1

      I was referring to it's usability, MS is notorious for "low balling" its minimum specs. Realistically you wont be able to run VS 2005 on less than 2 GB of RAM and use high speed RAM (800 or 1333 Mhz), 10K RPM disks help a lot when doing local builds. CPU speed matters less when using slow disks but becomes more important when using high speed disks and RAM.

      --
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  2. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    They might stop selling it but I bet they will support it for a long time. I shall guess 2012.

    1. Re:Anonymous Coward by isorox · · Score: 5, Informative
    2. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0, Insightful

      Amazing. You can't even get Linux distro support for that long which is sad.

    3. Re:Anonymous Coward by mini+me · · Score: 1

      Linux is open source which means that absolutely anybody can offer you support on the product. I find it extremely hard to believe that by 2014 there will be nobody in the world willing to support older Linux installations.

    4. Re:Anonymous Coward by rubycodez · · Score: 5, Informative

      bullshit, my employer (and I) will support any version of GNU/Linux from the last 18 years for our clients in Chicagoland area, for a price.

    5. Re:Anonymous Coward by enoz · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure RedHat would be happy to support you, for a price.

    6. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1, Redundant

      Amazing. You can't even get Linux distro support for that long which is sad.
      Why would it be needed when upgrading the Linux kernel is a matter of download/compile/boot. Can't do that with windows. Must repurchase the OS to gain feature additions and accumulated bug fixes. If you're paying, and paying, and paying, you're going to expect longer periods of support.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    7. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Sure, you can get support from independent companies and individuals for a price. I'm sure that you can do the same for Windows XP, for a price. GNU/Linux makes it much easier because of source code availability. But that doesn't change the fact that there aren't any Linux distros out there that will support each released version for 12 years like MS is doing with XP.

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    8. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 3, Informative

      Must repurchase the OS to gain feature additions and accumulated bug fixes.
      I've owned XP since about a year after it was released. Not once have I had to pay again for patches and updates to it. I'll still be able to get patches and updates until the end-of-support is reached.
      --
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    9. Re:Anonymous Coward by petermgreen · · Score: 2, Informative

      There are two sides to "support", problem support and security update support.

      Problem support can be provided by third parties, especially with an open source system like linux.

      Security update support basically means someone has to monitor all the software in the distribution for secrity issues and then work out how to backport those fixes. While it would certainly be possible to do this for an indvidual customer I suspect few could afford it.

      Of course not everyone cares about security updates. If the machines exposure can be kept to a minimum you may be able to live without them but for many users they are particularlly important.

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    10. Re:Anonymous Coward by drsmithy · · Score: 2

      I find it extremely hard to believe that by 2014 there will be nobody in the world willing to support older Linux installations.

      Yeah, but their "support" is likely to be "just upgrade to 2.10 - it's free - and recompile your software from source".

    11. Re:Anonymous Coward by somersault · · Score: 2, Funny

      Quit harrassing the Microsoft employees!

      --
      which is totally what she said
    12. Re:Anonymous Coward by rubycodez · · Score: 3, Interesting

      we do have certified Windows engineers who will do any version of windows or MS-DOS too (I only do VMS, Unix(tm), BSD and Linux). The usual model is that we sell a block of time and then the client can use the hours as they want.

    13. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I've owned XP since about a year after it was released. Not once have I had to pay again for patches and updates to it. I'll still be able to get patches and updates until the end-of-support is reached.
      So you've updated to Vista without paying? Via Microsoft's servers? WOW. How'd u manage that?

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    14. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1
      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    15. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I've owned XP since about a year after it was released. Not once have I had to pay again for patches and updates to it. I'll still be able to get patches and updates until the end-of-support is reached.
      Second question... shoulda wrapped it in the other..

      How's that Aero workin for ya on XP? :)

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    16. Re:Anonymous Coward by pembo13 · · Score: 1

      What's the significant difference?

      --
      "Thanks for all the money you paid to us. We've used it to buy off ISO among other things" -Microsoft
    17. Re:Anonymous Coward by grumbel · · Score: 1

      Why would it be needed when upgrading the Linux kernel is a matter of download/compile/boot. Because kernels are not backward compatible forever and ancient applications and libraries often don't like running on modern kernels, just like modern applications and libraries don't like running on old kernels. Try running some of the early Loki games or many other ancient binary releases on a current system and you have some fun. Binary compability is simply terrible on Linux and even having the source often doesn't help without a lot of extra work.
    18. Re:Anonymous Coward by Khyber · · Score: 3, Insightful

      "Must repurchase the OS to gain feature additions and accumulated bug fixes."

      Excuse me, I think you have Microsoft confused with Apple.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    19. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Note that most Linux distros do actually release more frequently than every 5 years, and the next release is likely to run on the same hardware. Not like Vista. If they release one-tenth as often as distros like Fedora and Ubuntu, and you need new hardware to run the new release, they can expect to have to support it for an incredibly long period.

    20. Re:Anonymous Coward by capnkr · · Score: 3, Insightful

      MS *has* to do this because their latest OS release, well, in a word, sucks.

      OTOH, Linux distros generally improve significantly with each new release, in fact so well and so quickly that supporting 12 year old tech just isn't feasible on any kind of large scale, especially when the upgrade path is so easy. Bonus - because of how Linux is designed, there isn't any need for you to run a 12 year old OS, either. There are always newer distros which run fine on really old hardware (Puppy, DSL, Antix, etc...).

      I don't think that this "12 years of support" is a good comparison, there's really no basis for it that I can see. It's not like MS *wants* to do it... Instead, it's a fait accompli for them, or people will leave in droves, IMO.

      --
      "...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can." ~ Mark Twain
    21. Re:Anonymous Coward by ScottCooperDotNet · · Score: 1

      But that doesn't change the fact that there aren't any Linux distros out there that will support each released version for 12 years like MS is doing with XP.

      It's not 12 years, being Microsoft has stopped supporting XP gold and XP SP1. They will eventually stop supporting XP at all unless you have SP3, and likely IE7. Still, that's 6 years of support left for security patches.

    22. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      They have a history of supporting older OS for a long time, this isn't the first situation where they've done this, though with XP it does seem longer than usual.

      Windows 2000 (end of 1999) is still supported for security updates and will be until July 13, 2010.

      Windows NT 4 (from 1996) was supported with security updates until December 31, 2004.

    23. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      At least Apple actually gives users SOMETHING for that extra money.

    24. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      At least he can get his OS lookin pretty. Hows text mode working for you? Managed to get Compiz working? Oh wait, it sucks and its a hog.

    25. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 0, Troll

      You are a moron.
      Afraid to use your real login, Matt. You are a true small dick coward.

      Oh yes... size DOES matter.. shorty.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    26. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      At least he can get his OS lookin pretty. Hows text mode working for you? Managed to get Compiz working? Oh wait, it sucks and its a hog.
      Who said I was running Linux? I'm running XP.

      Ass-umptions make an ass of you and you.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    27. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny
      HAhahahhahha.

      A Vista evangelist calling Compiz a hog?

      Heehhhhhhaaaaaaa....

    28. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      Excuse me, I think you have Microsoft confused with Apple.
      Thank God.. at least 1 sensible response above the IQ of a angry retarded monkey.

      I was getting worried.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    29. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      A Vista evangelist calling Compiz a hog?
      LOL.
      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    30. Re:Anonymous Coward by capnkr · · Score: 1

      Good point, but they've basically _had to_ extend the dates, what, twice now? Since Vista has had such a stellar record since release (TIC), the demand and outcry for a continuance of support for XP from the general public, enterprise, and OEM's has forced them into extending the lifetime of XP years beyond what MS had initially intended. That was not at all how MS planned it, and/or hoped for it to be.

      "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy" - the enemy in this case being customers who have gotten wiser, and more cohesive in their protestations over MS dictating what it is that the customer needs, instead of vice versa (I hope). :)

      --
      "...there are some things that can beat smartness and foresight. Awkwardness and stupidity can." ~ Mark Twain
    31. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 2, Interesting

      So you've updated to Vista without paying? Via Microsoft's servers? WOW. How'd u manage that?
      By the way, I will explain responding to my own post since no one else wants to engage in a respectful or intelligent way. (Typical testosterone rage based behavior.)

      XP automatically patches XP so that it goes from an outdated OS that's near its end of life to an outdated OS that's near its end of life. They do not upgrade to the CURRENT version of the Windows operating system whereas Linux updates DO. The entire comparison is invalid and illogical.

      In order to follow the series of updates to get Windows CURRENT, you have to PAY, and PAY, and PAY. That's the differentiator I was talking about.

      I'm sorry none of you picked up on this. I will hold your hands next time. My bad.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    32. Re:Anonymous Coward by fractoid · · Score: 1

      Managed to get Compiz working? Oh wait, it sucks and its a hog. The first time I saw vista on a computer beefy enough to run it smoothly, I thought it was Beryl at first.
      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    33. Re:Anonymous Coward by fractoid · · Score: 1

      As opposed to something for no extra money? How's that kool-aid taste?

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    34. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Linux is open source which means that absolutely anybody can offer you support on the product. I find it extremely hard to believe that by 2014 there will be nobody in the world willing to support older Linux installations.


      You have fallen for Windows-proprietary-binary_executable-think.

      With Linux you should be able to run most of your older programs on a new OS installation. To upgrade the OS will cost you no more than a bit of bandwidth and some testing. Even if your old program will no longer run ... in most cases it will not cost you anything to upgrade to the most recent version of that application anyway since most Linux software is open source anyway.

      With Linux ... think "FREE UPGRADES FOREVER" ... then you might start to get the picture.
    35. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      No i agree, in particular the EeePC situation shows why they are hesitant to end XPs support. They have nothing to put in that market at the moment, even WinCE isn't up to the task without some significant work, and XP embedded isn't intended for such a device, if only because their license appears to restrict its use to single purpose machines like slot machines and ATMs.

    36. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      Yea...

      It's funny to pull out the kool-aid line I know, but for what i get from Apple its worth the price to me, especially compared to XP or to a lesser extent Vista.

    37. Re:Anonymous Coward by fractoid · · Score: 1

      And what XP users pay for service packs (ie. just the download time) is worth it to them.

      I'm somewhat curious as to whether Apple computers qualify as Veblen Goods, especially now that the hardware is essentially identical.

      --
      Rampant carbon sequestration destroyed the Dinosaurs' tropical paradise. I'm here to help repair the damage.
    38. Re:Anonymous Coward by Khyber · · Score: 1

      I aim to please.

      --
      Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
    39. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      There's a difference between what Apple does and what MS does with service packs.

      Service packs are rollups of security and bugfixes and that's it. XP SP2 was an exception because they screwed the development process of Longhorn so bad they had to release SOMETHING in the mean time, especially to fix all the huge flaws of the original XP and SP1. It was free yes, but in reality SP2 was a significant update not just a service pack.

      Apple on the other hand actually introduces significant new features when they rev the version of OS X, and they do in fact charge quite a bit for them, and release them more often making it more expensive to maintain, but its worth it in my opinion.

      This is actually the first Mac I've had, prior to that i've been using MS stuff since DOS 5. So while its funny to paint people as fanatics drinking the kool-aid, the reality is quite different.

    40. Re:Anonymous Coward by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      If you behave like a 4 year old Lena, you can expect to be treated like one. The 80's called and would like thier feminist attitude back.

    41. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It wasn't Matt for that Matt-er, it was me. And I felt like you were a true moron. You have contributed nothing but stupid remarks. Not that mine is any better, but mine are merely a reflection of your stupid posts.

    42. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      So you've updated to Vista without paying? Via Microsoft's servers? WOW. How'd u manage that?
      I won't be going to Vista. I've never even seen it aside from a couple of screenshots online. XP is the end of the road for me and I'm gonna ride that horse until it stops. I know it, it works, and I'm comfortable with its quirks and problems. After that I'll likely switch to some Linux distro but I'm not sure which one it'll be.

      Unfortunately, I'm opposed to the way Linux distros are organized. I think it's a design flaw to include the operating system in a distribution and then try to package every program under the sun. I much prefer the approach of Windows where there is a core OS and a few support programs. The packaging of applications is left to the application vendors.

      If I want to install a certain version of Firefox or OpenOffice on Linux, I should be able to go to the appropriate web site and download the package just like one can download the installer for Windows. Oracle and Last.fm get this. I can already add their APT repositories to my Debian box or download the packages if I want to install them. Instead we have this mess where if I upgrade the operating system, it wants to install all the new versions of the non-OS software that I have installed. What if I don't want to upgrade all of those? What if I want to do the opposite and upgrade a certain package to the newest version without upgrading the rest of my system? I'm not interested in compiling from source. That involves installing a C compiler (security risk) and being a full-time system administrator when I get home to use my computer. I don't want to manage that. I want it to "just work."

      I want an Linux distribution that I can install once and get security updates for for about six to eight years. And I'm willing to pay what one would pay for your average operating system for it (~$150). Right now, that doesn't exist.
      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    43. Re:Anonymous Coward by scoot80 · · Score: 1

      And what is the problem? Windows != Linux, and as such, the practices are not the same. I'm not the car analogy guy, but when you buy a car, you don't get upgraded to the new model when it comes out, you have to pay for it. Apple requires you to pay for their OS updates, and people pay, I don't hear too many having a cry over it.

      If you are a Windows user, you'll get used to paying for a new OS every 5 years, I'm sure many spend a lot more upgrading their hardware on a much shorter cycle. If you are a Linux user, why does it bother you? In most cases, its the businesses paying for the upgrades, and quite often, they can afford it, and write it off on tax.

    44. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      You're talking about per-incident support. What I'm talking about is that I can spend $150 on Windows XP when it is released and then get eight or more years of security support and upgrades at no extra charge. Can I get the same length of security support for a Linux distro from your company for the same amount of money?

      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    45. Re:Anonymous Coward by SirSlud · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Instead, it's a fait accompli for them, or people will leave in droves, IMO.

      To what? Apple would be making OSes, not phones and MP3 players if selling their OS on beige intel boxes didn't constitute corporate suicide. People talk about Linux, but its just not viable. Its an awesome OS but it will *never* be the dominant OS for the same reason that perfectly awesome products which are cheap rarely outsell the well marketed corperate 'pass the buck' options. Linux is much much more friendly to anybody that lifts the hood. It took me 4 hours today to crawl through the hundreds of thousands of registry keys *on a new installation of windows* to figure out some super ultra obscure python file association bug. But nothing can beat taking a portion of your budget, paying a company, and when things go wrong, being able to point out that you're spending support money on the same corporate behemoth that wrote the thing. It is just too important in business for people to be able to say you've got a support contract with the folks who wrote the damn thing. I'm ignoring the fact that it is not sound logic - its just how business works, and a great deal of end users too.

      I really don't get why people aren't beating down the doors to the government to ask why an OS as super ultra fucking pleasurable as OS X is unable to compete in the marketplace requires such a price point premium on hardware and is locked down. Man, I am not going to pay for an Apple machine, but I would absolutely kill to hand over my money to buy OS X. BSD under the hood, the best GUI front-end ever - there is something seriously wrong that both unix nerds and end users aren't wondering why the market has apparently decided it's so boutique and special. It's not the market - Microsoft is just really untouchable. They're in such a powerful position in the computer world that its basically unfathomable that they lose massive market share. It'd be too painful for everyone.

      --
      "Old man yells at systemd"
    46. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      we got it but the Microsoft employees were too busy trying to patch the free upgrade to vista bug you were talking about.

      I believe your point is best summarised by http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVOnFdMf0RU&feature=related

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    47. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      Hog? wait...na...give me a sec...hehe....alright....and im done laughing.
      Call me when you get vista running with full effects & 4 desktops on 128 ram with integrated graphics. ( celeron something slow like 1.6ghz).
      I mean it wasn't lightning fast I couldn't use firefox2 (3 ran ok though) but then I had a similar experience on a duel core 1GB system with vista.

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    48. Re:Anonymous Coward by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      The reason MS is supporting XP for 12 years is because it has, and will be, their flagship product the whole damn time. No, it probably won't be by 2012 or so, but XP is still outselling Vista (iirc, if you include corporate sales). It'd be kind of stupid to not support the one major product keeping you in a market that everyone wants.

      All I can say is that I feel sorry for people who are paying Open Licensing costs for XP, especially due to the anemic and generally crappy support that's been provided since Vista came out.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    49. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      apple make you pay for new features every 2/3 years, Microsoft pack the smaller ones in for free for 8 years
      apple make you pay for bug fixes every 2/3 years, Microsoft give them away for free for 8 years.

      Sorry but if I wasn't a sucker that paid to much for hardware id sure as hell go for MS.

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    50. Re:Anonymous Coward by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      And then you'll be shoved onto the tracks of Vista - or whatever joke MS is selling as the latest, greatest operating system, likely to be tormented by a myriad of very disruptive changes and poor performance.

      Frankly, I'd not be surprised to see MS go to a annual license/support contract, like what antivirus companies do, with their next version of Windows. They simply can't keep doing the non-profitable "sell one product every 10 years" nonsense that they pulled with XP - their stockholders won't allow it.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    51. Re:Anonymous Coward by KGIII · · Score: 1

      Maybe the terms update and upgrade mean different things to different people. People "upgrade" to a new version and "update" to the latest patches. Or at least that's what I was getting from reading the thread. YMMV

      --
      "So long and thanks for all the fish."
    52. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      Your timelines are screwy, and Microsoft is not generously giving away new features as you suggest.

      Microsoft fucked up Longhorns development so bad they took 6 years to release it, that's why they had to release SP2 in 2004 with new features. Rest assured if they had a new platform to release at the time, they would have made you pay for it too, and they did exactly that when Vista came around *6 years* after XP was released.

      Apple doesn't make anyone pay for bugfixes, they are still supporting OS X 10.3 for free which is quite old at this point. Yes Apple makes people pay for new features, that's how they fund new development of their platform. You have a problem with them being rewarded for their effort? They should just continue to spend significant development time and resources giving away new versions of software simply because you bought a Mac 7 years ago? Microsoft doesn't even remotely do what you are suggesting, they don't give away new features for free. They release bugfixes as they should, and security patches. As i said before SP2 was not just a free functionality update, it corrected massive flaws in Windows and was necessary because Longhorn wasn't even close to being ready.

      Watching Apple leapfrog Microsoft in usability and functionality over and over makes me think perhaps these advances are related to the fact that they are actually being paid to improve things over time, while the majority of Windows users paid less than $50 over the entire course of XPs lifetime, all at once.

      So yea if you want to make a value assessment, i can see why Apple charges for significant platform upgrades with entirely new features. I don't however see Microsoft even significantly upgrading their own platform at all, even with paid upgrades like Vista.

    53. Re:Anonymous Coward by Kokuyo · · Score: 1

      Size matters only to those who have nothing else going for them... It's usually hard to decide for the rest of us whether to pity or laugh at these people.

    54. Re:Anonymous Coward by isorox · · Score: 1

      Must repurchase the OS to gain feature additions and accumulated bug fixes.
      I've owned XP since about a year after it was released. Not once have I had to pay again for patches and updates to it. I'll still be able to get patches and updates until the end-of-support is reached. In that case support will end next year.
    55. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Without a battle plan no one survives first contact with the enemy.

    56. Re:Anonymous Coward by walshy007 · · Score: 1

      depends entirely on what your doing imho, I mean, if your trying to run a program that expects alsa on an ancient 2.4 kernel that only has OSS, your going to run into problems obviously. but that's a new program on an old kernel.

      When it comes to older programs on new kernels it's much better, yes some libraries tend to be updated and replaced, just install the old ones again, and even in so far as matters like oss/alsa are concerned, the new stuff typically supports the old fairly well.

      typically I can download random linux x86 binary and run it fine, maybe after installing a library if need be. I imagine the only people who couldn't are maybe those who don't know how to install things except using yum or apt-get.

    57. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The problem is that you lack eloquence and your inability to command language makes you look dimwitted. Being defensive and making scapegoats after you were put in your place (and rightfully so) doesn't help your case.

      Your original post said that an individual must pay in order to get new features and bug fixes for Windows. Since the parent and grandparent post were both written in regards to Windows XP (indeed the entire thread and the headline is about Windows XP), it is logical to assume that you were also referring to XP. If you were, then you are simply wrong. If you weren't, then your post was a complete non sequitur.

      One final comment, if I may. Women who can, do. Women who can't become angry feminists like you.

    58. Re:Anonymous Coward by jimicus · · Score: 1

      bullshit, my employer (and I) will support any version of GNU/Linux from the last 18 years for our clients in Chicagoland area, for a price. That I'd like to see. Particularly as the kernel wasn't released to the world until October 1991, and wasn't hugely useable back then.
    59. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      LOL. I was the one attacked. Heh. I don't care. I push back. Don't care if that irritates some IT geek.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    60. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As opposed to Apple pushing a 16-bit operating system, that wasn't even capable of real multitasking, up until 2000 and then taking an existing operating system, tacking on a slow GUI and calling it their own?

      I'm sorry but you're just a sucker. Microsoft doesn't just release updates and service packs for free. Take a look at the numerous free downloads they offer and then get back to us.

    61. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If I want to install a certain version of Firefox or OpenOffice on Linux, I should be able to go to the appropriate web site and download the package just like one can download the installer for Windows.


      Why? Do you realise that Firefox 3 running under Suse is the same code as Firefox 3 running under Ubuntu? ... it is the same code just compiled against different sets of libraries and packaged for your installation convenience for your particular distribution.

      I'm not interested in compiling from source.


      Fair enough ... this is exactly why there are distribution repositories which have effectively done that compilation step (adjusting the same code to your distribution) for you.

      I much prefer the approach of Windows where there is a core OS and a few support programs. The packaging of applications is left to the application vendors.


      Very flawed thinking there.

      The distribution repositories rest on their credentials ... not one piece of malware has been ever observed being delivered via the repositories system.

      Compare that to the Windows-think practice of installing applications by downloading binary executable installer packages from often-uncredentialled websites. Literally billions of instances of malware have found their way onto end users systems this way.

      If I want to install a certain version of Firefox or OpenOffice on Linux, I should be able to go to the appropriate web site and download the package just like one can download the installer for Windows.


      Well, you can.

      http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/?utm_id=Q108&utm_source=google&utm_medium=ppc&gclid=CMzHnqKt-5MCFQk7egod4hpEWQ

      It is not going to be tuned for your system, and you run a slight risk of a man-in-the-middle exploit, but it will work if you are that anal about doing it in a similar way to the obviously flawed Windows-think way.
    62. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      The problem is that you lack eloquence and your inability to command language makes you look dimwitted. Being defensive and making scapegoats after you were put in your place (and rightfully so) doesn't help your case.
      I'm breaking my policy of not responding to Anonymous posts with this one (yet again). Sometimes I break it when the post is sensible.

      When the solution is obvious, I do not provide every detail and that is by design. It is brevity, which is something that's considered a virtue, not a flaw. On some occasions it's comedy mixed with brevity, which is what I employed with my original reply. But alas, I forgot this is slashdot. I made the mistake in assuming readers could or would jump the mental gap and see the self-evident point. I was wrong and for assuming that, I apologize.

      For all future posts, and in order to be clear to even the lowliest of retarded code monkeys, I will enumerate each and every painfully obvious point, laboriously beyond the point of exasperation because that's the slashdot way. That is what is required for your typical poster here. Heh.

      Anyway, I was not "put" in my place at all. I guess Matt (or you *wink* *wink) will have to try harder next time.

      Your original post said that an individual must pay in order to get new features and bug fixes for Windows. Since the parent and grandparent post were both written in regards to Windows XP (indeed the entire thread and the headline is about Windows XP), it is logical to assume that you were also referring to XP. If you were, then you are simply wrong. If you weren't, then your post was a complete non sequitur.
      It was very, very, very clear I was referring to XP and Vista. The fact that my entire point revolved around connecting XP to Vista is not invalidated because of some silly notion that the thread is limited to only XP. That is a distraction you're attempting to make to invalidate my point. No. You are the inflexible one here who cannot see a valid point due to some irrelevant "scope" issue with the topic thread.

      Vista is the continuation of XP. It is not merely a logo. It is the current flagship operating system for Microsoft just as XP was in 2002.

      Visa is the sum accumulation of all development for the Windows operating system, therefore it is perfectly valid for me to include Vista in the argument regarding free update/upgrades because both upgrade and update are treated equivalently in this case, for this argument, but not because they are the same function. No, they are not, but because the price required to perform them is ZERO in both cases. You get both for free with Linux, therefore if one is going to hold Linux to a standard using Windows as the model for product support, specifically Microsoft style support measured in years, then I can hold Windows to a standard using Linux as the model for update/upgrade path.

