In 1998 when Apple released the original bondi blue iMac without a floppy drive, the floppy disc was ALREADY so absurdly useless that no computer user needed them.
I disagree, especially for typical iMac users in 1998. Remember, this was before CD burners, USB keys, and home broadband were mainstream. If you ever saw an Mac computer lab in those days, you'd have noticed an ugly external USB floppy drive hanging off every iMac.
I thought Apple dropped floppy drives at least a year too early. To move data to another computer, I remember Mac fans saying: "Just e-mail it to yourself." This was unnecessarily inconvenient in the days of home dial-up internet and before good web mail clients were available (for other computers).
So, I proffer that this story is late by about a decade. I'd say about eight years.
If you need a Windows OS (and I just built a gaming computer myself, so I'm in a similar boat) some stores will sell XP with a free Vista upgrade. That's what I purchased, that way I can use XP for a few months (while Vista figures out what it's doing) and upgrade when I'm good and ready. I think it's important to note the possible drawbacks of this option (OEM XP + free Vista upgrade). The Vista Express Upgrade program only applies to "qualifying PCs" with XP preinstalled or OEM versions of Windows XP, not retail versions of XP. You were obviously referring to OEM versions of XP. The "free Vista upgrade" is apparently an upgrade version of Vista, which requires that OEM XP to install.
Possible drawbacks:
OEM versions of Windows (which cost much less than retail) do not get phone/e-mail support from MS. I assume this is not a big deal to Slashdot readres because we should know how to use MS's support web pages, knowledge base, and Microsoft Update. However, it's worth mentioning if you're planning on installing it for a novice friend.
OEM versions can only be used on one computer and cannot be "moved" to your next computer. MS has been pretty lax on this requirement for XP (just call them and they'll re-activate for you), but I've read that they might be more strict with Vista (I hope not).
It looks like upgrade versions of Vista will require a previous version to be installed before you can install Vista. Previous to Vista, upgrade versions of Windows only required the user to briefly insert a previous version's CD. If you have a RAID setup, this might mean you need to go through XP's shitty RAID setup before installing Vista (which fixes this RAID issue). Note that, contrary to some news headlines, Vista upgrade versions will allow "clean" installs (format hard drive and start clean).
I'm sure most Slashdot readers would accept the possible OEM drawbacks. The drawbacks of the "upgrade" version of Vista might not be so acceptable. If I was buying now, I'd just get an OEM version of Vista unless they change the "installed previous OS" requirement.
Since XP support is due to last until 2011, I'll let you know how it is in about four years.
Last week Microsoft announced that Windows XP Home and Media Center Edition will receive the same Extended Support phase that XP Professional gets. That means that Mainstream Support for XP will end in April 2009 and Extended Support (which includes free security updates) will end in April 2014 (for XP Home, too).
MS's support lifecycle policy states that "home" and "pro" versions of Windows get a Mainstream Support phase of 5 years after general availability (12/31/01 to 2006) or 2 years after the next product is released (1/30/09), whichever is longer. MS recently added an additional 4 months to XP's Mainstream support phase, which now runs until April 2009.
The support lifecycle policy states that "home" versions of Windows are not supposed to get an Extended Support phase (includes free security updates) like the "pro" versions get, but last week MS added Extended Support to XP Home and Media Center to match XP Pro's support. The policy states that Extended Support lasts 5 years after Mainstream Support ends, so that means XP will be supported until April 2014.
you've missed the point. it's overwhelmingly likely that you'll be able to do exactly that with the iPhone, just like you can with the vast majority of other GSM phones in the states (getting phones unlocked is not tremendously difficult, and when it costs you anything, i've never seen it break about $20).
Not according to Glenn Lurie, Cingular's president of national distribution. From a PC Magazine article:
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US.
So Cingular and Apple will supposedly make it difficult to unlock the iPhone. Also, you're a BAD GUY (says Cingular) if you unlock your iPhone or any other phone. Besides, the GP's point was that phones were unlocked in the rest of the world (outside the USA).
I could swear the clowntards at Cingular were crowing about a two year exclusive deal.
As another replier hinted, you might have misinterpreted the required two year Cingular service contract that iPhone buyers must agree to. However, I think you're correct about them being clowntards...
Also, they mentioned that the Cingular name and logo would ALWAYS be on screen. Doesn't that mean they were effectively lying about the resolution, as some of the resolution will always be used only in a user-hostile fashion?
Yup. From PC Magazine's January 10 interview with Glenn Lurie, Cingular's president of national distribution:
While the Cingular logo will not appear on the body of the iPhone, the word "Cingular" will appear on the screen at all times.
