Well, consumers didn't have 2D/3D cards until the mid 90s. And even today, a lot of computers come with crappy integrated graphics that probably wouldn't help much. I think if it was as easy as putting "some hooks in their code to use some maths[sic] functions" then there would have been Photoshop competitors who used this advantage for market share. But that seems to not have been the case, at least not successfully.
When I recommend the Linux distribution I use, one of the things I promote is that:
It's fast.
AND it has everything you need from the start.
By this, I mean that you can get set up and ideally have a complete working system right away. Browse the web with a strong browser, set up your email right away, view PDFs (with a fast PDF viewer), listen to music, write documents, spreadsheets, etc. Now, in practice some things don't work right away, but for that I blame general difficulty of installing any operating system (driver issues etc.) and licensing issues (goddamn MP3 license). I think installing an OS will always be a PITA, just on varying levels. Licensing is getting better with more distros offering paid legal licenses for MP3.
Anyway, what I'm getting to is that I feel a complete OS offers a solid platform on which to build. From my experience, casual users are satisfied with the included apps in a modern Linux distro save for maybe a better music player for the music buffs or better photo management for digital camera users. I think a minimal OS translates more to a Slack or Gentoo approach, which I doubt the everyday user wants. This also encourages OEMs to put their crap into EVEN MORE basic uses.
I think the association of Windows and bloat comes not from included MS apps (maybe not including Movie Maker), but instead from OEMs putting their shit on these computers. Good for Microsoft for making ANY change, but I think the real reduction in bloat happens at the installer level, not the OS producer. Let me know when a pig sprouts wings and the OEMs start putting less shit on their builds.
No, it's just that for some people PDFs are a hammer and every single printed word on the tubes is a nail.
I have had plenty of times where I was turning in papers electronically or needed to transfer documents between computers where PDF came in quite useful. When I'm turning in a paper electronically, I have no idea what version of Office the professor has. Nor do I even have Office. PDFs are very useful in this case.
Also, it may not be as bloated as you perceive. Acrobot reader is slow as hell. Evince and KPDF, both on Linux, are noticeably faster for me. There are alternatives for Windows as well that are better than the "official" reader.
Unfortunately, being a sophmore in college, my first "real" computer was with Windows 95. We had one before then that was text only, but I used it so little I have no idea what it was.
Thank god for Tech TV telling me about Linux. If I hadn't had a system with which I could play around so much I wouldn't be a CS major now.
Uhhh, I don't know how everyone else was when they were 13, but when I was 13 I was watching cartoons and letting people think I was good at computers because I understood most of the settings on the computer. I didn't touch code until very late high school. If I did when I was 13 I think it would have been unmaintainable garbage.
I also frequently used the term "pwn" in my shitty online videogames.
Well actually, as a testament to my nerdiness, I thought it meant "pawn" first. As in, someone's so awesome they killed the other guy with a pawn. So upon kicking someone's ass in my dragon ball z game, I let everyone know I "pawned" him. It must have been quite a site.
Note to future employers: I am now a focused individual who is not anything like his 13 year old self.
Why the hell is this modded interesting when it's so obviously flamebait?
He doesn't argue against putting the computer to sleep instead of turning it off. The most this AC says is that if he was in the TSA he would pull your goddamn battery out. Who gives a shit? Save what you're working on before you put the computer to sleep.
I have Opera 9.5 and FF 3 on my Ubuntu system. There is a noticeable difference in rendering speeds for JS medium-heavy websites between them, Opera being slower. Now, I had no idea of Opera's relative speed when I noticed this. So I tested them with Sunspider and surely enough there was a good gap between both, with FF 3 being much faster in benchmarks.
NB: I'm not being anti Opera. Opera is awesome, even though it's not my primary browser. I'm just saying you can notice the difference in slower JS engines.
No, I will not get off your lawn. Space/speed is a tradeoff. At the moment, we have even bottom of the barrel desktops selling with large amounts of memory. With the eventual rise of 64 bit, expect the amounts to go up even more. There's no reason to avoid taking advantage of this. What's the point of having this huge (seriously, look at the memory difference from now and 10 years ago) amount of memory to just let it sit there, save the occasional multimedia editing task?
As for your game, it seems to be using quite a huge chunk of memory as well. You know, one of the things we've seen in the past few releases of any modern 3D game is that new features seem to increase the already monumental footprint of current games. And hell, I'm using my browser at least 10 times longer a day than I'm playing a game. I want my browser to be snappy, I don't mind not visiting Super Ultra JS Web App 3.6 if I'm going to be playing a resource intensive game. In fact, I probably wouldn't be using my browser at all anyway.
But that last paragraph is just my personal experience, YMMV
Slashdot Mirror
Oops, take the "not" out of that sentence.
Oops! How amero-centric of me, I didn't know that.
Well, consumers didn't have 2D/3D cards until the mid 90s. And even today, a lot of computers come with crappy integrated graphics that probably wouldn't help much. I think if it was as easy as putting "some hooks in their code to use some maths[sic] functions" then there would have been Photoshop competitors who used this advantage for market share. But that seems to not have been the case, at least not successfully.
Oops.
Whooosh'd by the editor, ouch.
I know typos in summaries and headlines are the norm, but have we really got to the point where the dept. gag has them also?