      You and your MS fanboys are simply unhappy with this point as well as the earlier point about Linux not requiring such long-term support is because it's possible and relatively easy to attain updates and upgrades to bring servers up to current modern versions for free but you cannot do this using Microsoft products without continuing to pay again and again for a product that is essentially repackaged in a new box with a shiny new logo.

      Some of you fan boys would rather lash out, but that's OK. I'm going to push it right back.

      One last point, about the "scapegoats". Re-check the posting date/times. You've misused the term.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    63. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      Size matters only to those who have nothing else going for them... It's usually hard to decide for the rest of us whether to pity or laugh at these people.
      I apologize in advance for turning this thread into a circus.. heh. heh..

      but...

      Do you always believe what you read? Think Yo Mama retorts.... no one really believes Yo Mama is that fat*. Same deal here. Heh. :D



      * Of course, she may be pretty damned fat, but certainly not fat enough to generate a measureable amount of gravity.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    64. Re:Anonymous Coward by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      "I think it's a design flaw to include the operating system in a distribution and then try to package every program under the sun."

      Ubuntu Server, Debian base, FreeBSD base.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    65. Re:Anonymous Coward by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      The catch there is that AV companies are selling a service - you're paying for that daily update file to catch the newest piece of toxic waste that came out a day ago. Microsoft would LOVE that model, if only they had something to sell every day.

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    66. Re:Anonymous Coward by David+Gerard · · Score: 1

      This is true. Old Windows binaries usually work flawlessly on Wine however!

      --
      http://rocknerd.co.uk
    67. Re:Anonymous Coward by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      The Linux kernel has extremely good binary compatiblity. One of Linus's guiding principles is that user-land must not break. Obviously, that can't be a hard rule, as that would impede progress, but it's very important to him.

      I would say Linux does at least as good a job in this department as Windows. The main difference being that distributions are not that great at providing the user-land libraries that may be needed. As someone else already posted, however, if those libraries are installed, the application should work.

    68. Re:Anonymous Coward by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Apple does not charge for bug fixes. This is a blatant lie. At this point in time, my Macbook wants to update iTunes, Front Row, Quicktime and one other I can't recall at the moment. All for free. The same machine is currently on 10.5.3, updated from 10.5.0 for free.

      Apple charges for functional updates. The charge is reasonable, the upgrade is optional, and there aren't 5 dozen pricing schemes to keep track of.

    69. Re:Anonymous Coward by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Most of the free downloads that MS offers are to offer functionality that Mac OS X has built in. And Apple has a site devoted to OS X software that is written by 3rd parties. A lot of it is free, and some is even open source.

      If you removed Sysinternals (which they bought), most of the significant free downloads from MS are developer tools (OS X comes with all that on the OS X install media) or document viewers (built in to OS X).

    70. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      Ubuntu Server, Debian base, FreeBSD base.
      That's only half of the equation. The application providers need to also provide their own binaries and/or packages.
      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    71. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      Your entire post was worthless. You might as well had said that you felt the Linux distro approach was superior and saved some typing. I guess we'll agree to disagree.

      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    72. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      Yea apple spent most of the 90s with poor products and incompetent management. I never said anything about the older OS 7/8/9.

      For what its worth Microsoft did the same thing before they started using NT for all their operating systems.

      I know you'd like to believe you have a point but you really don't even with the free downloads stuff, Microsoft hasn't really improved XP since SP2 came out and that was only because they had to. The stuff you can download from MS.com is minor insignificant crap like powertoys and Windows destkop search (which is horrible).

    73. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      Microsoft fucked up Longhorns development so bad they took 6 years to release it, that's why they had to release SP2 in 2004 with new features. Rest assured if they had a new platform to release at the time, they would have made you pay for it too, and they did exactly that when Vista came around *6 years* after XP was released. And SP3?

      Apple doesn't make anyone pay for bugfixes, they are still supporting OS X 10.3 for free which is quite old at this point. Yes Apple makes people pay for new features, that's how they fund new development of their platform. Oh right so a working Xorg that's a new feature not a bug fix.

      You have a problem with them being rewarded for their effort? No I dont have a problem with either model I just dislike fanboys pretending they get a better deal with apple, they get a different one but defiantly not a better one.

      They should just continue to spend significant development time and resources giving away new versions of software simply because you bought a Mac 7 years ago? But you pay for the development when you buy the product, including support for as long as the company offer it, with microsoft thats something like 13 years of support (with free feature updates (no matter how small the features are you do get them in SP1/2/3) for 7)
      with apple i dont know how long they offer support for, but they definatly dont offer any free features.

      Microsoft doesn't even remotely do what you are suggesting, they don't give away new features for free. They release bugfixes as they should, and security patches. look up SP1/SP2 & to a lesser extent SP3

      Watching Apple leapfrog Microsoft in usability and functionality over and over makes me think perhaps these advances are related to the fact that they are actually being paid to improve things over time, while the majority of Windows users paid less than $50 over the entire course of XPs lifetime, all at once. Watching Microsoft maintain backfunctionality while apple arnt even support the hardware that made up 100% of user base 6 years ago for much longer. And watching Microsoft support a wide range of hardware (sure they dont write the drivers but they have to produce a usable API/ADI for software and drivers to use and maintain drivers for plenty of parts). Suggests your talking crap, because the 2 OSs have different goals (Microsoft want to keep their users, mac dont have any to keep)

      So yea if you want to make a value assessment, i can see why Apple charges for significant platform upgrades with entirely new features. I don't however see Microsoft even significantly upgrading their own platform at all, even with paid upgrades like Vista. Were not talking about vista tho (p.s even though it sucks it has a larger market share than all macs put together), were talking about the support offered by Microsoft for XP, which is enough for you to leapfrog vista altogether (assuming windows 10 is only 2 years late). BTW microsoft dropping the ball is nothing new, they always manage to pick it up before mac get anywhere though. 95 & 2000 wern't exactly brilliant, hell it seams like they drop one, win one tbh.

      Look while youd like me to believe that MS dont support their products, hell as an apple fan boy you might even believe it yourself, 13 years is along time to offer support for your products and whatever mistakes you made when releasing them.
      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    74. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      Most of the free downloads that MS offers are to offer functionality that Mac OS X has built in. And Apple has a site devoted to OS X software that is written by 3rd parties. A lot of it is free, and some is even open source.

      If you removed Sysinternals (which they bought), most of the significant free downloads from MS are developer tools (OS X comes with all that on the OS X install media) or document viewers (built in to OS X). And as soon as mac becomes popular, all of the apple ties will have to be loosend to pretty much the same functionality as what microsoft have as fast as you can spell anti-trust case.
      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    75. Re:Anonymous Coward by RiotingPacifist · · Score: 1

      60 prices schemes for windows? maybe apples calculator is broken, last time i checked there were about 5 because Microsoft go into multiple markets. But hey if you cant look up a spreadsheet with 5 columns maybe you should just knock the whole computer thing on the head.

      --
      IranAir Flight 655 never forget!
    76. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      Apple fan boy? I'm presenting rational arguments for what I say.

      I didn't say MS doesn't support their products, I'm well aware of Microsofts timelines for supporting their operating systems, and I've been using MS stuff for 15+ years now, so lets not pretend I'm somehow biased.

      "But you pay for the development when you buy the product"

      You completely ignored what i said, i specifically made the point that MS users pay less than $50 and then expect 13 (in your words) years of support and all sorts of free shit.

      My observation is that while Apple charges significantly more for their operating system upgrades they seem to be doing more with them, and upgrading on a constant schedule. Microsoft barely ships operating systems on time at this point, and when they do ship they lack almost everything that was supposed to be cool about them.

      If anything your pissed at Apple and labeling me as a fanboy to explain your bias.

    77. Re:Anonymous Coward by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      What do you mean? Like bundling a web browser? bundling IDE tools? I'm not sure thats anti-trust territory anymore, the case against MS got dropped by the bush admin when they took office.

      If anything I could make a better case that Apple violates anti-trust law by tying products together, like refusing to allow boxed OSX to run on anything but apple branded hardware, ESPECIALLY when that hardware isn't much different from a regular PC.

      If you mean Apple including stuff in the OS, certain things are the responsibility of the OS now in 2008, it shouldn't be necessary to download 40 different little apps to do minor stuff, especially if those apps aren't free.

    78. Re:Anonymous Coward by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      You don't get upgrades. You get security patches that sometimes don't hose your apps. With Linux, you get free upgrades AND updates supported to exactly the same degree that your Windows updates are supported (ie, not at all), and the base cost of the system is free. And the per-incident cost is the same through his company. I'd think that Linux looks like a much better deal.

    79. Re:Anonymous Coward by PitaBred · · Score: 1

      If you want to upgrade the rest of the system, but leave some packages the same, there's the concept of pinning. There's very little reason to do so, but it's available.

      The best part of Linux distros is that all your software is kept up-to-date without having to continually have each individual application check itself or have to go around personally checking for new versions of the programs that you use. Why would you NOT want that, except possibly for very specific cases like a version of the JVM that has a certain broken behavior your program depends on? There's no other good reason I can think of.

    80. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Please learn to spell the word 'you'.

    81. Re:Anonymous Coward by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1
      I think I know where the problem is.

      Must repurchase the OS Most people (including me) thought you were referring to a single Operating System (XP) when you were talking about the OS family (Windows).
    82. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Nope, you weren't

      You were also verbally owned.

      Thank you. Now make me a sandwich bitch.

    83. Re:Anonymous Coward by lena_10326 · · Score: 1

      Nope, you weren't You were also verbally owned. Thank you. Now make me a sandwich bitch.

      You were also verbally owned.

      Ummm. OK. Apparently you have zero reading comprehension skills. I was not verbally owned, because there was no logical or intellectual response. One cannot be owned by nothingness or rather the absence of replies. If you meant I was owned in the court of mindless 3rd grade insults, you may have a point.

      I noticed all the idiotic replies are short, never have any clear point, and feature lame generic insults. No substance. No point. No intellectual thought.

      You are fearful of posting under your real ID, which tells me something about your character. You hide under the Anonymous Coward moniker because you are fearful of being exposed. You're also fearful of others viewing your posting history.

      Not surprised. When you aren't able to formulate a reply, you will result to name calling, insults, and cries of stupidity. It is you who is behaving in a fashion that's incredibly ignorant. I have gone to great lengths to explain myself in a detailed, exhaustive manner. You would do well to attempt the same.

      Don't cry stupidity when you've offered nothing. I'm not here to win a popularity contest, apparently you are due to the fact you refuse to risk posting your garbage under your real ID. I say what's on my mind, yet my rating is still Excellent. But that doesn't matter, I let the arguments stand. Whether you choose to read and respond, or ignore and insult, that's your choice.

      --
      Camping on quad since 1996.
    84. Re:Anonymous Coward by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      you could have spent $0 on a Linux distro over ten years ago and received version upgrades, security and patches for $0. That would be like buying windows 95 and getting 98, 2000, ME, XP for free with updates. Man, windows sure is a ripoff.

      in practice we get latest software to work on older versions or migrate to newer release. unlike Microsoft, we have liability insurance for what we do and have uptime and response guarantees and the price reflects it.

    85. Re:Anonymous Coward by Falconhell · · Score: 1

      Yep. you were the one attacked, but your response was a 4 year olds. A rational statement would be viewed with respect. I do not find you irritating, (I work with small children so I am used to it) I just feel sympathy for someone who cannot respond in an adult manner at your age.(If thats your photo in your link) Hope you returned that 80's feminism. What kind of mac do you own anyway?

    86. Re:Anonymous Coward by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      But MS -could- have that model. They'd just have to roll out their security and bug fixes individually, instead of a roll-up, as they currently do. Likewise, they could continue to ship incomplete product and provide those promised features as 'updates'.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    87. Re:Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea apple spent most of the 90s with poor products and incompetent management. I never said anything about the older OS 7/8/9.

      For what its worth Microsoft did the same thing before they started using NT for all their operating systems.


      As bad as Windows 95 and Windows 98 were, they were still superior to the Mac OS versions out at the time. Not only did they offer preemptive multitasking but also protected memory, TCP/IP networking and full backwards compatibility.

      I know you'd like to believe you have a point but you really don't even with the free downloads stuff, Microsoft hasn't really improved XP since SP2 came out and that was only because they had to. The stuff you can download from MS.com is minor insignificant crap like powertoys and Windows destkop search (which is horrible).

      Microsoft created C# (IMO, one of the nicest programming languages ever made) and .NET. These opened up a whole world of new software developments.

      Windows Media Player, Windows Media Encoder, Windows Movie Maker, Windows Live Messenger, Windows Defender, Internet Explorer, Visual C++ Express, Visual Basic Express, Microsoft Reader, Paint.NET and Virtual PC, among many more, are available for free. You can find even more if you visit the Microsoft Research site also. Clearly there is no shortage of free software being offered by Microsoft.

    88. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      That would be like buying windows 95 and getting 98, 2000, ME, XP for free with updates.
      That's the exact opposite of what I am talking about. All of those are different versions of operating systems with new kernels, APIs, libraries, and other changes. They also have different, and increasing, system requirements. I'm talking about being able to standardize on one release of an operating system and receiving patches (not OS upgrades to a new version) for x number of years. With Windows XP, x=12.4 years. That's not bad at all for less than $200 investment. Ubuntu Server LTS comes in second with 5 years at zero dollars.

      I'm not like you. I don't enjoy being on the upgrade treadmill. If something works, I leave it alone and use it. I don't upgrade just for the sake of upgrading to the latest version. I did the "latest and greatest" upgrade nonsense when I was a kid decades ago. I'm over that. It only gets in the way now. I want to pick a base and stick with it as long as I can. Upgrading the OS brings in a lot of changes to everything, which is a problem that is exacerbated by the current Linux distros. I'm not interested in the latest version of Gnome, Firefox, vi, or whatever. The ones I have work just fine, thank you. I want a solid base to learn and stick with. When it comes to upgrades, I'm only interested in basic security patches and bug fixes. At the end of the day I want to get on the computer and get work done.

      Windows jokes aside, XP gets the job done and fits the bill when it comes to long-term support for patches. XP ran fine on my laptop the day I got it in 2002 and it still runs fine. I suspect that it will continue to run fine when security support stops in 2014. I can't say the same about any Linux distros because the the upgrade cycles are terribly short (such as three or five years). It's unlikely that any modern linux distro in 2014 will work on my laptop as I probably won't have enough memory or processor speed to accommodate it. XP will still work because even with the patches installed, the system requirements have not changed significantly, if at all. I just find that it's a shame that I can't get the same form of long term consistency in a Linux distribution at a reasonable price.
      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
    89. Re:Anonymous Coward by Matt+Perry · · Score: 1

      If you want to upgrade the rest of the system, but leave some packages the same, there's the concept of pinning. There's very little reason to do so, but it's available.

      Thanks for responding. I've never looked closely at pinning so I should probably examine it in more depth. Can you pin packages and metapackages to not upgrade? For example, if I want to upgrade my distro but hold back Gnome to the current version?

      The best part of Linux distros is that all your software is kept up-to-date without having to continually have each individual application check itself or have to go around personally checking for new versions of the programs that you use.

      I don't want that. I want to keep the base OS up-to-date with bug fixes and security fixes only. I don't want my applications changed and I don't care about new features. If I do care about features I would rather update packages on a case-by-case basis.

      Why would you NOT want that, except possibly for very specific cases like a version of the JVM that has a certain broken behavior your program depends on? There's no other good reason I can think of.

      Because when software fills my needs, I have no need to upgrade beyond that point unless there's a serious security vulnerability or bug. Please see this post where I explained it to another person. If the software works and does what I need, why would I ever want to upgrade and risk changes, such as new bugs or feature removal, that might not suit me? I've been down that path and I've been burned. I've learned my lesson and I don't want to go back to that method of managing my computer. It doesn't work for me.

      In 2000, Red Hat 6.2 fit my needs just fine. But the end of security support for it, and the exploits of services that ran under it, meant that I needed to upgrade the OS. Upgrading the OS meant it wanted to install a new KDE, and new versions of all my programs. And those programs had changed. They moved things around, added new features, and in some cases removed features that I wanted. The new programs, such as KDE, used more memory when meant slower performance for my laptop (a Compaq Armada with 64MB, 6GB hard drive, and a P2-300 processor). Eventually I couldn't run modern distros on it without a performance penalty, even though the computer was perfectly fine. I could have rolled my own distro, but the time to manage that would have cost more than switching to a different OS with a longer period of support.

      Eventually in late 2002 I decided to upgrade so I bought a Thinkpad T30 maxed out with all the RAM and features I could get. I'm still using it and I plan on using it until it completely dies. Unless the motherboard fails, that's going to be a long time as I have a spare T30 that I recently got for free which I can use for parts. XP ran fine on it the day I got it and it still runs fine. I suspect that it will continue to run fine when security support stops in 2014. With the rate of increasing system resource demands that Linux distros have, I don't expect to be able to run a modern Linux distro released in 2010 or 2011 without having to replace my hardware.

      For those of us who don't want to become a Linux distro engineer, but wish to use Linux, the hardware upgrade demands outstrip those of Windows.

      --
      Slashdot: Failed Car Analogies. Amateur Lawyering. Anecdote Battles.
  3. So... by Alarindris · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Does this mean that they will stop all updates and patching for XP as well? Or is that farther down the road?

    Either way, it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy, because soon enough, the updates will stop, XP machines will be virus infested and even my grandma will have beef with Microsoft!

    1. Re:So... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Does this mean that they will stop all updates and patching for XP as well? Or is that farther down the road? RTFS (Read the fine summary.)
    2. Re:So... by Zymergy · · Score: 5, Informative

      Support for Windows XP SP2 ends on 07-13-2010. http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean31
      The "Extended Support" phase is scheduled to end on 04-08-2014 for Windows XP SP3. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-XP-SP3-Brings-the-Death-of-SP2-July-13-2010-85986.shtml

      Yes, I too agree it must be *meant to be* confusing.... It is just the Microsoft Way. I think there are several amortization table calculations involved in the selection of the dates too... http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy

    3. Re:So... by The+Great+Pretender · · Score: 1

      Actually, what it means is that XP distros will retire from main office computers and go on vacation for a while. After 6 months XP distros will realize that, due to recent medical breakthroughs, they will exist beyond the 10 years predicted when hey first set-up their retirement accounts and have to go back to work to make supplemental money. Thus we will see more XP distros turn up in MacDonald's and as Walmart shelf-stockers. The problem here is that younger, faster distros who are just looking for the foot-in-the-door start and some meager health benefits to support further development of their, education, family and lifestyle will be pushed aside and not given the chance. They will subsequently find themselves in the gutter or sweeping the floors at the local public restrooms, never to blossom forth into the potential they could be.

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    4. Re:So... by somersault · · Score: 1

      BadAnalogyGuy, is that you on another account?

      --
      which is totally what she said
    5. Re:So... by MojoStan · · Score: 4, Informative

      Does this mean that they will stop all updates and patching for XP as well? Or is that farther down the road? Support for Windows XP SP2 ends on 07-13-2010. http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifean31 The "Extended Support" phase is scheduled to end on 04-08-2014 for Windows XP SP3. http://news.softpedia.com/news/Windows-XP-SP3-Brings-the-Death-of-SP2-July-13-2010-85986.shtml

      http://support.microsoft.com/gp/lifepolicy Just to make things clear for those that don't want to open more tabs/windows: "Extended Support" (ends April 2014) includes security updates, but does not include "non security hotfixes" and "design fixes and feature requests."

      I think an example of a "non security hotfix" would be something like the Daylight Saving time fix for Windows 2000 (in "Extended Support" at the time), which was only provided for those that paid for extended hotfix support. I think an example of "design fixes and feature requests" would be a Service Pack.

      So Windows XP should be secure and usable as long as software is written for it. Since so many people will continue to use Windows XP, this shouldn't be a problem.

      Windows 2000 started its "Extended Support" phase 3 years ago and I'm starting to see a few new applications not support the OS (e.g. Foobar2000 0.9.5, Photoshop CS3, free Microsoft goodies). I think this will be less of a problem for Windows XP because XP is used by many more home users than Windows 2000 ever was.

      --
      TO START
      PRESS ANY KEY

      Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...

    6. Re:So... by jonadab · · Score: 1

      Even after extended support ends, you may still be able to get the _existing_ updates. They won't make any more, but that doesn't _necessarily_ imply they'll stop serving the existing ones. For instance, the update feature in Windows 98 SE actually still works, once you upgrade to a sufficiently recent version of IE. This comes in handy when you have to do a reinstall on an old legacy system for whatever reason; you can't exactly bring it up to the present, but you can at least get it back to where it was before the problem that necessitated the reinstall. (Well, you can after you somehow manage to get the drivers for the ethernet card installed, that is, which you typically have to download from the internet, for a system without a working ethernet card. Fun little dance, that. I keep a CD around that has a generic driver on it for making USB mass storage devices work on Windows 98.)

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    7. Re:So... by Merusdraconis · · Score: 1

      While Microsoft technically still supports an OS in Extended Support, the chief problem is that most third-party vendors start dropping support.

      Of course, third-party vendors would be fools to drop support for XP at this stage.

    8. Re:So... by The+Great+Pretender · · Score: 1
      MixedMetaphor, my arch-nemesis, you found me!!!

      Okay so not my proudest moment, but it was after lunch and I was sleepy. I still think that it's funny - in my head...

      --
      A positive attitude may not solve all your problems, but it will annoy enough people to make it worth the effort.
    9. Re:So... by iamhigh · · Score: 1

      Really... I see crap that says it supports Win98 all the time. It may just be built-in support, but still... You can buy hardware with drivers for Win98 and software that works with Win98.

      So I see all kinds of support for from 3rd party vendors for MANY years.

      --
      No comprende? Let me type that a little slower for you...
    10. Re:So... by sjames · · Score: 1

      So Windows XP should be secure and usable as long as software is written for it.

      Now I'm confused. You're saying that now that MS is vowing to touch it as little as possible it'll become secure and stable?

  4. Make people realise the benefit of OSS by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 2, Insightful
    Windows: You run the software MS tells you to, according to MSs business interests.

    OSS: You run the software you want to run, according to your business interests.

    Want to run Linux 2.0 (not that you'd want to)? Sure no probs.

    --
    Engineering is the art of compromise.
    1. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 1

      What is this Linux you speak of? I'm curious and wish to read a brochure on the subject.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    2. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Luke-Jr · · Score: 1

      I'm not so sure you can really run Linux 2.0 anymore... It probably requires GCC 1 or 2 and won't build with anything recent.

      --
      Luke-Jr
    3. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      http://kernel.org/pub/linux/kernel/v2.0/linux-2.0.40.tar.bz2

      Get it while it's hot :).

    4. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by some_guy_88 · · Score: 1, Informative

      Want to run Linux 2.0 (not that you'd want to)? Sure no probs. Yeah? Who's supporting Linux 2.0 either commercially or otherwise?
    5. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Bender_ · · Score: 1


      How many large distributions still support sucurity updates for old kernel versions? Sure, the lonely hacker at home can mod and update old kernel versions ad nauseam, but for a company that is no real option.

    6. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

      Ahhh those kids, always looking for new and shiny things. I am still running 0.01. If ain't break don't touch it.

    7. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by EmbeddedJanitor · · Score: 1

      You can get the source for gcc 1.x if you want too.

      --
      Engineering is the art of compromise.
    8. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by vux984 · · Score: 1

      Want to run Linux 2.0 (not that you'd want to)? Sure no probs.

      No 'probs' with licensing maybe, but beyond that, you can expect plenty of 'probs' running anything modern in terms of hardware or software on it. Being able to do something legally isn't worth much if you can't really do it in practice.

      I'm not saying Windows is superior. I'm just highlighting that either way you are going to be on an upgrade treadmill to keep up with security updates, hardware updates, feature updates, and so on.

      While legal, it would probably be exceedingly impractical to actually get PostgreSQL 8.2 running to take advantage of the latest features and fixes on Redhat 4. (from 1996, kernel 2.0.18 according to wikipedia)

    9. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0



      Exactly... with FLOSS YOU own your computer.

    10. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Paralizer · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Try telling this to a large company that is current running Windows Server 2003 servers with hundreds, if not thousands of, Windows XP clients. Yeah I'm sure it would be worth it for them to completely up and move their infrastructure to OSS.