As for them being clowntards:
When asked about a give-and-take leading to the Apple-Cingular partnership, Lurie said, "I'm not sure we gave anything." Later, he commented, "I think they bent a lot." That bending included allowing the phone to be locked to Cingular, just one of several restrictions on the new iPhone. Press reports today said the phone will not accept third-party applications, though Apple may allow third parties to program mini-application "widgets.
"If you want an iPhone, you are going to get the luxury of being on the Cingular network," Lurie said.
My favorite part:
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US.
Bad guys? What a fucktard. I'm not blaming Apple, though. I wouldn't be surprised if all phone companies are nearly this bad.
I also suspect MS will release XPS readers for multiple platforms.
Like Windows 2003, Windows XP, Windows Vista, etc.?
Good guess. MS has released readers for those three plus Windows 2000. No Microsoft-made readers for Linux, OS X, et. al. yet. If they're serious about competing with the format that the freakin' IRS uses, I assume they'll make readers for other platforms. I don't think it's wise to wait for 3rd party readers that might be flakey.
Homer Simpson: Canada? Why should we leave America for America Junior?
Re:My Talk With Richard Stallman About This
on
Norway Outlaws iTunes
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· Score: 3, Insightful
It's not preferential. Other companies can make products that interoperate with PlaysForSure.
Really? Then show me where I can get a software player not made by Microsoft capable of playing PlaysForSure Media!
Nullsoft Winamp Can I play my purchased music from services such as the new Napster, MusicMatch, MusicNow, or BuyMusic.com through Winamp 5?
Yes. Yes you can.
In particular, show me where I can get one that works on operating systems other than Windows!
I don't think one exists, but I don't know if software companies are prohibited from obtaining PlaysForSure licenses for software players on other operating systems. Nullsoft, MusicMatch, and Amazon could obtain PlaysForeSure licenses for their Windows software. I have seen no evidence that Flip4Mac has been prohibited from obtaining a PlaysForSure license for their Windows Media Components for QuickTime.
In contrast, other software companies are prohibited from licensing FairPlay. Some companies want to license FairPlay so that their software can play iTunes Store media, but Apple refuses to license their DRM.
That said, I'm not sure if I agree with Norway's decision to ban FairPlay. This might be excessive regulation.
That's an old interview (November 10) where Vivid founder Steven Hirsch said Vivid would initially release their HD titles on Blu Ray (they still haven't released any yet), but they're not counting out also releasing on HD DVD.
However, last week (January 16) Hirsch said they will now back both formats. Their first title is scheduled to be released in both Blu Ray and HD DVD on March 28. Also note that Hirsch says they encountered hurdles while producing for Blu Ray:
However, not all of what Heise printed is invalid. Hirsch did note that Vivid has encountered hurdles while producing adult entertainment for Blu-ray more so than HD DVD.
Sony is not giving any assistance in the authoring or replication of adult content on Blu-ray, said Hirsch. Sony is somehow trying to keep away such material from the format, which I think is a mistake.
Without Sonys help, Vivid had to find authoring and replication facilities on its own. Hirsch added that Sony puts restrictions on all Blu-ray manufacturing facilities that produce Disney titles disallowing them from making adult content. By comparison, the manufacturing process for Vivids HD DVD adult titles is much easier as it is able to make use of existing facilities.
GLAY'z have apparently released two titles on Blu Ray (I love the Jap-Engrish descriptions):
High school student business - The Abnormality Sex story of the JK that starts after school. The guest of JK is a man. A ffluent [sic] men pay money. JK gives the perfect body. Pleasure arises when mutual sense of values is corresponding.
Vacation in Guam - Naked sex holidays in Guam. Sex nudie vacation in guam.
why would I want to see a crappy movie really well? Maybe I'm just getting old, but there hasn't been much lately that has made me want to go to the movie theaters. I could be wrong, but even the latest epics (LOTR, and Potter) aren't available in High Def...
Frankly the format will go nowhere until Ishtar is available on it...
And while we're at it, why do so many mini ITX cabinets look like early '70's stereo equipment? Just give me a cheap box that's as blank as possible and mounts a CD drive horizontally. That means the case on;y has to be 6" wide, not 11".
For a "cheap" box, isn't that asking for a bit much? A standard slim optical drive is 5.875" wide. To get anywhere close to 6", you probably need to use a slot-loading notebook drive integrated into a case/motherboard combo with notebook parts and external power brick, which isn't a cheap solution. Heck, the Mac mini and AOpen miniPC are 6.5" wide and you cannot get much narrower than that at any cost. Even a small PC (with slot-loading optical drive) like the the Shuttle X200 is about 11.5" wide, and it doesn't look like it can get much narrower without getting more integrated and much more expensive.
I want a mini ITX computer, with as small a fan as possible to be a NAS. But the whole project is absurdly expensive compared to what it would cost for a big ugly mATX.
