Well, I definitely won't buy an Xbox in its current incarnation but it is just a video game system. I don't play games enough to justify the purchase of a $300 game system. But, if that system also had DVR capabilities, it would be a lot more appealing to me because now I will probably get enough use out of it to justify the cost. And even if they have to bump it up to $400 or so, it would still be worth it to me.
Re:What happened to the MP3 Pro spec?
on
Non-MP3 Codecs?
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· Score: 2
I have seen a player out there that already supports MP3 Pro, but for the life of me, can't remember which make/model it was. But I do know that in all of the models I have looked at, there was only 1 that supported it. My guess is people just don't care enough to use MP3 Pro--MP3 is good enough and the effort required to move to MP3 Pro isn't worth it.
Aha, a machine that is over 5 years old, definitely. But I suspect those games wouldn't be nearly as fun if you didn't have that fairly recent GF video card.;-)
Perhaps you ought to actually use it before making that decision. I, for one, was very reluctant to upgrade from 2K. But I had little choice, so I did it. And now I don't regret it a single bit. XP improves upon 2K in plenty of ways. I would say its differences to 2K are along the same lines as the differences between 98 and 95--nothing truly groundbreaking, but enough to warrant an upgrade. The bottom line is that it has tons of usability enhancements, boots at least 2x as fast, and while I can't say for sure whether or not it uses more system resources, it is absolutely faster overall than 2K.
Just like many, many other people, I was pretty set in my decision that XP was just fluff on top of 2K and that I wasn't going to use it. However, upon using it, I've definitely changed my stubborn mind, and I suspect many others would as well if they actually used it.
No crack here, though you've obviously been tokin' it up a bit lately.
I never once said that it was completely ready for the desktop. In fact, I said the same thing you did-- that is is badly lacking in useable applications. The *only* thing I did say was that the part of Linux that was once considered the obstacle to its adoption--the installation--has pretty much been tackled. No, not all distros are as easy to install as everyone would like, and yes, even the easiest ones to install can stand a few more refinements, but compared with the install processes of past distros, its a major step. Now that the major obstacle to further Linux adoption seems to be a truly useable desktop, the work needs to focused on creating one.
Which is essentially what I said the first time. You oughta lay off the crack and perhaps read the post a little closer before hitting Reply next time.
Last time I installed Mandrake 8.1, it automatically partitioned my drive, and auto-detected and properly configured every piece of hardware in my laptop (including my 802.11b card). There are still applications out there that could use some usability enhancements, but the major obstacle (installation) is pretty much out of the way. The only thing Linux needs to be a true competitor on the desktop is applications. These days, the desktop-oriented Linux distros are just as easy, if not easier, to install as Windows. It is the lack of applications that is holding back any progress Linux might make on the desktop.
Don't know about NH and AK particularly, but I do know for sure that NV doesn't. In fact, thats probably the best part about living in Vegas, come to think of it.
"Windows" by itself is not worthy of protection. But perhaps it is when applied to computer software?
I don't know, but regardless of the technicalities of the law, it is just common sense to me that one company shouldnt be able to capitalize on the success of another company's product, solely by giving it an obviously similar name. And I think anyone that thinks that Lindows isn't trying to capitalize on the similar sounding name is kidding themself.
About a year ago I decided I wanted to buy a Mac, mostly because I was excited about the impending release of OS X based on the beta I had seen. I really wanted to be able to play around with the OS and get good with programming it (having never used Objective-C before), but after pricing new Macs, couldn't justify the cost for one. On a hunch, I decide to try eBay and found tons of used Macs for decent prices. I ended up getting a G3-266 with 160MB ram, 6GB hd, cd-rom, and audio/video input/output for about $400. After about another $75 to upgrade it to a G3-300 (300 has 1MB cache vs 256KB or 512KB in the 266) and 768MB ram, it runs beautifully. The only problem it has running OS X is because of the built-in video card (Apple supports these G3 machines with OS X, but won't supply accelerated video card drivers for them), playing any kind of video full screen can be an unpleasant experience. However, if you're like me and could care less about that, something like this would be perfect for you.