      I use Linux at home. It's great for home and does exactly what I want and need it to do. We run Windows at work. It's great for work and does (mostly) what we want and need it to do. Clients integrate nicely with the Active Directory system, with the Exchange server, we get a decent Office suite, and most importantly we get centralized support. I can't say from experience how well MS support actually is, but I can't imagine FOSS giving much phone support if my NFS server goes down for some reason.

      What about all the various backup products, such as tape backups and seamless server redundancy? Are there alternatives for this for Linux? What assurances does a large company who absolutely can not afford significant downtime have that the software is well supported by professionals on call and that bugs are constantly being fixed?

      This isn't all just Microsoft, this is the entire MS platform. There are thousands of tools that are necessary for full production environments that were designed specifically for Windows. Companies need this stuff.

      Though I may not like Microsoft much, I do admit they have a nice overall package for easily setting up and maintaining a production network. They have lots of tools that fit together easily. While there may be Linux alternatives for some of this stuff, if you go to a business and tell them that they will likely say, "and what happens if it goes down?"

    11. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      As your Oracle sales representative about it...

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    12. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No 'probs' with licensing maybe, but beyond that, you can expect plenty of 'probs' running anything modern in terms of hardware or software on it.

      I think I missed your point here. Linux runs on more hardware, more architectures and more platforms than Windows ever has. Linux has support for hardware, protocols, filesystems and technologies LONG before Windows does. Linux had the first, working Wireless USB drivers and specification before Microsoft even thought about it. Linux has more software applications available to it (by several orders of magnitude), and even runs most Windows software if necessary.

      So what exactly were you trying to say above? Because I missed it. If you want something that supports current, bleeding edge hardware and software, Linux is the only way to go. If you want something that supports 15+ year old hardware, Linux is the only way to go.

      If you want to play games on your computer and not much else, Windows is probably a good fit.

    13. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by chimpo13 · · Score: 4, Funny

      that comment would be funnier if you had a 2 digit user id.

    14. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by amdpox · · Score: 0

      While I don't think MS are making a good move for themselves by stopping XP in any way, it can only be a good thing for OSS: Vista may not be that bad (if you have the latest updates, and some lucky hardware... all my personal experiences with vista have been bad), but it's made a very bad name for itself, I wouldn't be surprised if we see a lot more of the slightly tech-savvy yet not already OSS-running people out there trying out alternatives (particularly the "easy" Linux distros like Ubuntu), and finding that for the average user, they are perfectly adequate and, in many ways, easier and more pleasurable to use than whatever Microsoft is offering. MS are in with problems unless Vienna/win7 comes out soon, and is good. And that's a good thing.

    15. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by vux984 · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So what exactly were you trying to say above? Because I missed it. If you want something that supports current, bleeding edge hardware and software, Linux is the only way to go.

      But that "Linux" isn't Linux 2.0 now is it?

      To run the current stuff you need a current Linux. So you are still on the upgrade treadmill. Its not as forced as windows, but in practice its very similar.

    16. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Secrity · · Score: 4, Informative

      I run several RHEL 4 and 5 servers at work. I have called Red Hat support a couple of times and got excellent support. I would say that Red Hat telephone support was as good as or better than Sun support is. The email support is pretty good, but it is from India.

    17. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by alexborges · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You would be surprised. It depends on the market, but it sure is still out there and active in a none to small number of routers and closed blackboxes.

      --
      NO SIG
    18. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Rutulian · · Score: 1

      If you want something that supports current, bleeding edge hardware and software, Linux is the only way to go.

      I sympathize with your POV, but this simply isn't true. If the hardware is closed (still lots of wireless, some raid, some nic, some ACPI, some weird usb devices like webcams and such, graphics hardware), you're going to have a hell of a time getting linux to recognize it. It is certainly true, though, that linux supports various architectures (like x86, ppc, x86-64, ia64, etc) very well and much better than Windows.

    19. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by alexborges · · Score: 1

      Well... you should know that if your mandriva, rhel, sles or ubuntu server goes down for whatever reason, your "phone" support will be there, will probably be oodles better than any kind of local MS shope you may have (linux engies are typically more knowledgable of what the hell breaks, and why did it break, while winnie engies are typically clickmonkeys that are paid to read kb.microsoft.com) and its about 349 USD per year (12x5) or double that for a 24x7 phone support plan. Support includes the software. ALL of the software.

      This isnt the 90's okay? Linux distro companies sell support, not linux distros.

      --
      NO SIG
    20. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Wow with it being so awesome, no wonder why Linux is the predominate operating system.

    21. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 1

      But that "Linux" isn't Linux 2.0 now is it?
      There is no such thing as "Linux 2.0", now is there? I don't know of any distribution of Linux bearing that title. Can you point me to one?
    22. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by enoz · · Score: 1

      I was about to reply about how it was possible, then realised the difference between Red Hat 4 (1996) and Red Hat Enterprise Linux 4 (2005+).

      Damn Red Hat and their naming schemes.

    23. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Rutulian · · Score: 1

      While legal, it would probably be exceedingly impractical to actually get PostgreSQL 8.2 running to take advantage of the latest features and fixes on Redhat 4. (from 1996, kernel 2.0.18 according to wikipedia)

      Actually, it probably wouldn't be that hard. It would be a bit crazy, but PostgreSQL just needs something to compile it, and the required libraries. A better example would have been Gimp 2.4 (or some other desktop app), because that relies on libraries that require more recent kernel versions.

    24. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you shitting me?
      Linux Kernel version 2.0
      http://www.kernel.org/

    25. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 2, Informative

      I would think that "Linux 2.0" refers to the 2.0 kernel. I run Linux 2.6.

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    26. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Want to run Linux 2.0 (not that you'd want to)? Sure no probs.

      If you actually think this, you are *way* out of touch with reality.

    27. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by petermgreen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      So you are still on the upgrade treadmill. Its not as forced as windows
      If you care about security updates and support for newer applications software the linux upgrade treadmill is far worse than the windows one.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    28. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      I sympathize with your POV, but this simply isn't true. If the hardware is closed (still lots of wireless, some raid, some nic, some ACPI, some weird usb devices like webcams and such, graphics hardware), you're going to have a hell of a time getting linux to recognize it.

      Fortunately that's a vendor problem, not a Linux problem, so we don't have to worry about it.

      If the vendors don't provide documentation or aren't cooperative with our efforts to support their hardware, then they simply don't gain a huge amount of users purchasing and using their hardware.

      Not a Linux problem.

    29. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by zapakh · · Score: 1

      There is no such thing as "Linux 2.0", now is there? I don't know of any distribution of Linux bearing that title. Can you point me to one? Here ya go. Mind you, those are just kernels, and not a distribution. But they are quite old.
    30. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by vux984 · · Score: 1

      There is no such thing as "Linux 2.0", now is there?

      The OP referred to linux 2.0 before I did. But he clearly was referring to the kernel, and so I responded in kind.

      I don't know of any distribution of Linux bearing that title. Can you point me to one?

      The specific example I gave was RedHat 4 which ran kernel 2.0.18.

      This was all in my original post.

    31. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by vux984 · · Score: 1

      Fortunately that's a vendor problem, not a Linux problem, so we don't have to worry about it.

      Unless you want that hardware. In which case your freedom to use OSS is crippled by the fact that OSS won't work. Call it a 'vendor problem' all you like but that still doesn't give you your freedom. The proprietary software that supports the hardware on the other hand... well...even though its encumbered crappy licensing terms... but it actually works.

      Again, ones 'freedom' with OSS isn't worth much if you can't exercise it in practice.

    32. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 1

      Linux != linux, so the subtle clarification matters.

    33. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by larry+bagina · · Score: 1

      Windows: You run the software MS tells you to, according to MSs business interests.

      OSS: You run the software you want to run, according to your business interests.

      Want to run Linux 2.0 (not that you'd want to)? Sure no probs.

      According to my business interests, I want to run Windows.

      --
      Do you even lift?

      These aren't the 'roids you're looking for.

    34. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And who else supports linux 2.0 apart from you, in your bedroom?

      Microsoft isnt, and hasnt , stopped you from running any of their OS's you legaly own, you could still be running your win 3.11 or 95, they just dont support you doing it.

    35. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by British · · Score: 4, Insightful

      If the vendors don't provide documentation or aren't cooperative with our efforts to support their hardware, then they simply don't gain a huge amount of users purchasing and using their hardware.

      Not a Linux problem.


      If it doesn't work on Linux and it works on Windows, it's still a problem, nonetheless. Shifting the blame doesn't solve it.

    36. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Rutulian · · Score: 4, Informative

      Well, I don't think the OP was suggesting replacing an established Windows infrastructure with linux, but, yes, you can purchase phone support for your nfs server, from a number of vendors.

      What about all the various backup products, such as tape backups and seamless server redundancy? Are there alternatives for this for Linux?

      Yes. And I would venture to suggest that linux probably has much better support for remote backups and failover clusters than Windows.

      What assurances does a large company who absolutely can not afford significant downtime have that the software is well supported by professionals on call and that bugs are constantly being fixed?

      This is Red Hat's entire business. If you need that kind of support, they would be more than happy to oblige. A number of other vendors also can provide that level of support.

      There are thousands of tools that are necessary for full production environments

      Yes, you are correct. And those thousands of tools are all available for linux as well...with the added bonus that they will play nicely with your Windows clients. Novell puts together a distribution that provides all of this out of the box. The only things that is really lacking is an Exchange replacement, but I see that coming in a couple of years from the various Mozilla projects. Thing is, Exchange is slowly dating itself. There are a few web services out there already, like Google Apps, that let you easily integrate email and shared calendars...and you don't need an expensive and massively proprietary application (along with the expensive and massive hardware to run it on). As these mature, Exchange is going to have to evolve or die out.

      if you go to a business and tell them that they will likely say, "and what happens if it goes down?"

      Hand them the business card of your local Red Hat or IBM sales representative. This is why these companies are in business, and they know how to talk to and reassure PHBs.

    37. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Trogre · · Score: 1

      The treadmill is certainly there if you want security updates and current application support, but it's a pretty easy ride:

      apt-get update && aptitude upgrade. Wait a few minutes.

      Done.

      Or on ubuntu:

      Click on 'Update now'. Wait a few minutes.

      Done.

      --
      "Nine times out of ten, starting a fire is not the best way to solve the problem." - my wife
    38. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 1

      Call it a 'vendor problem' all you like but that still doesn't give you your freedom. The proprietary software that supports the hardware on the other hand... well...even though its encumbered crappy licensing terms... but it actually works.

      Closed, proprietary hardware doesn't give you that freedom either, so it still remains a vendor problem.

      And how is the "proprietary software that supports the hardware" (through secret, exclusive licensing terms) providing you with that "freedom" you mention?

    39. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You'll find this experience when you're used to a platform, no matter what the platform is.

      > What about all the various backup products, such as tape backups and seamless server redundancy? Are there alternatives for this for Linux?

      There's all kinds of backup options.

      > What assurances does a large company who absolutely can not afford significant downtime have that the software is well supported by professionals on call and that bugs are constantly being fixed?

      This is part of the functions of commercial vendors such as Red Hat. As to bugs fixes and response times, I think you'll find historically the Rad Hat has a better track record than MS.

    40. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      On debian the reccomended procedure for going from one release to the next. On the plus side because they explain what you are doing the likelyhood of getting into an unrecoverable problem.

      On ubuntu if everything works it's great but I hear a lot of reports of failed upgrades (this may be just down to ubunutus popularity though).

      Also you are generally strongly pushed into (if not forced into) upgrading everything at once. For some people that may be diffcult.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    41. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by inode_buddha · · Score: 1

      LORD you tempt me to a dick size war. I recall watching music videos with RealPlayer on a 486-100 and linux under slackware. And it didn't take anything special. Gnome was new back then. I'm typing this on a quad pent 3 but I'd be just as happy on the 486 box. /grunble, graybeard

      --
      C|N>K
    42. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      YHBT. HAND.

    43. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      It doesn't, but that's beside the point.

      Let's say that I spent $xxx on a certain piece of hardware.

      It has no Linux drivers.

      So, here's my options.

      1. Spend $xxxx on a similar device that isn't "dumb," and has open drivers.
      2. Not use that piece of hardware.
      3. Not use Linux.
      4. ???
      5. Profit.

    44. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by hacker · · Score: 1

      0. Research your purchase to verify compatibility with your environment first, before buying.

      Seriously... do you buy furniture without measuring the space it will occupy? Buy electronics without checking the voltage requirements and plug type? Food without reading the ingredients?

      Come on, if you blindly buy some hardware without checking whether it will work with your other hardware, your OS and your peripherals... you have only yourself to blame.

    45. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Say, Windows can run on VMware, which can run on an OSS platform. ;) :P

      j/k

    46. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by ianare · · Score: 1

      Try it with something as recent (less than 2 years) as ubuntu 6.10 and it will not work.

    47. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Zak3056 · · Score: 1

      I wish I had mod points, because you state the case very well. There's really only one area I disagree with you, and that's your point about Exchange. If you do the math, it's really not that expensive, and is pretty much worth the money... it also doesn't require hardware that's particularly beefy unless you're talking about some fairly large installations.

      There's also the bit that if you're a Linux shop, you don't HAVE to go to the community and use the latest flavor of Exchange killer... there's always Domino. Not free or Free, but if you're trying to push Microsoft out of the environment, it might be a worth looking at.

      --
      What part of "shall not be infringed" is so hard to understand?
    48. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      just taking a guess here, but i would bet that if you were running the version of red hat released back when windows 98 were predominant, you'd be more relatively safe than if you still had win 98.

        but bickering about upgrades and security is but one aspect of the OS debate, the more interesting debate is usability and that is where things have been getting more and more improved with linux, but has gone nowhere with windows.

    49. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by mrsteveman1 · · Score: 1

      "Linux has support for hardware, protocols, filesystems and technologies LONG before Windows does."

      You mean reverse engineering stuff that isn't supported by the manufacturer? That doesn't usually work out so well.

      But for open spec stuff i agree, it gets implemented quick in Linux.

    50. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by RLiegh · · Score: 1

      Source is no good unless it compiles. Good luck getting gcc, binutils or anything along those lines to compile on a modern toolchain.

      Also, is a.out even supported by modern versions of gcc? You're going to be pretty damned SOL if you compile an ELF binary of a kernel that only recognises a.out.

    51. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by ibmjones · · Score: 1

      Windows: You run the software MS tells you to, according to MSs business interests.

      Care to expand on this statement?

    52. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by dissy · · Score: 1

      Try it with something as recent (less than 2 years) as ubuntu 6.10 and it will not work. Sounds like a suggestion for the ubuntu team!
      If you wish to send it in, feel free. I will send it anonymous.

      There is no reason the gui upgrade tool should not have that feature.

      Its very possible to do, same way as on debian at least, which is less easy for some.
      You cant use apt to jump past an upgrade and expect a working system (though it has been known to happen)
      You need to manually edit your apt.sources, and just bump it to the next major version, and dist-upgrade. Then bump up another major version, dist-upgrade, rinse and repeat until you are at the newest. The worst that should ever happen is some apps change major versions and wont be compatible with your config files, and apt wont overwrite them with the new versions templates. But you have that problem anyways upgrading apps major versions, you just generally dont have to fix everything at once.

      All the GUI would have to do is hold back the kernel-image, and dist upgrade one major version at a time until the newest, and then let the newest kernel come through so you still only have to reboot once at the end.
      Sure, alot of steps and work, but hiding those types of things is what GUIs do best!
    53. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by bhtooefr · · Score: 1

      Right, but let's say that I had no plans of running Linux when I bought said hardware... so it met my needs before Linux.

      (I will note, however, that this IS a theoretical scenario, and I do tend to specify the more Linux-friendly option when speccing out hardware.)

    54. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by indi0144 · · Score: 0

      But.. will it run ubuntu?

    55. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I've got to call BS on that one. Can't you see that I joined before Slashdot even had a user id system?

    56. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is undeniable that my hard-coded UID beats the panties off any 2-digit newbie!

    57. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Caboosian · · Score: 1

      If you want something that supports current, bleeding edge hardware and software, Linux is the only way to go. Well, unless that hardware happens to be ATI....

    58. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      But buck-passing is all Linux developers can do when confronted by hardware incompatibility! Quick, pass that buck, record speed this time!

    59. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Except that Linux advocates are always trying to get people to install Linux on their existing hardware, which likely does have non-Linux-compatible components simply because it wasn't purchased with the intent of installing Linux on it. (Otherwise, it would probably already have Linux on it, eh?)

    60. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by JohnBailey · · Score: 1

      If it doesn't work on Linux and it works on Windows, it's still a problem, nonetheless. Shifting the blame doesn't solve it. How about if it is a few years old and doesn't work with the newest version of Windows? And where does the blame lie?
      --
      It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
    61. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      So does trying to assume the other person is not that stupid (until it's too obvious ;), in which case all bets are off).

    62. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by T3Tech · · Score: 1

      Try telling this to a large company that is current running Windows Server 2003 servers with hundreds, if not thousands of, Windows XP clients. Yeah I'm sure it would be worth it for them to completely up and move their infrastructure to OSS. Exactly, if what they have is working there is no point in up and changing just for the hell of it. However, when it comes to upgrading the OS/software those hundreds/thousands of machines and users having to relearn all the changes made to the GUI anyway along with the license costs it becomes an opportune time to perform a TCO study as part of the upgrade decision process.

      I use Linux at home. It's great for home and does exactly what I want and need it to do. We run Windows at work. It's great for work and does (mostly) what we want and need it to do. Clients integrate nicely with the Active Directory system, with the Exchange server, we get a decent Office suite, and most importantly we get centralized support. I can't say from experience how well MS support actually is, but I can't imagine FOSS giving much phone support if my NFS server goes down for some reason. There are certainly cases where Windows is a better platform. In my mind, this is mostly based upon the business need for certain software which is only available for Windows and a few other various related considerations. NFS or SMB, I'm sure there is some source for phone support - be it RedHat, some local Linux geek, some company like Progent, etc.

      What about all the various backup products, such as tape backups and seamless server redundancy? Are there alternatives for this for Linux? What assurances does a large company who absolutely can not afford significant downtime have that the software is well supported by professionals on call and that bugs are constantly being fixed? There are several backup solutions for GNU/Linux and IMHO redundancy is actually easier to implement/maintain on Linux than Windows. I'll forego the entire Linux vs Windows stability/downtime arguments and only say that generally Linux itself is more stable, though on Windows the stability is somewhat proportionally related to how well the system is setup.

      As to support as well as bug fixes, I'd say there's not much of a difference. You have relatively the same variation of extremely helpful to practically useless depending on the vendor (commercial) or project team (open source). The main difference being that most commercial vendors provide a call-center helpdesk, whereas OSS projects for the most part don't and provide support via forum/mailing-list/email. Otherwise the options for on-site type support is the same, though generally there is probably a higher percentage of paper professionals supporting Microsoft than one would find elsewhere.

      This isn't all just Microsoft, this is the entire MS platform. There are thousands of tools that are necessary for full production environments that were designed specifically for Windows. Companies need this stuff. I won't disagree. There are certainly more graphical management tools for Windows networks than *nix networks.

      Though I may not like Microsoft much, I do admit they have a nice overall package for easily setting up and maintaining a production network. They have lots of tools that fit together easily. So does Novell last I checked. :)

      While there may be Linux alternatives for some of this stuff, if you go to a business and tell them that they will likely say, "and what happens if it goes down?" Same thing they would do when their Windows system goes down.
      --
      Of course I didn't RTFA... why would I do that? You really are new here aren't you? Don't let my UID fool you.
    63. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by T3Tech · · Score: 1

      There's also the bit that if you're a Linux shop, you don't HAVE to go to the community and use the latest flavor of Exchange killer... there's always Domino. Not free or Free, but if you're trying to push Microsoft out of the environment, it might be a worth looking at. Besides the various mail server options and clients like Evolution and Chandler there's also Zimbra.
      --
      Of course I didn't RTFA... why would I do that? You really are new here aren't you? Don't let my UID fool you.
    64. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Enos+Shenk · · Score: 1

      More than that my friend. Im a CNC programmer, as in I write programs for CNC Milling/Turning machines that create a physical object. Linux support in this is absolute shit. There are NO good CAD program for linux (compared to Autocad and others), no good NC editors (compared to pico/ee/etc on linux compared to AutoEditNC or other freeware windows programs). Linux is lacking in many areas, other than general 'make it fucking work right away' categories. If you want to beat windows, you need quality, not just hacker friendly stuff that requires trolling to fix.

      --
      Just say NO to stinky cheese
    65. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      So is it Apple's fault that I can't install (say) Half-Life 2 on OS X?

      Is it Microsoft's fault that I can't use Safari in Windows or Vista?

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    66. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by andruk · · Score: 1

      Yes, I would argue that it is a Linux problem. But, it is in no way Linux dev's fault.

    67. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As for Exchange replacements: shared calendars are very nearly ready from SOGo:

      http://www.inverse.ca/english/contributions/sogo.html

      We're about to deploy a pilot with about 20 users.

    68. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Lonewolf666 · · Score: 1

      Depends on the alternatives you have. To make it a vendor problem and not a Linux problem you need at least one vendor who makes decent hardware and provides documentation. An example:

      For years, the only way to get halfway decent 3D performance under Linux was using the cards and closed source drivers from ATI and Nvidia (Intel's integrated graphics are nicely supported but much slower). That made it a Linux problem.

      Now AMD/ATI is releasing specs and I expect open source 3D drivers to show up after a while. This will give them a huge advantage in the Linux market because even "purist" distributions like Debian will have no problems with bundling these. Linux users will prefer AMD/ATI for their better support.
      At that point, it becomes a vendor problem for Nvidia.

      --
      C - the footgun of programming languages
    69. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 1

      This isn't true ; while some vendors are not helpful on the driver front, it doesn't prevent kernel hackers from writing drivers. They just have to reverse engineer them a lot more.

      Typically if the hardware scratches the itch of a kernel developer, it will get a driver, regardless of how helpful the vendor is being. Webcams being the classic example.

      French guy writes drivers for 235 USB webcams

      This guy (who isn't even a programmer by trade - he's a radiologist) wrote a USB webcam driver because he bought his daughters a pair of webcams that didn't work in Linux. From there, he realized that much of the code in webcam drivers is applicable to all webcams.. the end result is that his drivers now support a large number of cameras with various chipsets, and that any improvements to the driver code improve the drivers for ALL those cameras and not just the ones from a single vendor.

    70. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      More than that my friend. Im a CNC programmer, as in I write programs for CNC Milling/Turning machines that create a physical object. Linux support in this is absolute shit. There are NO good CAD program for linux (compared to Autocad and others), no good NC editors (compared to pico/ee/etc on linux compared to AutoEditNC or other freeware windows programs). Linux is lacking in many areas, other than general 'make it fucking work right away' categories. If you want to beat windows, you need quality, not just hacker friendly stuff that requires trolling to fix.

      What does have no good CAD program on Linux have to do with the Linux kernel? Oh right, absolutely nothing. They can't for software developers to force them to port their software to Linux.

    71. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by blind+biker · · Score: 1

      I worked for 8 years in a mixed Sun/Linux shop. Well, we had HP-UX, too. In the last 2 years RedHat came into the game, and my experience with their support vs. Sun's is exactly the opposite - I got many bad advices, once even a "consult the forums" - WTF, is a 50.000-big enterprise going to trust its infrastructure on "advices from a forum"? Sure, that may be a good source. It's free, too, so why the heck are we paying 2000/year/server?

      Sun's support is not infallible, but compared to RedHat's it's beautiful. Broken hardware? Replaced in 24 hours, no blameshifting, no bullshit. Technical question? Answered immediately or with a delay, but always correctly, satisfactorily in the sense that it contained The Information I am asking for, not just trying to sound informed by blathering about unrelated topics. If you don't know the stuff, just shut up and escalate or forward to someone who does.

      --
      "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
    72. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by yourlord · · Score: 1

      http://archive.debian.org/debian-archive/dists/bo/

      binary archive of debian bo based on a 2.0.x series kernel.
      get it while it's hot!

    73. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      The vendor.

      But what's your point? If the specs aren't known, Linux isn't going to support it either.

    74. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Is it Microsoft's fault that I can't use Safari in Windows or Vista? Bad example. You can use Safari in Windows.
    75. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by JohnBailey · · Score: 1

      The vendor.