Motherboards that follow the Mini-ITX standard are 6.7" x 6.7", so you'll have to compromise on your desire for a cheap 6-inch-wide case. Of course, the cheaper microATX standard (9.6" x 9.6") or flexATX (9.0" x 7.5") is too large for your needs.
I think the narrowest you could realistically hope for that's relatively cheap is something like AOpen's S120 Mini-ITX case, which is 7.8" wide and accepts standard slim optical drives. When it becomes available, I still don't think it will be "cheap" compared to microATX solutions.
I think the smallest you can expect from a cheap microATX case is something like the In Win BT611T, which is 12.2" wide (with integrated PSU) and $45.
Can we stop with the completely baseless "Vista's adoption rate will be nil" predictions? We heard all the same anti MS propaganda when XP came out.
I don't think RightSaidFred99 implied "nil." He said "most slowly adopted OS Microsoft has ever released," and I think there are good reasons for this prediction. Of course, I wouldn't bet a spindle of Yaiyo Yudens on it.
We heard all the same anti MS propaganda when XP came out. Its not really an upgrade. Theres no reason to switch to xp. Its just 2k with the Fisher Price interface. This will be the same thing.
The anti-MS propagandists were wrong back then, but now these predictions are coming from more credible sources and with better reasons. Unlike Windows XP (which followed Windows 98/ME) and OS X (OS 8/9), Vista is following a relatively stable, full-featured OS (XP Home, Media Center, Pro). When XP was released, it gained some very important features that 98/ME lacked: much better stability, better mulithreading/multitasking, better multiuser support, no DLL hell, etc. Also note that for businesses and institutions that used Windows 2000 (which already had most of these important features), Windows XP adoption was very slow (and still ongoing).
Vista, on the other hand, has many new features, but they aren't as crucial as XP's. Some of these new features are eye candy (improved user interface) and many are available as third party freeware/bundleware (Picassa, DVD authoring). Sure, clueless users who run as administrators and download malware will benefit greatly by adopting Vista. But I think most home users that have Service Pack 2 installed and (especially) businesses/institutions will be just fine delaying their upgrades until the next time they upgrade their hardware (or until mainstream/extended support ends). XP's mainstream support is scheduled to end on January 30, 2009 at the earliest and extended support (XP Pro) is scheduled to end in 2014.
Most people will get Vista becasue it came with their computer.
I agree, but how many users really need to replace their Windows XP computers? Low-end XP computers bought 4-5 years ago may seem slow to gamers, but will most users really need more powerful PCs? Low-end PCs five years ago had Pentium 3-based Celerons (soon to be replaced by P4-based) and Athlon-based Durons. These can still play non-HD multimedia with ease and have a relatively stable OS, unlike the home PCs of the 98/ME era.
In 5 years (maybe 6 or 7 at this rate) most folks will have Vista
This seems like a pretty slow adoption rate to me.
So it looks to me like AMD will continue to be ahead of Intel as far as top-end server solutions go.
In short, I find this particular move puzzling. Sun has traditionally backed the best performance design, and I see Intel still lagging here overall.
I find your finding (that this particular move is puzzling) puzzling. Sun offers more than just "top-end server solutions." Some of their current Opteron servers are 1-2 CPU solutions, like the Sun Fire X2200 M2. In this category, Kentsfield/Clovertown solutions outperform current AMD solutions in most usage scenarios. It seems to make sense to offer Kentsfield/Clovertown solutions in this category, if not 4+ CPU servers.
Nowhere in these articles does it say that Sun is replacing all of their AMD servers with Intel servers. Also, like Apple, maybe Sun likes what they see in Intel's top-secret roadmaps/propaganda: 4-bus chipsets, rapid shrinks to 45nm and beyond, new interconnect technologies, etc.
We are social primates, and therefore have evolved a variety of reciprocal-aid mechanisms in our behaviour. We are more likely to show helping behaviour toward our closer kin, but because we also (as a species) practice exogamy (breeding outside our kin group) rather vigorously we have a tendency to show helping behaviour toward anyone or anything that even looks remotely like us.
When raised in sufficiently violent, unloving circumstances that tendency may never be developed...
Those who have read about kin selection and the related experiments by Robert Trivers know that even simpler life forms (e.g. ants) will act altruistically to "selfishly" maximize their own genes to the next generation. The differing behavior of queen/worker ants, which do not practice exogamy, toward their kin (offspring, brothers, sisters) and slave ants (which have no genetic relationship) shows more evidence that "helping behavior" might be in large part an evolved behavior (independent from upbringing) for maximizing our genes.
