Feh. Better than EA, who drops all support the instant the game hits the discount bin. Want to play Dungeon Keeper 2 on Windows XP? Too bad, it'll crash in minutes unless you turn off sound. Completely. This on a game where sound was one of its best features. These bastards even continue to sell this defective game to fill out a a multi-game-pack that claims to run on XP.
I must being doing something really bizarre, then, because aside from a random crash every so often (hours, not minutes), it runs perfectly and with sound on under XP Pro.
I've gotten the impression that in many other countries college/university students are treated like grade schoolers are treated here, shut up, pay attention and do as you're told at all times...
Being a (soon to graduate) college student in the US, I can say that aside from one or two exceptions, I have never had a professor with that attitude. If you kept in mind that you're expected to practice some common courtesy, like stepping outside to take calls, and turning phones off during exams, things were just fine.
Which countries/schools did you study in where you found it to be otherwise?
Another problem with Firefox is enabling javascript while having 20+ tabs open. CPU usage on my 1.8ghz 1 gig machine skyrockets to 90% to 100%.
All of these changes keeps Firefox from hogging my CPU and turning my 1.8 ghz machine into a 20mhz 386
Are you sure there's not something wrong with the rest of your system?
At the moment, i'm running Firefox 1.0 (with java, javascript, animations, and images on) with a total of 5 windows and 22 tabs open under WinXP on a P3 667....And my system is still completely usable, with CPU usage hanging around 22-29%. And that's with a bunch of other crap open as well, like Word, AIM, Winamp, etc.
We just connect to the web and use a small code generator to log into our bank. Well inside its just a matter of paying the bills and be done with it. All transactions is saved and can be viewed online. The need for an application eludes me so please enligth us non Americans.
I (in the US) do exactly the same as you do. I log into my bank's web system for free, whereupon I can look at all my transactions back to when I opened the account, see images of (some) checks i've paid people with, pay bills with no additional fees, transfer cash between accounts, etc.
What does quicken/MS Money do and why are they needed?
Financial management, which is quite a bit more involved than what you seem to be doing with your country's system.
I'm sorry if i'm just in a bad mood today, but there's a ton of freely available information on exactly what you can do with those two programs - why not spend 5 minutes looking at some of it before you make baseless posts like this?
Am i wrong in assuming the American banking system is a fairly bit behind those in use in other parts of the world?
Behind? Ahead? I don't really think so, at least from what you've said and the other Swedes I know.
So yes, I do think you're wrong. As someone's already said, the relationship between government and the banking industry is just rather different here than it is in your country.
It could have been anyone. You don't need your card to buy something under your name. Haven't you ever bought groceries before?
I guess it's different at Safeway, but at the store i'm using for the moment, I have to provide a driver's license if I forget my card and still want to use my account.
Glad i've seen this story now, at any rate. Going to be moving soon, and I sure won't be using Safeway wherever I end up.
The commercial weather incumbent couldnt warn these people. A camper in the internet cafe might of.
Supposing for a second that the campground did have an internet cafe (i've never seen one that did, but I guess they could be out there), is there some reason weather.com, WeatherUnderground or one of the other free weather sites would not have satisfied?
First, I use FireFox probably 99% of the time now. Due to quirks of my system somewhere, visiting a few of my favorite Flash-using sites still forces me to use IE from time to time.
That said:
As people will sometimes acidently find them selfs browsing using I.E
How do you "accidently" find yourself using IE? Have I missed something and it can't be quit anymore? Either you're using it to browse the page you're currently looking at and you know it, or you're not using it. And yes, I know about it being integrated with Windows, but it doesn't seem as if you're talking about that.
then when they have finished, will notice all the spyware and maybe infections on their machines.
I used IE exclusively for almost 5 years before I discovered Phoenix/Firebird/FireFox. I still use it from time to time for certain sites. I never had a problem with spyware or viruses. It all depends on what sites you visit, what you download, and what you install.
Perhaps FireFox is better at protecting users from the consequences of their own stupidity, but the browser is not completely to blame.
As they browse they will notice the annoying ad's, they will notice the most annoying and obtrusive things some websites do.
Spend a few minutes to install the Google toolbar or any of a bazillion free popup blockers, problem solved.
once they realise that somesites are forcing them to use internet explorer, they will turn away and shun the site.
People here love to claim how they'll never visit *insert site here* ever again, because they had to use IE/it had annoying animated GIFs/used Flash/etc., but do you really see normal users reacting that way? I'm not so sure.
Re:Did you have to be under 15 to vote?
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I'd love to get ST:TNG and DS9, but they're too expensive
What's up with sci-fi shows being so expensive?
Are they really that expensive? 7 discs at $116.99 is $16.71 per disc, or $4.49 per episode.
Maybe I just have a wierd sense of value, but that seems fine to me - i'm left wondering how low the price per disc would have to be before you'd buy it. Not every show can be sold as cheap as Firefly:)
Re:Did you have to be under 15 to vote?
