It works great, you say? Gee, all that bad press about the Zune must all be FUD. Now, I'll just have to go out and buy half a dozen Zunes (or is it Zunii?). Thanks, MSFanBoi2! Your objectivity in this matter allows me to support Microsoft with joy!
Spend fifteen minutes configuring and slipstreaming in wallpaper, programs, hotfixes, and SP2, enter your TCP/IP settings, CD key, user name, drivers, etc, then put the CD in and you're good to go.
The best parts if you go this route: -It's quicker -You don't have to worry about viruses (integrate anti-virus and hotfixes) -No next, next, ok in the middle of the installation -Works on any computer, as long as you integrate drivers
Hell, what's not to like? I've got an awesome "Windows Distro" that I've been using on all my friends gaming rigs for a few years now. It's all the customizability and ease of use of gentoo with the security and stability of XP (seriously, though, it is great).
95% of the problems I've seen with Vista are driver related. I have one system which is rock solid stable on both Ubuntu and XP, but when I "upgraded" to vista, I encountered some serious issues with the sound and video card drivers (nVidia and RealTek AC97, IIRC). I tried other brands' products (ATI and Soundblaster) and found that my stability went up quite a lot (but still, not enough to keep Vista around).
Mostly unrelated to this is the fact that Vista is considerably slower than XP on the same system. Framerates dropped by 15-20 FPS (FEAR Combat XP: 35-40FPS, Vista: 15-20FPS), and startup times went from a minute to upwards of two. Launching OpenOffice more than doubled in time.
My advice is the same as everyone else's on this site: hold off on vista as long as you can.
That kind of attitude is what led to the cold war...not a pretty half-century.
And comparing dynamite to nukes is impossible. You can kill, like, maybe a dead whale with dynamite (or a few people). Nukes have the power to destroy the planet; you aren't going to make a weapon bigger and better than that for at least a hundred years or so. A better solution is to just educate people on the benefits of nuclear power. Also, remember that you can use nuclear energy to make H-fuel, which is easily transported and sold to countries you don't trust enough to sell nuclear reactors themselves.
How is this an issue? It's like saying that someone shouldn't be held responsible when they left their wireless network unsecured, and a pirate comes and takes their files. Keep your network protected, and it won't happen.
The big drawbacks I see here are: 1) Joe Denisovich, downloads movie and distributes it in Russia, immune to legal action from the US (counterable by not distributing to Russians 2) People can still copy to their friends computers. (not really what the MPAA is worried about, IMHO)
Honestly, I consider this to be massive fuckloads better than some DRM that locks down my box, installs spyware, and/or can't run on Linux/OS X. This is as good as it's going to get, and I, for one, am very seriously considering dropping my piratebay addiction for these guys.
On another note, this won't kill piracy, as pirates can just rip the DVD. The MPAA feels better about it, home users aren't getting fucked over, these guys are making cash, and pirates can still go on cracking. Everybody wins!
You are aware that Movie.Name.Codec.Source.MediaType-ReLEAseGROUP actually means something, right? And that you can go to vcdquality.com to check things out before you download, right? And that you can download one rar file, check the "keep broken files" box (or append the appropriate flag in Linux), and play it in VLC before you download the whole thing? Just checking.
There's no customers to hurt. I live on a PAVED ROAD (laugh, but it's rare in the area mentioned) less than EIGHT MILES from Montpelier, Vermont. It's a fairly major route, and a several hundred people live on it between me and Montpelier. I've been on the waiting list for high-speed internet since 2001. I'm still stuck on dial-up (on the upside, the state does provide that for free to us). I don't know anyone, outside major population centers (8k+ people) who can get DSL or better.
And I can't see the situation improving with this new deal. Reading TFA, they are talking buzzwords about the merger, but there's no info about the actual consumers.
There is a remote chance that some sort of Albatross (during a famine or something?) could have picked up a mouse and flown back. There are a number of other seabirds, some of which (Shearwaters) are vicious enough to potentially go after mammals, but it still seems unlikely (as most seabirds hunt at sea and only return to land to nest).
