Windows can load whatever it wants on to their Operating Systems. What right does anyone else have to tell them what they can and cannot load? If someone else want's to use Opera, have them download it. It's not like Microsoft is stopping you from doing it.
Its more that their free product stops people from looking for alternatives. Not me though, and not, I suspect, anyone with half a brain, but there we are.
Personally I think this is a stupid idea, as was the removal of media player. A more sensible idea would have been to ask that download shortcuts to alternatives be placed on the desktop by default or something.
My preferences are set to filter anyone below 1, but I still see all the garbage that the trolls are working so hard to post.
I don't see why this should be happening now, I used to be able to not see any of it, but with this new interface it seems its impossible to escape reading the first line of the troll posts.
Problem is that it relies on OLD technology to 'work well'.
That's a dumb argument. I still slice bread with knife, a technology which has been around for thousands of years - I could move to spiffy new computer controlled laser system, but why? It's expensive, both to acquire and replace, it's more work to service, and it doesn't get me much.
So what if the technology is old? Why is the new technology any better? What is the new technology that Win7 introduces that makes it so much better than XP? You don't mention it in your post.
Speak for yourself. My PC has some seriously expensive and very recent technology in it, and XP has lots of problems with it. I get lockups, driver issues (XP seems almost incapable of reliably running my Geforce 280), and the boot time is appalling.
And no, its not out of date drivers or too much stuff loading at startup. I have antivirus and gmal notifier, that's all. Plus my drivers are all up to date. The problem is that XP is ten year old technology. Patched up or not, its still far too old. It seems that once you move past a certain technology threshold, XP just can't cope.
The Ubuntu I duel boot runs the same hardware smooth as a jolly smooth thing, so its not crappy hardware either.
WIndows 7 Beta loads fast, has *zero* driver issues for me (the geforce drivers need to improve, but they work, and it is a beta...), and overall beats the crap out of XP in every respect. I even tried it on my laptop (usually that runs Vista), and the improvements were imediatelly apparent in terms of speed.
I've shied away from using it as my main development OS thus far, but plan to in the next month or so.
My computer is pretty good, and Xp doesn't cut it, I have a lot of issues where its pretty obvious XP is barely managing to control the hardware. I have Vista on a laptop (one capable of running it). I see some things I like, but I also see things I don't, and it appears obvious that Microsoft are going to draw a line under Vista and work on Windows 7 instead.
I probably could get used to Vista, but I didn't like it when I first tried it. Not because everyone hated it, but because I was at the time routinely needing to copy tens of thousands of text files over our network (experiment results), and my god that hurt.
Sure, they've fixed that, but it put me off, I didn't *need* to upgrade, and now I'm eagerly awaiting Windows 7.
The laptop needs to keep Vista for browser compatibility testing, which is most of what I use it for. For now at least. I'll probably make it ubuntu only at some point, instead of its present duel boot.
I tried Vista and wasn't too impressed, but XP is getting seriously long in the tooth. I've got a pretty fierce machine, and XP just doesn't do it justice.
I run Linux on duel boot, but I have always preferred to have both Windows and Linux around, need to in fact, because of my work.
I'm looking forward to downloading the beta, and I'll go out and buy the upgrade as soon as it comes out.
So will loads of other people, even if its just grabbing it from piratebay and managing with dodgy rips and authentication issues.
They'll just pretend they'd rather use an OS that was released before most of the decent hardware in their computers was even created.
Yes, it might suck to start with, did you ever use Linux in the early days? that sucked hard in so many ways... I expect that Microsoft will sort things out satisfactorily, just as they did with XP (the OS that virtually everyone posting here is no doubt using now).
His PC died due to dust accumulation (fried mobo, dead power supply, fused RAM) and he asked me what to do with his system. I told him the only thing he needed to worry about was his HD. Told him to drill a few holes in the drive, use a blowtorch in those holes if he still had one (he used to work in home remodeling), smash the drive with a hammer and put it in a bag with his used cat litter (they have two cats).
If someone is desperate enough to want the information on his drive, they're going to have to work for it.
Government programs always look good when you want exactly what they're offering and don't consider the cost. For those who believe they would be better served by a different provider, or who end up being coerced into paying more than their share to subsidize the services you enjoy on the cheap, it's not such an obvious choice.
That's an old argument that we proved was little more than rhetoric long ago. I hear it a lot from Americans though, always from Americans who currently have health insurance.
As long as such selfish ideas are upheld , you will always have an unfair system which is set up to benefit the providors, not the recipients.
Pretty soon they'll own your health care too. If you thought arguing with the insurance company was bad just wait until you get to argue with a bureaucrat instead. At least you can choose to do business with the insurance company......
