Windows XP Service Pack 1a was merely a release that made them compliant with the Java VM lawsuit. SP1a does not include Microsoft's version of the virtual machine.
I've been employed since 17, directly out of high school. There's several things that I think contribute to being able to keep up without much of anything. The first is finding a good employer... this can be extremely difficult. I got lucky. The second is the ability to simply follow directions and/or learn when you need to. When they ask for something, provide it. You might have to learn something to do it, but hey, that's the fun part. The third is knowing people who know people... any job I've ever had, I've gotten through people I know, and the company I work for goes for employee referals before anything else.
One could also make the statement that because Macs are marketed toward (and purportedly purchased by) those who know nothing about computers, they are less likely to go on wild adventures in their operating systems, unlike those who use Windows who may or may not be technically savvy.
I just signed up for SpeakEasy and am ditching SBC for this exact reason.
I have plenty of legitimate uses for my upstream... for instance, the company I work for uses Cisco IP telephony, and when I work from home I use their softphone software. Voice takes up a good portion of bandwidth, and several people in my house work where I work.
They have a special this month, though - 69.99 for 1.5Mb/768k. Not a bad deal at all.
Sorry, my mistake on this one... I wasn't paying attention. I don't think you can roll back using SUS. I'm running SMS (Systems Management Server) with the SUS Feature Pack. SMS is a lot more comprehensive than SUS, and alas, is not free.
Pretty much nothing in our setup is free, as you would expect with anything from Microsoft. I realize that's a huge point with most people here, but that doesn't negate the ability to do it. Sorry that it's of no use to you, though!:/
I've had a lot of experience with Netware, and I loved it until version 6. So far, it's been a bit of a nightmare... it seems like third party application support is becoming extremely poor. Should be interesting to see how Netware 7 runs, given that they will have a version running the Linux kernel with Netware services on top of it.
Active Directory provides facilities for the distribution of software to workstations and users based on policy. Users can choose what they want off of the list which displays in "Add/Remove Programs". All system updates can be deployed (and rolled back if needed) using SUS. Not only that, I have full control over every single machine within the domain, and restrict or grant access to nearly any part of Windows on a per-user or per-computer basis.
Remote Installation Services gives me the ability to install workstations by booting off the network card, and the installation is fully automated. Most, if not all configuration changes can be made pre-install, so that post-installation configuration is virtually unneccesary.
What... you didn't know you could do that with Windows? It's generally a good idea to know what you're talking about before making comments on it.
I agree that automatic updates should be something every causal user should have implemented. They simply don't know enough to properly administrate a computer and keep themselves from getting viruses and such.
However, I also think that the community as a whole is a bit irresponsible. If you should something long enough, soon people will hear you... and when I find people I know talking about Linux who really don't know anything about computers, I'd say the voice of the community is certainly reaching the average user. The FUD coming from this side of the fence nearly equals that of Microsoft. Despite what everyone thinks, Microsoft isn't necessarily out to get everyone when they change their EULA that allows them to do something they couldn't before... companies have to cover themselves from frivolous lawsuits as well, and I would think that Microsoft is more wary of this due to the hostility and negative image with the courts.
So, after so much screaming and yelling that Microsoft's updates are the devil, is it any surprise that people have learned how to disable it?
The system is extremely unimpressive. The graphics are squished on a screen that's much too small for the kinds of games they are trying to pull off. Because the system is also a phone, the buttons are not located in any sort of comfortable position for playing games. I asked one of the reps at their booth, and they didn't seem to have many games coming up, either.
This is an idea that could have been big, but there's simply a huge lack of effort, and I think Nokia's inexperience in the gaming market doesn't help either.
I don't know what sort of technology you're referring to.
In our office, we're running a Cisco IP Telephony system, and it requires powered ethernet switches to run. The switches are powered switches, but they run over standard CAT5... I don't see how this would be a problem. Why would you have your switch and patch cables already all hooked up to your patch panel before you patched?
Nobody said you had to give a damn about them. I was simply responding to the frequently asked question of "Why isn't open source more popular?". It seems to be a hot topic on Slashdot pretty frequently. So, while you might not give a damn, many people do.
Nobody likes to be disrespected, and people go to great lengths to gain that respect, sometimes at a cost to themselves. In light of that, yes -- many "suits" will choose another route over open source, because that aspect of it is very important. Keep in mind, there are other aspects that contribute to the problem as well... this is merely a single facet.
