By inserting itself into the ISO image before you burned it.
That's a good point: I did burn the ISO on a Windows PC after downloading it... but I'd be surprised if there was any Windows malware which knew how to infect Linux installer ISOs as they were being downloaded or burned.
Since Vista (I think - 2K was the last Windows version I used properly), normal users haven't had write permission to Program Files, so applications that try to store user data there simply won't work.
Which is why almost everyone ran XP as an administrator, and why a whole load of games have to run as administrator on Vista and Windows 7.
The registry, outside of hives hiding in the folders I mentioned, are system settings, and the equivalent of what you find in the '/etc/' and '/usr/local/etc' directories, and therefore would also not be preserved with a *nix method of preserving "home"
Uh, no. The registry is full of user-crap, and it's thoroughly filled with app-crap which will require you to reinstall all the apps after reinstalling the OS... and unlike Linux that's not a simple matter of running apt-get, it probably involves finding CDs or downloaded installers and CD keys and activation keys and...
Likewise with "Program Files", the parallel to that stuff typically goes to */bin, */sbin, */lib, etc.
Steam puts most of my user configuration in Program Files. Pretty much any old game puts a ton of user config in Program Files. Heck, most pre-XP apps put all their config in either Windows or Program Files.
So, sorry, your argument really doesn't work.
So long as you live in a fantasy world where no-one runs old or poorly-written apps.
Perhaps Microsoft anticipated this and the images will be digitally signed.
That could work for the initial install image, but not for a backup the user created; the backup app would need the key to sign the image, so you're toast.
Also, checking the image signature on a multi-gigabyte file could add a few minutes to the reinstall time. Though if it takes as long to install as Windows 7 no-one would notice.
Oh, yeah, I forgot the extra couple of hours of trying to understand arcane Windows error messages and hunting around on Google for an explanation before I discovered that the Windows installer was barfing because I'd replaced a 640GB laptop drive with a 750GB laptop drive and found out how to fix that.
A button like that on Linux probably wouldn't be that big of a deal as it could just work on all the partitions except for/home.
Indeed. Reinstalling Ubuntu on my home systems means installing from the DVD, installing any updates and then copying over about a dozen plain-text config files... job done.
When my laptop drive started getting bad sectors and I replaced it, reinstalling Ubuntu and getting it back to the pre-failure state took about half an hour, whereas reinstalling Windows took three hours just to get to the bare-bones state _before_ I could install all the updates and reinstall all the applications.
I distinctly remember the news reports from that time.
I do too. When Colin Powell was saying 'Look, I have pictures of Saddam Hussein's WMDs', the actual weapons inspectors who had actually been looking for them on the ground in Iraq were saying 'uh, he doesn't have any'.
I've often wondered though. . . yeah, you can make money that way, but for every person who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on DLC, I bet you have hundreds or thousands of players who never buy anything?
They still paid $5 for the basic game in a Steam sale.
Mod parent up. It's certainly been my experience that "customers" who get something at no charge are more demanding than ones who pay. They seem to think that if you're willing do something for free, then your time is worthless.
It could also be that products offered for free are often not as good as products you pay for. I've been playing Age of Conan recently and while the game is fun there are some horrendous bugs, presumably because they're putting most of their time into developing their new game rather than improving one that's free to play.
Microsoft states that the most amazing part of this game is the user can experience some real life locations like Big Island of Hawaii along with 'region-specific weather patterns, foliage, terrain and landmarks.'
Another way to look at it is that the Middle East is ahead of the Western world: They've already been through their enlightenment and are coming out of the authoritarian, theocratic dark age that the West is now headed for.
If you ignore the fact that about 80% of the laws are written in Brussels and rubber-stamped in Westminster. Parliament is about as relevant as the Queen these days; they both get to sign the laws, but they don't write them and haven't rejected one in decades.
Except in the US of A, where you can be President with less than 50% of the total votes, of course, due to a meaningless system (to the rest of the world, at least) of delegates.
The UK laughs at your 'less than 50%', when its last 'majority' government was elected with around 22% of the votes.
Actually, it is smart to pay attention to Iowa when it comes to the republican primary and the final.
According to an article I read a few days ago which looked at Iowa results and compared them to the final nominations, they're pretty good at picking the Democrats, but pretty bad at picking the Republicans. So for a Republican, winning in Iowa probably means you're less likely to become President than the other candidates:).
You see, citizens rise up when their standard of living becomes unbearable
Yes, they do. And when their standard of living has become unbearable because of something another country has done to them, they come together and rise up against that other country, not their own government.
Sanctions are usually beneficial for repressive governments, because they provide an external enemy.
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By inserting itself into the ISO image before you burned it.
That's a good point: I did burn the ISO on a Windows PC after downloading it... but I'd be surprised if there was any Windows malware which knew how to infect Linux installer ISOs as they were being downloaded or burned.
Ah... The perfect dream of Linux on every device.
Linux already owns most of the 'device' market. It's only desktops where Windows is commonplace.
Since Vista (I think - 2K was the last Windows version I used properly), normal users haven't had write permission to Program Files, so applications that try to store user data there simply won't work.
Which is why almost everyone ran XP as an administrator, and why a whole load of games have to run as administrator on Vista and Windows 7.
The registry, outside of hives hiding in the folders I mentioned, are system settings, and the equivalent of what you find in the '/etc/' and '/usr/local/etc' directories, and therefore would also not be preserved with a *nix method of preserving "home"
Uh, no. The registry is full of user-crap, and it's thoroughly filled with app-crap which will require you to reinstall all the apps after reinstalling the OS... and unlike Linux that's not a simple matter of running apt-get, it probably involves finding CDs or downloaded installers and CD keys and activation keys and...
