Just the SQL portion of this "article" cracks me up. Anyone ever heard of terraserver, http://www.terraserver.com ? One of the world's largest databases. Running entirely on Microsoft database software. Directly from their site, "The TerraServer concept grew out of the convergence of two needs. Aerial Images, Inc. wanted to sell imagery online and Microsoft Research needed a large database to demonstrate the capabilities of its new database software. " and it works just great.
If their software can handle that large of a database then how the hell can this next statement from that "news" article have any sembelance of truth to it? "When Microsoft acquired Linkexchange (now bCentral), company officials tried to get rid of Oracle databases in favor of the company's own SQL Server.
"Some of the best folks from Redmond came down to make the change, but after two or three months they gave up and switched back to Oracle on Solaris, where it remains today," this reader wrote.
As I said before, what a complete load. If MS can handle terraserver, I'm sure the Bcentral database is no problem. I know everyone loves to bash MS but at least post something with some reality to it.
Why the hell are shoulder buttons on the GBA? Mobile games are already hard enough to hold onto and play at the same time, now you have two less fingers to support the bottom of the unit, not to mention making the two extra buttons hard to use. Try playing Street Fighter, etc... with a controller with F#*%ing shoulder buttons on any console. Just sucks. They had plenty of space on the front of the GBA to put all four buttons. They could of at least put the buttond on both the front and the top, that way you could decide which you like to use.
I've set up several W2k servers and workstations and have not had any problems with NT 4.0 shares being seen on the W2k server/workstation. Unfortunately I haven't had enough experience with Unix to answer the rest of the question.
I'm not sure what your company is using the MS platform for other than word and peoplesoft as you said. Is e-mail going to come from an Exchange Server? If so, your company could set up Outlook Web Access and you can use your internet browser to check your e-mail. As far as getting documents back and forth, if they are just word documents, you could just save them HTML or RTF format. Or maybe just wait for that version of MS Office for Linux:) As far as peoplesoft I have no idea, never used it.
First off, what version of fdisk were you using?!?!?! When you run fdisk on against a hard drive that has NTFS partitions the newer versions of fdisk that come with W98 ask you,"Would you like to treat NTFS permissions as large?" And yes it does recognize them, it can delete them, or whatever you like. To change the master boot record, you have to run FDISK/MBR from the command prompt. Actually all of this has to be ru from the command prompt, not a command prompt window under Windows.
As far as the standard VGA driver being loaded, I don't know exactly what video card you are using, but you are being completely unreasonable. Microsoft CANNOT be expected to supply litterally thousands of drivers for every video card out there to be shipped with windows. Do you realize how many video card driver cd's would have to be provided just so you don't have to go to the internet or heaven forbid, open the disk bundle the video card came with to install your driver. I know even Linux does not supply a driver for every video card in the world. Let alone as you put it,
"For Linux, all the drivers are on one CD, and the installer finds the right
one for you. THAT'S easy."
You've been lucky or you bought hardware that was on the list of Linux supported hardware. It's not possible for 1 CD to have drivers for every computer device in the world.
You also say,
"For a Compaq (don't
buy Compaq if you want to run windows), knowing your hardware is still a
big problem. Finding the drivers on the Compaq disk is painfull."
I agree 100% with the don't buy a Compaq. Friends don't let friends do Compaq, Packard Bell, etc.... But, you are placing the blame on the wrong company. Place the bad driver support issue where it belongs, COMPAQ. I don't know anyone with worse driver support.
Another comment you make, "By the way, administering NT on a home system doesn't seem any easier to me than the same chores on Linux. Maybe even harder, since at least with Linux, I know what's behind the GUI. You never really know that with MS." That just may be because you're used to the Linux interface. It feels the same for me on a Linux interface. 2 different ways to do the same thing. As far as getting behind the GUI, the CLI in windows is more powerful and informative than most people realize. There have been many times I've had to troubleshoot, diagnose, and repair NT systems strictly from the CLI since the GUI wasn't working properly.
I personally like both platforms, and both have their place. I just hate to read someone's opinion about windows that has had a bad experience and condemns the platform.
Windows handles upgrades just fine, provided you know what you're doing. The absolute first step is to remove the old drivers, preferably under safe mode. THEN install the new device and the new drivers. Safe mode also allows you to see every driver that is loaded on the system, whether or not it is loaded and present under device manager when Windows 9x boot into the normal mode. Those excess drivers that nobody bothers to take out properly are usually the cause of the conflicts when performing an upgrade.