A quick-and-dirty summary of kin selection and Trivers's experiments:
Human chromosomes come in pairs: we receive one set from mom's egg and one set from dad's sperm. Thus, we possess a maternal and paternal copy of each gene. The probability that you share the same gene with your brother or sister is fifty-fifty, so your sibling is (in genetic math) the same as half of you. Your cousin is the same as one-eigth of you. Thus, Haldane's cryptic comment: "I'd lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins." Stephen Jay Gould wrote that if you were walking down a road with three siblings and encountered a monster, the genetically altruistic act would be to sacrifice yourself (and save your three siblings) rather than escape and watch your three siblings die (or something silly like that).
Haplodiploid species (like ants) do not have symmetrical genetic relationships between brothers and sisters: Queens are related to their offspring (both sons and daughters) by one-half. Sisters are related to brothers by one-fourth. Sisters are related to sisters by three-fourths. Queens lay eggs of male and female offspring in almost equal numbers. However, if you measure the ratio of female/male weight for all fertile offspring in an ant nest, it will be very close to 3:1 (since the worker offspring selectively nurture the eggs). If you measure the ration of female/male weight for slave worker ants (not genetically related), it will be very close to 1:1.
I don't want to over-relate human altruism/selfishness to ant behavior, but Trivers's experiments (and others) show strong evidence that altruism is a genetically evolved behavior even in the absence of exogamy and good upbringing. IANASociobiologist, but I can see how the practice of exogamy in humans probably extends "genetic altruism" outside our kin group. I can also see how the effect of upbringing might greatly alter (or even make insignificant) our "evolved" genetic altruistic behavior.
Most of these "New and Updated Applications" are stuff I've had for years on my Mac.
DVD,
iDVD is not part of the OS X. Windows DVD Maker is part of Windows Vista. iDVD is an app that comes bundled with new Macs, but costs $79 (iLife suite) to upgrade to the next version. Since Windows Movie Maker is part of the OS, I think it's safe to assume it will get free updates during Vista's mainstream lifecycle (5 years). If you're going to count seperate apps like iDVD, then I think it is fair to mention that every Windows PC with a DVD burner also comes bundled with DVD creation software (3rd party, usually not as good as iDVD).
Mail, Calendar, Addressbook, Fax & Scan.
These are updated in Vista, not new. Why mention that your Mac has had these for years when Windows has also had these for years?
If you're going to turn this into a lame Mac vs PC discusion, then I'll play along and mention that Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker are parts of Vista (with free upgrades) while Mac users have to pay for upgrades to iPhoto and iMovie. See how lame this is?
Windows Imaging Component sounds identical to Core Image
Core Image was introduced as part of OS X 10.4 (April 29, 2005). Windows Imaging Component version 1.0 was released for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 on November 6. WIC is "new" in Vista because it will be preinstalled.
Yes, Apple "beat" Microsoft in releasing version 1. But is Core Image available for OS X 10.3? Does this stuff really matter?
OS X from 10.0 to 10.1 (faster) to 10.2 (smoother looking) to 10.3 (expose) to 10.4 (dashboard, spotlight) has had lots of improvements, and each previous release was only a year or so apart, and 10.4 came out over a year ago,
I'm not completely disagreeing with what I think is your point, but I think OS X 10.2 (released August 24, 2002) was what OS X should have been in the first place and should have been a free upgrade, not $129. It's understandable that 10.0 and 10.1 were dog slow and unpolished because Darwin/Quartz were so new on the architecture (10.0 should have been a beta, but thankfully 10.1 was a free download). At the very least, Apple should have improved the performance and visual polish of 10.1 with a free update (minus 10.2's other "new features").
while Vista took the largest software company in the world 5 years to come up, stripping features the whole time, which is is just coming out now... So of course the differences in each version of OS X are smaller, and of course it's more impressive to have had a product with most of the same features out sooner, and of course MS looks like crap for taking so long to deliver so little.
Yes, it took longer than it should have. However, I think Microsoft had less of a glaring need to update their OS than Apple did. IMO, OS X was an incomplete OS until August 24, 2002. Windows XP was released in a much more complete form (the NT code base was mature) on 25 October 2001 and received bugfixes and performance optimizations until Service Pack 2 on 6 August 2004. Like OS X, Windows XP has most of the important things needed in a modern OS like protected memory, preemptive multitasking, modern filesystem, limited user modes (underused), and remote desktop.
The new features since OS X 10.2 and the new features coming to Vista are very nice, but most users (even pros) should not be in a big hurry to get them. I think it's pathetic when fanboys brag about when their OS implemented features like fast user switching and desktop search integrated into the OS.
Unlike XP, the basic sub $500 computer is not good enough to run most versions.
Perhaps you misestimate the sub-$500 computer. Today's $500 box has GeForce 6150 integrated graphics (fine for Vista and even Aero Glass), 1GB of DDR, and an Athlon 64 or Sempron processor.
A quick check on Dell's site proves you are correct. I think it's been a while since UnknowingFool checked what they sell at this price point. Or he may be overestimating the system requirements for Vista Home Premium.