Likewise with "Program Files", the parallel to that stuff typically goes to */bin, */sbin, */lib, etc.
Steam puts most of my user configuration in Program Files. Pretty much any old game puts a ton of user config in Program Files. Heck, most pre-XP apps put all their config in either Windows or Program Files.
So, sorry, your argument really doesn't work.
So long as you live in a fantasy world where no-one runs old or poorly-written apps.
Perhaps Microsoft anticipated this and the images will be digitally signed.
That could work for the initial install image, but not for a backup the user created; the backup app would need the key to sign the image, so you're toast.
Also, checking the image signature on a multi-gigabyte file could add a few minutes to the reinstall time. Though if it takes as long to install as Windows 7 no-one would notice.
The current solution to this is to deny all users access to the System Restore files and only allow the SYSTEM "user" access.
Because malware could never get system access.
Oh, yeah, I forgot the extra couple of hours of trying to understand arcane Windows error messages and hunting around on Google for an explanation before I discovered that the Windows installer was barfing because I'd replaced a 640GB laptop drive with a 750GB laptop drive and found out how to fix that.
Everything that would be in "Home/" for a normal *nix install is in "Documents and Settings" or "Users" folder, depending on Windows version.
Except all the crap in the registry and in 'Program Files' and in... well, every other weird place Windows apps stuff their data.
You mean to say that everything in /var is meaningless in a typical Linux install? Mysql, svn, apache, etc.
While that's true, I doubt that more than 1% of Linux desktop users run MySQL, SVN servers or web servers on their machines.
I'd be rather surprised to see a Windows server admin risk pressing the 'reset OS' button.
A button like that on Linux probably wouldn't be that big of a deal as it could just work on all the partitions except for /home.
Indeed. Reinstalling Ubuntu on my home systems means installing from the DVD, installing any updates and then copying over about a dozen plain-text config files... job done.
When my laptop drive started getting bad sectors and I replaced it, reinstalling Ubuntu and getting it back to the pre-failure state took about half an hour, whereas reinstalling Windows took three hours just to get to the bare-bones state _before_ I could install all the updates and reinstall all the applications.
Well, you can say that about any backup.
How's malware going to insert itself into my Ubuntu DVD before I use that to reinstall?
If the image is writable, then malware can infect it so that it's reinstalled whenever you 'reset' the OS.
Guild Wars hardly was a "one-off" fee. Look at the rate at which they released *PAID* expansions.
What, three of them in three years?
Everquest released expansions more often than that, and they were pretty much compulsory for anyone who was in a guild.
I distinctly remember the news reports from that time.
I do too. When Colin Powell was saying 'Look, I have pictures of Saddam Hussein's WMDs', the actual weapons inspectors who had actually been looking for them on the ground in Iraq were saying 'uh, he doesn't have any'.
I've often wondered though. . . yeah, you can make money that way, but for every person who spends hundreds or thousands of dollars on DLC, I bet you have hundreds or thousands of players who never buy anything?
They still paid $5 for the basic game in a Steam sale.
Wow, I downloaded a shitload of addons (all free) but didn't get my MSFS2k install anywwhere near 10GB 8-(
If I remember correctly, that 36GB includes high-res terrain data for the whole planet, and most of the scheduled airline flights.
"Free customers get ZERO tech support, your questions will go unanswered, you will have access to the WiKi for common answers."
So you ignore perfectly valid bug reports from those users?
Good business plan.
Mod parent up. It's certainly been my experience that "customers" who get something at no charge are more demanding than ones who pay. They seem to think that if you're willing do something for free, then your time is worthless.
It could also be that products offered for free are often not as good as products you pay for. I've been playing Age of Conan recently and while the game is fun there are some horrendous bugs, presumably because they're putting most of their time into developing their new game rather than improving one that's free to play.
Those community-created addons weren't free. They cost a large amount of money, but people still loved them.
That's odd. My FS2004 installation is 36GB and I only ever paid for one aircraft add-on... the rest of those gigabytes were all free addons.
Microsoft states that the most amazing part of this game is the user can experience some real life locations like Big Island of Hawaii along with 'region-specific weather patterns, foliage, terrain and landmarks.'
You mean just like Microsoft Flight Simulator?
Another way to look at it is that the Middle East is ahead of the Western world: They've already been through their enlightenment and are coming out of the authoritarian, theocratic dark age that the West is now headed for.
By electing Islamic governments?
We're run by a parliament
If you ignore the fact that about 80% of the laws are written in Brussels and rubber-stamped in Westminster. Parliament is about as relevant as the Queen these days; they both get to sign the laws, but they don't write them and haven't rejected one in decades.
Except in the US of A, where you can be President with less than 50% of the total votes, of course, due to a meaningless system (to the rest of the world, at least) of delegates.
The UK laughs at your 'less than 50%', when its last 'majority' government was elected with around 22% of the votes.
Actually, it is smart to pay attention to Iowa when it comes to the republican primary and the final.
According to an article I read a few days ago which looked at Iowa results and compared them to the final nominations, they're pretty good at picking the Democrats, but pretty bad at picking the Republicans. So for a Republican, winning in Iowa probably means you're less likely to become President than the other candidates :).
Increasing taxes will definiltely lead to job growth, because people just love to work for less.
You see, citizens rise up when their standard of living becomes unbearable
Yes, they do. And when their standard of living has become unbearable because of something another country has done to them, they come together and rise up against that other country, not their own government.
Sanctions are usually beneficial for repressive governments, because they provide an external enemy.