When I was at Disney World in Florida a couple of months ago, they had a jean jacket that had a computer built into it. You push buttons that are made out of some kinda conductive thread and it plays piano notes. It had a battery pack that was sewn into the inside of the coat. I can't remember who they said invented it a couple of years ago, but the guy running the exhibit said there were a lot of people working on technology built around it. And yes, it could be washed, and no, you wouldn't be electricuted if you got caught in a rainstorm any more than if your amphibious Stomper (showing my age on that one) just happened to be in a pool with you.
Oh hurray, yet another faster? CPU. Flashback to the cheesey westerns, it's the all new Doc Johnson's Miracle Water, cures all that ails ya. First bottle free of course. I just feel a little apprehensive about new intel CPU's, especially since the PII(I) copper?!?!?!mine. And before I get a reply saying VLIW is new, the question is how long until the O/S is written for this new marvel of technology, let alone apps, games, etc... . From what I've read the new CPU doesn't perform 32 bit, let alone 16 bit apps worth a crap. I agree it's about damn time we go into the future, new 64 bit O/S, 64 bit Apps, etc, but it's not going to happen overnight.
It may not be 1280x1024 but you can get a VGA adapter for the Dreamcast that does 640x480. You can also buy the keyboard for the Dreamcast.
As far as wanting a mouse for Quake, it's simple, don't buy it for your console, buy it for the computer. I agree that each platform has it's specialities, but not everyone can afford a computer and every console that comes out.
Too many paper MCSE's. Makes mine harder to market. I wish Troytech, transcender, etc... would just go away. ANYBODY can take one of those cheater tests, memorize the answers, pass the real test, and be certified not knowing a damn thing about what they're certified in. Maybe, just maybe, people ought to study and, yes I'm going to say the dirty word, LEARN!!!!!!! I'm glad MS is revamping the tests, end-of-lifing the old one's and only letting you take the accelerated exam once and once only. Makes it harder to study. I hope they make all the new exams interactive. Sorry, just had to vent. Pisses me off when I run into MCSE's who doesn't even know how to change an IP address. TRUE story.
Cisco Monopoly?!?! Unfortunately I have had to deal with Bay switches and routers. 3Com, Ascend, Ramp Networks, Shiva, are also a few other popular names you might have heard of that make routers.
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Just the SQL portion of this "article" cracks me up. Anyone ever heard of terraserver, http://www.terraserver.com ? One of the world's largest databases. Running entirely on Microsoft database software. Directly from their site, "The TerraServer concept grew out of the convergence of two needs. Aerial Images, Inc. wanted to sell imagery online and Microsoft Research needed a large database to demonstrate the capabilities of its new database software. " and it works just great.
If their software can handle that large of a database then how the hell can this next statement from that "news" article have any sembelance of truth to it? "When Microsoft acquired Linkexchange (now bCentral), company officials tried to get rid of Oracle databases in favor of the company's own SQL Server.
"Some of the best folks from Redmond came down to make the change, but after two or three months they gave up and switched back to Oracle on Solaris, where it remains today," this reader wrote.
As I said before, what a complete load. If MS can handle terraserver, I'm sure the Bcentral database is no problem. I know everyone loves to bash MS but at least post something with some reality to it.
Why the hell are shoulder buttons on the GBA? Mobile games are already hard enough to hold onto and play at the same time, now you have two less fingers to support the bottom of the unit, not to mention making the two extra buttons hard to use. Try playing Street Fighter, etc... with a controller with F#*%ing shoulder buttons on any console. Just sucks. They had plenty of space on the front of the GBA to put all four buttons. They could of at least put the buttond on both the front and the top, that way you could decide which you like to use.
I've set up several W2k servers and workstations and have not had any problems with NT 4.0 shares being seen on the W2k server/workstation. Unfortunately I haven't had enough experience with Unix to answer the rest of the question. I'm not sure what your company is using the MS platform for other than word and peoplesoft as you said. Is e-mail going to come from an Exchange Server? If so, your company could set up Outlook Web Access and you can use your internet browser to check your e-mail. As far as getting documents back and forth, if they are just word documents, you could just save them HTML or RTF format. Or maybe just wait for that version of MS Office for Linux :) As far as peoplesoft I have no idea, never used it.
First off, what version of fdisk were you using?!?!?! When you run fdisk on against a hard drive that has NTFS partitions the newer versions of fdisk that come with W98 ask you ,"Would you like to treat NTFS permissions as large?" And yes it does recognize them, it can delete them, or whatever you like. To change the master boot record, you have to run FDISK /MBR from the command prompt. Actually all of this has to be ru from the command prompt, not a command prompt window under Windows.