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Top 50 DVDs
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compare it to the cost of other series, such as DS9 or TNG which run nearly $200 a season. it's a good deal in that respect.
DS9 is $116.99 per season, at least on Amazon. Considering that it's 7 discs, 26 episodes+special features...Slightly overpriced per disc, but pretty close to being worth the money for me.
STNG is about the same, $111.99, 26 episodes, 7 discs per season.
Because I actually replied and tried to address everything, I have too much time? Whatever.
You believe wrong.
Amazing logic! Truly, I have been humbled by your razor-sharp intellect.
Yeah, OO.o can't import some files. And that would be enough for some people. Instead of using native format.
Pretty much.
What you're describing windows as is gods gift.
Ah, yes. The wonderful Linux/OSS zealot reaction to anyone that claims Windows might actually be fairly usable.
Yes, I do think Windows is usable.
No, I do not think Windows is god's gift to mankind.
Yes, I think Windows has quite a few issues.
No, I do not think Linux is worthless.
That about covers it.
no HIG whatsoever (XP and Office 2003???? wtf????),
I don't recall mentioning anything about HIG in general, just specific programs.
Office 2003 may have flaws in the UI, but I still think it's better than what OO.org or Staroffice have achieved so far - and i've seen many other people voicing the same opinion. I'm sorry that you feel so upset by that.
virus prone,
Only, frankly, if you're an idiot, deliberately letting things get screwed up, or just generally not using common sense. If anything, Microsoft should share the blame with the users on this one.
If you actually use a slight bit of protection, don't open strange attachments in your email, and use some common sense about visiting the seedier parts of the Internet, it's pathetically easy to avoid getting a virus of any kind.
spyware prone.
See above.
Start menu without any sense. (why the fuck does every software have to make his submenu, can't M$ just make some restrictions base on software type?)
What makes no sense to you makes perfect sense to someone else.
Control panels that mess up configuration to level of insanity (things can be done simpler you know).
Maybe they can, but it sure as hell isn't under most flavors of Linux either. For anything non-trivial you still have to dive into text config files half the time, or deal with configuration tools that make absolutely no effort to explain what the setting you're changing actually does.
Ultra friendly network browser that never displays what I wuold like, only what I wouldn't like.)
Ahah! It doesn't work how you personally want it, so of course it must be total crap! Genius!
You obviously don't know how network neighborhood looks when you enter into 50-100 computer network
Actually, I do. And I also know how it looks with a network of about 2000 or so computers and printers. If you know where you're looking, and the admins don't have a completely nonsensical naming scheme, it's actually not too hard to find things.
If the admins/users have named all the devices with random arbitrary names...Well, who's fault is that?
Oh yes. Getting slower with time.
Mmmhmm. Have any actual benchmarks for that, or are you just spouting your personal opinion like fact again?
And most of all my dear dorothy. Why the fuck there's no simple way to stop desktop notifications? (don't offer registry key or tweakit, you were talking about grandma)
Why should there be a simple way to do that? If you're advanced and/or knowledgable enough to want all the notifications turned off, then you can do it the slightly harder way. Try here, tip #012. Only takes adding one value on one key in the registry.
You said you use antivirus, ad-aware and firefox. Does typical grandma install these?? Or she just uses what system offers?
Antivirus: If she bought a pre-made system, chances are very good that one was already installed. If she had someone build
Do you, like grandma, click on every link in sight and then call me about the porn popups?
No, I use Firefox and run a full Ad-Aware and virus scan once a month. Certainly something that could be put into practice for our hypothetical grandma - both the virus/adware scans can be scheduled and automatically run, and Firefox on Windows even has an easy-to-use installer now.
If you or someone else can get at her computer for a couple minutes, you could delete or hide any way for her to easily start IE, as well.
It seems like you are comparing installing Windows to installing a complete GNU/Linux system.
Fine, let's go through what you mention then.
Are you including installing office
Only if it hasn't been pre-installed, and chances are good that it has been, especially on the system options available to our non-power-user possible grandmother. Even if you do have to install it, you stick the first CD, enter the product key, and click "Next" a few times, possibly swapping CDs. Might take 30-45 mins.
Oh, and WinZip
winzip.com, download the installer, run it. The full install might take 5 minutes at the most, more or less depending on imaginary grandma's internet connection speed. I just tried doing an install here, and it took 65 seconds from the time I started downloading the file to the time it was installed ready for use.
photoshop
Also a pretty trivial install, assuming bizzaro-grandma has the CD key handy. It's been a while since I installed it myself, I don't remember it taking more than 15 minutes or so though.
and an image viewer (so either grandma or you can browse your collection of kitty pictures)
AFAIK, there's an image viewer built right into XP, that will let you view all pictures in a folder with a sort of slideshow interface.
and flash
www.shockwave.com or search for "Flash Player" in Google, go the first result, and download the installer.