A Dell C521 (starting at $359) upgraded to XP Media Center Edition and 1GB of memory is $444.
HOME PREMIUM REQUIREMENTS: Any CPU less than 4 years old (even lowly Celerons and Durons) will easily meet the recommended requirements (1GHz from Pentium 3 generation). The GPU requirements (DirectX 9 with WDDM driver) have been integrated in sub-$500 computers for about a year (GMA 950, GeForce 6100, Radeon X300). The memory requirements (1GB) are the last to be updated in most PCs in this price rage, since XP only needs 512MB to run decently. After Vista is officially launched in a couple weeks, I bet all cheap PCs (even those with Vista Home Basic) will have 1GB.
That same article explained why: Apple wants the iPhone to work reliably, not to be known as a toy that can load various shareware apps, but which freezes erratically and is plagued with spyware and security hazards.
The Orwellian double-speak is mind-boggling. This is the world according to an Apple fanboy...
Also note that this story's submitter, DECS, is the same Apple fanboy who writes these articles on roughlydrafted, Daniel Eran. As Slashdot user DECS, he refers to himself, Daniel Eran, in the 3rd person. In addition to submitting his own articles, he also pimps his own articles in his Slashdot comments, in the 3rd person of course.
That buffoon doesn't seem to understand that OEMs (like Dell and Gateway) usually use custom-made motherboards that aren't offered at retail (e.g. ASUS, MSI). You're right: BTX systems with AMD CPUs are very common from OEMs like Dell and Gateway. I can't believe he got modded up.
What's with the massive anti-HD sentiment regarding porn? What happened when you guys see a woman in real life?
We cower, then run away.
Seriously, I'm not surprised that some porn freaks are de-boned by the idea of HD porn. However, I think it's silly for someone to think that their particular tastes will predict the success of HD porn. Anybody that has seen the variety of popular porn should be able to conclude that different guys like different things in porn. Some guys think Jenna Jameson was ruined by her fake breasts. Some guys hate two guy/one gal threesomes.
(Note to self: check "Post Anonymously" box before submitting this comment.)
Nerd #1: Hello? Are there any girls in this room at all? Nerd #2: Yeah, bring on the hot chicks 'cause I'm a hot stud. Nerd #3: Yeah! So are we! Leela: I'm a woman, if that's what you mean. I don't like to play games, so I'll just say I'm a cyclops, I'm a spaceship captain, I'm the only one of my species and I'm interested in meeting a man. Nerd #4: A woman! I'm scared.
Simple, which means it actually works for the 99% of consumers that are not geeks and don't even know what/. is.
It also brings about a whole new way of consuming content (like iPod did): Soon the value proposition for consumers will be "why pay $90/month for cable when I can just subscribe to the entire seasons of the 3 shows I watch for that much?"
You mention "99% of consumers" but I think you greatly underestimate the number of shows 99% of consumers watch on cable. For one, if the cable bill is $90/month (cable with premium channels), then the customer is in all likelyhood watching way more than 3 shows. Even for basic cable subscribers (less than $20/month in my area), most people "browse" or occasionally watch local channels for news/weather, sports, pbs, major network shows, simpsons re-runs, etc.
I think cable/satellite is as important to most people as broadband is to Slashdot readers. Most people don't want to go back to OTA antennas and dial-up modems. Most people probably read a few web sites (or watch a few shows) regularly, but occasionally browse many other web sites (or watch many other shows). I don't think they're going to give up cable, pay $300 for a new device, then pay $25-$35 per season for each show they regularly watch and $2 per show they occasionally watch. I think most people that are enticed by iTunes television shows will be better served by the cheapest DVR solution available.
That said, I think Apple TV has a good chance of success for its additional features. However, I think very few people will buy it so they can ditch cable.
Many of us assumed that the built-in USB 2.0 on the AppleTV was for external storage reasons. Why else would you need USB on it? You're not connecting a mouse and/or keyboard or any other oddball peripherals. It makes perfect sense.
Jacqui: Is the USB 2.0 for external storage?
Apple Employee: No. You cannot add external storage to the AppleTV. The USB port is there solely for service reasons.
Wow, that sucks a lot of ass. No external storage? Service purposes only? How long until some Japanese hacker breaks that one?
...it probably runs some kind of OSX (since it seems to display the iTunes album interface, front row, and has a local 40gb disk cache)... It can definitely stream video over the network, so it can probably use an eyetv tuner attached to another machine, windows or mac.
I think this would be a great feature (this is what Windows Media Center Extenders do), but Apple lacks a TV tuner/DVR interface in Apple TV's software. They definitely don't have it now in Front Row and iTunes. EyeTV's interface cannot be "streamed" to the Apple TV. It looks possible that Apple can create a tuner/DVR interface and add it to Apple TV later, but tuner/DVR interfaces are not easy to get right. TiVo and Windows Media Center Edition have nice DVR interfaces, but most others are pretty bad in comparison.