      But what's your point? If the specs aren't known, Linux isn't going to support it either. The point is.. Both OSs have the same problem. Both depend on the vendor to provide drivers and/or information to produce the drivers. So if it is Linux's fault that some hardware is not supported, then by the same line of reasoning, it must be Microsoft's fault when I can't get drivers for my hardware to use it on Windows. Unless we look at it realistically and recognize that it is in fact the vendor's choice that the driver does not exist for the OS in question.
      --
      It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his job depends on not understanding it.
    76. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by sjames · · Score: 1

      And yet, while my fedora core 3 rescue disk happily found a network driver and offered to set it up for me, Windows Server 2003 was insisting it could get that driver for me if I would just let it get on the net (the nic in question was the only one on the machine :-)

    77. Re:Make people realise the benefit of OSS by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Then why aren't there native drivers for my wireless network adapter under Linux? Why doesn't the driver for my video card work correctly under Linux? Why don't my gaming peripherals have full functionality under Linux?

      I also call BS on the software front. Windows, by far, has the largest combined open source/commercial software library of any operating system to ever exist. It will run DOS, Windows x.xx, Windows 9x, Windows NT/2K/XP all natively. Linux can't do that unless you are using emulation, virtualization or 3rd party software like WINE. If you want to include those for both Linux and Windows, then Windows still comes out on top.

  5. Not paying attention to consumer demand by TibbonZero · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This is a clear case of a large company making what they want and totally ignoring consumer demand. What people really want is a better version of XP and for continued support. I for one (if I am to use Windows (and then only in a virtualized environment)) would gladly pay $99 or whatever for an upgraded version of XP that is still very much like XP. Apple is making a strong move I feel with Snow Leopard. People like Leopard. They are releasing Leopard, but "better". I'd pay for it in a heartbeat, as stability and speed is well worth money to me. If they made an XP "better", I'd go for it and pay for the upgrade. That's the goal isn't it? For people to pay for the next thing?

    But, that's not what they are doing. They figure people want excessively high system requirements, "more secure" environments (which aren't really better security models, just annoying prompts often) and pretty graphics. Hell, I was happy with the graphics in Windows 2000, and in fact when I use XP I turn it back to Win2K themes always.

    --
    Tibbon
    tibbon.com
    1. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Mordok-DestroyerOfWo · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I have over 200 machines in my domain. I tend to replace one or two a month and they can pry my corporate copy of XP from my cold dead hands. For folks like me that don't necessarily have the latest and greatest hardware Vista isn't even an option (the majority are single-core P4's with less than 1GB RAM). I use Linux on all of my servers and my personal workstation but until I can run AutoCAD, Rhino, and Photoshop without glitching and at full-speed I can't make a complete switch. The way Microsoft is alienating their lower-end customers like this is so tragic it's funny. I have to believe that there are other admins out there with the same problem.

      --
      "Never let your sense of morals prevent you from doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
    2. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by couchslug · · Score: 1

      "This is a clear case of a large company making what they want and totally ignoring consumer demand."

      This generates a clear case of me giggling like the proverbial schoolgirl when a company I dislike makes a customer-unfriendly decision.

      Extra e-hugs for making all those "XP" machines "obsolete". More cheap stuffs for me to load with Linux. :)

      --
      "This post is an artistic work of fiction and falsehood. Only a fool would take anything posted here as fact."
    3. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by adona1 · · Score: 1

      Exactly. I'll be getting my wife a laptop within the next year, and she & I won't get anything with Vista. At the moment, you can still get a few laptops at stores with XP, but when they finally get taken from the market....bam. Lost customer for MS, as I'll probably get her a Macbook or just install Ubuntu.

      --
      Between the falling angel and the rising ape
    4. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Devin+Jeanpierre · · Score: 1

      You say that Windows going in an entirely new direction is a bad thing, yes? And you say, hey, look at apple, they don't change too much too fast like MS is trying to do! Well, look back a few years, and you'll notice that Mac OSX shares almost nothing with Mac OS9. Look a bit more recently, and you'll also find that Macs shifted processors entirely. Personally, I wish MS would do something more like Mac then-- switch to something UNIX. But if they don't, hey, Vista is a much smaller change from XP than OSX was to OS9. I wouldn't go championing Macs as the bastion of small-upgrades (although they did exceedingly well at maintaining backwards compatibility through various measures).

      --
      -Devin Jeanpierre
    5. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by BRSloth · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Apple is making a strong move I feel with Snow Leopard. People like Leopard. They are releasing Leopard, but "better". Now you are being a little bit naive. Saying that Apple is doing right when Leopard (while completely leaving people running Tiger on their PowerPCs) is right and Microsoft dumping XP is bad is really short signed.

      I know a bunch of people that completely refuse to use Leopard. They have the first version MacBooks, where Tiger runs faster than Leopard. They completely hate the visual effects on Leopard.

      I'm not sure, but your post sounds like a fanboism (and I'm sorry if I'm wrong, but that's the impression you gave me.)
    6. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by alexborges · · Score: 3, Funny

      ....and they can pry my corporate copy of XP from my cold dead hands. The Voice From Redmond: "Be carefull what you wish for, Mr. Mordok."

      --
      NO SIG
    7. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by alexborges · · Score: 4, Insightful

      My friend, I think you overlook an evident fact: OSX is actually BETTER and FASTER than what OS9 was.

      Now vista, compared to XP.... ill let you finish this one.

      --
      NO SIG
    8. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by andymadigan · · Score: 1

      Leopard is universal...

      --
      The right to protest the State is more sacred than the State.
    9. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by BRSloth · · Score: 1

      Leopard is universal... Leopard, yes. Snow Leopard, no.
    10. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      Vista buisness OEM comes with downgrade rights to XP pro and you can use your volume license media (surely you must have used volume licenses at some point and therefore been provided with volume license media) to excercise them so it shouldn't be a problem for you to license new machines. Several of the big OEMs still sell machines that they support with XP so that shouldn't be an issue either.

      Security update support for XP will run out eventually but that isn't an imminent problem (still over half a decade left and MS may well extend it).

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    11. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by MojoStan · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They figure people want excessively high system requirements, "more secure" environments (which aren't really better security models, just annoying prompts often) and pretty graphics. Hell, I was happy with the graphics in Windows 2000, and in fact when I use XP I turn it back to Win2K themes always. I have over 200 machines in my domain. I tend to replace one or two a month and they can pry my corporate copy of XP from my cold dead hands. For folks like me that don't necessarily have the latest and greatest hardware Vista isn't even an option (the majority are single-core P4's with less than 1GB RAM). For those that don't need the "pretty graphics" or have "P4's with less than 1GB RAM," why not just run Vista's "Basic" UI (similar to XP's UI) or "Classic" UI (similar to Windows 2000)? Since neither of these interfaces require Vista's new WDDM drivers, a DirectX 9 video card is not needed.

      I'm not saying we should upgrade older PCs to Vista if we don't need to (I haven't), but if XP is no longer availabe, Vista shouldn't be too much of a resource hog if the unnecessary eye candy is turned off.

      --
      TO START
      PRESS ANY KEY

      Where's the 'ANY' key? I see Esk, Kitarl, and Pig-Up...

    12. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by ljw1004 · · Score: 1

      Windows Server 2008 looks, feels and runs like the improved version of XP that you want.

    13. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Daengbo · · Score: 0, Flamebait

      Yeah, but if you buy that laptop for your with next year and install Ubuntu on it, MS will probably still get a sale. No lost customers for them.

    14. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by SBrach · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Not to mention the fact that it makes headway in fixing the security issues that we have been complaining about forever and adds some worthwhile features. I don't understand the people that would get XP on a new PC rather than Vista. Like you said, all you need to do is disable the eye-candy and it is basically XP with security improvements with a few new features thrown in.

    15. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 1

      disclaimer: In Australia it is difficult to get reasonable pre loaded Linux notebooks.

      So lets see, I buy a notebook with Vista for around $A 1,500.00, then spend the $A 5,631.12 for Windows Server 2008 Enterprise which I need if I want to make the most of the multimedia capabilities of the notebook.

      -OR-

      I buy a notebook with Vista for around $A 1,500.00 and install a modern Linux distro on it for $0 (+ download + updates) because I want to make the most of the multimedia capabilities of the notebook.

      $A 7,131.12? | $A 1,500.00?

      $A 7,131.12? | $A 1,500.00?

      Apple gear is even more outlandishly overpriced in Australasia than the rest of the world, and even here a top of the range Macbook Pro is cheaper than $A 7,131.12. Why on Earth would anyone be so stupid?

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    16. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by banzairun · · Score: 1

      and XP was BETTER and FASTER than ME, 98, 95, 3.11... I'll let you finish this one.

    17. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by codifus · · Score: 4, Insightful
      Isn't this an Apples to Oranges comparison? OS9 was a 16 bit , non-protected mode OS. OSX isn't, and it is better. Faster? On machines that can run OSX and OS9, like my G3, OS9 ran like a Ferarri, and OSX slowed the box down significantly. Same could be said with the G4s. Still, I went with OSX. Why? Because like you said, it is better. Way better. A fully protected mode modern OS running the latest applications was worth a bit of a slow down. OS9 was yesterday. Comparing OS9 to OSX is just like comparing Windows for workgroups 3.11 (the 1st Windows OS that got the TCP/IP stack, yay!) to Win XP or Vista. They're vastly different OSes. And yeah, Windows 3.11 will run on a intel box way way way faster than that same box loaded with XP and much more so Vista, but who in the world wants to do that? The main reason Vista didn't really please is because the upgrade from XP went from a 32 bit OS to . . . . . . . . . . . wait for it . . . . . . . . . a 32 bit OS. And things got slower, and much more hardware demanding. Sheesh. Sounds like my other significant.

      CD

    18. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      My friend, I think you overlook an evident fact: OSX is actually BETTER and FASTER than what OS9 was.

      Both of those are arguable. Versions of OS X that competed directly with OS 9 were not faster, and there are many, many parts of OS X that certainly aren't better from a UI perspective. I'd kill to get my Apple Menu Items folder and Application Switcher back and ditch that idiotic Dock, and I've love Finder to... well, to resemble (OS 9) Finder in some way.

    19. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Christ, we saw all these posts when Windows XP supplanted Windows 2000. I feel like I'm stuck in a time-warp.

      Is Windows Vista really that bad, or is everyone just a grumpy nostalgia-addled creature of habit? I vote the latter.

      Hell, I was happy with the graphics in Windows 2000, and in fact when I use XP I turn it back to Win2K themes always.

      Ok, so you're firmly in the "grumpy" camp.

      If you want Windows 2000, just use Windows 2000 and shut the hell up so the rest of us can have intelligent conversations on Slashdot about new Windows releases.

    20. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      People can run Leopard on their Power PCs no problem.

      Now, if you mean the rumour that Snow Leopard won't run on Power PCs, even if it does turn out to be true, Vista won't run on four year old PCs either.

    21. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Goner · · Score: 3, Interesting

      "This is a clear case of a large company making what they want and totally ignoring consumer demand."

      Let me clarify that this applies to big-ticket consumers as well.

      I work for a large multinational corporation in the Emerging Technology group. We're on the same floor as the IT team that has to deploy Vista across 50,000 computers or so. The company as a whole employs more people than Microsoft. (according to the all-knowing Wikipedia)

      None of the IT squad are happy about the prospect of company wide Vista default install. Their XP deployment is quite honestly one of the tightest managed environments I've seen. I don't know if they've even set a date for it. They'll just install XP on new machines from HD images as always.

      So the individual consumer becomes beta tester for the big company consumer... wacky.

      Now, I get IMs from a friend saying "Vista just keeps rebooting, at random." And I see that all consumers, whether Giant Co. or joe schmoe have the same issue with Vista.

      Cool new features are cool, but... stability is all anyone has ever wanted from a PC.

      All of which makes me wonder the following Q, when is Microsoft rolling out Vista in house?

      -Rich

    22. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by scoot80 · · Score: 1

      Why the hell would you be buying a notebook and then Windows Server 2008 Enterprise, to make the most out of the multimedia capabilities? Sure you can download Linux for free, or you can just use XP/Vista that came with it. You know, to prove a point, you don't have to choose the most expensive Windows product and compare it to a free community OS. Which begs to ask, how much does it cost for say the enterprise version Red Hat?

    23. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If you have that many machines, you have volume licenses and thus can exercise downgrade rights from Vista.

    24. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by DimGeo · · Score: 1

      Here's a list of perf tweaks I've thrown together: http://dimiter.dyndns.org/Vista%20Optimization%20Guidelines.html

    25. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by corporatefucker · · Score: 1

      Wait a minute, even without fanboism we all have to admit that OSX Tiger is far ahead of XP and Vista. I have all those operating systems running right now, and the only difference I see between OSX Tiger and OSX Leopard is that it is even easier to connect to samba shares with Leopard, all the audio apps and Photoshop are exactly the same on both of them.

    26. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Doctor+O · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I know a bunch of people that completely refuse to use Leopard. They have the first version MacBooks, where Tiger runs faster than Leopard. They completely hate the visual effects on Leopard. You know, I'm typing this from a recent MBP, but I have an ages-old G4 1,25 GHz with a mere 768 MB RAM at home, both running 10.5.3. Actually I have no idea what those people you know are talking about. What "visual effects"? They can't possibly mean the transparent menu bar which can be turned back to solid or Spaces, which are disabled by default (but are too great to miss out!).

      As for performance - my G4 has half the horsepower than the abovementioned MacBooks, and it runs 10.5 just fine, without any noticeable delays or slowdowns, even with all thumbnail-generating, background-indexing etc. turned on, *and* Time Machine running in the background.

      Spaces and Time Machine alone would be reason enough to run 10.5. Spaces really boost productivity, and Spaces + Exposé make people want to cry when I show it to them. We're mainly on Macs, and everybody who has seen 10.5 wanted to upgrade immediately. So either the people you quote are imaginary (which is what I guess), or they're boneheads.

      Anyway, I would advise not listening to them (or me, actually) and instead having a look at 10.5 yourself. It's pretty amazing, even on old hardware.

      (Oh, and of course there were problems with the migration from 10.4 to 10.5 - as usual, Adobe didn't get their shit together and even after several updates (from Adobe, mind you!) some things don't work correctly (such as the Adobe PDF printers), but that's hardly Apple's fault.)
      --
      Who is General Failure and why is he reading my hard disk?
    27. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      My friend, I think you overlook an evident fact: OSX is actually BETTER and FASTER than what OS9 was.

      It's only faster because the hardware has finally caught up. For literally the first few years of OSX's life, it was impossible to buy a machine that could run it "fast".

    28. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      .. OSX is actually BETTER and FASTER than what OS9 was .. You sure OSX 10.5 will outperform MacOS 9.2 on a G4 1Ghz system?
    29. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by jellomizer · · Score: 1

      You seem to have forgotten how big a flop OS X 10.0 was. It was so bad that apple released it with OS 9 and the upgrade to 10.1 was free. For apple to do that the product was pritty bad

      --
      If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    30. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XP was not faster and doubtously better than win 2000.

    31. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 1

      Microsoft: We're A Whole Lotta Fail

      --
      You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
    32. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not going away. XP HOME will still be on the shelves due to the netbooks. if you have a corporate account with X number of XP licenses those will remain until you run out. You can keep purchasing licenses, but you CANNOT go to a retail store and purchase XP PRO!

    33. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by KlomDark · · Score: 1

      Tiger, Leopard, Snow Leopard, House Leopard... They're all pussies.

    34. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by chasd · · Score: 1

      OS9 was a 16 bit

      Wrong. Mac OS 9 was 32-bit. Mac OS 6 was 24-bit, and Mac OS 7 was 32-bit, which was released in 1991. Apple beat Microsoft to 32-bit ( Windows 95 ).

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/System_7

      --
      :wq
    35. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OSX is better NOW, but try telling that to people who were using it during its first couple of versions. As I recall, the feelings toward OSX were very similar to what Vista is seeing now.

    36. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by jonasj · · Score: 1

      Isn't this an Apples to Oranges comparison? OS9 was a 16 bit , non-protected mode OS. OSX isn't, and it is better.


      No, any comparison of one version of Mac OS to another is certainly an Apple to Apple comparison.
      --
      You know, Microsoft's street address also says a lot about their mentality.
    37. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      Does it run faster with the "toned down" UI?

      I would think that offloading all the graphical stuff onto the graphics card would actually be pretty good for performance...

      My experience with Ubuntu suggests that I am right.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    38. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      10.0 was released with 9.x for compatibility. Unlike MS wants to do, Apple had and has no plans to force OS upgrades each time a new version is released.

    39. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      OS9 ran on a Tandy COCO3, I would suspect that OSX would be faster

      DOH!

    40. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There's always Windows 2003 or 2008.

    41. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      GGP was the one that suggested 2008. GP pointed out how that was a massively BAD IDEA.

    42. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      You left off the part where you might be able to get a refund on the Windows tax if you have time to spare.

    43. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 1

      Actually my last attempt to get a refund failed because I bought a notebook which was clearly labelled as having Vista. The trouble is that even if you never use it, you are still buying it. The fact that they don't offer machines without windows is irrelevant. Kind of like if you buy a car with cruise control and then never use cruise control you don't get a refund.

      I am talking about the Australian market here. I did research and the way they advertise and sell machines these days has closed the whole refund loophole - at least according to info I got from the ACCC. The best way I could find to register a protest with the OEM was to get them to buy windows install media for me - given that they supplied an OEM version which is not as capable as the Microsoft installer in breach of the statutory warranty. If enough people do this they will re-assess their contracts with Microsoft.

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    44. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by sjames · · Score: 1

      Of course, whichever Windows option you go with, you'll still have to install a bunch of other stuff if you want to do more than browse the web, play minesweeper, and watch a few videos.

      that'll cost you unless you go for the fine free software out there like Open office, GIMP, etc. But if you're going for the free software there, why not just install Linux and get it all in one neat installation package?

    45. Re:Not paying attention to consumer demand by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      oh HELL no. WTF are you talking about? i had Leopard on a dual G4 1.25 and it was functional, but sluggish. You're telling me OS9 would have been *slower* on the same hardware? GTF out of town.

  6. Microsoft markets for Apple by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to know how Steve Jobs lined up Microsoft to so effectively to do his marketing. Killing XP's bound to drive many soonn-to-be-former Windows users to the Macintosh. Brilliant.

  7. Doh! by dexomn · · Score: 1

    Oh crap! I thought they were replacing Vista with XP. Disappointment yet again. =(

  8. Or in other words by eclectro · · Score: 1

    The Linux desktop lifewatch, T minus 2 weeks.

    Of course, as all nerds know, anything that dies can come back as a zombie to eat that which is alive. But we're rational people here and could never imagine that.

    --
    Take the cheese to sickbay, the doctor should see it as soon as possible - B'Elanna Torres, "Learning Curve"
    1. Re:Or in other words by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anitrust again?

  9. Inaccurate ... by schwit1 · · Score: 5, Informative

    Dell has already stated that they will continue to install XP if the customer requests it.

    1. Re:Inaccurate ... by Nimey · · Score: 1

      As have HP/Compaq and Lenovo.

      --
      Hail Eris, full of mischief...

      E pluribus sanguinem
    2. Re:Inaccurate ... by BRSloth · · Score: 1

      Dell has already stated that they will continue to install XP if the customer requests it. ... for a price.
    3. Re:Inaccurate ... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      But if MS isn't supporting it, and even telling Dell they aren't allowed to do it, then is it even legal? Is MS still taking the money for the licenses?

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    4. Re:Inaccurate ... by nosaj13 · · Score: 1

      I don't think any of you guys have actually read the sites you link to. Dell wont load XP for any customer who requests it. Nor will any manufacturer. What they WILL do is exercise a 'downgrade' right that Microsoft has implemented allowing ANY preloaded oem version of vista business or ultimate to be converted to XP. From that dell website you posted: "Customers may continue to get Windows XP Professional by exercising Downgrade Rights that come with Windows Vista Business or Windows Vista Ultimate licenses" This is a right given to purchasers by microsoft not the manufacturer and applies only to business and ultimate preloaded. If your machine came with business or ultimate vista preloaded you can request the downgrade disc direct from MS. They are just cutting out the middle man for you. Thats all

    5. Re:Inaccurate ... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      When I checked dells UK small buisness site recently it seemed they had already switched over to the downgrade rights based system. It was a free option on some models I looked at and a slight extra charge (£10) on others.

      Prior to this switch the XP pro and vista buisness options were the same price.

      Dell seems to have stopped offering any home editions of windows on their buisness machines with vista buisness now being the default option. I don't know if this has been accompanied by a rise in the base prices.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    6. Re:Inaccurate ... by petermgreen · · Score: 1

      The machine comes with a vista buisness or ultimate license but XP pro is installed. Media or recovery partitions (i'm not sure which dell is using nowadays) are provided for both versions. MS has explicitly allowed the big-brand OEMs (the ones who use bios locked versions rather than only activated versions) to do this.

      It's kind of a sneaky arrangement. MS gets to book the machine as a vista sale. MS gets a buisness or ultimate license fee rather than a home license fee. But the customer still gets XP.

      --
      note: i'm known as plugwash most places but i screwd up registering that here somehow in the past and now can't register
    7. Re:Inaccurate ... by CastrTroy · · Score: 1

      That seems like a very expensive way to get XP Pro.

      --

      Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
    8. Re:Inaccurate ... by corsec67 · · Score: 1

      AND it still counts as a sale of Vista for their "look how well Vista is selling" Power Point slide shows.

      --
      If I have nothing to hide, don't search me
    9. Re:Inaccurate ... by valwig · · Score: 0
      Something's awry because the ComputerWorld article states:

      Three of the world's top four OEMs -- Hewlett-Packard Co., Acer Inc. and Lenovo Group Ltd. -- confirmed last week that they will sell XP-equipped machines up to and including June 30.

      Only Dell Inc., ranked second in sales last quarter by Gartner Inc. and IDC, plans to put an end to XP PC sales earlier than that; Dell's deadline is June 18, this Wednesday.
      --
      -- 3till7.net
  10. They should not reprieve by oskard · · Score: 0, Flamebait

    Anybody who buys a computer bundled with an OS should probably keep that OS. Vista, though slow as hell, is easier to use and more secure (theoretically). Especially if all you're doing is web browsing and using Microsoft Office.

    Those who do not want to use it should be smart enough to install their own distro. XP SP2 CDs are plentiful, like AOL coasters.

    And the majority of enthusiasts who want a lean and mean machine, and still wish to run a Microsoft OS, won't need to deal with this bundled nonsense.

    --
    Sigs are for Terrorists.
    1. Re:They should not reprieve by Dare+nMc · · Score: 1

      should be smart enough to install their own distro. XP SP2 CDs are plentiful
      yes, but drivers aren't. If you are smart enough to build your own drivers, it'll only cost you $2400 for the MSDN universal subscription (lowest sub to allow driver development.)
    2. Re:They should not reprieve by Orange+Crush · · Score: 1

      If you get Vista Business, you have downgrade rights to Windows XP. So, for the forseeable future, you can buy a new PC, select Vista Business, but ask for XP installed. You still get a factory install and can move back up to Vista once MS improves it sufficiently (assuming MS actually DOES so).

  11. Nothing dies in the Torrent by mqduck · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Now all you pirates will have an excuse for downloading your Windows XP disc image.

    --
    Property is theft.
    1. Re:Nothing dies in the Torrent by winphreak · · Score: 1

      If only Microsoft would turn the activation server to automatically validate, then people could even download non-modified versions. I severely doubt that will happen though.

      --
      "I'm a well-wisher, in that I don't wish you any specific harm."
  12. heh they can't get rid of XP... by nawcom · · Score: 0
    They have to just repackage XP in a vista box and make some vista desktop theme as the default. Make everyone happy. Either way, I hope they don't extend it. Them doing this will probably make this year "The Year of Linux Mobility".

    They have a while until it wil become the choice for desktops. And it won't be "Linux" itself; it will be some windows user-friendly distribution of it.

  13. T minus 2 weeks? by bogaboga · · Score: 1

    Why won't it be "T plus two weeks?" What's wrong with that?

    1. Re:T minus 2 weeks? by nog_lorp · · Score: 2, Informative

      Because (in our perception at least) time travels forward. T plus 2 weeks would be saying, "It is now time T plus 2 weeks", or 2 weeks past the time in question, rather than 2 weeks until.

    2. Re:T minus 2 weeks? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Exactly. T-something is before the event, T + something is after the event.

    3. Re:T minus 2 weeks? by nog_lorp · · Score: 1

      I thought it was an obvious mistake, but I got +informative!

  14. Someone check the spot price! by GeneralEmergency · · Score: 1

    I heard a rumor that oil speculators were moving money into XP Home retail box.

    Too late. I got mine on Saturday.

    And two years from now, if they wont activate, boy 'o boy is Balmer going to get a good chair-throwing!