...corporate managers would be more willing to work with things such as open source, when the open source community stops referring to them by childish names.
While the attitudes represented here on Slashdot assuredly are not indicative of many who contribute to open source, it's silly to think that the attitudes that frequently show themselves here do not get back to these people. Many of them do read sites such as Slashdot, and until the community can manage to present itself in a respectable manner, and in a way that's acceptable to corporate culture, I don't think widespread adoption will take place.
There's definitely promise in open source, which is why you see companies like IBM and Red Hat attempting to put a polished corporate face that people can associate with on Linux. They're trying to bridge the massive gap between the way corporate managers think, and the way your average Slashdot reader thinks. However, the community has a loud voice... and unfortunately, frequently all that comes out of it is sarcasm and snide comments. These companies can only do so much.
Actually, the song was not only arranged around "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band, the lyrics were somewhat lifted and the song was also arranged around "Angel of the Morning", by Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts. Juice Newton's version is a remake of the one by Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts.:)
Yeah... I think the really key thing is having two points of protection. The additional services don't seem to be too cost prohibitiive, and the added benefit from them easily pays off. The spam filtering is also a nice bonus, because I *know* I should be getting tons of spam by now.:)
The company I work for has a twofold solution which has effectively stopped *anything* from getting through to our system. I haven't seen a virus make it through since it's been implemented.
On the top half, we have an intermediate company called Big Fish scan our e-mail as it comes through, and then it passes it on to our Exchange server. On the Exchange server, we're running Norton Antivirus for Exchange.
The added benefit of the intermediate company, is that they also effectively remove 99% of all spam, and all of my normal e-mail gets through. They save all discarded e-mails so you can see how good of a job it does - so far, it's been perfect.
The most I've ever actually coded in a single session would be around 35 hours or so. However, I've had the lucky experience of having 100+ hour work weeks of coding, mainly due to the fact that I was recently employed (and so very eager to do a good job), and my boss was of the type to think that everything had to be done yesterday, and that any price was worth paying to get it done.
Needless to say, I burned out like a match. The best thing I can suggest for anyone stuck doing this is to use it as an education lesson. No matter how much caffeine you want to put through your body, your mind simply can't take that much. In the end, I was writing code that all ended up being rewritten and reworked several months later when I realized I hadn't seen the big picture.
Even more important than learning the lesson yourself, use it to teach your boss(es) the same lesson. We all know a lot of managers don't understand the process, and think that pushing their programmers to work insane hours is somehow more productive. Make sure you document any setbacks or roadblocks you encounter because of programming under such conditions, and make sure you explain each and every one of them. It might take a bit, but they do get the point, and soon you'll be on your way to a good programming schedule, and doing things the productive way.
Of course, if you're one of those guys who *can* program for 100 hours a week and put in all this extra time without making mistakes, you're probably doomed.;) I sure can't do it, but I really have to hand it to the people who can.
Having worked with the Cisco AVVID IP telephony system, I can say that in it's current form, it runs *quite* well on Windows. I've got a phone sitting on my desk right now, and we've deployed it throughout our company. Since deployment, it has been completely trouble free. There are many extremely cool features that it picks up, through it's integration with Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft services. The expansion and customization ability for the system is tremendous.
That said, I believe that the biggest problem in getting a telephony system under Linux will be pulling it all together in one package. With Windows, Cisco has the advantage (or disadvantage, depending on who you are) of working with a single company. Aside from the management interface, everything is based on Microsoft technology. They're using MSDE for their data engine, along with Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Windows 2000 for the server.
It all really depends on how much work Cisco wants to put into it. With Microsoft they have pull to help get things done, because of the opportunity it represents for Microsoft. They've got a vested interest in keeping the system running, and keeping good relations. Because Cisco would (potentially) have to use different technologies from different companies, they may have more trouble getting everything pulled together. The software Cisco needs exists, but free software developers may not have as much drive to support such an endeavor, since Cisco is essentially the only group who would profit from it.
I think Cisco would be more apt to port it, if someone could easily demonstrate that the interoperability and features exist to support the platform.
While I will grant them that I feel my home theater experience is much better than going to the movie theater (better seats, comparable sound, cheaper food), I don't think theaters are about to dry up any time soon.