Don't talk crap. I live in a country where the government controls the health service, and we have national health insurance that everyone pays. You know what? It may not always be great, but its always there whenever you need it in an emergency, you can go for checkups without being afraid of your insurance premium going up, and you don't get stuck in a job you hate because you can't get new health insurance for a disease or illness you have developed.
Like I said, it isn't perfect, but compared to your system where its possible to have no health cover at all, its good enough.
But I'd be very hesitant to bet my livelihood on any complex code that I couldn't know if it worked or not.
The don't try and be a scientist:)
I have spent years writing code when I had no idea whether what I was writing was going to produce valid, useful results, or digital donkeypoop.
It is pretty stressful at times, but the results when things go well can be amazing (we don't talk about the poop..). Still, I must admit it would be nice sometimes to write nice simple applications that can be fully specified in advance.
While it is possible to test what you might term 'worker' methods that manipulate data in easy to test terms, like adding, deleting, transforming and such, its really quite hard to use TDD when developing software for whom neither the exact, nor even the ideal outcome is known in advance.
I speak of things like GAs and such. Sooner or later there will be a need for large blocks of very complex code which can't easily be broken up so you can run a test and say 'that' bit is broken.
I use unit for some things, but I would not consider using it for an entire application unless that application were really simple.
I hope its not just so doctor who can become yet another 'only beautiful people allowed' show.
Mind you, the BBC are pretty careful about casting for their prime real estate, so he may just be the best choice.
For me though, although I liked Eccleston and Tennant, I've always considered Tom Baker to be the definitive Doctor. When will they bring back the mad scarfs?
Seriously, if your online presence is that important, its not as if it would cost much to get a paid for service.
I use some free services, google project hosting, gmail, facebook, but there is not one thing I have in any of these services which is of any value that isn't backup up, in triplicate in most cases.
I also have paid for hosting, doesn't cost much, and even the stuff I have there is backed up locally with again triple backups.
The real issue here is being inconvenienced by a free service shutting down with little notice. Well, tough, there is no such thing as a free service which is guaranteed to last for ever.
Ok, I see your point, but let be honest, Americans are more likely to construe this as 'OMG KILL: EVERYONE', then citizens of other countries more familiar with murderous lunatics.
If you think you'll be bored writing code for other people, start your own company. The downside is you will almost certainly be poor for a fair while until things get established, but the mere fact that you are working on your own company can make that easier to cope with.
I've started a consultancy myself, rather than go for a standalone product. I'm not sure if I'll keep it up, I may go to work for a rather good company I know (great guys) and branch out on my own again later.
I have to say that setting my own timetable, and working when I want is pretty nice, even if I do work rather hard.
The animated Microsoft characters - MS Agents - you could stick in websites and applications were pretty useful sometimes.
I used to use them in software written for kids, such as for learning basic numeracy, or spelling. A child reacts well to a little robot or santa flying round the program and asking them to do things.
I used one once as a tour guide to show people round a pretty large website I used to maintain. That was more an experiment than anything, but it got a lot of use.
I also ported it over to delphi once, it proved to be an entertaining exercise.
I wouldn't be so sure that such avatars are finished with yet, although clippy and that damn search window dog are good examples of when it can be misapplied
'The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.'
I'm a big fan of his too, although I have to say I hated the first two books. Only because a friend insisted they were good did I read them, and I've bought every one on day of first paperback publication since then. I've (nearly) bought them all on Audio book now from Audible, replacing my dog eared printed books. The narrated versions are even better I think.
I understand that his publishers were delighted to have someone like him come along, a prolific and high quality fantasy/comedy writer is a rare thing. There are plenty of prolific writers, but quality? Not always so good.
I'm also a fan of the work of Douglas Adams, the polar opposite of Pratchett in all but quality. His work exceeded the quality of Pratchett, but the guy was crap at finishing books (and radioplay episodes too iirc, serious last minute writing stuff).
Seriously. I've known plenty of people that have stepped out of high paid positions to go work someplace where they'll have more fun. If you're making 6 figures but you spend 10 hours a day hating everything, what's the point? There's no reason not to just make less doing something you actually enjoy.
I've known several people who did that, but in all but one case they did it after banking some serious coin first and buying houses. Its easy to think like that if you have the financial security to do it, most people don't.
Slashdot Mirror
Windows can load whatever it wants on to their Operating Systems. What right does anyone else have to tell them what they can and cannot load? If someone else want's to use Opera, have them download it. It's not like Microsoft is stopping you from doing it.
Its more that their free product stops people from looking for alternatives.
Not me though, and not, I suspect, anyone with half a brain, but there we are.