    --
    "A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
    GeneralEmergency
  15. For those who don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I'm sure the Pirate Bay will continue to carry Windows XP for a long long time.

    1. Re:For those who don't care by rubycodez · · Score: 2, Funny

      yup, and they even released versions of windows before Microsoft did

    2. Re:For those who don't care by HungSoLow · · Score: 1

      Now THAT'S customer service!

    3. Re:For those who don't care by Kjella · · Score: 0

      yup, and they even released versions of windows before Microsoft did For those that don't know, a few weeks before the end-user release Microsoft ships the "Release To Manufacturer (RTM)" version. That is the version that'll go on new OEM installs, and that'll get patched up to the final release by Windows Update so it's the "real thing". That version is generally out on TPB and the like long before the actual release. Now, you might as why you'd bother but I was having major problems with Win98SE (possibly bad drivers) and jumped to Windows 2000 RTM, it was heaven. To put it this way, I haven't exactly been that interested since...
      --
      Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    4. Re:For those who don't care by msormune · · Score: 1

      You mean a Windows XP download torrent? We would not want the people out there to think PB actually hosts these files, do we :)

    5. Re:For those who don't care by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I just ordered a copy from them myself! Finally decided to replace Windows 2000, you see....

  16. Today our labs discussed WinVista by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 4, Interesting

    And the fact that our few boxen with it run like dogs even with dual core high end processors.

    Even with the effects turned off it's dog slow.

    If they kill the ability for us to buy XP we're going to an all Linux/Unix shop.

    --
    -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    1. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1

      And the fact that our few boxen with it run like dogs even with dual core high end processors.

      Even with the effects turned off it's dog slow.


      That's weird - it works just fine in a VM on my MBP and that's not really beefy hardware.

      If they kill the ability for us to buy XP we're going to an all Linux/Unix shop.

      Do it!

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    2. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Got drivers? If you've got Vista ... nope.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    3. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 1

      uhh...

      the effects help it run better. Not sure if you noticed, but the UI is responsive in vists and I am running an AMD X2 4200+ with 2 gigs of memory and an onboard radeon 1250.

    4. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Got drivers? If you've got Vista ... nope.

      Oh, wow, yeah, I guess VMWare is probably supported.

      Boy, now Windows has worse driver support than Linux? Whodathunk?

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    5. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 2, Informative

      Better?

      How is a four minute boot time for a high-end dual core processor laptop "better"?

      My son's Mac mini boots, sends email, has open chat, records a video, and shuts down before a WinVista machine finishes booting with the same raw processor power.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    6. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by fistfullast33l · · Score: 2, Informative

      I really think fanboi-ism has really overtaken Slashdot.

      I have run Gentoo on my laptop and desktop for many years and love it - I still have it on my laptop. But I built a new watercooled desktop for two reasons - I missed my PC games and I wanted to build a watercooled computer for the hell of it. Now it's a bit high end - Q6600 processor, 8gb ram (why not?) and two 8800GT's in SLI. I installed Vista Ultimate because I wanted to run DX10 games and I wanted to see what Aero looks like. I also have a pirated copy of XP Pro, along with several legitimate copies of XP Home lying around somewhere.

      Can I comment on performance issues? No I can't because everything runs smoothly on my PC - which I hope it would seeing as I spent so much on hardware. Although the comment in the grandparent makes me a bit suspicious - I wonder what video hardware the guy has.

      In terms of drivers, I'm running the 64 bit version of Vista. Drivers were not too hard to find - sound came with the mobo, Nvidia supports Vista, and Logitech has 32 bit vista drivers, but the app that ships with them sucks. Known issues with Eclipse (yes, Logitech broke Eclipse) and stupid issues with the wireless mouse not working when the app runs. That's more Logitech's fault than Microsoft's IMO.

      The biggest and most annoying issue that I ran into was on install - Vista64 breaks with more than 2gb RAM installed until you apply the Microsoft patch. That took me a few days to sort out, but I finally did. Since then, no problems.

      Is Vista better than Linux? Eh. Most of my issues with Linux stems more from ATI then from Linux itself. The ATI drivers for Xorg and XFree86 sucked ass for many years, and only recently did they start to improve in quality (thank you AMD). I run E17 on my desktop which is still pretty sweet but now I'm thinking of switching to KDE because it looks like they have some sweet effects going into their next build.

      Anywho, this huge rant really was a response to the lack of drivers quote - maybe for servers there's no drivers, but drivers and system stability was the one thing I had very little problem with. My major beef was with installation, but Joe Schmoe isn't going to install his own Vista on a Dell PC, so that won't be a problem.

    7. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      Labs don't care about what you gamers do.

      Unless we are doing graphics simulations - which we most decidely are not.

      I say again - WinVista is, quite frankly, a dog.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    8. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by DeathGod321 · · Score: 1

      I don't know what type of lab you work for, and you might have extremely obscure hardware, but drivers should be the last reason to switch to Linux.

    9. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Anywho, this huge rant really was a response to the lack of drivers quote - maybe for servers there's no drivers, but drivers and system stability was the one thing I had very little problem with. My major beef was with installation, but Joe Schmoe isn't going to install his own Vista on a Dell PC, so that won't be a problem. Driver problem isn't so much with new, high end hardware, which you clearly have, it's with old or cheap hardware.

      My sister's bf is in construction, has an old HP plotter he uses for some of his drawings. No Vista driver (I have no idea if there is a Linux driver, but there is an XP one). Sam guy also bought a brand new, cheap inkjet at the local Sams Club recently. Again, no Vista drivers. He called HP up and had to fight with them to get beta drivers for his printer.

      Drivers, especially drivers for older or less popular hardware, is definitely an issue for Vista, moreso than Linux right now.
    10. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      I will seriously consider a mac if they don't replace XP with something decent. and I can assure you all, I'm in no way a mac fanboy.

    11. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by dargaud · · Score: 1
      We also had this discussion long ago. We are a research lab and all our projects are for our own use. It was gradual, but all the developers started developing for Linux. We do device drivers, databases, user interfaces, everything. Just not Windows anymore.

      I think that we are talking a lot about the users rejecting Vista, but not enough about the developers adopting Linux. When your next generation of applications is going to be Linux only, it won't even matter what the users want!

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    12. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by r_naked · · Score: 2, Informative

      I call FUD. Over the weekend I decided to slap another drive in my box and install OSX (leo4allv3 if anyone cares). I am not going on a Mac bashing rant, but suffice it to say it didn't stay on that drive very long -- OSX sucks. Anyway, I had that other drive in there, I figured I would give Vista a shot. I grabbed me a copy Vista Ultimate x64 SP1 (pre-cracked of course) and slapped it on there. I was in awe.

      I tried Vista back when I had an Athlon XP 3200+ and a whole 768 megs of ram with a GeForce 5900. It ran ok, but it was obviously slower than XP. I liked the eye candy so I kept it around for a month or so, but eventually went back to XP. A few months ago I upgraded my server with parts from that box and got a Athlon 64 X2 4800+ with 2 gigs of ram and an NV 8800 GT (still nothing SCREAMING by today's standards, but it cost me all of $250.00 to upgrade with the vid card being most of that).

      Don't sit here and tell people that "it run like dogs even with dual core high end processors.", because that is a load of bullshit since it runs just as fast as XP on even low end dual core processors.

      As for ram -- I'm sorry, but that excuse just doesn't fly anymore. Anybody that doesn't have at least a couple of gigs of ram is just wasting their time.

      Now, I will grant you that Vista runs slower than XP on EXTREMELY low end hardware, but once you reach a certain threshold, they run the same. I don't know what that threshold is -- but I do know it is somewhere between what I had and what I have now.

      --
      -- http://anonet.org -- The internet the way it was meant to be. Check it out, you may be surprised.
    13. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by IWantMoreSpamPlease · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Interesting-

      Not to slight your comment, but my experience was the exact opposite. Now mind you I was using a testbed computer: single core 2.6 ghz P4, 2 gigs DDR RAM, nvidia 7300gt video card.

      My experiences were as follows:

      leo4allv2 ran flawlessly, faster than I'd ever seen Apple's OS run on any Apple hardware...I was actually stunned.

      Vista - about as I expected, slow and laggy

      Server2008 - everything Vista should have been, but isn't. Ultra fast, clean interface, hyper responsive, etc.

      Just an informal post.

      --
      So rise up, all ye lost ones, as one, we'll claw the clouds.
    14. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by r_naked · · Score: 1

      It isn't that OSX was slow, quite the contrary it was quite speedy. I just didn't like the interface. It was butt ugly and non-intuitive (to those that want to mod me flamebait, please remember that I am entitled to my opinion).

      I mean granted this was a "hackintosh" setup, so some people are going to want to say "well that wouldn't be a problem if you were running a real Apple hardware" -- and they would be correct to an extent. However, just to do simple things such a messing with system files I had to jump through more hoops that ANY version of Windows EVER. People think that Vista's UAC is bad -- give OSX a try and attempt to do anything other than "use the OS like Apple intended".

      Now to get back on topic, were you using the x86 or x64 version of Vista? I guess I am going to have to go back and install the 32 bit version just to see, because I have read in several places now that the 32 bit version runs slower than the 64 bit version on multi-core / multi-proc boxes. But I ran XP up until 3 days ago because I had been listening to the herd (and my own experiences with Vista on that old original Athlon processor).

      -- Brian

      --
      -- http://anonet.org -- The internet the way it was meant to be. Check it out, you may be surprised.
    15. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by WillAffleckUW · · Score: 1

      dude, all we know is when we're trying to run the same statistical genetics programs on a Linux box, it runs a heck of a lot faster than it does on the WinVista box.

      We work with results - we're not gamers, we don't do fancy video graphics, we find graphics cards a pain (just had to replace a few that burnt out after only a few years).

      And now our new dual core laptop our Primary Investigator bought is slower than some of the older single core slower chip WinXP laptops.

      Maybe for you in the non-science world WinVista is the best thing since toasted bagels - but for us it's a dead end and we've had it.

      And that includes the basement blade server we're buying for the UW Tower.

      --
      -- Tigger warning: This post may contain tiggers! --
    16. Re:Today our labs discussed WinVista by modmans2ndcoming · · Score: 1

      My corprate dual core laptop running XP SP2 boots in 4 minutes and has nothing to do with XP.

      If you are comparing a work laptop with anything then all you are doing is comparing your IT department's boot scripts to another IT department's boot scripts, or the lack on one in the case of your son's macbook.

  17. Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Hackerlish · · Score: 4, Insightful

    XP is here. It works. It works well. It has drivers. It's fast. Vista has been a complete disaster for Microsoft. It's here, but it doesn't work well, lacks drivers and is slower than molasses. The record 'sales' of Vista that Microsoft has been bragging about is only due to preinstallations, and everyone knows it. I got Vista on a new laptop, loved the pretty colors but within a few months learned it was pure crap, deleted it, installed XP and never looked back. Microsoft: It's time to fall on your sword. Admit that Vista was the disaster it is: Every else already knows that. Sanction the developers that screwed it up so badly, and Fire the bureaucrats who would rather see Microsoft go down the tubes that admit they made a huge mistake with Vista.

    1. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Kneo24 · · Score: 1
      XP ran into a lot of those issues when it came out too.

      Don't get me wrong, as a Vista user, I'm not too thrilled with the OS. I do like some things about it, so I continue to use it.

      I do agree that Microsoft has the necessary resources to make a more stable and faster running OS. Microsoft doesn't have to look like the bad guy all the time. But for whatever stupid reason, they choose to.

      XP has matured to a point where a lot of people really really like it. An XP 2.0 would've been nice.

    2. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by alexborges · · Score: 1

      Id just say dont blame it on the devs. Its the damned Microsoft Marketing Machine what fucks everything up.

      Hell, I even remember when they were a software company.

      --
      NO SIG
    3. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is not just due to pre-installations!

      When I purchase corperate licenses for my businesses, you cannot purchase XP anymore, but you can purchase the XP 'media'.

      You pay for Vista, but they send you the XP media instead.

      I would say this helps their numbers!

    4. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Not Vietnam- I call it Microsoft Edsel. For the same reason, too- designed by committee, with shiny new features plopped on top of each other willy-nilly until nobody wants to buy it.

    5. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by verbamour · · Score: 5, Funny

      I like that it took Vista to make people refer to XP as fast...

    6. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by techno-vampire · · Score: 1

      You may be more right here than you realize. You see, most people think the US lost the war in Vietnam in the field. The fact is, that we never lost a battle there. What the NVA couldn't get in the field they won at the conference table because people back here thought we'd lost the war and forced the diplomats to give in. (Even the NVA generals agree with this, BTW.) Although I doubt it, it's possible that from a strictly objective viewpoint Vista is better than XP. However, as long as people think it's junk and refuse to use it, that won't matter. It will go down in history as a failure regardless of any technical merit.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    7. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0
      Sanction the developers that screwed it up so badly


      I get so tired of this crap.

      What on earth makes you think that any of the problems in Vista are due to developers? I don't know how you think software companies operate, but developers generally have zero control over the feature set of a piece of software. Developers may be the ones who actually write the software, but it's usually the marketing department who determines what the software will do and what feature set it will have. All too often the requirements are utterly absurd, are not what people want, and when developers object that implementing them will slow the software unacceptably they're told (in a very patronizing tone of voice) that computers get faster all the time (stupid developers!). Blaming vista on developers is a bit like blaming the leaning tower of Pisa on the construction workers who built it.

      Seriously, if you want an idea of what happens when developers are allowed to call the shots, look no further than Linux. Linux has its good points and its bad points, and you'll note that the don't generally line up with the good and bad points of commercial software.

    8. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by mrfoog · · Score: 1

      I got Vista on a new laptop, loved the pretty colors but within a few months learned it was pure crap, deleted it, installed XP and never looked back.

      I can honestly say it only took me a few hours to become annoyed. This was after removing the preinstalled junk and running without anti-virus to gain maximum speed.
    9. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Vista has been a complete disaster for Microsoft. It's here, but it doesn't work well,

      Wrong.

      lacks drivers

      Wrong. (Vista can run XP drivers, as long as the number of bits lines up. i.e. 32-bit XP driver on 32-bit Vista driver{1})

      and is slower than molasses.

      Wrong.

      Admit that Vista was the disaster it is: Every else already knows that.

      "The majority of people who post on Slashdot" != "Everybody."

      Sanction the developers that screwed it up so badly, and Fire the bureaucrats who would rather see Microsoft go down the tubes that admit they made a huge mistake with Vista.

      Oh, I agree that the development process was screwed up, and the that Microsoft cut far more QA people than they should have. (They're making a big move towards "XP", complete with the 'no testing other than automated testing' thing, which IMO is a recipe for making terrible products.)

      But the end Vista product is not anywhere close to as bad as people on Slashdot seem to think of it. Of course, most of those people have probably never used it, they're just echoing the crowd. (Kudos on actually trying it for a few months.)

      {1} I was going to link to the driver page for my Netgear WG111v2 which quite clearly stated a few months ago that no Vista support was forthcoming, but they've now released a Vista-compatible driver for it. WTF, Netgear? In any case, trust me, I was running the XP driver for ages, and it worked fine.

    10. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Better than that, I like that people are saying this: "Vista is what it took for me took switch to Mac." Too funny. Microsoft, your days are numbered...

    11. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      With no spyware/antiviruses/firewalls/apps and most of services disabled+few registry tweaks it will be as fast as any linux.

    12. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by craagz · · Score: 1

      I read an article saying that Windows 7 will not get delayed like Vista and will not be a ugly slow bundle like Vista.

      I am thinking they will be repackaging Windows XP with some bearable elements from Vista and selling Windows 7.

    13. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by psamty · · Score: 1

      I agree. While Vista has some problems, I'm still running it as my OS of choice on my Mac Pro (which comes with Leopard). Yes, this will come as shocking news to the slashdot community, but some people have jobs that require them to produce software for the vast majority of the population. And Vista is not as bad as people think. The security "features" are fucking annoying, but you can turn them off.

    14. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Vista has been a complete disaster for Microsoft. It's here, but it doesn't work well,

      Wrong.

      Right. Sales are WELL below what they expect, disasterously so, it's dog slow, bloated, and buggy.

      lacks drivers

      Wrong. (Vista can run XP drivers, as long as the number of bits lines up. i.e. 32-bit XP driver on 32-bit Vista driver{1})

      Right. Some drivers don't work, and they've mysteriously pulled drivers from Vista that DO work (for instance, why make me download a driver from something so common like a 3C905 ethernet card?)

      and is slower than molasses.

      Wrong.

      Right. It runs like shit.

      Admit that Vista was the disaster it is: Every else already knows that.

      "The majority of people who post on Slashdot" != "Everybody."

      No the majority who post on slashdot aren't everybody. But I hear from people who know NOTHING about computers, either complaining their new computer runs like crap, or warning me to steer clear of Vista.

      Sanction the developers that screwed it up so badly, and Fire the bureaucrats who would rather see Microsoft go down the tubes that admit they made a huge mistake with Vista.

      Oh, I agree that the development process was screwed up, and the that Microsoft cut far more QA people than they should have. (They're making a big move towards "XP", complete with the 'no testing other than automated testing' thing, which IMO is a recipe for making terrible products.)

      Yeah, I can't see sanctioning the developers.. it was the process that was broken more than the developers.

      But the end Vista product is not anywhere close to as bad as people on Slashdot seem to think of it. Of course, most of those people have probably never used it, they're just echoing the crowd. (Kudos on actually trying it for a few months.)

      {1} I was going to link to the driver page for my Netgear WG111v2 which quite clearly stated a few months ago that no Vista support was forthcoming, but they've now released a Vista-compatible driver for it. WTF, Netgear? In any case, trust me, I was running the XP driver for ages, and it worked fine.

      It can't be as bad as people on slashdot make it out to be. But it's VERY bad.
    15. Re:Vista is Microsoft's Vietnam by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You can say that the previous poster was "wrong", but until you post some facts to support that one-word reply, you're just stating an opinion.

      Vista has much higher hardware requirements than XP - that is not my opinion, it is a known fact. Given the same hardware, Vista usually performs worse than XP. For definitive proof, PC World ran a set of benchmark tests for XP SP2 vs. Vista vs. Vista SP1:

      Test Results: Does SP1 Fix Vista?
      http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/143608/test_results_does_sp1_fix_vista.html

      "As the composite scores indicate, XP outperformed both Vista and Vista SP1 on our automated WorldBench 6 tests by a significant margin, on the desktop and again on the notebook. Vista SP1 finished slightly ahead of plain Vista on the desktop test bed, but managed only a tie with it on the laptop."

  18. Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by wild_quinine · · Score: 5, Insightful
    There are some things about Vista which are better than XP.

    The restructured Users folder, for example. Finally 'My Music' is moved out of the My Documents folder, making backups, once again, possible for basic end users.

    The improved desktop rendering, which small matter though it may be, was well overdue for an overhaul.

    There are some things which are worse in Vista, and we all know about them.

    The copying speed.

    The shutdown menu, and the fact that hibernation NEVER works.

    Ultimately however, and this is where I intend to get relevant, there is nothing significant enough to recommend a switch from XP to Vista. And that's a statement that few people would argue with, and it's a damning statement. The more you think about about, the worse it gets.

    And when you step into the world of Enterprise, and big business, things are even worse. In Enterprise, you really, really don't care about shiny baubles. All you care about is that it works, and it stays working, and it never works any worse than it used to.

    Aging though it may be, XPs relevancy is not in decline. Windows Server 2003 does not want for much, in the way of mission critical upgrades, and what it does want for, Windows Server 2008 will not be providing.

    1. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Finally 'My Music' is moved out of the My Documents folder, making backups, once again, possible for basic end users. LOL.
      WTF?
      SRSLY?
      Their default folder setup is total shit.

      "I need to play a song. Hmmm, where is it?"
      c:\Users\Me\Documents and Settings\My Music (or something stupid like that)

      How about
      c:\Music?
      c:\Documents?
      c:\Pictures?

      L2make folders.
    2. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      In Enterprise, you really, really don't care about shiny baubles Inaccurate. C?Os dig shiny, useless stuff.
    3. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by FoolsGold · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The copying speed.

      The shutdown menu, and the fact that hibernation NEVER works.

      The speed of copying/moving files was fixed in SP1. Of course it shouldn't have been so bad to begin with, but still, fixed.

      Hibernation works fine for me. It doesn't work in Ubuntu however (at least with the most recent kernel), and a lot of people have complained about it.

      My point? Everyone's experiences are different. Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista?
    4. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by wild_quinine · · Score: 1

      In Enterprise, you really, really don't care about shiny baubles Inaccurate. C?Os dig shiny, useless stuff. Touche. But luckily, that's what Windows Mobile is for.
    5. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by jedidiah · · Score: 1

      > The restructured Users folder, for example. Finally 'My Music' is moved out of the My Documents folder, making backups, once again, possible for basic end users.

      Hogwash. What would make "backups once again possible for basic end users" would be
      to not choke a copy operation every time a stupid little speedbump stopping the whole
      thing. Transparent spanning of media when necessary would also be handy.

      Music is puny anymore.

      --
      A Pirate and a Puritan look the same on a balance sheet.
    6. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by wild_quinine · · Score: 1

      Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista? No, but if you were still on XP would you really make the effort?
    7. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by FoolsGold · · Score: 1

      No, but if you were still on XP would you really make the effort?

      Probably not. Not compelling enough for the money.

    8. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by maxume · · Score: 5, Informative

      To some extent, the copy speed improvements in SP1 are simply Vista telling you the copy is done before it is actually finished on disk:

      http://blogs.technet.com/markrussinovich/archive/2008/02/04/2826167.aspx

      --
      Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
    9. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      I don't know how many times I need to post this or link to my old posts or whatever.

      I do not care WHAT Vista does under the hood which is better, I don't care how many rumours and myths you debunk, I do not argue with those, Vista's 'core engine' may well be better for security, drivers, stability or reliability in the long term.
      Vistas performance may be better on a high end machine once the silly caching and search / index tools have finally finished thrashing the drive- I'll EVEN let those bloody things slide.

      The problem is that Vista's front end UI is FLAWED and BROKEN.
      There are NUMEROUS bugs with Windows Explorer, they are absoloutely insanely goddamned frustrating, the UI is _worse_ without any doubt in my mind than the XP Windows Explorer.

      The majority of business's I've worked at use XP's classic interface as it's simple, fast and well known.
      They would very likely do the same for Vista, which is of course a problem since it's BROKEN.

      There's refresh issues on folder selection, there's it not remembering settings in certain views, there's simple stuff like poor design (not bugs) which is infuriating.

      As a very very heavy explorer user, I can not and will not put up with Windows Vista explorer, period, it's an absoloute clusterfuck for anyone who actually wants to USE the OS and manipulate files.

      Time and time again people claim that Vista naysayers are idiots or some such, I firmly believe these people use applications only (probably firefox and counterstrike) and nothing else.......they don't actually USE the damned operating system for the functionality it should provide.

    10. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Ambvai · · Score: 1

      Hibernation doesn't work in Vista? I admit- I use a Dell and an HP laptop, with XP and Vista coming pre-installed on them, respectively. On the Dell/XP, hibernation and even sleep doesn't work. On the HP/Vista, on the other hand, hibernation works like a charm and sleep seems to crash it, necessitating a forced shutdown. (Having said that, I'd rather use XP, if only for the fact that it doesn't have any "smart" column functionality...)

    11. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's not fixed, it's just slightly improved.

    12. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The copying speed can be fixed very easily
      follow these basic instructions and your copying speed will be back to normal!
      http://prosthetichead.net/?p=3

    13. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Hibernation with Vista works fine on my tablet. As far as I can tell, Ubuntu doesn't support tablet PCs at all, so there's not a lot of choice there. (For what it's worth, Vista has *excellent* handwriting recognition features, heads and shoulders above any previous system I've used.)

      The really funny thing is that OS X supports tablet features better than Vista, and Apple doesn't even make a tablet.

    14. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by FoolsGold · · Score: 1

      Hmm, just to clarify something - I just checked my Ubuntu installation, and it seems the -19 kernel update finally cured my suspend/hibernation issues. Very glad about that. :)

    15. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The copying speed.

      The shutdown menu, and the fact that hibernation NEVER works.

      The speed of copying/moving files was fixed in SP1. Of course it shouldn't have been so bad to begin with, but still, fixed.

      Hibernation works fine for me. It doesn't work in Ubuntu however (at least with the most recent kernel), and a lot of people have complained about it.

      My point? Everyone's experiences are different. Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista? Yes, because it is trendy for everyone to talk about how bad it is! I have a few issues with Vista, but it is amusing when I hear people out there who badmouth it because they're supposed to.