My recommendation is the D-Link DI-704, as I've used 3 of these devices in different locations already and have had nothing but great success with them. This company I'm linking to has them available for $73.50 right now, but there is a $20 rebate to make them only $53.50.
It's not even about letters. The simple question is: Will this name cause the average consumer who would be in the market for this product to confuse it with the other product in question?
In my mind, giving a competing product a name that is only 1 letter off (and rhymes with) the trademark in question is about as much as you could do to cause consumer confusion between the two.
While I definitely support the efforts of the folks at Lindows, the bottom line is they are trying to sell an operating system, that competes with Microsoft Windows, using a name created solely to capitalize on the familiarity and success of Windows. Ask any trademark lawyer around and they will tell you that is blatant trademark infringement.
The only chance Lindows has of winning this is by proving that Microsoft has not vigorously protected its trademark in the past. That list they showed named several software products that run on Windows, but none that directly compete with it. Lets face it, Microsoft wouldn't have a leg to stand on if Mr MP3.com had created an OS with all of the same features and abilities as Lindows, but had used a different name for it. The simple fact that he used "Lindows" for his OS is what made him an easy target for the trademark lawyers.
Obviously the judge has the final say, but anyone who has even studied trademark law for longer than 20 minutes could tell you that Lindows is an obvious infringement on Windows.
The only thing I would truly be curious to see is if Lindows can show enough prior usage to claim that Microsoft has not properly defended their trademark in the past, which would invalidate Microsoft's infringement claim against Lindows.
Even better, I've seen good quality ones for closer to $60. But I've asked the same question you did, particularly on the local LUG mailing list. The answer? It comes down to someone having an extra PC (usually old), the free software, and plenty of free time, versus someone having the $60 for the firewall. Some people just want to tinker, which considering the OS in the first place, shouldn't be a shock to anyone.
Uh, how about the motherboard/chipset? From what I understand, the xbox has a vastly different cpu/memory architecture which would make emulating on a standard pc rather difficult. That was my first clue that this was a hoax. Then the MSN dll about sealed it.
How do I get to the store for education? Even at $79 (the regular price), it's reasonable, but I couldn't find any mention of a Windows version. Is that only available through the education store?
And in this arena (at least from what I hear and read) the NT 5.0 kernel still can't hack it. Don't take my word for it, do a google search for "Active Directory Server stability" and see what comes up.
The most noteable problems with Active Directory have absolutely nothing to do with the NT5 kernel. They are problems with Active Directory itself. And I don't know what you've been reading, but I'd like to see it myself. Having done a lot of development on Win2K, my opinion--based on experience and not just what I've heard or read-- is that the NT5 kernel can hack it.
And lastly, remember that this entire story is about a product aimed at desktops. You go off on this tangent about Linux on servers, but that isn't what anyone is talking about. We're talking about Linux on desktops, which is an entirely different ballgame.
Of course you can't download old versions of Microsoft's software. The only reason that Apple can offer their old operating systems is that they can reasonably assume they've already made money on the person that is going to download it, through a hardware purchase. Microsoft, on the other hand, can't say that.
And for what it's worth, Microsoft still offers MS-DOS for download to MSDN subscribers. Sure they don't support it, but at least they offer it to customers that may have to use or support it themselves.
I would be very curious to see more specifics of that anecdote as well. I currently have 2 different apps written in VC++ that save lots of data to their own directories, as well as user-specified locations. I regularly test both on Win98,ME,2K, and XP, and have had 0 issues related to saving files.
This guy has to be trying to accomplish something much more involved than just "saving content". Either that, or he misunderstood Microsoft's recommendations (specifying that user data is stored under \Documents and Settings\User) as rules.
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Well, I definitely won't buy an Xbox in its current incarnation but it is just a video game system. I don't play games enough to justify the purchase of a $300 game system. But, if that system also had DVR capabilities, it would be a lot more appealing to me because now I will probably get enough use out of it to justify the cost. And even if they have to bump it up to $400 or so, it would still be worth it to me.