Despite having these capabilities, I still go to the movies damn near every weekend. Why? Because when it comes down to it, there's not many easy things you can do to occupy your time, and most people who are movie fans want to see a movie as soon as possible. Despite the theater experience becoming less fun due to poor audiences and greed, I still want to see new movies in the theater. True, movies can be pirated... but then you've effectively defeated the purpose of a home theater by feeding it poor quality sound and video.
Movie theaters aren't drying up, they're just a pack of greedy liars who will stop at nothing to suck as much money as they can out of the general public.
Just imagine a big "whooosh" sound. You can hear it from two speakers, which are generally in front of you, or you can hear it spin around your head because you've got two in front, two in back. You'll never get the two speakers to generate that as faithfully as you could with a surround setup.
A quick correction, here... not necessarily regardless of quality. Obviously a 11Hz sample isn't going to sound real nice, even if it's in 5.1 surround!:P
I own several DVD Audio discs, and so far I am quite happy with all of them. The real benefit of DVD-A isn't the higher sampling rate... as many have derisively commented so far, as people we can't really notice the difference in sound quality, our ears are simply not up to it.
The big benefit comes from being able to listen to music in something better than stereo. Regardless of quality, a good 5.1 surround mix is more pleasing to the ear because it lends new dimension to the music. If this format becomes widespread, I think we'll see more musicians taking advantage of the sourround sound effects to provide better experience. Many of the DVD-A discs I own also provide additional video content as well, and information about the artist that a lot of people might find interesting.
You don't have to be a crazy audiophile to get this, either (although I am). Most places sell all-in-one kits that are more than high enough quality for the average person, and can be purchased for under 400$, or even 300$ in some cases. They generally come with a DVD player, and some sort of 5.1-capable receiver. That's all you need.
Slashdot Mirror
Windows XP Service Pack 1a was merely a release that made them compliant with the Java VM lawsuit. SP1a does not include Microsoft's version of the virtual machine.
Check your facts before you post.
I guess I'll throw my lot in as well.
I've been employed since 17, directly out of high school. There's several things that I think contribute to being able to keep up without much of anything. The first is finding a good employer... this can be extremely difficult. I got lucky. The second is the ability to simply follow directions and/or learn when you need to. When they ask for something, provide it. You might have to learn something to do it, but hey, that's the fun part. The third is knowing people who know people... any job I've ever had, I've gotten through people I know, and the company I work for goes for employee referals before anything else.
DO NOT PLAY THIS GAME. You will end up fired! Trust me on this one, this game is like shooting up heroin! =D
Well, yes, but that hardly constitutes running SP7.
NT4 SP7...?
Could you tell me what dimension you live in? Or was Microsoft just kidding about this?
That's pretty funny, actually. :P
One could also make the statement that because Macs are marketed toward (and purportedly purchased by) those who know nothing about computers, they are less likely to go on wild adventures in their operating systems, unlike those who use Windows who may or may not be technically savvy.
I just signed up for SpeakEasy and am ditching SBC for this exact reason.
I have plenty of legitimate uses for my upstream... for instance, the company I work for uses Cisco IP telephony, and when I work from home I use their softphone software. Voice takes up a good portion of bandwidth, and several people in my house work where I work.
They have a special this month, though - 69.99 for 1.5Mb/768k. Not a bad deal at all.
Sorry, my mistake on this one... I wasn't paying attention. I don't think you can roll back using SUS. I'm running SMS (Systems Management Server) with the SUS Feature Pack. SMS is a lot more comprehensive than SUS, and alas, is not free.
:/
Pretty much nothing in our setup is free, as you would expect with anything from Microsoft. I realize that's a huge point with most people here, but that doesn't negate the ability to do it. Sorry that it's of no use to you, though!
I've had a lot of experience with Netware, and I loved it until version 6. So far, it's been a bit of a nightmare... it seems like third party application support is becoming extremely poor. Should be interesting to see how Netware 7 runs, given that they will have a version running the Linux kernel with Netware services on top of it.
Not a problem at all.
Active Directory provides facilities for the distribution of software to workstations and users based on policy. Users can choose what they want off of the list which displays in "Add/Remove Programs". All system updates can be deployed (and rolled back if needed) using SUS. Not only that, I have full control over every single machine within the domain, and restrict or grant access to nearly any part of Windows on a per-user or per-computer basis.