When I recommend the Linux distribution I use, one of the things I promote is that:
By this, I mean that you can get set up and ideally have a complete working system right away. Browse the web with a strong browser, set up your email right away, view PDFs (with a fast PDF viewer), listen to music, write documents, spreadsheets, etc. Now, in practice some things don't work right away, but for that I blame general difficulty of installing any operating system (driver issues etc.) and licensing issues (goddamn MP3 license). I think installing an OS will always be a PITA, just on varying levels. Licensing is getting better with more distros offering paid legal licenses for MP3.
Anyway, what I'm getting to is that I feel a complete OS offers a solid platform on which to build. From my experience, casual users are satisfied with the included apps in a modern Linux distro save for maybe a better music player for the music buffs or better photo management for digital camera users. I think a minimal OS translates more to a Slack or Gentoo approach, which I doubt the everyday user wants. This also encourages OEMs to put their crap into EVEN MORE basic uses.
I think the association of Windows and bloat comes not from included MS apps (maybe not including Movie Maker), but instead from OEMs putting their shit on these computers. Good for Microsoft for making ANY change, but I think the real reduction in bloat happens at the installer level, not the OS producer. Let me know when a pig sprouts wings and the OEMs start putting less shit on their builds.
I prefer to go past the movie cliches and nuke my karma.
By the way, have you heard of the GNAA?
I personally believe the Tower of Pisa is photoshopped. I mean look at it! Fake.
No, it's just that for some people PDFs are a hammer and every single printed word on the tubes is a nail.
I have had plenty of times where I was turning in papers electronically or needed to transfer documents between computers where PDF came in quite useful. When I'm turning in a paper electronically, I have no idea what version of Office the professor has. Nor do I even have Office. PDFs are very useful in this case.
Also, it may not be as bloated as you perceive. Acrobot reader is slow as hell. Evince and KPDF, both on Linux, are noticeably faster for me. There are alternatives for Windows as well that are better than the "official" reader.
Queue not cue.
suck_burners_rice hopes to change it so THAT's funny.
Oh man, I guess two day's not my day.
Wait... Shit!
Oops, thanks for pointing out the homonym.
Unfortunately, being a sophmore in college, my first "real" computer was with Windows 95. We had one before then that was text only, but I used it so little I have no idea what it was.
Thank god for Tech TV telling me about Linux. If I hadn't had a system with which I could play around so much I wouldn't be a CS major now.
Uhhh, I don't know how everyone else was when they were 13, but when I was 13 I was watching cartoons and letting people think I was good at computers because I understood most of the settings on the computer. I didn't touch code until very late high school. If I did when I was 13 I think it would have been unmaintainable garbage.
I also frequently used the term "pwn" in my shitty online videogames.
Well actually, as a testament to my nerdiness, I thought it meant "pawn" first. As in, someone's so awesome they killed the other guy with a pawn. So upon kicking someone's ass in my dragon ball z game, I let everyone know I "pawned" him. It must have been quite a site.
Note to future employers: I am now a focused individual who is not anything like his 13 year old self.
It's working for me. Are you using http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHO1JTNPPOU?
It's all the matter that slowly escapes over time when Stephen Hawking gets sucked into a black hole.
Can someone explain to me why the poster explaining his submission is modded redundant?
I mean, I still don't think this is anything like a Theremin, but what the hell? It's not like he said this 10 other times in the thread.
Why the hell is this modded interesting when it's so obviously flamebait?
He doesn't argue against putting the computer to sleep instead of turning it off. The most this AC says is that if he was in the TSA he would pull your goddamn battery out. Who gives a shit? Save what you're working on before you put the computer to sleep.
Well, they are not file sharers and we don't really know what they did.
Except that JS is not NEARLY as tied into the system as ActiveX was. Period. It never will be either, just by the cross platform nature of it.
And why is it that the anti JS people have to find a way to pop into every JS discussion, even if it's not about security?
Arrr, matey. Ye best not view the Images for yer search, there be a wench on the 4th result!
I have Opera 9.5 and FF 3 on my Ubuntu system. There is a noticeable difference in rendering speeds for JS medium-heavy websites between them, Opera being slower. Now, I had no idea of Opera's relative speed when I noticed this. So I tested them with Sunspider and surely enough there was a good gap between both, with FF 3 being much faster in benchmarks.
NB: I'm not being anti Opera. Opera is awesome, even though it's not my primary browser. I'm just saying you can notice the difference in slower JS engines.
He who controls the test suite
Err, Google doesn't control or own the test suite. I wasn't talking about Apple either.
No, I will not get off your lawn. Space/speed is a tradeoff. At the moment, we have even bottom of the barrel desktops selling with large amounts of memory. With the eventual rise of 64 bit, expect the amounts to go up even more. There's no reason to avoid taking advantage of this. What's the point of having this huge (seriously, look at the memory difference from now and 10 years ago) amount of memory to just let it sit there, save the occasional multimedia editing task?
As for your game, it seems to be using quite a huge chunk of memory as well. You know, one of the things we've seen in the past few releases of any modern 3D game is that new features seem to increase the already monumental footprint of current games. And hell, I'm using my browser at least 10 times longer a day than I'm playing a game. I want my browser to be snappy, I don't mind not visiting Super Ultra JS Web App 3.6 if I'm going to be playing a resource intensive game. In fact, I probably wouldn't be using my browser at all anyway.
But that last paragraph is just my personal experience, YMMV