Personally I think this is a stupid idea, as was the removal of media player. A more sensible idea would have been to ask that download shortcuts to alternatives be placed on the desktop by default or something.
The only way to win is to pick up the board and beat the other guy to death with it :)
My preferences are set to filter anyone below 1, but I still see all the garbage that the trolls are working so hard to post.
I don't see why this should be happening now, I used to be able to not see any of it, but with this new interface it seems its impossible to escape reading the first line of the troll posts.
It needs fixing.
That's a dumb argument. I still slice bread with knife, a technology which has been around for thousands of years - I could move to spiffy new computer controlled laser system, but why? It's expensive, both to acquire and replace, it's more work to service, and it doesn't get me much.
So what if the technology is old? Why is the new technology any better? What is the new technology that Win7 introduces that makes it so much better than XP? You don't mention it in your post.
Speak for yourself. My PC has some seriously expensive and very recent technology in it, and XP has lots of problems with it. I get lockups, driver issues (XP seems almost incapable of reliably running my Geforce 280), and the boot time is appalling.
And no, its not out of date drivers or too much stuff loading at startup. I have antivirus and gmal notifier, that's all. Plus my drivers are all up to date. The problem is that XP is ten year old technology. Patched up or not, its still far too old. It seems that once you move past a certain technology threshold, XP just can't cope.
The Ubuntu I duel boot runs the same hardware smooth as a jolly smooth thing, so its not crappy hardware either.
WIndows 7 Beta loads fast, has *zero* driver issues for me (the geforce drivers need to improve, but they work, and it is a beta...), and overall beats the crap out of XP in every respect. I even tried it on my laptop (usually that runs Vista), and the improvements were imediatelly apparent in terms of speed.
I've shied away from using it as my main development OS thus far, but plan to in the next month or so.
My computer is pretty good, and Xp doesn't cut it, I have a lot of issues where its pretty obvious XP is barely managing to control the hardware. I have Vista on a laptop (one capable of running it). I see some things I like, but I also see things I don't, and it appears obvious that Microsoft are going to draw a line under Vista and work on Windows 7 instead.
I probably could get used to Vista, but I didn't like it when I first tried it. Not because everyone hated it, but because I was at the time routinely needing to copy tens of thousands of text files over our network (experiment results), and my god that hurt.
Sure, they've fixed that, but it put me off, I didn't *need* to upgrade, and now I'm eagerly awaiting Windows 7.
The laptop needs to keep Vista for browser compatibility testing, which is most of what I use it for. For now at least. I'll probably make it ubuntu only at some point, instead of its present duel boot.
I tried Vista and wasn't too impressed, but XP is getting seriously long in the tooth. I've got a pretty fierce machine, and XP just doesn't do it justice.
I run Linux on duel boot, but I have always preferred to have both Windows and Linux around, need to in fact, because of my work.
I'm looking forward to downloading the beta, and I'll go out and buy the upgrade as soon as it comes out.
So will loads of other people, even if its just grabbing it from piratebay and managing with dodgy rips and authentication issues.
They'll just pretend they'd rather use an OS that was released before most of the decent hardware in their computers was even created.
Yes, it might suck to start with, did you ever use Linux in the early days? that sucked hard in so many ways... I expect that Microsoft will sort things out satisfactorily, just as they did with XP (the OS that virtually everyone posting here is no doubt using now).
His PC died due to dust accumulation (fried mobo, dead power supply, fused RAM) and he asked me what to do with his system. I told him the only thing he needed to worry about was his HD. Told him to drill a few holes in the drive, use a blowtorch in those holes if he still had one (he used to work in home remodeling), smash the drive with a hammer and put it in a bag with his used cat litter (they have two cats).
If someone is desperate enough to want the information on his drive, they're going to have to work for it.
Well that depends, what breed of cat?
Government programs always look good when you want exactly what they're offering and don't consider the cost. For those who believe they would be better served by a different provider, or who end up being coerced into paying more than their share to subsidize the services you enjoy on the cheap, it's not such an obvious choice.
That's an old argument that we proved was little more than rhetoric long ago. I hear it a lot from Americans though, always from Americans who currently have health insurance.
As long as such selfish ideas are upheld , you will always have an unfair system which is set up to benefit the providors, not the recipients.
Pretty soon they'll own your health care too. If you thought arguing with the insurance company was bad just wait until you get to argue with a bureaucrat instead. At least you can choose to do business with the insurance company......
Don't talk crap. I live in a country where the government controls the health service, and we have national health insurance that everyone pays.
You know what? It may not always be great, but its always there whenever you need it in an emergency, you can go for checkups without being afraid of your insurance premium going up, and you don't get stuck in a job you hate because you can't get new health insurance for a disease or illness you have developed.