I forget if there's a reboot involved with the install, but it shouldn't take more than 5 or 10 minutes unless her system is unusually slow.
and acrobat
Same thing. adobe.com, click the "Get Adobe Reader" link, answer a couple questions, download the installer. 5-10 minutes if you have broadband.
getting the god damned webcam to work and etc, etc, etc?
Depending on the maker, this could be either massively easier or harder than under Linux. Not really relevant here, I think, as it could be a pain on both sides.
I'm not really touting anything. I use Fedora. If you like Madrake better, god bless you. If you like windows better, god help you. I don't really care what your preference is, but I will do my best to deflate any FUD.
You claimed installing Fedora was no harder than installing Windows. I believe that is not true. Hence my comments.
If you're not touting anything, and meant to compare a Windows install to a GNU/Linux install in general, then perhaps you should have left a specific distro name out of it.
I'll grant you that it's easiest to eat whatever's in the trough. That didn't seem to be at issue, though.
I've tried the various OpenOffice components, Staroffice, and Abiword. None of them worked better than MS Office for me, unfortunately - varying degrees of slowness, bad UI design, and crashes. I've seen many comments from others reporting the same sorts of experiences.
That's all I can say, really. There's a reason so many people continue to use MS Office, and it might not be what you think.
Don't get me wrong, i'd have nothing but good-will towards an actual free rival, but none of the products i've seen are at that level yet.
You seem to live in a magical land where pixies frolic and windows doesn't have to be reinstalled every six months like fucking clockwork.
I must, because i've had Win XP Pro on my system for 2.5 years and counting so far, without a single reinstall. I'll make sure to greet the pixies for you.
Hrm. I installed Fedora on my system (no harder than installing windows)
Speak for yourself. Including all the configuration and after-the-fact tweaking to get everything working right and updated, it took probably twice as long when I tried it about 6 months ago.
One would think you'd at least tout something like Mandrake, being that it's actually made with a focus on ease-of-use and newbie-friendliness.
(just like launching Word, except it was included in the OS install).
A very insignificant advantage for a lot of mainstream users, considering that Office is included by default or choice with a huge number of new computers these days.
I have to agree - I haven't used MS Office much under OSX, but I can't say i've noticed any speed problems yet.
Same with the Windows version (except for Outlook - even on my wife's 2.4 P4 machine it still crawls on startup), though I assume the submitter wasn't concerned with that.
I play Enemy Territory all the time. As well as the UT series and Quake as well. Doom 3 is coming soon. Neverwinter Nights was fun
Interestingly enough, the only games I really find more enjoyable on PC vs my PS2 or Xbox are FPS. And those are the ones best supported under linux.
That pretty much sums up the problem with Linux gaming in a nutshell - if you want to play a commercial game that's not an FPS or the odd (MMO)RPG, you're pretty much out of luck.
I can tackle a good number of games using Cedega.
Define "tackle" and "good number". Transgaming's list of games playable without major problems and/or lots of time needed for tweaking is very short, and pretty much consists of the game types mentioned above, with a few exceptions.
So, what the blurb is saying is that people are communicating with people instead of watching television - and that is seen as cutting socializing time?
In my experience, lots of (older) people don't seem to take socializing over the 'Net as "real". Especially if you're never in physical proximity to whoever you're socializing with, then it's even farther out of their league.
And disregarding the slashdot blurb, if this is communicating with friends using IM or email, rather than by phone (as seems to be the case among people I know), how is that in any ways worse?
It's not worse, at least for me. But there's something built up in the minds of many people to the effect of phone = voice = better. I suspect if voice chat was more widespread, there wouldn't be that negative comparison.
Among who? Teenagers and young adults that think anything without massive blood, gore, and other "mature" elements is too cutsey and embarassing for them to play? I'd almost venture that while Nintendo might be losing some money by somewhat excluding that segment, their games and design philosophy are better for it.
Don't make purple consoles, while I think nothing of it there are a lot of stupid people who didn't buy the console cause it looked 'gay'
This comes back to the maturity issue. I think Nintendo is better off without attracting customers that would think something like that.
For the umpteenth time, I think this comic is appropriate.
Everyone buys the black ones, so when you go to a store and see nothing but purple gamecube's
I'll have to take your word for it, because i've never actually seen that happen in any store i've been in for the last 2 years. Even when the platinum-colored ones were still quasi-limited, I had no trouble at all finding one the day I got mine - the first store (EB) I went to had them in stock.
but when looking at the sleek black and green Xbox
XBox....Sleek? You're joking, right?
Nintendo ALSO needs to suck it up about their "WE know what is best for the gamer" attitude. They have said that, basically, in many interviews over the recent years.
Maybe they DO know best? Millions of people enjoy their products very much, they're still a profitable company, and they're generally not going anywhere for a good long time.