I'm hoping Apple adds tuner/DVR control to Apple TV, but in all of Apple's hype about this product and Front Row, I haven't heard one hint about any plans to add TV tuner/DVR functions.
Yes, but my point was that this crap applies to all HD DVD/BluRay gear, not just PCs with Vista (which the article implied). A brand-new set top Toshiba HD DVD player won't play at all through an early HDTV's digital input (which lacks HDCP). OS X and Linux will face the same problems as Vista will when trying to play these discs.
Slashdot Mirror
I thought Apple dropped floppy drives at least a year too early. To move data to another computer, I remember Mac fans saying: "Just e-mail it to yourself." This was unnecessarily inconvenient in the days of home dial-up internet and before good web mail clients were available (for other computers).
So, I proffer that this story is late by about a decade. I'd say about eight years.Possible drawbacks:
- OEM versions of Windows (which cost much less than retail) do not get phone/e-mail support from MS. I assume this is not a big deal to Slashdot readres because we should know how to use MS's support web pages, knowledge base, and Microsoft Update. However, it's worth mentioning if you're planning on installing it for a novice friend.
- OEM versions can only be used on one computer and cannot be "moved" to your next computer. MS has been pretty lax on this requirement for XP (just call them and they'll re-activate for you), but I've read that they might be more strict with Vista (I hope not).
- It looks like upgrade versions of Vista will require a previous version to be installed before you can install Vista. Previous to Vista, upgrade versions of Windows only required the user to briefly insert a previous version's CD. If you have a RAID setup, this might mean you need to go through XP's shitty RAID setup before installing Vista (which fixes this RAID issue). Note that, contrary to some news headlines, Vista upgrade versions will allow "clean" installs (format hard drive and start clean).
I'm sure most Slashdot readers would accept the possible OEM drawbacks. The drawbacks of the "upgrade" version of Vista might not be so acceptable. If I was buying now, I'd just get an OEM version of Vista unless they change the "installed previous OS" requirement.Since XP support is due to last until 2011, I'll let you know how it is in about four years.
Last week Microsoft announced that Windows XP Home and Media Center Edition will receive the same Extended Support phase that XP Professional gets. That means that Mainstream Support for XP will end in April 2009 and Extended Support (which includes free security updates) will end in April 2014 (for XP Home, too).MS's support lifecycle policy states that "home" and "pro" versions of Windows get a Mainstream Support phase of 5 years after general availability (12/31/01 to 2006) or 2 years after the next product is released (1/30/09), whichever is longer. MS recently added an additional 4 months to XP's Mainstream support phase, which now runs until April 2009.
The support lifecycle policy states that "home" versions of Windows are not supposed to get an Extended Support phase (includes free security updates) like the "pro" versions get, but last week MS added Extended Support to XP Home and Media Center to match XP Pro's support. The policy states that Extended Support lasts 5 years after Mainstream Support ends, so that means XP will be supported until April 2014.
Not according to Glenn Lurie, Cingular's president of national distribution. From a PC Magazine article:
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US.So Cingular and Apple will supposedly make it difficult to unlock the iPhone. Also, you're a BAD GUY (says Cingular) if you unlock your iPhone or any other phone. Besides, the GP's point was that phones were unlocked in the rest of the world (outside the USA).
As another replier hinted, you might have misinterpreted the required two year Cingular service contract that iPhone buyers must agree to. However, I think you're correct about them being clowntards...
Also, they mentioned that the Cingular name and logo would ALWAYS be on screen. Doesn't that mean they were effectively lying about the resolution, as some of the resolution will always be used only in a user-hostile fashion?
Yup. From PC Magazine's January 10 interview with Glenn Lurie, Cingular's president of national distribution:
While the Cingular logo will not appear on the body of the iPhone, the word "Cingular" will appear on the screen at all times.As for them being clowntards:
When asked about a give-and-take leading to the Apple-Cingular partnership, Lurie said, "I'm not sure we gave anything." Later, he commented, "I think they bent a lot." That bending included allowing the phone to be locked to Cingular, just one of several restrictions on the new iPhone. Press reports today said the phone will not accept third-party applications, though Apple may allow third parties to program mini-application "widgets."If you want an iPhone, you are going to get the luxury of being on the Cingular network," Lurie said.
My favorite part:
While "there are bad guys out there that unlock phones," Lurie said, Apple and Cingular are taking unspecified steps to make the phone more difficult to unlock and use on other GSM carriers in the US.Bad guys? What a fucktard. I'm not blaming Apple, though. I wouldn't be surprised if all phone companies are nearly this bad.
