I would have guessed HP, as the vast majority of my highschool and college classmates have HP systems, usually purchased for them by their parents at Walmart, Staples, OfficeMax, Sears, etc. The hip youngsters machine seems to be Alienware, for those who can afford it. Dell is also common for students whose parents work in an office environment. But Gateway? I assume they are including eMachines into the Gateway equation, but it still doesn't add up to me. eMachines systems are sold at many stores around here, but I just don't see them in many homes or dorm rooms.
For youngsters, Apple seems to be a high-end "mall-brand", but often times no more expensive than other brands when you start to compare features and software bundles.
The XBOX division of Microsoft has lost a lot of money, but it can be argued that XBOX has actually helped Microsoft in the long run.
Think of XBOX as a combination of Marketing and Insurance. By selling the XBOX, Microsoft ensures that their name and their products will be in even more stores and homes. By including Media Center Extender features in XBOX, Microsoft has a better chance of selling the Media Center version of Windows XP. By taking a huge chunk of the game market, Microsoft weakens Sony and Nintendo.
And the big one:
Ensuring a strong Direct X following. Most, if not all, XBOX games use Direct X libraries. There are only two platforms that can use true Direct X: Windows and XBOX. By keeping programmers on Direct X, Microsoft ensures that games will remain on Windows/XBOX and will difficult to port to other consoles and other OSes. The last thing Microsoft wants is developers to begin using cross-platform libraries which could allow for an OS transition sometime in the future. Besides, XBOX simply helps promote Direct X. Think of it: "Use Direct X, easily run your games on the most popular desktop OS and the second most popular game console without a major re-write!".
XBOX has been $4 Billion well spent. Expect iZunes to be a similar venture.
As a side example, consider Firefox vs IE 7. If you find yourself spending a majority of your computing time using Web 2.0 applications via Firefox, why use Windows at all? At that point you may as well just use Linux or FreeBSD to host your Firefox client, no need to spend money on Firefox. However, if your web app only works on IE 7, or works best on IE 7, then you have a soild reason to remain on Windows/IE7 platform.
Zune Specs and what I don't understand
on
The Zune Cometh
·
· Score: 4, Informative
I overheard an employee talking to some customers about the wonders of the Zune. It's much sleeker, looks better, is thinner, and has a bigger screen... you know, all of the important things.
I keep hearing about how Zune is slimmer, smaller, and has a better screen. But when I look at the specs, the 30 GB iPod seems to be actually a tad smaller and lighter than the Zune. The screen resolution is the same, so Zune just has larger pixels.
Zune: 2.48" W x 4.17" H x 0.65" D. Weight:, 6 oz. Resolution: 240x320
Also, I have heard that the Zune's "wheel" is not a wheel at all. The reviews suggest that the Zune has a regular 4-button "D-pad" menu button arrangement hidden behind that round black wheel-looking thing.
Who is correct here? Have I been reading iPod fanboy BS?
Why does Microsoft feel theatened by certain markets? I don't understand why they feel they have to compete with everything, even "markets" where there is little or no money to be made. How much money could Microsoft ever make from Virtual Earth? Why does Microsoft feel it has to compete in the games and music world when it is already making huge amounts of money selling software to 90 - 95% of the computer world?
As a fan of both BSD flavored Unix and the Mac GUI, I had always been hoping that companies would develop for the Mac just because it's so cool. I've just had to accept that things just don't work that way. Even in the free software world, development for the Mac just means porting from Linux to the Mac, and even then, only after the MS Windows port is finished.
That's on the the reasons why many "Mac ports" simply suck. I've been much more satisfied with Mac work-alikes than I have with Mac ports. Real, Mac-like, native software generally works better for me that some Windows or Linux app that was quickly ported the the Mac platform.
Macs were so sick of getting there ass kicked they made a good OS.I grew up with Macs sucking hardcore. I always believed that a mac was flashy and didn't do anything. My girlfriends brother in law showed me Mac OSX and it's so amazing it shouldn't count as a Mac OS.
That's because Mac OS X is more like NeXTSTEP 5.x than it is Mac OS 10.x.