      You know that if you asked them to tell you specifically what is wrong with it, they couldn't tell you. They'd just say "um, get a Mac."
    16. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by T3Tech · · Score: 1

      Hibernation works fine for me. It doesn't work in Ubuntu however (at least with the most recent kernel), and a lot of people have complained about it. I have an issue with hibernation on my laptop with Slackware, at least I think I do - it's not really an important feature for me so I haven't really bothered testing it. Anyway I know I have an issue with related things such as battery status being reported properly. This is actually due to an ACPI bug in the BIOS on certain Acer laptops which happen to include the model I have. The issues with ACPI seem to vary a little depedning on which kernel I use and last I checked my specific issues where still an open bug report though it looks like there is a hack or two that has been come up with for the Acer DSDT.
      --
      Of course I didn't RTFA... why would I do that? You really are new here aren't you? Don't let my UID fool you.
    17. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista? Yes.
    18. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by dbIII · · Score: 1

      Fun one with a Vista update the other day - Internet Explorer could not render web pages. System restore fixed it but there were still annoyed users that didn't want to use firefox etc. Subsequent updates worked because that paticular IE update was pulled. I think the major problem is a lack of QA and you just have to hope that some other poor sod found the problem before you get hit with it.

    19. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Do you know what multi-users system means?

    20. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by fwarren · · Score: 1

      Who wants Windows Mobile? Windows Mobile is not Windows. If it was, Microsoft would be going on the eeePC. But it is not because you can't run Windows software on it. You have to run software especially written for it.

      Of course there is linux that scales from a 486 processor on up to an eeePC on up to a quad core P4. Same software will run on the entire line. Even moving from x86 to ARM or PowerPC is not a deal brekaer.

      --
      vi + /etc over regedit any day of the week.
    21. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      My point? Everyone's experiences are different. Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista?

      Running Vista is like masturbation. Sure everyone does it once in a while, but no one really talks about it.

    22. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by xtracto · · Score: 1

      Hibernation works fine for me. It doesn't work in Ubuntu however (at least with the most recent kernel), and a lot of people have complained about it.

      Second that, neither hibernation nor suspend to ram work in my HP notebook. If it is not that the screen stays black after trying to resume, then the USB devices stop working or when trying to resume the resume file fails.

      Of course, I use XP and would not even think on moving to vista.... considering all it has is more eycandy and that the first thing I do when installing XP is to change the config to "maximize performance" making it look like NT.

      --
      Ubuntu is an African word meaning 'I can't configure Debian'
    23. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by HyperQuantum · · Score: 1

      There are some things about Vista which are better than XP. XP doesn't support WPA2. I had to downgrade our router setting from WPA2 to WPA because my dad's laptop with XP couldn't connect to it. WPA2 was no problem for me and my brother, because I use Linux and my brother runs Vista. But now my brother is going to install XP on his laptop because he doesn't like Vista... So now we're stuck on using WPA instead of WPA2. Why can't we all just run Linux :(
      --
      I am not really here right now.
    24. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by wild_quinine · · Score: 1

      Why can't we all just run Linux :( Because some of us like to use spaces in our passphrases.
    25. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes

    26. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'll be the first to answer.

      Yes. Yes it is wrong.

    27. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista? You must be new here.

    28. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes (you must be new here).

    29. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by spockman · · Score: 1

      Yes WPA2 is supported in XP: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=662BB74D-E7C1-48D6-95EE-1459234F4483&displaylang=en This has been available since 2005. Simple Google found it. More FUD.

    30. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by blueup · · Score: 1

      Actually, I REALLY like the Photo organizer. I only got to play with it for an hour or two, but I found it nearly as good as photoshop's. Still, not worthy of a whole operating system (and the attendant hardware upgrades), particularly since it still had a deal buster. (non hierarchical tags)

      --
      -- The above may have once been believed by me, but any truth or application you find is your own problem.
    31. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Is it wrong for me to actually like Vista? Yes, of course it is! Did you really even need to ask? Just where do you think you are, anyway?
    32. Re:Why move? Because you have to, that's why. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      What is your definition of fixed?

      I/O in Vista SP1 is still incredi-slow compared to XP.

      I used to use Vista at work, when I upgraded to XP, I shaved about 200 seconds off my build time - Vista took 600, on XP it takes about 400.

      Nothing else is different, ergo, Vista's I/O is fucking shit and written by incompetent fucktards.

  19. Mayan Calender by retech · · Score: 5, Funny

    This was foretold on the ancient Mayan Calender.

  20. Support deadline? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not exactly trolling...

    Is there a deadline to downloading patches for XP, or reinstalling XP?

  21. I love OSS and make money on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Windows: You run the software MS tells you to, according to MSs business interests.

    You can run any software that is written for Windows and it will work! That's what makes Windows wonderful.

    OSS: You run the software you want to run, according to your business interests.

    This may be true, but, how do you run it? What libraries will you need? What the hell is a kernel? What does it mean to compile?

    Until there is a bullet-proof installation method - Linux will remain out of the SMB world. The corporate world has a place for Linux on the desktop but NOT because it is open-source. It's because it works, is cheap(er) and fits a need.

    Why is the Apple awesome for SMBs? Easy install using thier DMG files.

    I personally use Linux for some development stuff, own an iPhone and Mac Mini AND use my Windows Vista laptop for day to day uses. Why? I use what works.

    1. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by gslavik · · Score: 0

      umm, you do know about the package management system, right? The only thing I compile on my Linux system is Wine, only because I get the sources faster than the distribution can build them.

    2. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by alexborges · · Score: 4, Informative

      Bullet proof means preinstalled on certified hardware, I guess...

      Look at the trends: all non-whitebox servers in the world (worth of mention) are sold linux certified and preinstalled. Dell has certified linux laptops. HP/CQ has a pretty nice list of linux certified laptops (they sell them to ya preinstalle as well).

      Man... where do this people come from? Linux is already out there! Go buy a box with it on it and youll never, ever, look back.

      --
      NO SIG
    3. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Rutulian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Until there is a bullet-proof installation method

      I would say the installation method on linux is more robust than any other method on any other platform.

      I think what you meant to say was "easy installation method." I consider the package management system quite easy. Tell me, what exactly do you do when [your favorite software] doesn't provide a dmg that is available for download. What's that? You need to compile it yourself? For shame, how could Apple make such an unusable operating sytem.

    4. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Travoltus · · Score: 1

      Yes you will. Try playing Crysis in Linux, or ripping DVDs, playing with mkv's, etc.

      Sure, you can rip DVDs in Linux but be prepared to spend a lot of long hard nights fighting with your system to get it up and running. To say nothing of how hard it is to do transcoding in general. Let's not get into how many things you have to download and set up by hand to get that running. It's an utter nightmre. In comparison, it is much easier to do away with the check engine light on a Toyota SUV without taking it to a Toyota dealership, than getting DVD ripping in Linux set up.

      Transcoding in Windows XP? Download the "Super" program and the Combined Community Codec Pack for free, and you're off to the races. One, two, three, rip. DVD ripping in XP is as easy as downloading VLC.

      --
      --- Grow a pair, liberals... stop letting the Republicans bully you!
    5. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by alexborges · · Score: 1

      God knows what linus did you try. Both ubuntu and mandriva are seamlessly ready to rip dvd's and transcode to your hearts content.

      Windows (or macos, for that matter), dont come with ripping software or transcoding posibilities out of the box either: you have to have some expertiese and go out there and download a host of stuff to do it anyhow.

      So whats the diff?

      --
      NO SIG
    6. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Max+Littlemore · · Score: 1

      Actually ripping DVDs is pretty easy. I just managed to get a long time windows user to try ubuntu 8.04 and he's converted. One of the selling points was that, even though you get the nag dialogs about questionable legality, media support is better in his experience than on XP.

      I wouldn't know about that specifically because I haven't used windows on a machine I own for at least four years. What I do know is that unless you want to run games or visio, there really is little reason to stick with windows. My mum is certainly happy with it. It's much simpler to use and everything just works. I highly recommend trying out a modern distro. You can always reboot for games until games publishers finally catch up with reality.

      --
      I don't therefore I'm not.
    7. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by aXis100 · · Score: 1

      I just spent 3 or 4 days trying to find some decent, simple transcoding software for windows. Google was little help. It's only chance that I found your post on "SUPER".

      By comparison, If I was using debian or Ubuntu I'd just do "apt-cache search transcode" and see what results I get.

    8. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by ghyspran · · Score: 1

      Not sure about transcoding, but if you're running KDE under Linux, K3B comes preinstalled and is capable of DVD ripping and copying. Otherwise, a simple trip to the package manager will do it. http://poisonerbg.blogspot.com/2007/01/howto-easy-dvd-ripping-in-linux-with.html

    9. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Informative

      I had a pile of PCI modems given to me recently. I decided just for fun to see if I could get a "winmodem" working under Linux & I'd heard so many horror stories about the process.

      I got it working with little trouble, but that's not the punchline... Just as I got it working, there's an Ubuntu update including, yep, a new kernel.

      So I update, reboot, and wait for the error messages about the modem driver. Instead, the boot paused, the driver said "I see there's a new kernel - hang on while I rebuild..."

      I sat amazed & watched the 45 second process of a new driver being compiled & installed with no human intervention or request.

      The boot finished & everything including the modem worked fine.

      Let's see Microsoft match that...

    10. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by musicalwoods · · Score: 1

      Well, I agree that SUPER is one of the best transcoders on Windows for free (if you can get past their looping website), but VLC transcodes as well. Go into "File" and then hit "Wizard" and you'll see it.

    11. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by AbRASiON · · Score: 1

      You pro-linux people absoloutely crack me up.

      I love the ideals of OSS, I love the hippie side of it, it's utopian it's grand and it's great, the whole concept is brilliant.
      Linux is fantastic for free, no doubt about it.

      The problem is in order for a product to beat another product it needs to be substantially better.
      Here's an example, AMD CPU's had a piss poor name for many many years amongst the mainstream and the enthusiasts to an extent, there was a few of using them, despite the lower cost, they simply weren't compelling enough.

      You need to offer MORE for LESS in order for a product to 'win'
      AMD finally released the X2's when Intel could only offer the toasty hot P4's - for about 18 months AMD finally had the clearly superior product and initially at a better price too if I recall.
      This and only this finally swayed people over, their name was finally clear.

      If you people want linux to beat Windows, it needs to not be 'as good' it needs to be better AND easier AND faster AND cheaper - ridiculous expectations, YES! but this is what idiot consumers (and myself to be frank) need, once these are all finally accomplished users will move en masse to linux.
      Much like the new macs, they may be pricier but they are substantially easier / simpler to work with, that convienience is what users want.

      I've been building my own machines since I was 14 years old, I ran DOS 5, I ran DOS 6.22, I ran 3.11 etc - I'm not a 'dummy user' by any means, sure I can't code but I'm not an idiot.
      None the less linux still continues to be a box of mystery to me, (partial lazyness, I admit) it's a huge uphill battle and honestly I have to ask if the plethora of options available hinder rather than help linux adoption in general.

      FWIW I think Vista is an absoloute piece of shit, I detest that operating system, but XP is ideal, it has issues, no doubt but once setup properly it's fast, simple, easy and in my opinion substantially less bugs to boot.

    12. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Corporate+Troll · · Score: 1

      AMD finally released the X2's when Intel could only offer the toasty hot P4's

      You have your timelimes a bit mixed up. AMD began it's climb to fame with the Athlon models in the late P-III days and the early P-IV days. In the Athlon XP and Athlon MP days it kicked serious Intel ass and it peaked with the Athlon 64 release. Then the Intel Core architecture was released and the AMD decline started. The X2 is more a sidenote in the AMD64 line. Don't forget that Intel had to adopt the AMD64 instructions: that's what EMT64T is!

      I've been building my own machines since I was 14 years old, I ran DOS 5, I ran DOS 6.22, I ran 3.11 etc - I'm not a 'dummy user' by any means, sure I can't code but I'm not an idiot.

      Not going to argue the "dummy user". I'm not one either. I ran DOS 3.0 to to 6.22 (skipping 4.0, you probably know why) and Windows 2.0, Windows 3.0, Windows 3.1, Windows 3.11 and Windows 95, at which point I finally switched to NT 4.0. That's my "Windows credentials". However, I always kept a healthy interest in other operating systens, and I ran OS/2 2.1 and 3.0 back in the Win95 days alongside my Win95. In about 1996, I tried my first Redhat Linux and kept it running alongside Windows also. I even ran fully Linux 1999-2000 based on Slackware. Started using OpenBSD in 2001, ran FreeBSD on a laptop, bought an iBook back in the day.

      I kept an interest... Stayed on the lookout... I kept *learning*.

      partial lazyness, I admit

      Partial? No, downright lazyness. You do not want to broaden your options, otherwise you would have done so. Your DOS knowledge would have been a great asset when learning early Linux. Linux back in those days came on CD with a book that you bought. A book that usually gave you a thorough introduction and was pretty good at troubleshooting typical problems.

    13. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      I sat amazed & watched the 45 second process of a new driver being compiled & installed with no human intervention or request.

      Personally I would have sat, amazed, and wondered why the hell a new driver had to be compiled and installed in the first place.

      Let's see Microsoft match that...

      Since Microsoft - like pretty much every other OS vendor - have mastered software engineering to a sufficient degree that minor kernel updates don't break drivers, they don't need to "match it" - they've long since exceeded it.

    14. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by ProppaT · · Score: 1

      Additionally, if you buy Windows and software for Windows, you have physical companies you can call for support, to bitch out, send death threats to, etc. Same goes for OSX. Linux, you're kind of on your own buddy. You can troll user groups for help, maybe even send one of the developers of whatever OSS you're trying to use an e-mail and get some response. But basically, you get what you pay for. Nothing. The software was free, figure it out or go home buddy.

      When a business pays for software, it's for piece of mind and support to fall back on...especially in small business world.

      --
      Wise men say, "Forgiveness is divine, but never pay full price for late pizza."
    15. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by tikram · · Score: 1

      You can run any software that is written for Windows and it will work! That's what makes Windows wonderful. Yeah, except when you can't. :)
    16. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      The only replies to you were trolls, so I'd like to offer a more reasonable response.

      GP wasn't referring to installation of the OS; he meant installation of APPS. Yes, Windows has compatibility problems, but in general an exe is an exe, and is distributed with the dlls it needs. On the other hand, if someone offers me a Linux binary, I have to ask what version of gcc compiled it, what libraries I need (and VERSION, I remember new libc's breaking a whole hell of a lot), and whether it's 32 or 64 bit.

      Most users obviate this by getting their apps from their distro or by compiling from source. This makes it difficult for new (or niche) third-party developers to offer sw, especially (but not limited to) closed-source software.

      Until Linux nails down its application ABI, this is going to be a real problem in the business world.

    17. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      I've often wondered why that command line instruction so sooo much faster than synaptic. It's the same data, so what the hell takes the gui so long?

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    18. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yea, time to install linux again. I'm dying to try the new 8.04.

      Is it worth the virtualization? Or should I dualboot?

    19. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      Linux breaks driver ABIs on purpose. Or at least without concern. If you really think the kernel developers are incapable of maintaining a stable driver ABI, you are really a sad case.

    20. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      and they can wake me up when installing software on Windows is easy as "aptitude install ".

    21. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 1

      Man... where do this people come from? Linux is already out there! Go buy a box with it on it and youll never, ever, look back. OK, I'll do that if you can tell me how to run Quickbooks on this shiny, new Linux box.

      P.S. If your answer passes the following test: m/gnucash/i then you fail it.
      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
    22. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by sjames · · Score: 1

      This may be true, but, how do you run it? What libraries will you need? What the hell is a kernel? What does it mean to compile?

      The '90s called. They want their insecurities back. The primary ways I have seen of installing proprietary software on Linux were run ./install or install the package usung rpm (or dpkg).

      I have seen installers for Windows (from MS) that had exactly the problems you fear. They complain about something missing, but no clue where to find it. In other cases, I've seen the installer claim all was well, but the app complains about libraries at runtime.

    23. Re:I love OSS and make money on Windows by drsmithy · · Score: 1

      Linux breaks driver ABIs on purpose. Or at least without concern.

      Indeed. And it is wrong to do so.

      If you really think the kernel developers are incapable of maintaining a stable driver ABI, you are really a sad case.

      But they clearly are. That this is due to politics rather than actual engineering constraints only makes statements like "let's see Microsoft match that" all the more ridiculous.

      This is just another example of the hypocrisy of the Linux community. Linux breaks things like binary drivers frequently (basically, every kernel update). Even in userspace, binary compatibility past more than a few revisions is spotty (a contributor to "dependency hell"). Yet, when Microsoft break single-digit percentages of available software in OS releases with intervals measured in *years*, they get blasted as incompetent.

  22. By the way, how's corporate deployment of Vista? by blind+biker · · Score: 1

    What I mean is, Vista seems a pain in the butt for mass deployment or reinstallations. I can easily imagine a few sysadmins going nuts and burned out over the Vista activation nightmares. Sysadmin burnouts and consequent paid sick leave should definitely figure in the TCO (Microsoft loves the "TCO" abbreviation) of Vista.

    --
    "The agriculture ministry is not in charge of Gundam" - Japanese ministry official.
  23. Bill Gates wakes up screaming..... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    in a TV style reboot Bill Gates wakes from a nightmare to find Vista was all part of some fevered dream. XP is still selling well and Apple's last two OSs have been a disaster and everyone doesn't want to upgrade. XP has been updated to support both 32 bit and 64 bit and also supports Direct X-10 which has become the new standard for gaming. The latest XP release also removes all caps on ram so motherboard makers are building boards that support 16gig of ram per CPU and they can't wait for 8gig chips so they can offer 32gig of ram. Rumor has it XP 2010 will support a staggering 128 bit architecture.

    The consumers wake up screaming only to find it wasn't all a nightmare. XP is being phased out and the Mac releases have been a big hit.

  24. How I read your post by shrikel · · Score: 3, Funny

    Linux will remain out of the [server message block] world.

    Now I know samba has its bugs, but come on... it's not THAT bad.

    </deliberate_misunderstanding>

    --
    Any sufficiently simple magic can be passed off as mere advanced technology.
  25. Will XP OEM version still be for sale? by zonky · · Score: 1

    Anyone know?

    1. Re:Will XP OEM version still be for sale? by Kahless2k · · Score: 1

      My suppliers are saying that at least in the near future it should be available, but I plan to stock up this week just in case.

  26. XP+ by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Microsoft made a big mistake: they made a good product.

    They should sell XP+ or something which continues support for years and has faster search, (why can I search the entire internet 1000x faster than my PC?).

    I'd pay $100 for that.

  27. Use this to push for your own choice of upgrades by bigskank · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Like many on here, I support computers for family, friends, etc... I have flatly told people that I will do nothing on their computers if they run vista. I've only used Vista for a few days, and the experience of using it myself and attempting to work with it on other people's computers has been so unpleasant that I won't do anything for it.

    Thus, I'm basically using MS's decision to quit XP to push OS upgrades of my own choosing. People can either stick with XP - which I'm more than happy to support - or, if they want to upgrade to something new, I suggest they install Ubuntu - which I have also recently started using and will support for them. I have had several people make that switch and find the experience palatable. The point is that, at least for the home user, those of us who are unhappy with Microsoft's decision at least have a chance to not only vote with our wallets, but also bring others along for the ride.

  28. Time to update to Ubuntu by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to update to Ubuntu. Or any other human-friendly Linux OS!

  29. Abandonware? by Now15 · · Score: 3, Interesting

    So if you won't be able to buy a new copy of XP any more, how long until one could reasonably consider it abandonware?
    If I needed to build a new PC tomorrow, I'll want to install XP on it. But if Microsoft won't sell it to me, what can I do about it?

    --

    Computers are useless: they can only give you answers. -- Pablo Picasso
    1. Re:Abandonware? by QuantumG · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The only sensible definition of "abandonware" is when no-one will claim legal ownership of software. In that situation you can do whatever you want with the software because no-one is around to sue you. This is *clearly* not the case with XP.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    2. Re:Abandonware? by Howitzer86 · · Score: 1

      I guess your only legal choices will be to buy Vista or switch to Linux.

    3. Re:Abandonware? by ceoyoyo · · Score: 1

      Maybe not abandonware, but it's certainly can't-buy-it-so-who's-it-hurt-if-I-download-it-for-free-ware the day MS stops selling it.

    4. Re:Abandonware? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      "Abandonware" isn't any kind of legal definition, someone just made it up to justify stealing old games. (As far as I can work out; another posted implied that its only used for defunct companies, but there are a lot of "abandonware" sites with old EA or LucasArts products on them.)

      In short, the answer is: no, you're not entitled to take Windows without paying Microsoft until their copyright expires. Which won't happen... well, it won't happen during your lifetime, most likely.

      If I needed to build a new PC tomorrow, I'll want to install XP on it. But if Microsoft won't sell it to me, what can I do about it?

      I got three copies of XP Pro sitting in my livingroom. Tell you what, when that happens I'll let you have one at a bargain price. (Maybe a grand or two? :)

    5. Re:Abandonware? by QuantumG · · Score: 1

      no, you're not entitled to take Windows without paying Microsoft until their copyright expires. You're entitled to freedom.

      In any case, your statement implies that it would somehow be legal for you to make a few copies of Windows so long as you send a check to Microsoft. That's not the case. We live in a world where copyright is regularly used to censor and create artificial scarcity. If the copyright holder refuses to sell you their product then you're just shit out of luck.

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    6. Re:Abandonware? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Well, you're right, I was simplifying too much.

      If the copyright owner decides not to make the product available, you're pretty much SOL.

      Sorry. But if you don't like the law, campaign to change the law-- don't just steal shit.

    7. Re:Abandonware? by QuantumG · · Score: 1

      Well, you're right, I was simplifying too much.
      [..]
      Sorry. But if you don't like the law, campaign to change the law-- don't just steal shit. You just don't learn, do you?

      --
      How we know is more important than what we know.
    8. Re:Abandonware? by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      Yes, actually, I do.

    9. Re:Abandonware? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Who on earth would seriously want to claim legal ownership of "Microsoft Bob"?

    10. Re:Abandonware? by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      Or *BSD, Mac, Hurd...
      Additionally, eBay & Craigslist should have copies for quite some time.

  30. Non issue by Gription · · Score: 2, Insightful

    The OEMs are still going to supply computers loaded with XP. The license for Vista Business gives you the right to 'downgrade' to XP Pro. You can order a computer loaded with XP and it comes with a license for Vista.

    We switched over to the Vista licensed option of the Dell Optiplex almost a month ago. Dell will be shipping with XP for at least a year and the downgrade rights extend into 2010.

    There is no issue except that I am sure Microsoft is reporting this as a sale of Vista instead of a failure of Vista...

  31. No need for that by mangu · · Score: 4, Funny

    2014

    Why should they extend support beyond December 21st, 2012?
    1. Re:No need for that by indi0144 · · Score: 0

      Maybe because it's some windows patch that will trigger the end of times (tm) You know, You don't want [insert deity] to come here to make accountability just to tell him: "sorry we just have this access bug in XP SP4 and... you have to wait for the patch" He'll piss off and you really don't want that.

  32. People don't want Vista! by Newer+Guy · · Score: 0, Redundant

    Most/many people simply don't WANT Vista! Not to mention that we're deeply in a recession and many simply aren't upgrading their computers.

    Microsoft isn't stupid...they know that Vista is a joke-and XP can continue to be a cash cow for them.

  33. Could have sworn... by Jorkapp · · Score: 4, Insightful

    As I recall, when XP released, the tech community was quite quick to throw flak at Microsoft for releasing a "bug ridden feature bloated OS that hides it's inadequacies behind a pretty interface", with a great cluster of users vowing to never leave their precious, mature, stable, and resource-efficient Windows 2000.

    Somewhere along the line, XP mostly shed it's poor reputation, and replaced it with one of stability and speed on modern to previous-generation machines. Somehow, even though Win2k's death clock was ticking, few seemed to notice or care. At some point, if you weren't running XP, you were either a die-hard 2k fan, or you were a business.

    Fast forward to now. Vista has been out for 20 months and has seen a service pack. Much of the tech community still throws flak at Vista for having poor driver support, being a resource hog, and often such flak is accompanied by a vow to never leave XP. Vista's reputation may be slowly turning, but inside tech circles, throwing flak is still the norm.

    What's the difference?