- Nullsoft Winamp
- Amazon Unbox video player
- Musicmatch Jukebox
I don't think one exists, but I don't know if software companies are prohibited from obtaining PlaysForSure licenses for software players on other operating systems. Nullsoft, MusicMatch, and Amazon could obtain PlaysForeSure licenses for their Windows software. I have seen no evidence that Flip4Mac has been prohibited from obtaining a PlaysForSure license for their Windows Media Components for QuickTime.Can I play my purchased music from services such as the new Napster, MusicMatch, MusicNow, or BuyMusic.com through Winamp 5?
Yes. Yes you can.
In contrast, other software companies are prohibited from licensing FairPlay. Some companies want to license FairPlay so that their software can play iTunes Store media, but Apple refuses to license their DRM.
That said, I'm not sure if I agree with Norway's decision to ban FairPlay. This might be excessive regulation.
However, last week (January 16) Hirsch said they will now back both formats. Their first title is scheduled to be released in both Blu Ray and HD DVD on March 28. Also note that Hirsch says they encountered hurdles while producing for Blu Ray:
However, not all of what Heise printed is invalid. Hirsch did note that Vivid has encountered hurdles while producing adult entertainment for Blu-ray more so than HD DVD.
Sony is not giving any assistance in the authoring or replication of adult content on Blu-ray, said Hirsch. Sony is somehow trying to keep away such material from the format, which I think is a mistake.
Without Sonys help, Vivid had to find authoring and replication facilities on its own. Hirsch added that Sony puts restrictions on all Blu-ray manufacturing facilities that produce Disney titles disallowing them from making adult content. By comparison, the manufacturing process for Vivids HD DVD adult titles is much easier as it is able to make use of existing facilities.
GLAY'z have apparently released two titles on Blu Ray (I love the Jap-Engrish descriptions):
I think the narrowest you could realistically hope for that's relatively cheap is something like AOpen's S120 Mini-ITX case, which is 7.8" wide and accepts standard slim optical drives. When it becomes available, I still don't think it will be "cheap" compared to microATX solutions.
I think the smallest you can expect from a cheap microATX case is something like the In Win BT611T, which is 12.2" wide (with integrated PSU) and $45.
Vista, on the other hand, has many new features, but they aren't as crucial as XP's. Some of these new features are eye candy (improved user interface) and many are available as third party freeware/bundleware (Picassa, DVD authoring). Sure, clueless users who run as administrators and download malware will benefit greatly by adopting Vista. But I think most home users that have Service Pack 2 installed and (especially) businesses/institutions will be just fine delaying their upgrades until the next time they upgrade their hardware (or until mainstream/extended support ends). XP's mainstream support is scheduled to end on January 30, 2009 at the earliest and extended support (XP Pro) is scheduled to end in 2014.
I agree, but how many users really need to replace their Windows XP computers? Low-end XP computers bought 4-5 years ago may seem slow to gamers, but will most users really need more powerful PCs? Low-end PCs five years ago had Pentium 3-based Celerons (soon to be replaced by P4-based) and Athlon-based Durons. These can still play non-HD multimedia with ease and have a relatively stable OS, unlike the home PCs of the 98/ME era. This seems like a pretty slow adoption rate to me.Nowhere in these articles does it say that Sun is replacing all of their AMD servers with Intel servers. Also, like Apple, maybe Sun likes what they see in Intel's top-secret roadmaps/propaganda: 4-bus chipsets, rapid shrinks to 45nm and beyond, new interconnect technologies, etc.
A quick-and-dirty summary of kin selection and Trivers's experiments:
Human chromosomes come in pairs: we receive one set from mom's egg and one set from dad's sperm. Thus, we possess a maternal and paternal copy of each gene. The probability that you share the same gene with your brother or sister is fifty-fifty, so your sibling is (in genetic math) the same as half of you. Your cousin is the same as one-eigth of you. Thus, Haldane's cryptic comment: "I'd lay down my life for two brothers or eight cousins." Stephen Jay Gould wrote that if you were walking down a road with three siblings and encountered a monster, the genetically altruistic act would be to sacrifice yourself (and save your three siblings) rather than escape and watch your three siblings die (or something silly like that).
Haplodiploid species (like ants) do not have symmetrical genetic relationships between brothers and sisters: Queens are related to their offspring (both sons and daughters) by one-half. Sisters are related to brothers by one-fourth. Sisters are related to sisters by three-fourths. Queens lay eggs of male and female offspring in almost equal numbers. However, if you measure the ratio of female/male weight for all fertile offspring in an ant nest, it will be very close to 3:1 (since the worker offspring selectively nurture the eggs). If you measure the ration of female/male weight for slave worker ants (not genetically related), it will be very close to 1:1.