Oddly enough, even a lot of us who voted for Bush agree with a lot of these ideas, but the Dems must have *wanted* to lose. If they wanted to win they could have put someone worth a damn up to bat, I certainly would have voted for him
True, pretty much. I liked a lot of things about Kerry, but he also made some mind-numbingly idiotic moves that really sunk his chances.
Given how pathetic Bush is for a choice, Kerry was insulting. Neither choice was acceptable.
I wouldn't go that far. I have to wonder how Kerry would have handled the morass of problems Bush built up, though - it's probably best (for him, anyway) that he didn't win, as much as that admission pains me.
My point was not a discussion on the leftness or rightness of our political parties. My point was that you're insisting on lumping all Americans together inside one monolithic worldview. That is wrong, whether it's regarding the US, Sweden, or any other country.
Personally, all the Swedes i've ever met (except for one, and she immigrated from someone else) have come off as being arrogant, anti-American, slightly bigoted, and generally exuding the attitude that they and their views are completely superior to mine.
Despite that, I realize that the small number of people i've met from your country are (hopefully) not representative of the whole population, and that I cannot generalize about the personalities of so many people from such a small sample.
You're NOT the saviour of the world - and you would know all this if you actually studied the facts instead of listening to the official doctrine along with the rest of the american sheeple.
Way to generalize. I love how Americans would get figuratively flayed alive if they tried spewing such things about other countries, but somehow it's okay for everyone else to assume that all US citizens are mindless drones and support the "official doctrine" unconditionally.
And since it seems pertinent to this point, from your website:
To my american readers. You're not under attack. There are no wars you need to fight. You should look after your own country instead of pretending to be the world police. You need to elect a leader with at least half a brain - and get rid of your two party system as quickly as you can
Almost half the country (including myself) tried, my friend. I get the feeling people like you wouldn't be happy with anything short of a violent revolution, though.
Again, you seem to think that the entire country is akin to a hive-mind - we're all fat, warmongering, right-wing nutjobs.
No responsibility has been thrust on your country for anything, you decided that rather than doing anything about Osama Bin Laden and the actual terrorists responsible for 9/11 you'd first of all invade Afghanistan and then later Iraq which had absolutley nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11.
What you should have done after 9/11 is accept that terrorism can happen, try and track down the actual people responsible for that terrorism.
What you should not have done is make up this whole Al Quida global terrorist conspiracy crap and then used that as an excuse to invade Iraq, set up concentration camps on remote islands and enact a load of repressive and basically illegal laws to support your delusions.
See, this is part of the problem. A lot of non-Americans ( and Europeans in particular ) seem to have a tough time realizing that the actions of the US government are not always supported/agreed with by all ( or even most ) of our citizens.
Never mind the fact that a sizable portion of us Americans didn't support the policies you're ranting about, have tried to change everything within our power, and totally despise the current administration...Just keep on with the generalizing and assuming.
Like someone said above, anti-Americanism seems to be in fashion these days, or at least acceptable - no doubt it makes you feel better about yourself somehow.
Here we have a person that is very much talented towards computers, a person who knows a lot and a person who could potentially bring big innovations and discoveries to mankind.
No, here we have a first-class idiot that felt breaking into a NASA system to illegally use their storage space (likely to set up a public FTP full of pirated movies) was preferable to something semi-sane like buying another hard drive or server.
I guarantee you there's plenty of law-abiding people out there that vastly outclass this kid in terms of bringing "big innovations and discoveries to mankind."
Lets all beat the hell out of him before he unfolds something that should be kept hidden... Or better yet, so he never gets to be anything the 'general' public is...
What does breaking into a government system to store pirated movies have to do with what you're insinuating?
Is the 'law' still protecting the public or beginning to get in the way of technological advancement?
People manage to find, report, and fix security holes without unlawfully breaking into government computer systems. Imagine that, eh?
Not to mention the fact that, yet again, he wasn't trying to expose security holes, he was trying to save money by storing pirated movies on someone else's space.
he characters in the grid were a '.' for empty space, a '*' for a star, a 'p' for a planet, an 'E' for the Enterprise, a 'K' for a Klingon, and an 'S' for the dreaded 'Super Commander' (oooooo!)
You're thinking of Star Trek, I think:) I do remember that game - lots of fun, I think there's a slightly updated (but still ancient) version out there somewhere.
I've tried WineX before (in 2002), and ended up uninstalling and canceling my subscription in disgust....It doesn't seem like it's massively improved since then.
The feeling I get from my experience, a lot of Transgaming's info, and the info that people post, is that it works beautifully with the relatively new FPS and MMORPG games, but a lot of other stuff is hit and miss.
A quick search of their games db would seem to bear this out - out of 1171 games, 48 are rated "5", 56 are rated "4", and the rest either have less than a 4 rating or are unrated.