    Quite simple really, XP had a catch-22 situation with buying a new machine. Most users with half a brain cell would turn down Windows ME, as it was as stable as a vial of Nitroglycerin. Here's where XP had the advantage: Windows 2000 was a Business OS, and wasn't put out by Microsoft for Home users, so hence system vendors didn't market it on their machines. Thus, buyers were essentially given a choice: Unstable ME, or Unproven XP.

    Vista, on the other hand, isn't coming from such a situation. The 9x line has long since been discontinued. Vista's SKU's are only competing against one predecessor: XP. New system buyers have a different choice than a few years ago: Proven XP, or Unproven Vista.

    As far as I'm concerned, Vista isn't half bad. If there's a faulty driver, it will be brought to it's knees, but then again, so will XP. I'm running 2 machines and both have Vista as the OS, and thus far I've had only minimal problems.

    --
    Frink: Nice try floyd, but you were designed for scrubbing, and scrubbing is what you shall do.
    1. Re:Could have sworn... by zonky · · Score: 1

      I only use Vista on a htpc, and the bottom line, is file copying is horrendously broken. I don't much care for it one way or another.

    2. Re:Could have sworn... by techno-vampire · · Score: 2, Funny
      As far as I'm concerned, Vista isn't half bad.


      I don't use it myself, but I have a friend who does. I mentioned once, shortly after SP1 came out that somebody had asked me if she should get Vista. "NO!" he cried. "Tell her not under any circumstances should she get Vista."

      Alas, it was too late; by the time I got back to her, she'd bought a new computer with Vista. So it goes. The point of this is, I gather that if Vista were, in fact, half bad, it would be a vast improvement.

      --
      Good, inexpensive web hosting
    3. Re:Could have sworn... by Strudelkugel · · Score: 1
      I have mixed views of Vista. I have it on my laptop and desktop (both running Ultimate, Ballmer should get rid of Basic and Home Premium), and another machine running Business. It's a decent OS, and some things about it are certainly better then they are under XP. A number of people complain about how slow it is, but I have running on an old machine with less than a gig of RAM, and it's usable. I have found it to be quite stable as well.

      But why did so many things have to move around and be renamed? Why don't Microsoft's own development tools run very well on it without turning off UAC and applying a special Vista patch in the case of Visual Studio? As you suggest, moving from ME to XP was an easy decision. I find Vista to be rather irritating when it did not have to be. I hope they do a much better job with Windows 7.

      --
      Imagine how much harder physics would be if electrons had feelings! -Feynman, maybe
    4. Re:Could have sworn... by Shados · · Score: 1

      you need a Vista patch for VS2005 (which isn't the latest version, and hasn't been for quite a few months now) because the graphic API changed and VS relies on it a lot for the design surfaces, but it sure as hell runs -peachy- with UAC on :) And 2008 runs much better on both platforms.

    5. Re:Could have sworn... by mdielmann · · Score: 1

      That's similar to where I am. I have XP on my home desktop, got Pro because I like the additional features. I wasn't happy when XP came out, but SP1 solved a lot of it's ills (remember defragging your HDD before SP1? You do if you tried). But things got fixed, hardware got faster, and about a year after it came out I was reluctant but willing to make the switch. I still don't like how they redesign the management tools every version, but overall I got used to it, and even like it.

      Now, I look at Vista, and it's pretty. I like pretty, but I like pretty stable even more. I don't need to wait for candy to be drawn on my screen (except when I'm playing games, and it still better be quick!), I don't need a bunch of stuff moved around, I don't care much for transparency (I can't read like that anyway), and as a developer, I'm frustrated with yet another set of widgets that I probably won't get built into the developer tools anyway. Also, I find that hardware increases just don't feel as dramatic anymore, even though I haven't heard about Moore's Law no longer holding in the hardware world.

      In the end, I figure I'll be taking that upgrade to Vista, probably on my next machine, perhaps earlier. Or, if I have two boxes (or more! *drools*), I'll seriously look at Linux for my work computer, and keep my current one for my play computer. But right now, the only thing really keeping me using Windows is some of the Windows-only games that I love, and work that I have to do for the Windows world.

      --
      Sure I'm paranoid, but am I paranoid enough?
    6. Re:Could have sworn... by mythandros · · Score: 1

      If I recall correctly, there was some threshold of system resources below which 2k ran faster and above which XP ran faster -- and that really wasn't all that long after XP's release. Can someone verify my recollections? With Vista, I don't think there's any threshold of system resources above which Vista will out-perform XP. Vista is big-oh of XP.

    7. Re:Could have sworn... by 0111+1110 · · Score: 1

      XP was a very minor update to 2000. Faster boot times are really the only major improvement. And the Fisher Price theme if you like it. XP with no service packs was actually a slightly lighter weight version than Windows 2000 SP4. It had a smaller memory footprint and a smaller hard drive footprint. Along with some important bug fixes XP SP2 also introduced a large amount of bloat. So much so that Windows 2000 SP4 became lighter weight again.

      --
      Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it? That's what it is to be a slave.
    8. Re:Could have sworn... by NetNed · · Score: 1

      I think where you failed to look is that all (most all without tinkering, some with) programs that I and others ran in W2k, Wnt, W98se, and ME could run in XP. Not so with a lot of software in Vista. That's the main reason the business community will not be upgrading. Why should they if the cost of Vista approved software will cost them $1000 or more per computer.

      Same goes for a lot of consumers. I want ALL my software to run. Not some that, after researching their website, say "HEY we have a new version that you can buy to work on Vista!". In the times we are in (economically) I don't think knowledgeable consumers will switch if they figure the cost might be more then just the machine and os.

    9. Re:Could have sworn... by DimGeo · · Score: 1

      SP1 fixed this, but it's not on Windows Update yet, you have to install it manually. Try it and see if it fixes your problem (it should).

    10. Re:Could have sworn... by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Vista's SKU's are only competing against one predecessor: XP. New system buyers have a different choice than a few years ago: Proven XP, or Unproven Vista.


      You're mistaken about that. With Dell and HP (and Gateway?) selling both laptops and desktops with Linux pre-installed, and Apple's OS X gaining popularity and fanfare by the day (in no small part due to their wild success with the iPod/iPhone product lines which have pulled many a person into the Apple fold), there are quite a few options jumping out at people right now - especially with the crazy proportion of new laptop sales being Macs, and people lugging them around.

      Think of the fanfare which accompanied the release of Windows XP - or, more drastically, Windows 95. Everyone started jumping around with glee - and then they started screaming. Apple and, as near as I can tell, the various Linux-powered ultramobile laptops, are not facing those problems. People are seemingly quite pleased with these developments, and almost everyone wants to get their hands on such goodies.

      People hear geeks (and TV ads) extolling the virtues of OS X and/or Linux, and then they see the clean, bright, functional desktops on others' new Linux or Mac computer, and they think: I'm really not all that interested in buying a Dell, dude.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    11. Re:Could have sworn... by itwerx · · Score: 1

      What's the difference?

      The difference is that even after SP1 Vista still has major problems with blue/black screens of death which require a full reinstall to "cure". Windows XP was more stable than Vista from the beginning and after 20mo was actually usable in a corporate environment.
            The more apt comparison is between Vista and Windows ME...

    12. Re:Could have sworn... by Octorian · · Score: 1

      But was Windows ME really much of a change feature-wise from Windows 98SE? To me it felt like they just took Win98, then spent a couple months adding as many bugs as they possibly could, then released it.

      Meanwhile, Windows 200 was a decent and usable OS, but never marketed to home users.

    13. Re:Could have sworn... by blueup · · Score: 1

      ... XP mostly shed it's poor reputation, and replaced it with one of stability and speed on modern to previous-generation machines. But XP accomplished some of that by virtue of the available machines getting faster, not by slimming down to run on the previous generation machines. This is important because of your following point

      What's the difference? ... Thus, buyers were essentially given a choice: Unstable ME, or Unproven XP. ... New system buyers have a different choice than a few years ago: Proven XP, or Unproven Vista. Today, consumers can still get XP or Vista. Break the market into three segments.
      Vista doesn't work on the low end.
      -->XP wins the hearts of the cheapos.

      In the medium area, either one will run, but Proven XP does it faster, and Unproven Vista gives not much to make up for it.
      -->Advantage: XP.

      On the top end, the same situation as the middle, except the speed difference MAY not be felt because there are clock cycles to waste. (depends on the user, some buy these systems becase they desperately want those extra cycles... and strangely, the "applications" they frequently want to run don't work in Vista...)
      --
      -- The above may have once been believed by me, but any truth or application you find is your own problem.
    14. Re:Could have sworn... by 31415926535897 · · Score: 1
      I do remember when XP came out and I clutched to Win2k like people are doing with XP now. If it were up to me, I would still be using Windows 2000.

      The reason I was eventually forced to switch was that nobody was writing drivers for Win2k any more, and WinXP drivers weren't always backward compatible (they often were, but not always).

      It got to be that enough equipment failed to work with Win2k that I was forced to switch to WinXP. I've done all I can to make it look and behave like Win2k (windows classic theme, turn off all customizations/animations, etc.).

      I fear the day when the same thing is going to happen with Vista. I have Vista on my laptop, and I have to occasionally use it, and I loathe it. I typically prefer to boot into Ubuntu to do my work. That desktop is not quite ready (though I need to upgrade to the latest version), but it gets in my way less than Vista. I also bought an iMac and love it (wish I could use one at work).

      That said, the cycle of computing life will continue, and Microsoft will find some way to force us all to use Vista. It sucks, and I'm going to do my part to help make sure Vista doesn't pick up any more traction than necessary.

  34. I hope not. Keep pushing people to Mac & Linux by crovira · · Score: 1, Informative

    The quicker M$ pisses people off, the better.

    --
    MSBPodcast.com The opinions expressed here are my own. If you don't like 'em... Think up your own stuff.
  35. Go figure. by X.25 · · Score: 1

    Lots of anti-MS people will (after a bit of discussion) admit that XP is probably the best Windows ever.

    Instead of capitalizing on that, Microsoft decides to take another route.

    I am sure there are some really smart people in Microsoft, but it seems that people who are making some strategic decisions are retarded.

    1. Re:Go figure. by DragonTHC · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I have to totally agree with that. I'm a Linux admin and I advocate Linux over windows every chance I get.

      I still use XP for my desktop because I'm a die-hard gamer and I prefer the simplicity of a native platform.

      The way in which MS is treating XP is just counter-intuitive. I have to agree it's the best windows OS they've ever produced.

      They finally got it right after all of that crap they've been selling.

      --
      They're using their grammar skills there.
    2. Re:Go figure. by zippthorne · · Score: 1

      I seem to remember a lot of this grousing when XP came out, too. But despite the grousing, XP really was better than what it replaced.

      I haven't upgraded my computer yet, but I wonder if Vista isn't better still.

      --
      Can you be Even More Awesome?!
    3. Re:Go figure. by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Lots of anti-MS people will (after a bit of discussion) admit that XP is probably the best Windows ever.

      Yeah, but three years ago they would have said the same about 2000 Pro, and would have told you that XP was a bloated piece of crap with a playskool theme.

      And now people are whining and griping about Vista the same way they were about XP when it came out. Yawn.

    4. Re:Go figure. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      XP still is a bloated piece of crap with a playschool theme. Unless you do some groundwork in services.msc that is.

  36. Vista is not ready for the desktop by mangu · · Score: 1

    Finally 'My Music' is moved out of the My Documents folder, making backups, once again, possible for basic end users.

    Funny, I'm a basic end user and I have no problem with backups. I have my music in /media/usb1 and backup /home to /media/usb2.


    The improved desktop rendering, which small matter though it may be, was well overdue for an overhaul.

    No, I don't think so. Not for me at least. I still prefer the kde-classic icon theme.


    the fact that hibernation NEVER works

    Works fine for me.
    1. Re:Vista is not ready for the desktop by jasonmanley · · Score: 1

      I see what you did there. I say well done sir!

      --
      http://projectleader.wordpress.com
    2. Re:Vista is not ready for the desktop by wild_quinine · · Score: 1

      Funny, I'm a basic end user ...and a Linux evangelist to boot. I bet you're a fucking blast at parties.

      'I've just bought these new shoes and...'

      'Really, I prefer Linux'.

      I think the term is 'you sir, basically an end'

  37. Wrong, bordering on deceptive by sarkeizen · · Score: 5, Insightful

    You can run any software that is written for Windows and it will work! That's what makes Windows wonderful.

    No. Clearly you haven't installed much windows software or know much about how the API works, what parts of it work under which OS's. Just for example you can't run any windows software that uses DX5 specific calls under NT4. Just like there is no DX10 support for XP. Even outside of DirectX. It's trivial to find software that will install or run under one version of windows but not another.

    Until there is a bullet-proof installation method - Linux will remain out of the SMB world.

    Windows doesn't have a bullet-proof install method. It's not bad but please lets not play pretend.

    1. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by jonadab · · Score: 5, Informative

      > Windows doesn't have a bullet-proof install method. It's not bad

      Yes, it is bad. It's a royal pain, as everyone who supports even a handful of Windows systems knows.

      What's really bad, though, is the pain of installing all your application software, one stupid package at a time, after the OS is up and running. If your users need anything much beyond Solitaire and WordPad, it can take an entire shift, sometimes more, just to bring a single workstation up to a usable state. And you can't just set it going and walk away. You have to hold its hand the whole time, because of all the stupid dialog boxes.

      Honestly, even something like dselect would be a significant improvement.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    2. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by ibmjones · · Score: 1

      Alright, fair enough. Can I run Firefox 3.0 on Linux 2.0? :D

    3. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by Zantetsuken · · Score: 1

      People please don't say "just ghost/sysprep/slipstream your updates!" - for small shops or home users with 3 or 4 machines, ghosting just isn't worth knowing or would be a larger waste of time to learn how

    4. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      NT4 doesn't count, even 2000 is showing it's age. The issue with linux is platform diversity. In the mind of the user linux should just be linux like windows is windows. It's not becuase what most people think of as linux is really a collection of bits a pieces. If you don't happen to have the right "pieces" your install is going to fail. Normal people hate this and arn't used to dealing with this on windows except in VERY rare cases. (.NET comes to mind) Perhaps what is needed is some kind of certification for distributions that insures a standard user experience for anything meeting the certification. 90% (minimum) of software should "just work" when installed without having to worry about dependancies or changing a config file.

      I hate to break it to the geeks but this is a BIG DEAL. Microsoft has the right idea with the "one click" install. Vmware is my favorite example on linux. A novice could NEVER install this on linux. Everytime I install this I have trivial issues but they are issues none the less. Not to mention the dozzens of choices. Most people are going to choose the defaults anyway... why overload the user? I won't even go into the text based installer. But hey at least you don't have to reboot! Linux and OSS is still by geeks for geeks. I know there are really good reasons for the design decisions but it doesn't matter to end users. They will gladly buy their windows licence just so they never have to deal with it.

    5. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Are you kidding me? Have you tried installing Windows lately? Like, in the last 5 years?

      It's more of a pain to install Windows now (and, more specifically, as soon as SATA became common) than it was to install RedHat 5.2 or Windows 95. The complete lack of proper drivers built into the system supporting basic SATA disks/controllers is ridiculous - and it's not just XP, but also Windows 2003.

      Want to include drivers to assist the install? Great, you've got to roll it into the install image in a fairly lengthy and poorly documented process, first. Why? Oh, because the install media doesn't support removable media, like USB floppy drives or USB memory keys. Windows 2003 actually wants a goddamn floppy disk for drivers.

      It is actually easier to install to a second, "install" IDE hard drive, get the OS set up, and then image it to the SATA hard drive using something like Acronis than it is to install Windows on its own (not including all the extra steps of driver installation once getting into Windows).

      And that doesn't even get into the immense pain that is sysprep and friends and large deployments; that's just a single workstation/server install.

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    6. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by CAIMLAS · · Score: 1

      Nevermind that ghosting/sysprep'ing the system isn't likely to work reliably with more than just a handful of different hardware revisions. And then, for whatever reason, sysprep'd systems seem to have some weird network problems on occasion where their SSIDs get "confused".

      --
      ~/ssh slashdot.org ssh: connect to host slashdot.org port 22: too many beers
    7. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes, it is bad. It's a royal pain, as everyone who supports even a handful of Windows systems knows. ...
      If your users need anything much beyond Solitaire and WordPad, it can take an entire shift, sometimes more, just to bring a single workstation up to a usable state. And you can't just set it going and walk away. You have to hold its hand the whole time, because of all the stupid dialog boxes. I'm sorry but you claim you support more than a handful of windows systems AND you don't do RIS, Unattended or scripted installations? Either you are a very bad IT support person or full of sh*t.
    8. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by jonadab · · Score: 1

      Bear in mind, most of our Windows licenses are OEM. The way our budget works, computers come out of the same fund as furniture (it's always been that way...), and the decision to purchase them is made individually. The extra expense of a site-license for stuff like you're talking about would be... I'd never get that approved.

      I suppose if you work in Fortune 500 then our twenty or so Windows systems would seem like a "handful" to you, but I find myself doing a reinstall on one or another of them every month or so, and it typically eats one full shift and a good part of another. That adds up after a while. The Linux systems don't need reinstall as often and are easier to do, take less total time and are more hands-off. But our ILS won't run on Linux, so we can't use it for systems that need that.

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    9. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by jp10558 · · Score: 1

      If I was needing to reinstall monthly, for 20 systems, I'd grab some free imaging software like Drive Image XML and make an image of each computer in a "just installed" state so I could restore it quickly. If I could justify the cost for Acronis True Image there, I'd make my own DVD Restore Disks after each initial setup of the new PC, and give them to the users. End users should be able to drop in a DVD and boot the computer, click next a couple times and wait...

      --
      Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3
    10. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by Tubal-Cain · · Score: 1

      It's certainly more doable than IE 7 on a pre-XP Windows system.

    11. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by jonadab · · Score: 1

      Most of the systems don't have DVD drives. A number of them don't have CD burners, only CD-ROM.

      We get 3-5 new computers a year, and sometimes instead of replacing old ones some of them have to go to whole new stations. You know that "three-year lifespan" large corporations use? Forget about that. We just got rid of our last Windows 98 systems this year. We still have at least two of the same printers we had when I was hired in 2000.

      I know, the time I spend on the maintenance costs us more than the computers are worth. But it's "different money". (Accountants don't think like computer geeks. I can't really explain it any better than that.)

      --
      Cut that out, or I will ship you to Norilsk in a box.
    12. Re:Wrong, bordering on deceptive by sjames · · Score: 1

      Windows is windows? Would that be Ultimate, Premium, basic, business, or enterprise? Oh yeah, it could be Media Center.

      Perhaps you meant Windows Server 2008. Would that be Standard, Enterprise, Datacenter, web, HPC, or one of standard, enterprise, or datacenter without hyper-v?

      Which Windows is Windows? More importantly, which one does what I need doing?

      For many years now, typical Linux distros have had package managers that resolve the dependencies for you automagically. Where have you been? In most cases, rather than specifying what programs you want, you can specify what you want to do with the machine, and it will depend in all needed packages.

      At least Linux installers have the decency to ask all the questions up front so you can go have dinner while it installs rather than sitting there drooling while the installer tells you how great it is.

  38. Re:Make people realize the benefit of OSS by danilo.moret · · Score: 1

    Windows: You run the software you want, according to your business interests, but don't expect support for old software. You can't fix it yourself, and your clients will think you are weird for running Windows 3.11.
    OSS: You run the software you want, according to your business interests, but don't expect support for old software. You can fix it yourself though, but you'll have to learn how to fix it. And your clients will think you are weird anyway.

    Not much difference here. Let's bitch about MS on real issues. Ok, some imaginary ones are allowed from time to time. But you'll have to promise to keep your software updated!

    --
    ^[:wq!
  39. In other news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Linux sales and deployments are suddenly on the rise.

  40. I don't know guys... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    The copy I got from PirateBay of windows is slightly different than the one I use at my work computer. For instance, the copy I got from PirateBay turned out to be a French movie called "Taxi!"

    1. Re:I don't know guys... by rubycodez · · Score: 1

      the old french movie I got from pirateBay was so low budget the actors and actresses couldn't afford to wear clothes. And they didn't have much budget for writers either so instead they just writhed around, moaned and panted a lot.

  41. I'll just stick with Win2k by kcredden · · Score: 1

    If MS didn't do the stupid thing, that is the 'activation' I'd stayed with XP. I won't be forced to buy a new OS everytime I build a new system, especially if it's to replace a damaged or outdated machine. Priacy is one thing, but forcing people to buy your product that is going far too far. Yes, there's Linux; but the majority of Joe harddrive cannot install programs with it. OSX well you got the same problem; a proprotory OS. No, I'll stick with Win2k. Security? I honestly don't know how ZDnet and other places test security but with freeware tools, and using a bit of common sense I have very few problems. I'm just waiting till ReactOS comes out, then even Win2k is gone. - Kc

    --
    -- Kevin C. Redden kcredden@ gmail 392992 .com (take out the 392992 for e-mailing me. Spam control)
  42. What day should be the last to run Ctupdate? by myspace-cn · · Score: 1

    There's really only one question, which date should be the date to run Ctupdate for the final time? Before fire walling off XP or isolating it from the web.

    If 4/8/2014 is the end, then should we run ctupdate on 3/8/2014 everyday until 4/8/2014, just in case the servers bog down with others with like ideas?

    I shudder to thing about obscure drivers that we don't know about yet. Sort of like breaking things that were not broken. Vista is a pain in the ass just like HD is, it's a painful death of freedom. (my opinion)

    heise Security c't Projekte

    http://www.vulnerabilityassessment.co.uk/ctupdate.htm

    v4.80
    http://www.heise.de/ct/projekte/offlineupdate/download/ctupdate480.zip

    Maybe one more question, with the economy shot, the switch to HD (add $1000 to $1500 for each mucking device, tv, converter, blue-ray burner, 3CCD equivalent HD camera, etc.), the attack on net neutrality, the destruction of communications and privacy, the investment in adobe, sony, etc. WHY would I want a higher costing machine, running slower, with an OS that won't do what the current one does now?

    Even if we didn't do production, if all we did was watch tv on the internet, and work with audio, WHY would we want this extra cost with a crippled and DRM'd OS?

    (Okay, that was three questions)

    Maybe Microsoft would like to explain that?

    1. Re:What day should be the last to run Ctupdate? by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      I shudder to thing about obscure drivers that we don't know about yet. Sort of like breaking things that were not broken. Vista is a pain in the ass just like HD is, it's a painful death of freedom. (my opinion)

      Ummm... You weren't ever free when you used XP, ME, 98, 95, 3.1, etc. It is just that your cell has gotten smaller with each new release. Just switch to Linux and be 100% free, or if you really want freedom torrent it. Basically, it is just that the few rights you had are being taken away.
      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
    2. Re:What day should be the last to run Ctupdate? by indi0144 · · Score: 0

      *sounds of golden flushing toilets*

  43. Windows Activation? by EmagGeek · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Will MS allow activation of XP after the cutoff date? For example, if I buy 50 copies of XP to hold my business over for a year, will I be able to activate them later or are they going to just cut it off?

  44. alternatives are always better... by mkcmkc · · Score: 4, Funny

    Having used MS support, I have very limited expectations. Fortunately (no pun intended), there are alternative, more-reliable sources for Microsoft support.

    --
    "Not an actor, but he plays one on TV."
  45. Re:heh they can't get rid of XP... by Larryish · · Score: 0

    And it won't be "Linux" itself; it will be some windows user-friendly distribution of it.

    It is called "Ubuntu." Look into it.

    And yes, it is friendly to people migrating from Windows. That is sort of the point.
  46. What does it matter? by raehl · · Score: 3, Funny

    So you've updated to Vista without paying? Via Microsoft's servers? WOW. How'd u manage that?

    Who cares about free downgrades?

    1. Re:What does it matter? by dissy · · Score: 1

      So you've updated to Vista without paying? Via Microsoft's servers? WOW. How'd u manage that? Who cares about free downgrades? Bill Gates 18 year old daughters unborn son, who will come into this world in a solid gold manger.
      Thats who :)
  47. Kicking and screeming tell they hang you by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    You have no choice but to go the gallows with windows vista. Your boss will hate you, your
    mother will hate you, your girlfriend will hate you. It's pirated XP or Linux tell I die.

    Screw em. Screw-em all these multi-dollar programmers that don't know crap what a good OS is.
    Screw-em I say.

  48. Pretty funny! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It's pretty funny to see Slashdot, which spent over five years slamming XP as an epic failure, Microsoft's doom, the OS which would make people magically switch to Linux, etc, etc, etc... are now stating how freaking awesome XP is, and how Vista is an epic failure, Microsoft's doom, the OS which would make people magically switch to Linux, etc, etc, etc.