I think that scientists probably took into account everything we are saying now when they found the bird.
The best thing I can come up with is that the fossil is that of a species that started to evolve but didn't get off the ground, possibly due to overcrowding, similar to the horse in North America.
If anyone has any more likely theories, please, do post them.
uTorrent phones home for the DHT network feature; it's pretty important if you care about speed. Shut down the uTorrent central server, and you've effectively halved (or worse) everyone's download/upload speed.
It's a serious problem; if it happens there could be an alternate server, but it would require third party hacks.
The GUI for the system has been re-engineered and it is easier to use. Other applications have been rewritten to have the same look and feel so that the system as a whole will be easier to use.
It was not stable when I used it.
That is, in effect, Microsoft strategy. They think that if everyone likes how their desktop looks, they won't mind that their box is a zombie spewing worms to all the other computers.
That's the entire reason Microsoft's empire will probably collapse over the next 10-15 years: linux focuses on security and stability (reading 6 months uptime with no problems here), while its GUI looks like, well, to put it bluntly, we're competing with windows 98 on looks. But under the hood, Linux is far, far better than Vista.
KDE has the start menu at the bottom left by default, with the clock at the bottom right.
Gnome has the start menu (well, Applications) at the top left, with the clock also at the top right, but open windows are at the bottom.
This makes things wildly confusing for clueless Windows users, who franticly search for their precious clock and start button (laugh all you want, I've given more people KDE than Gnome because of this).
Pick your favorite antivirus (I use antivir because it's idiot proof) and put it on a thumb drive. Make sure to have the Win 98 drivers for said drive (they can be on the drive itself, and you can install them using Knoppix)
Windows XP
Agreed, reluctantly. If you're gonna go this way, though, you'll also need to carry an external hard drive for back-up purposes, and an XP disk is pretty much useless without this. Plus, computers ship with one, so chances are someone else has one.
Fedora
This wouldn't be slashdot if we didn't fight about what distro to carry. I would say the best newbie distro might be Ubuntu, but we could argue about this all day.
MS Office
Why bother? You can fit the installer on a 1 gig thumb drive, but OOO suits everyones needs (I have yet to run across a home user who actually needed Word), without requiring a keygen.
Open Office
Thumb drive.
Misc software: Adobe, Quicktime, Firefox, Opera, J2RE, etc.
Yes. But add in Foxit (loads faster), Flash, XP SP2 standalone installer, the dot net framework 2.0, an XP password recovery tool, 7-zip, winrar, the Community Compiled Codec Pack and VLC.
I've been using this basic set-up for years, and it works amazingly well.
Cell phones should be banned from public schools. Not for violence, but for their sheer annoyance. There's no reason a high schooler would need one.
To the rest of your comment: it will be impossible to ban video games. That's like banning alcohol; it's so central to people's lives that it will find a way around. Especially today, with the magics of teh interweb and a computer in every home.
So, I'm not saying a ban is unlikely, I'm just saying it'll be completely ineffective.
Now, we'll have more people going out partying late at night, more cars on the roads, more people awake at night using electricity...
Even if this doesn't have any long-term side effects on people (which I bet it does), it'll have a massive impact on energy usage and consumption. I, for one, hope that this doesn't get adopted until we have 100% clean energy (in other words, never).
Last I checked a Mac does that far more effectively with the Doc. Even can make icons & text larger as needed rather nicely.
Linux does a fine job. The doc menu or the desktop are just different ways of accomplishing the same thing, and a few seconds of configing my Ubuntu desktop, and I can enlarge icons/test.
get to know their computer more they won't be breaking anything
Last time I checked, Mac allowed a user to delete their own files, which is really the worst you can do in Linux without being root.