Slashdot Mirror
Feh. Better than EA, who drops all support the instant the game hits the discount bin. Want to play Dungeon Keeper 2 on Windows XP? Too bad, it'll crash in minutes unless you turn off sound. Completely. This on a game where sound was one of its best features. These bastards even continue to sell this defective game to fill out a a multi-game-pack that claims to run on XP.
I must being doing something really bizarre, then, because aside from a random crash every so often (hours, not minutes), it runs perfectly and with sound on under XP Pro.
I've gotten the impression that in many other countries college/university students are treated like grade schoolers are treated here, shut up, pay attention and do as you're told at all times...
Being a (soon to graduate) college student in the US, I can say that aside from one or two exceptions, I have never had a professor with that attitude. If you kept in mind that you're expected to practice some common courtesy, like stepping outside to take calls, and turning phones off during exams, things were just fine.
Which countries/schools did you study in where you found it to be otherwise?
Another problem with Firefox is enabling javascript while having 20+ tabs open. CPU usage on my 1.8ghz 1 gig machine skyrockets to 90% to 100%.
All of these changes keeps Firefox from hogging my CPU and turning my 1.8 ghz machine into a 20mhz 386
Are you sure there's not something wrong with the rest of your system?
At the moment, i'm running Firefox 1.0 (with java, javascript, animations, and images on) with a total of 5 windows and 22 tabs open under WinXP on a P3 667....And my system is still completely usable, with CPU usage hanging around 22-29%. And that's with a bunch of other crap open as well, like Word, AIM, Winamp, etc.
We just connect to the web and use a small code generator to log into our bank. Well inside its just a matter of paying the bills and be done with it. All transactions is saved and can be viewed online. The need for an application eludes me so please enligth us non Americans.
I (in the US) do exactly the same as you do. I log into my bank's web system for free, whereupon I can look at all my transactions back to when I opened the account, see images of (some) checks i've paid people with, pay bills with no additional fees, transfer cash between accounts, etc.
What does quicken/MS Money do and why are they needed?
Financial management, which is quite a bit more involved than what you seem to be doing with your country's system.
I'm sorry if i'm just in a bad mood today, but there's a ton of freely available information on exactly what you can do with those two programs - why not spend 5 minutes looking at some of it before you make baseless posts like this?
Am i wrong in assuming the American banking system is a fairly bit behind those in use in other parts of the world?
Behind? Ahead? I don't really think so, at least from what you've said and the other Swedes I know.
So yes, I do think you're wrong. As someone's already said, the relationship between government and the banking industry is just rather different here than it is in your country.
It could have been anyone. You don't need your card to buy something under your name. Haven't you ever bought groceries before?
I guess it's different at Safeway, but at the store i'm using for the moment, I have to provide a driver's license if I forget my card and still want to use my account.
Glad i've seen this story now, at any rate. Going to be moving soon, and I sure won't be using Safeway wherever I end up.
The commercial weather incumbent couldnt warn these people. A camper in the internet cafe might of.
Supposing for a second that the campground did have an internet cafe (i've never seen one that did, but I guess they could be out there), is there some reason weather.com, WeatherUnderground or one of the other free weather sites would not have satisfied?
First, I use FireFox probably 99% of the time now. Due to quirks of my system somewhere, visiting a few of my favorite Flash-using sites still forces me to use IE from time to time.
That said:
As people will sometimes acidently find them selfs browsing using I.E
How do you "accidently" find yourself using IE? Have I missed something and it can't be quit anymore? Either you're using it to browse the page you're currently looking at and you know it, or you're not using it. And yes, I know about it being integrated with Windows, but it doesn't seem as if you're talking about that.
then when they have finished, will notice all the spyware and maybe infections on their machines.
I used IE exclusively for almost 5 years before I discovered Phoenix/Firebird/FireFox. I still use it from time to time for certain sites. I never had a problem with spyware or viruses. It all depends on what sites you visit, what you download, and what you install.
Perhaps FireFox is better at protecting users from the consequences of their own stupidity, but the browser is not completely to blame.
As they browse they will notice the annoying ad's, they will notice the most annoying and obtrusive things some websites do.
Spend a few minutes to install the Google toolbar or any of a bazillion free popup blockers, problem solved.
once they realise that somesites are forcing them to use internet explorer, they will turn away and shun the site.
People here love to claim how they'll never visit *insert site here* ever again, because they had to use IE/it had annoying animated GIFs/used Flash/etc., but do you really see normal users reacting that way? I'm not so sure.
I'd love to get ST:TNG and DS9, but they're too expensive
:)
What's up with sci-fi shows being so expensive?
Are they really that expensive? 7 discs at $116.99 is $16.71 per disc, or $4.49 per episode.
Maybe I just have a wierd sense of value, but that seems fine to me - i'm left wondering how low the price per disc would have to be before you'd buy it. Not every show can be sold as cheap as Firefly
compare it to the cost of other series, such as DS9 or TNG which run nearly $200 a season. it's a good deal in that respect.