Like I said, it isn't perfect, but compared to your system where its possible to have no health cover at all, its good enough.
cygwin...
when employees think their employer is treating them like criminals with little more than dubious and extremely general statistics for proof.
Its amazing how fast people will start breaking the rules if you start on the premise that they already are, and treat them accordingly.
But I'd be very hesitant to bet my livelihood on any complex code that I couldn't know if it worked or not.
The don't try and be a scientist :)
I have spent years writing code when I had no idea whether what I was writing was going to produce valid, useful results, or digital donkeypoop.
It is pretty stressful at times, but the results when things go well can be amazing (we don't talk about the poop..). Still, I must admit it would be nice sometimes to write nice simple applications that can be fully specified in advance.
While it is possible to test what you might term 'worker' methods that manipulate data in easy to test terms, like adding, deleting, transforming and such, its really quite hard to use TDD when developing software for whom neither the exact, nor even the ideal outcome is known in advance.
I speak of things like GAs and such. Sooner or later there will be a need for large blocks of very complex code which can't easily be broken up so you can run a test and say 'that' bit is broken.
I use unit for some things, but I would not consider using it for an entire application unless that application were really simple.
John Pertwee was the best Doctor - now get off my lawn!
I think it really depends on when you first started watching it.
This is quite probably very true.
I started watching just before Pertwee stopped being the doctor.
I hope its not just so doctor who can become yet another 'only beautiful people allowed' show.
Mind you, the BBC are pretty careful about casting for their prime real estate, so he may just be the best choice.
For me though, although I liked Eccleston and Tennant, I've always considered Tom Baker to be the definitive Doctor. When will they bring back the mad scarfs?
Seriously, if your online presence is that important, its not as if it would cost much to get a paid for service.
I use some free services, google project hosting, gmail, facebook, but there is not one thing I have in any of these services which is of any value that isn't backup up, in triplicate in most cases.
I also have paid for hosting, doesn't cost much, and even the stuff I have there is backed up locally with again triple backups.
The real issue here is being inconvenienced by a free service shutting down with little notice. Well, tough, there is no such thing as a free service which is guaranteed to last for ever.
Ok, I see your point, but let be honest, Americans are more likely to construe this as 'OMG KILL: EVERYONE', then citizens of other countries more familiar with murderous lunatics.
If you think you'll be bored writing code for other people, start your own company.
The downside is you will almost certainly be poor for a fair while until things get established, but the mere fact that you are working on your own company can make that easier to cope with.
I've started a consultancy myself, rather than go for a standalone product. I'm not sure if I'll keep it up, I may go to work for a rather good company I know (great guys) and branch out on my own again later.
I have to say that setting my own timetable, and working when I want is pretty nice, even if I do work rather hard.
What about the car behind you that can't brake as fast?
The animated Microsoft characters - MS Agents - you could stick in websites and applications were pretty useful sometimes.
I used to use them in software written for kids, such as for learning basic numeracy, or spelling. A child reacts well to a little robot or santa flying round the program and asking them to do things.
I used one once as a tour guide to show people round a pretty large website I used to maintain. That was more an experiment than anything, but it got a lot of use.
I also ported it over to delphi once, it proved to be an entertaining exercise.
I wouldn't be so sure that such avatars are finished with yet, although clippy and that damn search window dog are good examples of when it can be misapplied
'The very existence of flame-throwers proves that some time, somewhere, someone said to themselves, You know, I want to set those people over there on fire, but I'm just not close enough to get the job done.'
George Carlin
These are all projects with mainstream corporate backing.
In my opinion the list should include projects done by people who don't have vast sums of cash to back them.
I'm a big fan of his too, although I have to say I hated the first two books. Only because a friend insisted they were good did I read them, and I've bought every one on day of first paperback publication since then. I've (nearly) bought them all on Audio book now from Audible, replacing my dog eared printed books. The narrated versions are even better I think.
I understand that his publishers were delighted to have someone like him come along, a prolific and high quality fantasy/comedy writer is a rare thing. There are plenty of prolific writers, but quality? Not always so good.
I'm also a fan of the work of Douglas Adams, the polar opposite of Pratchett in all but quality. His work exceeded the quality of Pratchett, but the guy was crap at finishing books (and radioplay episodes too iirc, serious last minute writing stuff).
Put me down for ten...
Seriously. I've known plenty of people that have stepped out of high paid positions to go work someplace where they'll have more fun. If you're making 6 figures but you spend 10 hours a day hating everything, what's the point? There's no reason not to just make less doing something you actually enjoy.
I've known several people who did that, but in all but one case they did it after banking some serious coin first and buying houses. Its easy to think like that if you have the financial security to do it, most people don't.