I have seen a player out there that already supports MP3 Pro, but for the life of me, can't remember which make/model it was. But I do know that in all of the models I have looked at, there was only 1 that supported it. My guess is people just don't care enough to use MP3 Pro--MP3 is good enough and the effort required to move to MP3 Pro isn't worth it.
Aha, a machine that is over 5 years old, definitely. But I suspect those games wouldn't be nearly as fun if you didn't have that fairly recent GF video card. ;-)
Perhaps you ought to actually use it before making that decision. I, for one, was very reluctant to upgrade from 2K. But I had little choice, so I did it. And now I don't regret it a single bit. XP improves upon 2K in plenty of ways. I would say its differences to 2K are along the same lines as the differences between 98 and 95--nothing truly groundbreaking, but enough to warrant an upgrade. The bottom line is that it has tons of usability enhancements, boots at least 2x as fast, and while I can't say for sure whether or not it uses more system resources, it is absolutely faster overall than 2K.
Just like many, many other people, I was pretty set in my decision that XP was just fluff on top of 2K and that I wasn't going to use it. However, upon using it, I've definitely changed my stubborn mind, and I suspect many others would as well if they actually used it.
No crack here, though you've obviously been tokin' it up a bit lately.
I never once said that it was completely ready for the desktop. In fact, I said the same thing you did-- that is is badly lacking in useable applications. The *only* thing I did say was that the part of Linux that was once considered the obstacle to its adoption--the installation--has pretty much been tackled. No, not all distros are as easy to install as everyone would like, and yes, even the easiest ones to install can stand a few more refinements, but compared with the install processes of past distros, its a major step. Now that the major obstacle to further Linux adoption seems to be a truly useable desktop, the work needs to focused on creating one.
Which is essentially what I said the first time. You oughta lay off the crack and perhaps read the post a little closer before hitting Reply next time.
Uh,
0 2&mode=thread
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=02/01/16/14322
Last time I installed Mandrake 8.1, it automatically partitioned my drive, and auto-detected and properly configured every piece of hardware in my laptop (including my 802.11b card). There are still applications out there that could use some usability enhancements, but the major obstacle (installation) is pretty much out of the way. The only thing Linux needs to be a true competitor on the desktop is applications. These days, the desktop-oriented Linux distros are just as easy, if not easier, to install as Windows. It is the lack of applications that is holding back any progress Linux might make on the desktop.
It was 7.0, IIRC. I certainly do remember using 6.5 and upgrading to 7.0, which was an enormous boost in performance and usability.
Don't know about NH and AK particularly, but I do know for sure that NV doesn't. In fact, thats probably the best part about living in Vegas, come to think of it.
"Windows" by itself is not worthy of protection. But perhaps it is when applied to computer software?
I don't know, but regardless of the technicalities of the law, it is just common sense to me that one company shouldnt be able to capitalize on the success of another company's product, solely by giving it an obviously similar name. And I think anyone that thinks that Lindows isn't trying to capitalize on the similar sounding name is kidding themself.
About a year ago I decided I wanted to buy a Mac, mostly because I was excited about the impending release of OS X based on the beta I had seen. I really wanted to be able to play around with the OS and get good with programming it (having never used Objective-C before), but after pricing new Macs, couldn't justify the cost for one. On a hunch, I decide to try eBay and found tons of used Macs for decent prices. I ended up getting a G3-266 with 160MB ram, 6GB hd, cd-rom, and audio/video input/output for about $400. After about another $75 to upgrade it to a G3-300 (300 has 1MB cache vs 256KB or 512KB in the 266) and 768MB ram, it runs beautifully. The only problem it has running OS X is because of the built-in video card (Apple supports these G3 machines with OS X, but won't supply accelerated video card drivers for them), playing any kind of video full screen can be an unpleasant experience. However, if you're like me and could care less about that, something like this would be perfect for you.