DS9 is $116.99 per season, at least on Amazon. Considering that it's 7 discs, 26 episodes+special features...Slightly overpriced per disc, but pretty close to being worth the money for me.
STNG is about the same, $111.99, 26 episodes, 7 discs per season.
Oh, god. Some people really have too much time.
Because I actually replied and tried to address everything, I have too much time? Whatever.
You believe wrong.
Amazing logic! Truly, I have been humbled by your razor-sharp intellect.
Yeah, OO.o can't import some files. And that would be enough for some people. Instead of using native format.
Pretty much.
What you're describing windows as is gods gift.
Ah, yes. The wonderful Linux/OSS zealot reaction to anyone that claims Windows might actually be fairly usable.
Yes, I do think Windows is usable.
No, I do not think Windows is god's gift to mankind.
Yes, I think Windows has quite a few issues.
No, I do not think Linux is worthless.
That about covers it.
no HIG whatsoever (XP and Office 2003???? wtf????),
I don't recall mentioning anything about HIG in general, just specific programs.
Office 2003 may have flaws in the UI, but I still think it's better than what OO.org or Staroffice have achieved so far - and i've seen many other people voicing the same opinion. I'm sorry that you feel so upset by that.
virus prone,
Only, frankly, if you're an idiot, deliberately letting things get screwed up, or just generally not using common sense. If anything, Microsoft should share the blame with the users on this one.
If you actually use a slight bit of protection, don't open strange attachments in your email, and use some common sense about visiting the seedier parts of the Internet, it's pathetically easy to avoid getting a virus of any kind.
spyware prone.
See above.
Start menu without any sense. (why the fuck does every software have to make his submenu, can't M$ just make some restrictions base on software type?)
What makes no sense to you makes perfect sense to someone else.
Control panels that mess up configuration to level of insanity (things can be done simpler you know).
Maybe they can, but it sure as hell isn't under most flavors of Linux either. For anything non-trivial you still have to dive into text config files half the time, or deal with configuration tools that make absolutely no effort to explain what the setting you're changing actually does.
Ultra friendly network browser that never displays what I wuold like, only what I wouldn't like.)
Ahah! It doesn't work how you personally want it, so of course it must be total crap! Genius!
You obviously don't know how network neighborhood looks when you enter into 50-100 computer network
Actually, I do. And I also know how it looks with a network of about 2000 or so computers and printers. If you know where you're looking, and the admins don't have a completely nonsensical naming scheme, it's actually not too hard to find things.
If the admins/users have named all the devices with random arbitrary names...Well, who's fault is that?
Oh yes. Getting slower with time.
Mmmhmm. Have any actual benchmarks for that, or are you just spouting your personal opinion like fact again?
And most of all my dear dorothy. Why the fuck there's no simple way to stop desktop notifications? (don't offer registry key or tweakit, you were talking about grandma)
Why should there be a simple way to do that? If you're advanced and/or knowledgable enough to want all the notifications turned off, then you can do it the slightly harder way. Try here, tip #012. Only takes adding one value on one key in the registry.
You said you use antivirus, ad-aware and firefox. Does typical grandma install these?? Or she just uses what system offers?
Antivirus: If she bought a pre-made system, chances are very good that one was already installed. If she had someone build
Do you, like grandma, click on every link in sight and then call me about the porn popups?
No, I use Firefox and run a full Ad-Aware and virus scan once a month. Certainly something that could be put into practice for our hypothetical grandma - both the virus/adware scans can be scheduled and automatically run, and Firefox on Windows even has an easy-to-use installer now.
If you or someone else can get at her computer for a couple minutes, you could delete or hide any way for her to easily start IE, as well.
It seems like you are comparing installing Windows to installing a complete GNU/Linux system.
Fine, let's go through what you mention then.
Are you including installing office
Only if it hasn't been pre-installed, and chances are good that it has been, especially on the system options available to our non-power-user possible grandmother. Even if you do have to install it, you stick the first CD, enter the product key, and click "Next" a few times, possibly swapping CDs. Might take 30-45 mins.
Oh, and WinZip
winzip.com, download the installer, run it. The full install might take 5 minutes at the most, more or less depending on imaginary grandma's internet connection speed. I just tried doing an install here, and it took 65 seconds from the time I started downloading the file to the time it was installed ready for use.
photoshop
Also a pretty trivial install, assuming bizzaro-grandma has the CD key handy. It's been a while since I installed it myself, I don't remember it taking more than 15 minutes or so though.
and an image viewer (so either grandma or you can browse your collection of kitty pictures)
AFAIK, there's an image viewer built right into XP, that will let you view all pictures in a folder with a sort of slideshow interface.
and flash
www.shockwave.com or search for "Flash Player" in Google, go the first result, and download the installer.