With a Linux box they are guaranteed to never explore one bit
That's quite a statement, but let's assume, for a moment, that it's true. Most people don't want to explore their computer. They want their email, word processing, perhaps a bit of photo management, and that's about it. My grandmother (88) doesn't want to explore her computer; she wants to read the stupid joke emails her friends send her. Seriously, do you think that most people (non-slashdotters) want to resize their swap partition? How about set up an proxy? Recompile their kernel?
We shouldn't be trying to make people tech savvy unless they want to become so themselves. In which case, they should probably go with a Mac.
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Thanks, MSFanBoi2! Your objectivity in this matter allows me to support Microsoft with joy!
This post brought to you by Slashbot #829391.
Spend fifteen minutes configuring and slipstreaming in wallpaper, programs, hotfixes, and SP2, enter your TCP/IP settings, CD key, user name, drivers, etc, then put the CD in and you're good to go.
The best parts if you go this route:
-It's quicker
-You don't have to worry about viruses (integrate anti-virus and hotfixes)
-No next, next, ok in the middle of the installation
-Works on any computer, as long as you integrate drivers
Hell, what's not to like? I've got an awesome "Windows Distro" that I've been using on all my friends gaming rigs for a few years now. It's all the customizability and ease of use of gentoo with the security and stability of XP (seriously, though, it is great).
Mostly unrelated to this is the fact that Vista is considerably slower than XP on the same system. Framerates dropped by 15-20 FPS (FEAR Combat XP: 35-40FPS, Vista: 15-20FPS), and startup times went from a minute to upwards of two. Launching OpenOffice more than doubled in time.
My advice is the same as everyone else's on this site: hold off on vista as long as you can.
And comparing dynamite to nukes is impossible. You can kill, like, maybe a dead whale with dynamite (or a few people). Nukes have the power to destroy the planet; you aren't going to make a weapon bigger and better than that for at least a hundred years or so. A better solution is to just educate people on the benefits of nuclear power. Also, remember that you can use nuclear energy to make H-fuel, which is easily transported and sold to countries you don't trust enough to sell nuclear reactors themselves.
Try throwing virtual poop like OpenPoop or FreeShit. Just stay away from ePoop (or iPoop for Mac users) and all that closed source nonsense.
Apparently, you haven't either. The correct phrase is: you must be new here...
Truly, this is a question that will plague both scientists and engrish majors for years to come.
Keep your network protected, and it won't happen.
The big drawbacks I see here are: 1) Joe Denisovich, downloads movie and distributes it in Russia, immune to legal action from the US (counterable by not distributing to Russians
2) People can still copy to their friends computers. (not really what the MPAA is worried about, IMHO)
Honestly, I consider this to be massive fuckloads better than some DRM that locks down my box, installs spyware, and/or can't run on Linux/OS X. This is as good as it's going to get, and I, for one, am very seriously considering dropping my piratebay addiction for these guys.
On another note, this won't kill piracy, as pirates can just rip the DVD. The MPAA feels better about it, home users aren't getting fucked over, these guys are making cash, and pirates can still go on cracking. Everybody wins!
Everyone who lives in Vermont pays taxes. So its not free, but close. Google "GovNET".
You are aware that Movie.Name.Codec.Source.MediaType-ReLEAseGROUP actually means something, right?
And that you can go to vcdquality.com to check things out before you download, right?
And that you can download one rar file, check the "keep broken files" box (or append the appropriate flag in Linux), and play it in VLC before you download the whole thing?
Just checking.
I live on a PAVED ROAD (laugh, but it's rare in the area mentioned) less than EIGHT MILES from Montpelier, Vermont. It's a fairly major route, and a several hundred people live on it between me and Montpelier.
I've been on the waiting list for high-speed internet since 2001. I'm still stuck on dial-up (on the upside, the state does provide that for free to us). I don't know anyone, outside major population centers (8k+ people) who can get DSL or better.
And I can't see the situation improving with this new deal. Reading TFA, they are talking buzzwords about the merger, but there's no info about the actual consumers.