As far as the standard VGA driver being loaded, I don't know exactly what video card you are using, but you are being completely unreasonable. Microsoft CANNOT be expected to supply litterally thousands of drivers for every video card out there to be shipped with windows. Do you realize how many video card driver cd's would have to be provided just so you don't have to go to the internet or heaven forbid, open the disk bundle the video card came with to install your driver. I know even Linux does not supply a driver for every video card in the world. Let alone as you put it,
"For Linux, all the drivers are on one CD, and the installer finds the right
one for you. THAT'S easy."
You've been lucky or you bought hardware that was on the list of Linux supported hardware. It's not possible for 1 CD to have drivers for every computer device in the world.
You also say,
"For a Compaq (don't
buy Compaq if you want to run windows), knowing your hardware is still a
big problem. Finding the drivers on the Compaq disk is painfull."
I agree 100% with the don't buy a Compaq. Friends don't let friends do Compaq, Packard Bell, etc.... But, you are placing the blame on the wrong company. Place the bad driver support issue where it belongs, COMPAQ. I don't know anyone with worse driver support.
Another comment you make, "By the way, administering NT on a home system doesn't seem any easier to me than the same chores on Linux. Maybe even harder, since at least with Linux, I know what's behind the GUI. You never really know that with MS." That just may be because you're used to the Linux interface. It feels the same for me on a Linux interface. 2 different ways to do the same thing. As far as getting behind the GUI, the CLI in windows is more powerful and informative than most people realize. There have been many times I've had to troubleshoot, diagnose, and repair NT systems strictly from the CLI since the GUI wasn't working properly.
I personally like both platforms, and both have their place. I just hate to read someone's opinion about windows that has had a bad experience and condemns the platform.
Windows handles upgrades just fine, provided you know what you're doing. The absolute first step is to remove the old drivers, preferably under safe mode. THEN install the new device and the new drivers. Safe mode also allows you to see every driver that is loaded on the system, whether or not it is loaded and present under device manager when Windows 9x boot into the normal mode. Those excess drivers that nobody bothers to take out properly are usually the cause of the conflicts when performing an upgrade.
When I was at Disney World in Florida a couple of months ago, they had a jean jacket that had a computer built into it. You push buttons that are made out of some kinda conductive thread and it plays piano notes. It had a battery pack that was sewn into the inside of the coat. I can't remember who they said invented it a couple of years ago, but the guy running the exhibit said there were a lot of people working on technology built around it. And yes, it could be washed, and no, you wouldn't be electricuted if you got caught in a rainstorm any more than if your amphibious Stomper (showing my age on that one) just happened to be in a pool with you.
Oh hurray, yet another faster? CPU. Flashback to the cheesey westerns, it's the all new Doc Johnson's Miracle Water, cures all that ails ya. First bottle free of course. I just feel a little apprehensive about new intel CPU's, especially since the PII(I) copper?!?!?!mine. And before I get a reply saying VLIW is new, the question is how long until the O/S is written for this new marvel of technology, let alone apps, games, etc... . From what I've read the new CPU doesn't perform 32 bit, let alone 16 bit apps worth a crap. I agree it's about damn time we go into the future, new 64 bit O/S, 64 bit Apps, etc, but it's not going to happen overnight.
It may not be 1280x1024 but you can get a VGA adapter for the Dreamcast that does 640x480. You can also buy the keyboard for the Dreamcast. As far as wanting a mouse for Quake, it's simple, don't buy it for your console, buy it for the computer. I agree that each platform has it's specialities, but not everyone can afford a computer and every console that comes out.
Too many paper MCSE's. Makes mine harder to market. I wish Troytech, transcender, etc... would just go away. ANYBODY can take one of those cheater tests, memorize the answers, pass the real test, and be certified not knowing a damn thing about what they're certified in. Maybe, just maybe, people ought to study and, yes I'm going to say the dirty word, LEARN!!!!!!! I'm glad MS is revamping the tests, end-of-lifing the old one's and only letting you take the accelerated exam once and once only. Makes it harder to study. I hope they make all the new exams interactive. Sorry, just had to vent. Pisses me off when I run into MCSE's who doesn't even know how to change an IP address. TRUE story.
Cisco Monopoly?!?! Unfortunately I have had to deal with Bay switches and routers. 3Com, Ascend, Ramp Networks, Shiva, are also a few other popular names you might have heard of that make routers.