Remote Installation Services gives me the ability to install workstations by booting off the network card, and the installation is fully automated. Most, if not all configuration changes can be made pre-install, so that post-installation configuration is virtually unneccesary.
What... you didn't know you could do that with Windows? It's generally a good idea to know what you're talking about before making comments on it.
Technically, the PS2 controller is a cros - it's just that the points of it are raised, and the connections are underneath the casing.
I agree that automatic updates should be something every causal user should have implemented. They simply don't know enough to properly administrate a computer and keep themselves from getting viruses and such.
However, I also think that the community as a whole is a bit irresponsible. If you should something long enough, soon people will hear you... and when I find people I know talking about Linux who really don't know anything about computers, I'd say the voice of the community is certainly reaching the average user. The FUD coming from this side of the fence nearly equals that of Microsoft. Despite what everyone thinks, Microsoft isn't necessarily out to get everyone when they change their EULA that allows them to do something they couldn't before... companies have to cover themselves from frivolous lawsuits as well, and I would think that Microsoft is more wary of this due to the hostility and negative image with the courts.
So, after so much screaming and yelling that Microsoft's updates are the devil, is it any surprise that people have learned how to disable it?
I had a chance to play this at E3.
The system is extremely unimpressive. The graphics are squished on a screen that's much too small for the kinds of games they are trying to pull off. Because the system is also a phone, the buttons are not located in any sort of comfortable position for playing games. I asked one of the reps at their booth, and they didn't seem to have many games coming up, either.
This is an idea that could have been big, but there's simply a huge lack of effort, and I think Nokia's inexperience in the gaming market doesn't help either.
I don't know what sort of technology you're referring to.
In our office, we're running a Cisco IP Telephony system, and it requires powered ethernet switches to run. The switches are powered switches, but they run over standard CAT5... I don't see how this would be a problem. Why would you have your switch and patch cables already all hooked up to your patch panel before you patched?
Nobody said you had to give a damn about them. I was simply responding to the frequently asked question of "Why isn't open source more popular?". It seems to be a hot topic on Slashdot pretty frequently. So, while you might not give a damn, many people do.
Nobody likes to be disrespected, and people go to great lengths to gain that respect, sometimes at a cost to themselves. In light of that, yes -- many "suits" will choose another route over open source, because that aspect of it is very important. Keep in mind, there are other aspects that contribute to the problem as well... this is merely a single facet.
Oh, yeah. The word is "riddance", not "riddens".
...corporate managers would be more willing to work with things such as open source, when the open source community stops referring to them by childish names.
While the attitudes represented here on Slashdot assuredly are not indicative of many who contribute to open source, it's silly to think that the attitudes that frequently show themselves here do not get back to these people. Many of them do read sites such as Slashdot, and until the community can manage to present itself in a respectable manner, and in a way that's acceptable to corporate culture, I don't think widespread adoption will take place.
There's definitely promise in open source, which is why you see companies like IBM and Red Hat attempting to put a polished corporate face that people can associate with on Linux. They're trying to bridge the massive gap between the way corporate managers think, and the way your average Slashdot reader thinks. However, the community has a loud voice... and unfortunately, frequently all that comes out of it is sarcasm and snide comments. These companies can only do so much.
Actually, the song was not only arranged around "The Joker" by Steve Miller Band, the lyrics were somewhat lifted and the song was also arranged around "Angel of the Morning", by Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts. Juice Newton's version is a remake of the one by Merrilee Rush and the Turnabouts. :)
And yes, I've always hated that song too.
Yeah... I think the really key thing is having two points of protection. The additional services don't seem to be too cost prohibitiive, and the added benefit from them easily pays off. The spam filtering is also a nice bonus, because I *know* I should be getting tons of spam by now. :)
The company I work for has a twofold solution which has effectively stopped *anything* from getting through to our system. I haven't seen a virus make it through since it's been implemented.
On the top half, we have an intermediate company called Big Fish scan our e-mail as it comes through, and then it passes it on to our Exchange server. On the Exchange server, we're running Norton Antivirus for Exchange.
The added benefit of the intermediate company, is that they also effectively remove 99% of all spam, and all of my normal e-mail gets through. They save all discarded e-mails so you can see how good of a job it does - so far, it's been perfect.