Steve Jobs and his engineers took over when Apple bought NeXT* in 1997. First step was damage control, next step was marketing, and now we're finally seeing the sweet products and solid engineering. Apple was great in the 1980s, but that old hardware sucked on newer versions of Mac OS by the early 1990s, and the new machines then weren't much better. By 1996 the Mac OS world was a hellufa mess.
*Some people say NeXT bought Apple for negative $400M:)
You might be interested in iPartition. It's not free, but it's more flexible than/Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. There are others, but this is the only one that quickly comes to mind. Don't bother asking Powerquest/Symantic to make a Mac version of Partiton Magic, ports of existing Windows utilities generally suck on other platforms. http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iPartition.php
As for other Mac Applications, there are several websites you can check out for various Mac apps. I have never found a shortage of Mac (or Linux) applications, once I avoided the pitfall of finding a "port" or "perfect replacement" for my favorite Windows applications. Things are a little different in the Mac and Linux world, so you might need to find similar, but significantly different applications to meet your needs.
The Mac OS X developer tools are on the same DVD as Mac OS X itself. And, on new machines, the developer tools installer is already on the hard drive. So the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Some recommendations: Don't just cover the tops of your buildings. Created additional semi-covered parking with solar pannels atop Most of the Google parking lot is under the Google buildings and campus courtyard. The Google (fromer SGI) campus is essentually built atop a large underground parking garage. At least for their Mountain View, California campus. Putting solar collectors on their roofs is pretty much their only option as their campus is surrounded by parks and other office buildings.
Very few Dreamcast discs used WinCE
on
Consoles M.I.A.
·
· Score: 2, Informative
Very few games, such as Saga Rally 2, actually used WinCE + DirectX 6. Most games used Sega's own OS and graphics libraries, which ran much faster.
Sort of the Henry Ford line of thinking: "You can have any color Model T you want... as long as you want black."
The Model T was available in a variety of colors for the 1908 - 1914 and 1926-1927 models. It was 1915-1925 that were available in only black (actually Japan Black bitumen lacquer) due to demand, the much lower cost, and speed of production.
You could consider two partitions on the CF card, one for storing config files and such (mounted RW only when updating) and the other partition could store an image that would be loaded into a RAMDISK. Ram is cheap and flash is slow.
For most of my friends and family, The Matrix was purchased a good 2 years after they bought their DVD players. Yes, it was a demanding video, and yes it's menu system required some fimrware updates on many older DVD players, but it was by no means an early DVD. By the time The Matrix was on DVD, most people already had DVD players. The last remining transition came when DVD players became cheaper than VHS players and tapes started dissapearing from store shelves, not because of The Matrix.
Summary: HD-DVD beat Blu-Ray in all 3 of the movies. Like I've been saying, it's VHS and Betamax all over again, even with Betamax losing.
Except with VHS, there was no codec to speak of.
The current BluRay discs are encoded with MPEG-2, possibly on a 25 GB single layer disc. The current HDDVD discs are encoded with VC-1 (WMV9), which is a much better codec, and are possibly using a 30 GB dual layer disc.
We won't know which is better until BluRay starts using a better codec. Which should be AnyTimeNow. Both BluRay and HDDVD support the same three codecs: MPEG-2, H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), and VC-1 (WMV9).
AFAIK, BluRay holds 25 GB (GigaBytes) per layer, and HDDVD holds 15 GB (GigaBytes) per layer. I have already seen 50 GB BD-ROM blanks at Frys (albeit for $39) so I know the dual layer BluRay discs are already possible. I've also heard that many HDDVD movies are shipping on 30 GB (dual layer) discs. That said, it is entirely possible that the current BluRay movies are shipping on single layer 25 GB discs to save money in manufacturing as it would be cheaper to stamp a single layer disc and "25 GB is close enough to 30 GB".
AFAIK, both BluRay and HDDVD support the same three codecs: MPEG-2, H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), and VC-1 (WMV9).
AFAIK, the current BluRay authoring software only supports MPEG-2 at this time, so the initial discs were encoded with MPEG-2... even though VC-1 and H.264 codecs have been on the market for several years...
AFAIK, the current HDDVD authoring software supports MPEG-2 and VC-1, and the initial discs have been using VC-1.
We won't be able to see a true Apples to Apple comparison until we can compare two discs that used the exact same codec at the exact same bitrate, or even the exact same H.264 / VC-1 data.