I don't want to over-relate human altruism/selfishness to ant behavior, but Trivers's experiments (and others) show strong evidence that altruism is a genetically evolved behavior even in the absence of exogamy and good upbringing. IANASociobiologist, but I can see how the practice of exogamy in humans probably extends "genetic altruism" outside our kin group. I can also see how the effect of upbringing might greatly alter (or even make insignificant) our "evolved" genetic altruistic behavior.
If you're going to turn this into a lame Mac vs PC discusion, then I'll play along and mention that Windows Photo Gallery and Windows Movie Maker are parts of Vista (with free upgrades) while Mac users have to pay for upgrades to iPhoto and iMovie. See how lame this is?
Core Image was introduced as part of OS X 10.4 (April 29, 2005). Windows Imaging Component version 1.0 was released for Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 on November 6. WIC is "new" in Vista because it will be preinstalled.Yes, Apple "beat" Microsoft in releasing version 1. But is Core Image available for OS X 10.3? Does this stuff really matter?
The new features since OS X 10.2 and the new features coming to Vista are very nice, but most users (even pros) should not be in a big hurry to get them. I think it's pathetic when fanboys brag about when their OS implemented features like fast user switching and desktop search integrated into the OS.
A Dell C521 (starting at $359) upgraded to XP Media Center Edition and 1GB of memory is $444.
HOME PREMIUM REQUIREMENTS: Any CPU less than 4 years old (even lowly Celerons and Durons) will easily meet the recommended requirements (1GHz from Pentium 3 generation). The GPU requirements (DirectX 9 with WDDM driver) have been integrated in sub-$500 computers for about a year (GMA 950, GeForce 6100, Radeon X300). The memory requirements (1GB) are the last to be updated in most PCs in this price rage, since XP only needs 512MB to run decently. After Vista is officially launched in a couple weeks, I bet all cheap PCs (even those with Vista Home Basic) will have 1GB.
Gateway adopted BTX for their entire desktop line a long time ago. Example: GT5220 Media Center Computer.
I think it's wise to rip to the more compatible MP3 format rather than AAC. However, unless Apple has changed iTunes's MP3 encoder recently, the MP3 encoder that Apple uses in iTunes is well-known as one of the crappiest-sounding MP3 encoders available.
If you care about quality, use the LAME encoder to create MP3s.
Seriously, I'm not surprised that some porn freaks are de-boned by the idea of HD porn. However, I think it's silly for someone to think that their particular tastes will predict the success of HD porn. Anybody that has seen the variety of popular porn should be able to conclude that different guys like different things in porn. Some guys think Jenna Jameson was ruined by her fake breasts. Some guys hate two guy/one gal threesomes.
(Note to self: check "Post Anonymously" box before submitting this comment.)
Nerd #1: Hello? Are there any girls in this room at all?
Nerd #2: Yeah, bring on the hot chicks 'cause I'm a hot stud.
Nerd #3: Yeah! So are we!
Leela: I'm a woman, if that's what you mean. I don't like to play games, so I'll just say I'm a cyclops, I'm a spaceship captain, I'm the only one of my species and I'm interested in meeting a man.
Nerd #4: A woman! I'm scared.
I think cable/satellite is as important to most people as broadband is to Slashdot readers. Most people don't want to go back to OTA antennas and dial-up modems. Most people probably read a few web sites (or watch a few shows) regularly, but occasionally browse many other web sites (or watch many other shows). I don't think they're going to give up cable, pay $300 for a new device, then pay $25-$35 per season for each show they regularly watch and $2 per show they occasionally watch. I think most people that are enticed by iTunes television shows will be better served by the cheapest DVR solution available.
That said, I think Apple TV has a good chance of success for its additional features. However, I think very few people will buy it so they can ditch cable.
- Many of us assumed that the built-in USB 2.0 on the AppleTV was for external storage reasons. Why else would you need USB on it? You're not connecting a mouse and/or keyboard or any other oddball peripherals. It makes perfect sense.
Wow, that sucks a lot of ass. No external storage? Service purposes only? How long until some Japanese hacker breaks that one?
I think this would be a great feature (this is what Windows Media Center Extenders do), but Apple lacks a TV tuner/DVR interface in Apple TV's software. They definitely don't have it now in Front Row and iTunes. EyeTV's interface cannot be "streamed" to the Apple TV. It looks possible that Apple can create a tuner/DVR interface and add it to Apple TV later, but tuner/DVR interfaces are not easy to get right. TiVo and Windows Media Center Edition have nice DVR interfaces, but most others are pretty bad in comparison.I'm hoping Apple adds tuner/DVR control to Apple TV, but in all of Apple's hype about this product and Front Row, I haven't heard one hint about any plans to add TV tuner/DVR functions.
Maybe I didn't emphasize enough that these requirements are crap . I've read that 1080p video can look pretty darned good over analog component video connections. Apparently, a good scaler helps. Early adopters deserve better.