The most I've ever actually coded in a single session would be around 35 hours or so. However, I've had the lucky experience of having 100+ hour work weeks of coding, mainly due to the fact that I was recently employed (and so very eager to do a good job), and my boss was of the type to think that everything had to be done yesterday, and that any price was worth paying to get it done.
;) I sure can't do it, but I really have to hand it to the people who can.
Needless to say, I burned out like a match. The best thing I can suggest for anyone stuck doing this is to use it as an education lesson. No matter how much caffeine you want to put through your body, your mind simply can't take that much. In the end, I was writing code that all ended up being rewritten and reworked several months later when I realized I hadn't seen the big picture.
Even more important than learning the lesson yourself, use it to teach your boss(es) the same lesson. We all know a lot of managers don't understand the process, and think that pushing their programmers to work insane hours is somehow more productive. Make sure you document any setbacks or roadblocks you encounter because of programming under such conditions, and make sure you explain each and every one of them. It might take a bit, but they do get the point, and soon you'll be on your way to a good programming schedule, and doing things the productive way.
Of course, if you're one of those guys who *can* program for 100 hours a week and put in all this extra time without making mistakes, you're probably doomed.
Having worked with the Cisco AVVID IP telephony system, I can say that in it's current form, it runs *quite* well on Windows. I've got a phone sitting on my desk right now, and we've deployed it throughout our company. Since deployment, it has been completely trouble free. There are many extremely cool features that it picks up, through it's integration with Microsoft Exchange and other Microsoft services. The expansion and customization ability for the system is tremendous.
That said, I believe that the biggest problem in getting a telephony system under Linux will be pulling it all together in one package. With Windows, Cisco has the advantage (or disadvantage, depending on who you are) of working with a single company. Aside from the management interface, everything is based on Microsoft technology. They're using MSDE for their data engine, along with Microsoft Exchange, and Microsoft Windows 2000 for the server.
It all really depends on how much work Cisco wants to put into it. With Microsoft they have pull to help get things done, because of the opportunity it represents for Microsoft. They've got a vested interest in keeping the system running, and keeping good relations. Because Cisco would (potentially) have to use different technologies from different companies, they may have more trouble getting everything pulled together. The software Cisco needs exists, but free software developers may not have as much drive to support such an endeavor, since Cisco is essentially the only group who would profit from it.
I think Cisco would be more apt to port it, if someone could easily demonstrate that the interoperability and features exist to support the platform.
While I will grant them that I feel my home theater experience is much better than going to the movie theater (better seats, comparable sound, cheaper food), I don't think theaters are about to dry up any time soon.
Despite having these capabilities, I still go to the movies damn near every weekend. Why? Because when it comes down to it, there's not many easy things you can do to occupy your time, and most people who are movie fans want to see a movie as soon as possible. Despite the theater experience becoming less fun due to poor audiences and greed, I still want to see new movies in the theater. True, movies can be pirated... but then you've effectively defeated the purpose of a home theater by feeding it poor quality sound and video.
Movie theaters aren't drying up, they're just a pack of greedy liars who will stop at nothing to suck as much money as they can out of the general public.
Erm, yes, exactly what I was going to say...
Just imagine a big "whooosh" sound. You can hear it from two speakers, which are generally in front of you, or you can hear it spin around your head because you've got two in front, two in back. You'll never get the two speakers to generate that as faithfully as you could with a surround setup.
A quick correction, here... not necessarily regardless of quality. Obviously a 11Hz sample isn't going to sound real nice, even if it's in 5.1 surround! :P
I own several DVD Audio discs, and so far I am quite happy with all of them. The real benefit of DVD-A isn't the higher sampling rate... as many have derisively commented so far, as people we can't really notice the difference in sound quality, our ears are simply not up to it.
The big benefit comes from being able to listen to music in something better than stereo. Regardless of quality, a good 5.1 surround mix is more pleasing to the ear because it lends new dimension to the music. If this format becomes widespread, I think we'll see more musicians taking advantage of the sourround sound effects to provide better experience. Many of the DVD-A discs I own also provide additional video content as well, and information about the artist that a lot of people might find interesting.
You don't have to be a crazy audiophile to get this, either (although I am). Most places sell all-in-one kits that are more than high enough quality for the average person, and can be purchased for under 400$, or even 300$ in some cases. They generally come with a DVD player, and some sort of 5.1-capable receiver. That's all you need.