BluRay currently has greater capacity. The only reason its picture quality sucks is because Sony has been using MPEG-2, even though the format supports H.264 and VC1/WMV9.
Set the machine up to your liking, then use Deep Freeze to ensure that it never changes.
Or, if they're the media types (digital photos, home videos, burning DVDs, etc) get them an iMac and maybe one of those iLife 06 how-to books. $1299 buys a dual core iMac with DVD burner, Radeon X1600 graphics, the iLife suite, remote control for the media center stuff, etc etc etc.
I've played with Damn Small Linux, but anymore I pretty much just take the time to roll my own LinuxFromScratch.
DSL is a nice demo, but the Knoppix structure makes it a real pain to customize.* Say you want a different version of Perl or Xorg, or want to modify the bootloader and kernel to display a full screen banner image/logo, it's a whole heck of a lot of work to rip out the original components and replace them with your own. Rolling your own distro from scratch only requires a bit more work, and you have better control and a better understanding of what's going on.
* If any DSL experts have advice on how to make these customizations easier, I might give it a try again.
Slashdot Mirror
I would have guessed HP, as the vast majority of my highschool and college classmates have HP systems, usually purchased for them by their parents at Walmart, Staples, OfficeMax, Sears, etc. The hip youngsters machine seems to be Alienware, for those who can afford it. Dell is also common for students whose parents work in an office environment. But Gateway? I assume they are including eMachines into the Gateway equation, but it still doesn't add up to me. eMachines systems are sold at many stores around here, but I just don't see them in many homes or dorm rooms.
For youngsters, Apple seems to be a high-end "mall-brand", but often times no more expensive than other brands when you start to compare features and software bundles.
All in all, Xbox has lost $4+ billion for MS.
The XBOX division of Microsoft has lost a lot of money, but it can be argued that XBOX has actually helped Microsoft in the long run.
Think of XBOX as a combination of Marketing and Insurance. By selling the XBOX, Microsoft ensures that their name and their products will be in even more stores and homes. By including Media Center Extender features in XBOX, Microsoft has a better chance of selling the Media Center version of Windows XP. By taking a huge chunk of the game market, Microsoft weakens Sony and Nintendo.
And the big one:
Ensuring a strong Direct X following. Most, if not all, XBOX games use Direct X libraries. There are only two platforms that can use true Direct X: Windows and XBOX. By keeping programmers on Direct X, Microsoft ensures that games will remain on Windows/XBOX and will difficult to port to other consoles and other OSes. The last thing Microsoft wants is developers to begin using cross-platform libraries which could allow for an OS transition sometime in the future. Besides, XBOX simply helps promote Direct X. Think of it: "Use Direct X, easily run your games on the most popular desktop OS and the second most popular game console without a major re-write!".
XBOX has been $4 Billion well spent. Expect iZunes to be a similar venture.
As a side example, consider Firefox vs IE 7. If you find yourself spending a majority of your computing time using Web 2.0 applications via Firefox, why use Windows at all? At that point you may as well just use Linux or FreeBSD to host your Firefox client, no need to spend money on Firefox. However, if your web app only works on IE 7, or works best on IE 7, then you have a soild reason to remain on Windows/IE7 platform.
I just found the following comparison photos. Not sure if they're genuine or not, but they are interesting.t ml
http://www.cliczune.com/2006/10/zune_review_ipo.h
I overheard an employee talking to some customers about the wonders of the Zune. It's much sleeker, looks better, is thinner, and has a bigger screen... you know, all of the important things.
I keep hearing about how Zune is slimmer, smaller, and has a better screen. But when I look at the specs, the 30 GB iPod seems to be actually a tad smaller and lighter than the Zune. The screen resolution is the same, so Zune just has larger pixels.
Zune:
2.48" W x 4.17" H x 0.65" D. Weight:, 6 oz. Resolution: 240x320
30 GB iPod:
Height: 4.1 inches
Width: 2.4 inches
Depth: 0.43 inch
Weight: 4.8 ounces
Display: 2.5-inch QVGA 320 by 240 pixel resolution
Also, I have heard that the Zune's "wheel" is not a wheel at all. The reviews suggest that the Zune has a regular 4-button "D-pad" menu button arrangement hidden behind that round black wheel-looking thing.