I forget if there's a reboot involved with the install, but it shouldn't take more than 5 or 10 minutes unless her system is unusually slow.
and acrobat
Same thing. adobe.com, click the "Get Adobe Reader" link, answer a couple questions, download the installer. 5-10 minutes if you have broadband.
getting the god damned webcam to work and etc, etc, etc?
Depending on the maker, this could be either massively easier or harder than under Linux. Not really relevant here, I think, as it could be a pain on both sides.
I'm not really touting anything. I use Fedora. If you like Madrake better, god bless you. If you like windows better, god help you. I don't really care what your preference is, but I will do my best to deflate any FUD.
You claimed installing Fedora was no harder than installing Windows. I believe that is not true. Hence my comments.
If you're not touting anything, and meant to compare a Windows install to a GNU/Linux install in general, then perhaps you should have left a specific distro name out of it.
I'll grant you that it's easiest to eat whatever's in the trough. That didn't seem to be at issue, though.
I've tried the various OpenOffice components, Staroffice, and Abiword. None of them worked better than MS Office for me, unfortunately - varying degrees of slowness, bad UI design, and crashes. I've seen many comments from others reporting the same sorts of experiences.
That's all I can say, really. There's a reason so many people continue to use MS Office, and it might not be what you think.
Don't get me wrong, i'd have nothing but good-will towards an actual free rival, but none of the products i've seen are at that level yet.
You seem to live in a magical land where pixies frolic and windows doesn't have to be reinstalled every six months like fucking clockwork.
I must, because i've had Win XP Pro on my system for 2.5 years and counting so far, without a single reinstall. I'll make sure to greet the pixies for you.
Hrm. I installed Fedora on my system (no harder than installing windows)
Speak for yourself. Including all the configuration and after-the-fact tweaking to get everything working right and updated, it took probably twice as long when I tried it about 6 months ago.
One would think you'd at least tout something like Mandrake, being that it's actually made with a focus on ease-of-use and newbie-friendliness.
(just like launching Word, except it was included in the OS install).
A very insignificant advantage for a lot of mainstream users, considering that Office is included by default or choice with a huge number of new computers these days.
I have to agree - I haven't used MS Office much under OSX, but I can't say i've noticed any speed problems yet.
Same with the Windows version (except for Outlook - even on my wife's 2.4 P4 machine it still crawls on startup), though I assume the submitter wasn't concerned with that.
I play Enemy Territory all the time. As well as the UT series and Quake as well. Doom 3 is coming soon. Neverwinter Nights was fun
Interestingly enough, the only games I really find more enjoyable on PC vs my PS2 or Xbox are FPS. And those are the ones best supported under linux.
That pretty much sums up the problem with Linux gaming in a nutshell - if you want to play a commercial game that's not an FPS or the odd (MMO)RPG, you're pretty much out of luck.
I can tackle a good number of games using Cedega.
Define "tackle" and "good number". Transgaming's list of games playable without major problems and/or lots of time needed for tweaking is very short, and pretty much consists of the game types mentioned above, with a few exceptions.
So, what the blurb is saying is that people are communicating with people instead of watching television - and that is seen as cutting socializing time?
In my experience, lots of (older) people don't seem to take socializing over the 'Net as "real". Especially if you're never in physical proximity to whoever you're socializing with, then it's even farther out of their league.
And disregarding the slashdot blurb, if this is communicating with friends using IM or email, rather than by phone (as seems to be the case among people I know), how is that in any ways worse?
It's not worse, at least for me. But there's something built up in the minds of many people to the effect of phone = voice = better. I suspect if voice chat was more widespread, there wouldn't be that negative comparison.
They have completely messed up their entire image
Among who? Teenagers and young adults that think anything without massive blood, gore, and other "mature" elements is too cutsey and embarassing for them to play? I'd almost venture that while Nintendo might be losing some money by somewhat excluding that segment, their games and design philosophy are better for it.
Don't make purple consoles, while I think nothing of it there are a lot of stupid people who didn't buy the console cause it looked 'gay'
This comes back to the maturity issue. I think Nintendo is better off without attracting customers that would think something like that.
For the umpteenth time, I think this comic is appropriate.
Everyone buys the black ones, so when you go to a store and see nothing but purple gamecube's
I'll have to take your word for it, because i've never actually seen that happen in any store i've been in for the last 2 years. Even when the platinum-colored ones were still quasi-limited, I had no trouble at all finding one the day I got mine - the first store (EB) I went to had them in stock.
but when looking at the sleek black and green Xbox
XBox....Sleek? You're joking, right?
Nintendo ALSO needs to suck it up about their "WE know what is best for the gamer" attitude. They have said that, basically, in many interviews over the recent years.
Maybe they DO know best? Millions of people enjoy their products very much, they're still a profitable company, and they're generally not going anywhere for a good long time.
Oddly enough, even a lot of us who voted for Bush agree with a lot of these ideas, but the Dems must have *wanted* to lose. If they wanted to win they could have put someone worth a damn up to bat, I certainly would have voted for him
True, pretty much. I liked a lot of things about Kerry, but he also made some mind-numbingly idiotic moves that really sunk his chances.