    Meanwhile, Linux has had a pretty steady 0.65% marketshare for over ten years. Guess we see where the majority of the FOSS community's efforts have been: making inaccurate projections about Microsoft.

    But hey, on the good side, at least Linux finally has more users than Windows 98. Give 'em another ten years, and they actually might end up beating XP.

    1. Re:Pretty funny! by armanox · · Score: 1

      I'm still slamming XP on an almost daily basis as an "epic failure"

      --
      I'm starting to think GNU is the problem with "GNU/Linux" these days.
  49. Very compelling reason to move to Linux by skeptictank · · Score: 1

    Most of the software we use doesn't work correctly on Vista, hell sometimes it doesn't work correctly on XP after a patch. It will never be updated to run on Vista and is expensive, $5k-$40k per seat, depending upon the specific tool. Most of the vendors do provide ports to Linux and other nix versions.

  50. Absolute Zero. by deadzero · · Score: 0

    Windows security is like some sort of absolute zero that a Linux user can only asymptotically approach with great and unnatural effort. You can take software from 2001, run everything as root, force your mail client to open everything and modify it to execute code. You can make a sort of fake activeX, you can even run IE if you want, but the results will still not be as bad as if you just started out with Windows with it's 2001 codebase and the can of malware/crapware supplied by your favorite vendors.

    --
    Political torture and murder is not funny http://slashdot.org/comments.pl?sid=581079&cid=23757591
    1. Re:Absolute Zero. by willyhill · · Score: 1
      You can take software from 2001

      Except that you don't have to, so your point is irrelevant at best and flamebait at worst.

      --
      The twitter monologues. Click on my homepage and be amazed.
  51. Sales tactic? by Timbotronic · · Score: 1

    Given that one of the oldest sales tactics in the book is to create a sense of urgency, is it possible that MS fully intend to extend the deadline but will just keep quiet about it until 1 July? At the moment, there's a lot of people who intend to buy XP Pro by June 30. It's easy money. Just a thought...

    --

    One of these days I'm moving to Theory - everything works there

    1. Re:Sales tactic? by Darkness404 · · Score: 1

      At the moment, there's a lot of people who intend to buy XP Pro by June 30. It's easy money. Just a thought...

      However, I bet a lot more will wait about a month and torrent it, they might even have an excuse that they can't get it in stores....
      --
      Taxation is legalized theft, no more, no less.
  52. Hardware support? by ibane · · Score: 1

    If you think you have trouble getting GNU/Linux to work on new hardware, just try XP. The situation will deteriorate more rapidly than usual thanks to vendor interest in GNU/Linux. Acer, Asus and others going the GNU/Linux route are going to drop XP like a hot potato.

    --
    Intellectual property was the desert property of the twenth century.
  53. you've done it, you're really done it!! by shokk · · Score: 0

    You'll have to take it out of my cold dead hands, you bloody apes!

    Wow, Microsoft pulled a fast one on all of us, getting us to defend XP like this when only a few years back we demonized it. See you in a few years, defending against Vista's demise.

    --
    "Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."
  54. Vista is Microsoft's End Times. by ibane · · Score: 0, Troll

    What makes you think M$ can fix itself? They were unable to make Vista in 7 years, do you think they can make anything that works in the next 2 to 4? I don't.

    XP did not exactly fly off the shelf or offer much over 98SE/W2k either and should be considered a stumble along with ME. Vista is more of the same that proves nothing changes in Redmond.

    --
    Intellectual property was the desert property of the twenth century.
  55. That is stupid by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That is just another way for you to pay the Microsoft Tax.

    Why should I pay for a license for Vista Business when what I want to run is Windows XP? Especially when I already own licenses for Windows XP?

  56. I'm starting to warm up to Vista... by symbolset · · Score: 2, Insightful

    It's not the grand Longhorn promise of a secure seamless powerful new architecture so it doesn't renew our indenture to this monopolist for another decade. Some few don't hit the pain points and can come to like it so they latch onto it like it's garlic at a vampire festival. It's going to be really hard to pry it away from those folks. It not quite lame enough to give a total pass -- there's always a chance with this tweak and that patch and the other workaround and all new hardware (again!) it might make a good golden image though that keeps not panning out so far. It has just the precise level of fail needed to cause the maximum amount of ire amongst purchasers of Microsoft products, leading them to ask "why, again, do we buy products from this company?" It has motivated far more people to see the hazard of single-sourcing your server and desktop architecture, particularly with this company as the source.

    Vista just might be the product to free us from the clutches of this monster. So yeah, I'm starting to appreciate it in my own way. =)

    --
    Help stamp out iliturcy.
    1. Re:I'm starting to warm up to Vista... by fm6 · · Score: 1

      I run Vista myself, and even though I wouldn't if I had a choice. There are, in fact, many new features I like a lot. But there are many more that are just a pain.

  57. Support by hullabalucination · · Score: 2, Funny

    Remember: support for XP will be available through the year Jaguar-Basket-Jaguar-Snake.

  58. Why? by CyberData4 · · Score: 0

    Microsoft still doesn't understand its users. Because they can't answer one simple question: Why? Why do I NEED to upgrade from XP to Vista? What does Vista offer me that XP doesn't? Besides -200 to 400 bucks that I'd have to shell out. I don't have a powerful PC, and I have no reason to upgrade in the near future. Why? Because my machine I made back in 2003 still does EVERYTHING I need it to do: Webbrowsing Movies Music Email That's it. I don't need a new OS every 5 years to do that. Then microsoft wonders why people burn copies of their OS....

    1. Re:Why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I burn it because even with SP3 still no proper SATA support built in (use a floppy? right...); nLite is king.

  59. There's XP, and then there's XPSP2 by Gazzonyx · · Score: 1

    Just something that I feel I should point out: it's all relative. When XP first came out, there was ME and 2K (I was still on 98SE), to compare against it. Is seemed rock stable; I could go weeks without rebooting! It was still buggy, but not compared to 98SE, and ME. However, we're all used to XP SP2 these days. For all intents and purposes SP2 was an OS rewrite. The thing was huge and replaced a good deal of the underlying OS. XP SP2 is a stable, fast system. Pre SP2 just doesn't compare.

    They did the undoable; replace an underlying system with a more stable system without breaking everything in the process. If you're a developer, you have to give them props for that (this is coming from a software development major who is also the president of a LUG, mind you!) regardless of what you think of the company itself. They're not going to pull that trick on the Vista codebase. They've lost too much talent since the start of development and no one ever understands a code base as well as the person who m designed it.

    --

    If I mod you up, it doesn't necessarily mean I agree with what you've said, sorry.

  60. Ok by Dripdry · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Absolutely not. I have a friend who works at MS who feels the same way. He feels Vista is just fine.

    That's the problem though. It's just fine with no real reason to upgrade unless you're buying a new system. From what I see of my clients most of them are worried about keeping their jobs (Jobs? heh) and saving money, and the last thing on their mind is buying systems for their department or themselves.

    --
    -
  61. Just a windfall for the Big 4? Tinfoil-hattery? by Dripdry · · Score: 1

    Is this one way for MS to push more business to the Big 4 during hard times and curry favor?

    I know it sounds a little tinfoily (as in hats), but if they can just keep pushing back the date won't that just keep scaring more admins/IT managers to buy new systems?

    --
    -
  62. Long distance planning by Nefarious+Wheel · · Score: 1
    I do a bit of work with large civil infrastructure organisations that run things such as roads, water, power. Some of the assets we're supporting will likely be around for over a hundred years, and they spend money on things like studies of projected longevity of installations. Real engineering stuff.

    When ever I see a thread like this, I have to ask myself -- which operating system is most likely to be around in one form or another a century from now? Then ask -- how is it maintained? What business model is capable of supporting it? The best that I can come up with is that our descendants will still be reading threads like this.

    Now go away, before I lose track of the decimal point on my slide rule.

    --
    Do not mock my vision of impractical footwear
  63. Beyond monopoly!!!! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    MS should have no right to choose what we can and can use/want. Vista is pure trash and downgrades a PC. Just because you create a POS useless OS doesnt mean you should be able to jam it down our throat cause u made the last good OS.... When vista can use atleast 40-50% of the programs XP then then maybe you could claim it is an upgrade but that will never happen.

    I mean its really like saying "Here is a PS10 and it will be able to play all playstations games from any of the previous PS consoles" and does not even play ps1-3 stuff and the ps5 games are only a potential new product(remember sega 32x) like the stuff MS seems to think we need.

    only reason i can see is to make using PCs so unbearable to for gaming that one has to buy an xbox each few years n tones of the crap games they force feed you by the load. Not that it is a bad thing but im content with my PC the way it is. I do not feel the need to have to buy what MS says i have to(i.e a touch monitor for the new windows 7)

    sigh when apple products are starting to look good something is going wrong...

    1. Re:Beyond monopoly!!!! by scoot80 · · Score: 1

      MS does not choose what you can use. You can use MS and you can use Linux or Apple, you are not being forced to use anything you don't want to. (unless its at work, in which case, you don't have a choice, your employer makes it for you, not MS).

      Seriously, go outside, have a breath of fresh air, and then rethink that.

  64. There's no shortage of XP licences by drunkenoafoffofb3ta · · Score: 1

    I have three dead laptops, bought since 2002, all with legit copies of XP. I'm sure many other people have dead PCs that came with XP. Since it's not illegal to install XP, with that licence on another machine (or in my case, Parallels Desktop), I ain't worried. Plenty of used licences to go round,

    1. Re:There's no shortage of XP licences by fellip_nectar · · Score: 1

      If those copies of XP came with your laptop, they're most likely OEM copies. As such, you violate the EULA by installing them on any hardware other than which they were bought with. Plus you'll probably find you'll be unable to activate them anyway.

      --
      Worst. Signature. Ever.
    2. Re:There's no shortage of XP licences by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Well, the licence that came with my Multivision laptop activated fine in Paralells!

  65. SP1 (manual install) & File copying by DimGeo · · Score: 2, Informative

    To everyone bashing Vista, install SP1 first, please. It's not in the automatic updates, so you will actually have to google for it and install it manually. It fixed the file copying problem and if you revert to the 2000 theme, it works as well as 2000 used to work (if you apply a few tweaks).

    If you want to bash Vista for something, bash it for removing the NTDVM and Win16 support from the 64-bit version, the weird versioning and language support, or maybe the lack of 100% backwards compatibility - bash it for something that's actually true, not pre-SP1 performance (which was abysmal, but HAS BEEN FIXED).

    1. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by laejoh · · Score: 0

      I would put it even in stronger words!

      How friggin dare anyone out there make fun of Vista after all it has been through.

      Vista lost its release date, it went through a service pack. It had a friggin file copying problem.

      Its writer turned out to be a user, a cheater, and now Vista is going through an acceptance battle. All you people care about isâ¦.. readers and making money off of it.

      ITâ(TM)S A MICROSOFT OS! What you donâ(TM)t realize is that Vista is making you all this money and all you do is write a bunch of crap about it.

      It hasnâ(TM)t performed on stage in years. Its song is called âoegive me moreâ for a reason because all you people want is MORE MORE MORE MORE MORE.

      LEAVE IT ALONE! You are lucky it even performed for you BASTARDS!

      LEEEAVE VISTAAAAAAAAAAAA ALLLLLONE!â¦..Please.

      Perez Hilton talked about professionalism and said if Vista was a professional it wouldâ(TM)ve pulled it off no matter what.

      Speaking of professionalism, when is it professional to publically bash someone who is going through a hard time.

      Leave Vista Alone Pleaseâ¦. Leave Microsoft Vista aloneâ¦right nowâ¦.I mean it.

      Anyone that has a problem with it you deal with me, beacuse it is not well right now.

      leave it alone!

    2. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by rathkon · · Score: 1

      This would be the 1.8 gig sp1 ?
      I can't imagine how the people still using dialup still are likely to get this downloaded.

      --
      You can lead a bunny to water... But you still have to drown it yourself.
    3. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by Blakey+Rat · · Score: 1

      If you want to bash Vista for something, bash it for removing the NTDVM and Win16 support from the 64-bit version, the weird versioning and language support, or maybe the lack of 100% backwards compatibility - bash it for something that's actually true, not pre-SP1 performance (which was abysmal, but HAS BEEN FIXED).

      Dude, this is Slashdot. People still frequently bash Microsoft for Bob here, a product that was in stores for maybe 6 months, 15 years ago.

      Good luck with that.

    4. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by hachete · · Score: 1

      if it's that good, why isn't it in the auto-updates?

      --
      Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
    5. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by SuiteSisterMary · · Score: 1

      I can't imagine how the people still using dialup still are likely to get this downloaded.

      Do you also bitch about it not being released on 3.5 inch floppy?

      --
      Vintage computer games and RPG books available. Email me if you're interested.
    6. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by DimGeo · · Score: 1

      Because it has serious problems with some obscure drivers and will just refuse to install if it sees any of them... :( But still, I'm yet to see a single machine where it doesn't work...

    7. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by DimGeo · · Score: 1

      It's 700 mb, dude...

    8. Re:SP1 (manual install) & File copying by hachete · · Score: 1

      Still, "googling for it" seems a tad extreme, and would suggest that it's not installed as often as it should, if it's that good.

      The whole affair doesn't have that good a feel about it, the sort of feel-good that should come from a company with multi-billion dollar investment.

      --
      Patriotism is a virtue of the vicious
  66. WOW! That's really impressive by kramulous · · Score: 1

    Not the post but when I look at every message you've ever posted.

    Out of 132 posts, dating back to 17th January 2005, every message has been modded -1. All except for your first one which was 0, but at least it was flamebait.

    That's quite impressive. At least you're consistent.

    --
    .
  67. No probs. by EddyPearson · · Score: 1

    I just switched to Ubuntu, and I'm fucking loving it.

    --
    You feel sleepy. Close your eyes. The opinions stated above are yours. You cannot imagine why you ever felt otherwise.
  68. Dual core OK, dual processors not by FoamingToad · · Score: 1

    I believe for XP home there is an issue with the number of processor sockets supported - I believe single *processor* only is supported. I believe this is what the GP poster was referring to.

    However as parent poster rightly points out, single processors with multiple cores are fully supported.

    One point I found annoying with an XP Home machine recently - no GPEdit.msc therefore you don't appear to be able to get updates from a WSUS machine. Happy to be corrected if anyone knows a way around this though.

    F_T

    1. Re:Dual core OK, dual processors not by jp10558 · · Score: 1

      Edit the registry...
      Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate]
      "WUServer" = "http://WSUS"
      "WUStatusServer" = "http://WSUS"

      [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\WindowsUpdate\AU]
      "NoAutoUpdate" = dword:00000000
      "AUOptions" = dword:00000004
      "ScheduledInstallDay" = dword:00000002
      "ScheduledInstallTime" = dword:00000005
      "UseWUServer" = dword:00000001
      "WUServer" = "http://WSUS"
      "WUStatusServer" = "http://WSUS"

      --
      Opera, Proxomitron-Grypen,GPG 0x0A1C6EE3
    2. Re:Dual core OK, dual processors not by FoamingToad · · Score: 1

      That looks spot on. Thanks very much for the heads-up, it's really appreciated.

      F_T

  69. What damages are there, though? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How can they claim statutory damages (which is a guess at what losses there have been without having to get the figures out of the dark, dank orifice) when even THEY refuse to take your money for it?

  70. Want support nightmares? Get Linux... by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Linux support is far worse than Windows support.

    It's harder for Linux users to mess up their machines but the monthly patches and frequent updates to the distributions (the whole OS changes every six months or so) is a nightmare to keep up with.

    I never saw a Windows update yet which required me to manually recompile the webcam driver. I've spent months of my life recompiling webcam drivers for rooms full of Linux machines (cybercafes).

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:Want support nightmares? Get Linux... by Enoxice · · Score: 1

      "the whole OS changes every six months or so"

      All Ubuntus are Linuces. Some Linuces are Ubuntus. Are all Linuces Ubuntus?

      Linux is constantly changing, there is no line at the six month mark that says, "Okay we are now at Linux version 8, everyone upgrade!".

      --
      Anyone else think the comments just weren't rendering right before they turned off ABP and saw ads?
    2. Re:Want support nightmares? Get Linux... by sjames · · Score: 1

      Get a better webcam! I've never had that problem.

      Perhaps you should consider Debian. It's a bit less obsessive about updating the kernel.

  71. What does Vista bring to the table? by Joce640k · · Score: 2, Insightful

    If you're a big corporation with tens of thousands of machines, many of which will struggle with Vista, what does Vista bring to the table? Why should you spend tens of millions upgrading all those machines to Vista?

    I can't think of a single good reason*.

    When buying new machines, why would you want Vista on them instead of XP. Having to support two different operating systems is crazy.

    [*] nb. XP CAN be locked down tight if you make an effort to do so and when users aren't expected to install their own software.

    --
    No sig today...
    1. Re:What does Vista bring to the table? by Dog-Cow · · Score: 1

      If you're a big corporation, you lease your computer hardware and you never upgrade the OS on existing leases. You simply have the new OS installed on new hardware as the leased equipment is swapped out.

      If your company isn't doing that, I question it's assertion as to being a big corporation.

  72. Bigger problems... by klubar · · Score: 1

    If you are a web developer or server admin that uses XP Home, you've got bigger problems to worry about. How many XP Home users really need to join a domain or run a web server.

  73. will they opensource it? by stiller · · Score: 1

    Only half kidding. No, really. Think about it. If they want us to believe that Vista has ended the need for XP, then they should have no fear opensourcing it, as it no longer represents any substantial value (except for those parts which were handed down to Vista, which can remain closed).

    ID Software does it, so why not Microsoft?

  74. Smart Business Plans by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Time to buy up as many copies of XP as I can afford and start hocking them with support services. ;)

    (I can just imagine the fine print now:
    "and if we can't solve your support issue we'll send you a free copy of Ubuntu Linux"..)

  75. Apps matter - Windows is just middleware by smchris · · Score: 1

    Ran Windows 98 with Win4Lin until about '05. XP runs adequately under qemu/kvm. When compelling app upgrades are Vista+ only, I'll have to care. Undoubtedly, that will be several years from now. Will there be adequate and compelling Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash alternatives by then?

  76. Is it still stealing by Cynic.AU · · Score: 1

    Is it still "stealing" to pirate the software after they stop selling it? Thsi raises some questions regarding the morality of piracy.. Yarrrrgh, I'll see you landlubbers on the high seas.

    1. Re:Is it still stealing by psamty · · Score: 1

      No it does not. What kind of lunatic statement is that. Is it still stealing if you steal a farmer's crop once he's done selling it (and is using it to feed his family). Absolutely idiotic statement.

  77. since xp sp2 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    you have to patch the tcpip.sys file because of the connection limit. i just hate the interface of vista and the constant nags about programs. the only 1 that is good is the ultimate but i rather use linux mce for lighting effects and no corporate colors. i'm willing to lose my game collection for linux. xp has spherexp and linux has beryl and i love the eye candy btw. sincerly, dude that drove many miles to beta test at microsoft (played oblivion) got a damn game for my time. p.s die evil bitch bastards die. not to mention the many backdoors vista has only something the great satan would do. 10am pdt firefox 3 http://www.spreadfirefox.com/en-US/worldrecord/

  78. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That's ok, no skin off my back. I abandoned Microsoft last week and bought my first Mac (Macbook), and love it.

    Bye Bye Vista

  79. Talk about naive... by SuperKendall · · Score: 1

    People didn't run Leopard at first because of a few incompatibilities. But those are pretty much ironed out now, and from launch Leopard has (as with every other release) run faster on my old systems than did the previous version, Tiger, at least on my older G5 hardware.

    Also as noted, Snow Leopard being intel only is a rumor at this point, partly founded on the recent WWDC seed but still a rumor. And as it contains no new consumer features, that means modt people will continue to be able to use Leopard at software parity with Snow Leopard users for years to come, regardless of Snow Leopard's platform availability. The only thing Snow Leopard will really assist with is high performance stuff, where you'd want the newest system anyway and not use four or five year old systems to do heavy computation on a small set of systems!

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
  80. Anonymous Coward by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    For those that continue to bash Vista. SP1 corrected alot of problems and with new hardware it runs very well. Hardware prices have come down so when you want to run Vista build or buy a machine capable of running it. Every OS is evolving and Vista has strong points. Gaming is one of them. Some games I have had laying around would not run in XP period. But they do in Vista X64 bit with no problem at all plus 4 gigs of ram make things sweet. With DDR2 that will cost you around 70 bucks if you know where to buy your ram. A 900 dollar machine ( I built) runs Vista premium 64 bit and boots in 30 seconds and plays all the latest games with no hiccups at all. And the driver support has gotten much better. Most of the problems with Vista were due to the hardware companies with their drivers. That too has been corrected. And for those that will troll and slam me as a Microsoft pushed far from it. I run Linux as well and love it for what it can do. Each OS has it's place on my systems and that will not go away. Enough FUDD.

  81. I think you are wrong by lamer01 · · Score: 1

    I had Vista on 3 machines since the release. This past month I finally gave in and went back to XP.

    Machine #1 (most powerful) Core2Duo, 3Ghz, 4GB Ram, SATA Raid. 512MB 8800GT. Occasionally Vista would slow down during file operations.
    Machine #2 Athlon 64 2Ghz, 4GB Ram, 7200 rpm SATA. Machine becomes near unusable with Vista. X1650 256MB.
    Machine #3 Laptop, Intel Centrino 1.86Ghz 4GB Ram, slow laptop drive. X700 256MB. This machine was unusable with Vista. XP works well on it.
    Machine #4 Athlon X2 2Ghz 4GB Ram. Didn't even bother putting Vista on it.

  82. One of these days by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    One of these days, I intend on putting another hard drive into my machine, put Windoze on that drive, and use it exclusively for gaming.

    Question: is it worth it to buy XP now, even if I won't be buying the extra HDD for another few months? I will not be putting Vista on the new HDD under any circumstances. Note that I intend to crack XP to disable activation.

    Or should I just get a pirated copy with the activation already cracked?

  83. Absolute Twitter by dedazo · · Score: 1

    Windows security is like some sort of absolute zero

    So is the karma on most of your accounts.

    --
    Web2.0: I love when people Flickr my cuil and digg my boingboing until my google is reddit and I start to yahoo
  84. Moderators Please Note: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    willyhill and dedazo are the same person. Punish their trolling and make Slashdot a better place.

  85. Re:Mayan Press Archives by Duggeek · · Score: 1
    Haha, but... NO.

    The truth is, it was foretold (in a way) by Bill Gates himself.

    In his own words:

    "If you can't make it good, at least make it look good." (emphasis mine)

    What he said then about the Win9x platforms is simply geometrically amplified in Vista.

    Literally, they made something flawed at its core, but gave it a shiny veneer. (again) Vista has demonstrated that, while it has a keener "look" than XP, it contains no core advantages in either speed or effciency; especially when considering the steep increase in requirements. I mean, why would you buy a car with just as much horsepower, but uses twice as much gas?

    In my mind, I envision a motivational poster hung in the executive washrooms at MS, framed in "gold-pressed latinum" (but actually aluminum with a metallic lacuqer) that hails the word, "PERCEPTION" and has that very quote beneath.

    Beneath it is a shelf that holds an ample supply of shoe lacquer, foundation mask, spray-on hair, dark-blue sharpie pens, a rack of dickies and of course, a lifetime supply of turd polish.

    --
    This post © Copyrite Duggeek, all rights reversed.
  86. Moderators Please Note: by Macthorpe · · Score: 1

    The above comment is clearly twitter having a hissy fit.

    Please mod both me and the parent down so nobody has to read it.

    --
    "It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near him." - Tolkien
  87. Bootleg it! by RealGrouchy · · Score: 1

    After all, you can't spell "bootlegit" without "legit"!

    - RG>

    --
    Hey pal, this isn't a pleasantforest, so don't waste my time with pleasantries!
  88. It worked for coke... why not? by eavary · · Score: 1

    Maybe they can re-release XP "Classic" just like Coca-Cola Classic...

  89. XP vs vista.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Seems to me like having a EV car and then downgrading to a GAS sucking waste of bloatness that nobody needs or wants. To what purpose is it other then to force one to buy sad excess for an upgrade your hardware to the max possible. Which you will need to run vista, and maybe if you buy 3gig of ram and the fasest CPU you can run games your old xp comp could run just fine... Unless of course it does not work with vista which is like60% of the time. Just like everything adapted to vista will most likely not work on windows 7. (apple rip off with smudge screen technology)