Who is correct here? Have I been reading iPod fanboy BS?
Why does Microsoft feel theatened by certain markets? I don't understand why they feel they have to compete with everything, even "markets" where there is little or no money to be made. How much money could Microsoft ever make from Virtual Earth? Why does Microsoft feel it has to compete in the games and music world when it is already making huge amounts of money selling software to 90 - 95% of the computer world?
>> That's because Mac OS X is more like NeXTSTEP 5.x than it is Mac OS 10.x.
> Except that Mac OS X and Mac OS 10 are the same operating system.
> FYI: X is the Roman numeral for 10. It's not Mac OS "Ex."
I know this. I should have said "more like NeXTSTEP 5.x than it is Mac OS 9+1"
As a fan of both BSD flavored Unix and the Mac GUI, I had always been hoping that companies would develop for the Mac just because it's so cool. I've just had to accept that things just don't work that way. Even in the free software world, development for the Mac just means porting from Linux to the Mac, and even then, only after the MS Windows port is finished.
That's on the the reasons why many "Mac ports" simply suck. I've been much more satisfied with Mac work-alikes than I have with Mac ports. Real, Mac-like, native software generally works better for me that some Windows or Linux app that was quickly ported the the Mac platform.
Macs were so sick of getting there ass kicked they made a good OS.I grew up with Macs sucking hardcore. I always believed that a mac was flashy and didn't do anything. My girlfriends brother in law showed me Mac OSX and it's so amazing it shouldn't count as a Mac OS.
:)
That's because Mac OS X is more like NeXTSTEP 5.x than it is Mac OS 10.x.
Steve Jobs and his engineers took over when Apple bought NeXT* in 1997. First step was damage control, next step was marketing, and now we're finally seeing the sweet products and solid engineering. Apple was great in the 1980s, but that old hardware sucked on newer versions of Mac OS by the early 1990s, and the new machines then weren't much better. By 1996 the Mac OS world was a hellufa mess.
*Some people say NeXT bought Apple for negative $400M
You might be interested in iPartition. It's not free, but it's more flexible than /Applications/Utilities/Disk Utility. There are others, but this is the only one that quickly comes to mind. Don't bother asking Powerquest/Symantic to make a Mac version of Partiton Magic, ports of existing Windows utilities generally suck on other platforms.
l isting.html
http://www.coriolis-systems.com/iPartition.php
As for other Mac Applications, there are several websites you can check out for various Mac apps. I have never found a shortage of Mac (or Linux) applications, once I avoided the pitfall of finding a "port" or "perfect replacement" for my favorite Windows applications. Things are a little different in the Mac and Linux world, so you might need to find similar, but significantly different applications to meet your needs.
Check out:
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/
http://www.versiontracker.com/macosx/
http://www.macorchard.com/
http://www.macupdate.com/
And if you want games:
http://aspyr.com/product/product_listing
http://www.destineerstudios.com/macsoftgames/mac_
http://www.feral.co.uk/
http://www.ambrosiasw.com/games/all.html
http://www.pangeasoft.net/index2.html
http://www.freeverse.com/
http://www.apple.com/games/
http://www.macgamefiles.com/
The Mac OS X developer tools are on the same DVD as Mac OS X itself. And, on new machines, the developer tools installer is already on the hard drive. So the truth is somewhere in the middle.
Some recommendations: Don't just cover the tops of your buildings. Created additional semi-covered parking with solar pannels atop
Most of the Google parking lot is under the Google buildings and campus courtyard. The Google (fromer SGI) campus is essentually built atop a large underground parking garage. At least for their Mountain View, California campus. Putting solar collectors on their roofs is pretty much their only option as their campus is surrounded by parks and other office buildings.
Very few games, such as Saga Rally 2, actually used WinCE + DirectX 6. Most games used Sega's own OS and graphics libraries, which ran much faster.
Sort of the Henry Ford line of thinking: ... as long as you want black."
"You can have any color Model T you want
The Model T was available in a variety of colors for the 1908 - 1914 and 1926-1927 models. It was 1915-1925 that were available in only black (actually Japan Black bitumen lacquer) due to demand, the much lower cost, and speed of production.