Given how pathetic Bush is for a choice, Kerry was insulting. Neither choice was acceptable.
I wouldn't go that far. I have to wonder how Kerry would have handled the morass of problems Bush built up, though - it's probably best (for him, anyway) that he didn't win, as much as that admission pains me.
My point was not a discussion on the leftness or rightness of our political parties. My point was that you're insisting on lumping all Americans together inside one monolithic worldview. That is wrong, whether it's regarding the US, Sweden, or any other country.
Personally, all the Swedes i've ever met (except for one, and she immigrated from someone else) have come off as being arrogant, anti-American, slightly bigoted, and generally exuding the attitude that they and their views are completely superior to mine.
Despite that, I realize that the small number of people i've met from your country are (hopefully) not representative of the whole population, and that I cannot generalize about the personalities of so many people from such a small sample.
You're NOT the saviour of the world - and you would know all this if you actually studied the facts instead of listening to the official doctrine along with the rest of the american sheeple.
Way to generalize. I love how Americans would get figuratively flayed alive if they tried spewing such things about other countries, but somehow it's okay for everyone else to assume that all US citizens are mindless drones and support the "official doctrine" unconditionally.
And since it seems pertinent to this point, from your website:
To my american readers. You're not under attack. There are no wars you need to fight. You should look after your own country instead of pretending to be the world police. You need to elect a leader with at least half a brain - and get rid of your two party system as quickly as you can
Almost half the country (including myself) tried, my friend. I get the feeling people like you wouldn't be happy with anything short of a violent revolution, though.
Again, you seem to think that the entire country is akin to a hive-mind - we're all fat, warmongering, right-wing nutjobs.
No responsibility has been thrust on your country for anything, you decided that rather than doing anything about Osama Bin Laden and the actual terrorists responsible for 9/11 you'd first of all invade Afghanistan and then later Iraq which had absolutley nothing whatsoever to do with 9/11.
What you should have done after 9/11 is accept that terrorism can happen, try and track down the actual people responsible for that terrorism.
What you should not have done is make up this whole Al Quida global terrorist conspiracy crap and then used that as an excuse to invade Iraq, set up concentration camps on remote islands and enact a load of repressive and basically illegal laws to support your delusions.
See, this is part of the problem. A lot of non-Americans ( and Europeans in particular ) seem to have a tough time realizing that the actions of the US government are not always supported/agreed with by all ( or even most ) of our citizens.
Never mind the fact that a sizable portion of us Americans didn't support the policies you're ranting about, have tried to change everything within our power, and totally despise the current administration...Just keep on with the generalizing and assuming.
Like someone said above, anti-Americanism seems to be in fashion these days, or at least acceptable - no doubt it makes you feel better about yourself somehow.
Here we have a person that is very much talented towards computers, a person who knows a lot and a person who could potentially bring big innovations and discoveries to mankind.
No, here we have a first-class idiot that felt breaking into a NASA system to illegally use their storage space (likely to set up a public FTP full of pirated movies) was preferable to something semi-sane like buying another hard drive or server.
I guarantee you there's plenty of law-abiding people out there that vastly outclass this kid in terms of bringing "big innovations and discoveries to mankind."
Lets all beat the hell out of him before he unfolds something that should be kept hidden... Or better yet, so he never gets to be anything the 'general' public is...
What does breaking into a government system to store pirated movies have to do with what you're insinuating?
Is the 'law' still protecting the public or beginning to get in the way of technological advancement?
People manage to find, report, and fix security holes without unlawfully breaking into government computer systems. Imagine that, eh?
Not to mention the fact that, yet again, he wasn't trying to expose security holes, he was trying to save money by storing pirated movies on someone else's space.
This is what I was thinking of. EGATrek :)
And before someone points out that 'Star Trek' != 'Star Wars', I ask, what's the difference? :D
:):P
If you ever considered yourself a geek/nerd, I think you just lost the privilege
The first 'Star Wars' game
:) I do remember that game - lots of fun, I think there's a slightly updated (but still ancient) version out there somewhere.
he characters in the grid were a '.' for empty space, a '*' for a star, a 'p' for a planet, an 'E' for the Enterprise, a 'K' for a Klingon, and an 'S' for the dreaded 'Super Commander' (oooooo!)
You're thinking of Star Trek, I think
I've tried WineX before (in 2002), and ended up uninstalling and canceling my subscription in disgust....It doesn't seem like it's massively improved since then.
The feeling I get from my experience, a lot of Transgaming's info, and the info that people post, is that it works beautifully with the relatively new FPS and MMORPG games, but a lot of other stuff is hit and miss.
A quick search of their games db would seem to bear this out - out of 1171 games, 48 are rated "5", 56 are rated "4", and the rest either have less than a 4 rating or are unrated.