My recommendation is the D-Link DI-704, as I've used 3 of these devices in different locations already and have had nothing but great success with them. This company I'm linking to has them available for $73.50 right now, but there is a $20 rebate to make them only $53.50.
http://www.comready.com/broadband.html
It's not even about letters. The simple question is: Will this name cause the average consumer who would be in the market for this product to confuse it with the other product in question?
In my mind, giving a competing product a name that is only 1 letter off (and rhymes with) the trademark in question is about as much as you could do to cause consumer confusion between the two.
They only have to hand over anything to Microsoft that they themselves are intending to use as evidence in the trial.
While I definitely support the efforts of the folks at Lindows, the bottom line is they are trying to sell an operating system, that competes with Microsoft Windows, using a name created solely to capitalize on the familiarity and success of Windows. Ask any trademark lawyer around and they will tell you that is blatant trademark infringement.
The only chance Lindows has of winning this is by proving that Microsoft has not vigorously protected its trademark in the past. That list they showed named several software products that run on Windows, but none that directly compete with it. Lets face it, Microsoft wouldn't have a leg to stand on if Mr MP3.com had created an OS with all of the same features and abilities as Lindows, but had used a different name for it. The simple fact that he used "Lindows" for his OS is what made him an easy target for the trademark lawyers.
Obviously the judge has the final say, but anyone who has even studied trademark law for longer than 20 minutes could tell you that Lindows is an obvious infringement on Windows.
The only thing I would truly be curious to see is if Lindows can show enough prior usage to claim that Microsoft has not properly defended their trademark in the past, which would invalidate Microsoft's infringement claim against Lindows.
Even better, I've seen good quality ones for closer to $60. But I've asked the same question you did, particularly on the local LUG mailing list. The answer? It comes down to someone having an extra PC (usually old), the free software, and plenty of free time, versus someone having the $60 for the firewall. Some people just want to tinker, which considering the OS in the first place, shouldn't be a shock to anyone.
Uh, how about the motherboard/chipset? From what I understand, the xbox has a vastly different cpu/memory architecture which would make emulating on a standard pc rather difficult. That was my first clue that this was a hoax. Then the MSN dll about sealed it.
How do I get to the store for education? Even at $79 (the regular price), it's reasonable, but I couldn't find any mention of a Windows version. Is that only available through the education store?
And in this arena (at least from what I hear and read) the NT 5.0 kernel still can't hack it. Don't take my word for it, do a google search for "Active Directory Server stability" and see what comes up.
The most noteable problems with Active Directory have absolutely nothing to do with the NT5 kernel. They are problems with Active Directory itself. And I don't know what you've been reading, but I'd like to see it myself. Having done a lot of development on Win2K, my opinion--based on experience and not just what I've heard or read-- is that the NT5 kernel can hack it.
And lastly, remember that this entire story is about a product aimed at desktops. You go off on this tangent about Linux on servers, but that isn't what anyone is talking about. We're talking about Linux on desktops, which is an entirely different ballgame.
Of course you can't download old versions of Microsoft's software. The only reason that Apple can offer their old operating systems is that they can reasonably assume they've already made money on the person that is going to download it, through a hardware purchase. Microsoft, on the other hand, can't say that.
And for what it's worth, Microsoft still offers MS-DOS for download to MSDN subscribers. Sure they don't support it, but at least they offer it to customers that may have to use or support it themselves.
D-Link offers a CF-II 802.11b card. Haven't used it yet, but I've used all their other wireless products with definite satisfaction.
d cf650w/.
Check out http://www.dlink.com/products/DigitalHome/Mobile/
I would be very curious to see more specifics of that anecdote as well. I currently have 2 different apps written in VC++ that save lots of data to their own directories, as well as user-specified locations. I regularly test both on Win98,ME,2K, and XP, and have had 0 issues related to saving files.
This guy has to be trying to accomplish something much more involved than just "saving content". Either that, or he misunderstood Microsoft's recommendations (specifying that user data is stored under \Documents and Settings\User) as rules.
Passport itself, obviously.
You can turn that annoying AIM Today window off rather easily; in fact, its always the first thing I do after setting up AIM anywhere.