At the moment they are partying with Duke Nukem.
I think that scientists probably took into account everything we are saying now when they found the bird.
The best thing I can come up with is that the fossil is that of a species that started to evolve but didn't get off the ground, possibly due to overcrowding, similar to the horse in North America.
If anyone has any more likely theories, please, do post them.
I, for one, hope these things don't take off until I'm out of school or people will raise the bar for those of us who don't cheat.
And then there's always the ability to watch porn anywhere, but that's a whole other can of worms.
Shut down the uTorrent central server, and you've effectively halved (or worse) everyone's download/upload speed.
It's a serious problem; if it happens there could be an alternate server, but it would require third party hacks.
If the worst that happens is we support a monopoly, its still a shitload better than torturing people.
That is, in effect, Microsoft strategy. They think that if everyone likes how their desktop looks, they won't mind that their box is a zombie spewing worms to all the other computers.
That's the entire reason Microsoft's empire will probably collapse over the next 10-15 years: linux focuses on security and stability (reading 6 months uptime with no problems here), while its GUI looks like, well, to put it bluntly, we're competing with windows 98 on looks. But under the hood, Linux is far, far better than Vista.
Hopefully customers will realize this.
If everyone really knew, you wouldn't have to post that as an AC.
Gnome has the start menu (well, Applications) at the top left, with the clock also at the top right, but open windows are at the bottom.
This makes things wildly confusing for clueless Windows users, who franticly search for their precious clock and start button (laugh all you want, I've given more people KDE than Gnome because of this).
What is this, the next generation of Solviet Russia jokes? Come on.
Agreed.
Pick your favorite antivirus (I use antivir because it's idiot proof) and put it on a thumb drive. Make sure to have the Win 98 drivers for said drive (they can be on the drive itself, and you can install them using Knoppix)
Agreed, reluctantly. If you're gonna go this way, though, you'll also need to carry an external hard drive for back-up purposes, and an XP disk is pretty much useless without this. Plus, computers ship with one, so chances are someone else has one.
This wouldn't be slashdot if we didn't fight about what distro to carry. I would say the best newbie distro might be Ubuntu, but we could argue about this all day.
Why bother? You can fit the installer on a 1 gig thumb drive, but OOO suits everyones needs (I have yet to run across a home user who actually needed Word), without requiring a keygen.
Thumb drive.
Yes. But add in Foxit (loads faster), Flash, XP SP2 standalone installer, the dot net framework 2.0, an XP password recovery tool, 7-zip, winrar, the Community Compiled Codec Pack and VLC.
I've been using this basic set-up for years, and it works amazingly well.
To the rest of your comment: it will be impossible to ban video games. That's like banning alcohol; it's so central to people's lives that it will find a way around. Especially today, with the magics of teh interweb and a computer in every home.
So, I'm not saying a ban is unlikely, I'm just saying it'll be completely ineffective.
Now, we'll have more people going out partying late at night, more cars on the roads, more people awake at night using electricity...
Even if this doesn't have any long-term side effects on people (which I bet it does), it'll have a massive impact on energy usage and consumption.
I, for one, hope that this doesn't get adopted until we have 100% clean energy (in other words, never).
Thanks!
Linux does a fine job. The doc menu or the desktop are just different ways of accomplishing the same thing, and a few seconds of configing my Ubuntu desktop, and I can enlarge icons/test.
Last time I checked, Mac allowed a user to delete their own files, which is really the worst you can do in Linux without being root.
That's quite a statement, but let's assume, for a moment, that it's true. Most people don't want to explore their computer. They want their email, word processing, perhaps a bit of photo management, and that's about it. My grandmother (88) doesn't want to explore her computer; she wants to read the stupid joke emails her friends send her.Seriously, do you think that most people (non-slashdotters) want to resize their swap partition? How about set up an proxy? Recompile their kernel?
We shouldn't be trying to make people tech savvy unless they want to become so themselves. In which case, they should probably go with a Mac.