You could consider two partitions on the CF card, one for storing config files and such (mounted RW only when updating) and the other partition could store an image that would be loaded into a RAMDISK. Ram is cheap and flash is slow.
Another amazing Microsoft Invention
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FPGA
My HDTV is a 2-year-old rear projection Hitachi. It has no HDMI, but it does have 4 sets of component, all of which support HD resolutions.
Component is great, so long as companies keep providing me with an HD component singnal and don't require me to "upgrade" to the DRM of HDMI+HDCP.
For most of my friends and family, The Matrix was purchased a good 2 years after they bought their DVD players. Yes, it was a demanding video, and yes it's menu system required some fimrware updates on many older DVD players, but it was by no means an early DVD. By the time The Matrix was on DVD, most people already had DVD players. The last remining transition came when DVD players became cheaper than VHS players and tapes started dissapearing from store shelves, not because of The Matrix.
Summary: HD-DVD beat Blu-Ray in all 3 of the movies.
Like I've been saying, it's VHS and Betamax all over again, even with Betamax losing.
Except with VHS, there was no codec to speak of.
The current BluRay discs are encoded with MPEG-2, possibly on a 25 GB single layer disc.
The current HDDVD discs are encoded with VC-1 (WMV9), which is a much better codec, and are possibly using a 30 GB dual layer disc.
We won't know which is better until BluRay starts using a better codec. Which should be AnyTimeNow. Both BluRay and HDDVD support the same three codecs: MPEG-2, H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), and VC-1 (WMV9).
AFAIK, BluRay holds 25 GB (GigaBytes) per layer, and HDDVD holds 15 GB (GigaBytes) per layer. I have already seen 50 GB BD-ROM blanks at Frys (albeit for $39) so I know the dual layer BluRay discs are already possible. I've also heard that many HDDVD movies are shipping on 30 GB (dual layer) discs. That said, it is entirely possible that the current BluRay movies are shipping on single layer 25 GB discs to save money in manufacturing as it would be cheaper to stamp a single layer disc and "25 GB is close enough to 30 GB".
AFAIK, both BluRay and HDDVD support the same three codecs: MPEG-2, H.264 (MPEG-4 AVC), and VC-1 (WMV9).
AFAIK, the current BluRay authoring software only supports MPEG-2 at this time, so the initial discs were encoded with MPEG-2... even though VC-1 and H.264 codecs have been on the market for several years...
AFAIK, the current HDDVD authoring software supports MPEG-2 and VC-1, and the initial discs have been using VC-1.
We won't be able to see a true Apples to Apple comparison until we can compare two discs that used the exact same codec at the exact same bitrate, or even the exact same H.264 / VC-1 data.
BluRay and HDDVD support the same three video codecs: MPEG-2, MPEG-4 AVC (H.264), and VC-1 (WMV9).
AFAIK, all of the current BluRay titles were encoded with MPEG-2. I don't know about the current HDDVD titles.
AFAIK, all of the currentl BluRay movies were encoded with MPEG-2, even though the format supports MPEG-4 AVC/H.264 and VC1/WMV9.
BluRay currently has greater capacity. The only reason its picture quality sucks is because Sony has been using MPEG-2, even though the format supports H.264 and VC1/WMV9.
Set the machine up to your liking, then use Deep Freeze to ensure that it never changes.
Or, if they're the media types (digital photos, home videos, burning DVDs, etc) get them an iMac and maybe one of those iLife 06 how-to books. $1299 buys a dual core iMac with DVD burner, Radeon X1600 graphics, the iLife suite, remote control for the media center stuff, etc etc etc.
I've played with Damn Small Linux, but anymore I pretty much just take the time to roll my own LinuxFromScratch.
DSL is a nice demo, but the Knoppix structure makes it a real pain to customize.* Say you want a different version of Perl or Xorg, or want to modify the bootloader and kernel to display a full screen banner image/logo, it's a whole heck of a lot of work to rip out the original components and replace them with your own. Rolling your own distro from scratch only requires a bit more work, and you have better control and a better understanding of what's going on.
* If any DSL experts have advice on how to make these customizations easier, I might give it a try again.
Just to pick nits:
VC1 is also known as WMV9 (Windows Media Video 9 codec)
H.264 is also known as MPEG 4 AVC (MPEG 4, Part 10)
Two totally different codecs.