I have been running Vista on my laptop (HP nc6320) since it was released to business users. My laptop is a Core Duo 1.66Ghz with 512MB of ram. It was sold as "Vista ready" and even had that wonderful 100% Vista Compatible sticker on the side. Sadly, it was not.
Vista failed to recognize almost all of the hardware. Thankfully, it did recognize the wireless card, so I was able to go to HP's site and download most of the hardware. It never did recognize the fingerprint reader (likely bad drivers) and there were two devices that came up as unknown device which I have yet to be able to track down. Also, since the video card is shared memory, I do not get all of the nice visual features on this laptop that I would on a more powerful desktop.
That being said, I am very happy with the performance of this latop. The boot time is significantly nicer, and it runs Office 2007 perfectly. I also enjoy the menu structure so much more. Some of the layout reminds me of Mac/Linux, such as not having a "Documents and Settings" folder, but instead having a "Users" folder on the root drive. Things like this are not massive changes to the user experience, but for someone like me, who works on both Macs and PCs all day, it seems more natural, and I do feel I'm a little more productive during the day.
I would actually like to replace Windows XP on my home machine with Vista, which can handle the special effects, but as I have a very old Brooktree tv tuner card, I will likely be stuck with XP until I can afford a new tuner card as well. The Beta releases of Vista did not recognize the card, so I don't have any hope for the final release.
Also, for those wondering, Windows ReadyBoost has done wonders for my latop performance. I can actually tell a difference in the opening/closing time of office documents when I have my 1GB thumb drive attached. My older 256MB drives were not even offered the option of ReadyBoost, but they are not USB2.0 native, so that is likely the issue with those units.
The memory-space randomization technique will block the majority of buffer overflow tricks used in about two-thirds of all worm and virus attacks.
Ok, so two-thirds of the tricks used in worms and virus buffer overflor attacks are negated, but are those two-thirds heavily used attacks, or very minor ones?
This is a nice step, but I'd like to see them be a little more active on the security front. How about patching some more of those released zero-day exploits for Word?
I have a laptop now which runs Windows XP, Windows Vista Beta, and Kubuntu Linux.
Windows, if set to install to a different partition, will not overwrite your XP install, and creates a dual boot menu, but it will overwrite the MBR.
For the 3 OSes to work together, I had to install in this order: XP Vista Kubuntu
Doing it this way, everything works fine. On boot, I can choose either Windows or Linux. If I choose Windows, then I get a second loader that lets me pick either Vista or XP.
I have, but sadly, I have never really had a chance to sit down and work with it. I have a feeling it would meet our requirements, but it's an issue of time to get it fully configured and set up correctly.
Of course, If I have time to/. I should have time to do this *smile*
For me, this would be the perfect solution. I am the lone hardware tech for a College (not counting student work study). I have to support both Windows and Mac OS. For me, having a laptop that will let me dual boot means I don't have to worry about grabbing the right bag, or having the right software on hand when I head out and make service calls. It also means that support for either OS is just a reboot away.
Yes, a geeky part of me wants to dual boot just because I can, but in my field, having a dual boot machine just makes sense. I can run the Mac for my day to day stuff, and launch Windows when we need to troubleshoot some odd scientific software package designed for DOS that they are still using (happens a lot more then people realize), or when I need to run specialized software like Datatel locally; as remote desktop has made that need even less of a need.
It also means that I have trimmed my office computer budget. One Mac Book Pro, although a little pricey, is much cheaper then an iBook and a Windows laptop ($1000 for the iBook, $1300 for the PC laptop we have stanardized on). $2300 total compared to the $1800 for my MBP.
Honestly, I think there are 3 camps of people.
1. Geeks who want to try this out
2. People like me, who could actually benefit from it
3. People who want the PC games
Of the above list, I think group 1 will tire of it quickly. Group 2 has the most to gain from this. Group 3 should really wait for DarWine or Qemu, but for the short term, this will work for them.
I fail to see how the admin saving a string to an unencrypted text file that the user can just read later does anything for security, unless wasting the admin's time is a new security technique I'm unfamiliar with...
Yes, it can be read later, but to be honest, aside from the/. crowd, most people are not going to take the time to figure out the WEP code. Seriously, making something just a little difficult to do keeps about 98% of the kids from doing stuff they shouldn't.
Those that want the key will find a way to get it, and there's no stopping those who are truely determined. But by simply requiring the students to bring their machine in to have the WEP key will go a long way to keeping the key internal, and not known to the local community.
For the record, where I work, we don't use WEP keys, but instead use management software that requests a valid username and password. This way, if kids experiment with various OSS, or get a new machine, they don't have to bring it in. I don't care for the concept of using WEP, but I do know a lot of campuses that do.
I seriously hate admins of schools they're the most useless technologically inept people ever. Which was funny given the program I was in was for techies (e.g. software/hardware developers).
You dealt with the Admin? Admin of which area? Are you sure it was an "Admin" and not just a student worker, or possibly the schools only full time pc tech (which is not an "Admin" by any standards).
Good job that social engineering got you what you wanted though. If you came to the school where I went, you would have been asked to bring up the prompt, and they would have typed in the WEP key for you. they don't care what OS you run, but they can only officially support XP and Mac OS X.
Were I work now, as a hardware tech for a College, We try to support linux the best we can, and provided they are running a WM like KDE or Gnome, we can normally get your network and e-mail client configured for you just fine.
If we start to see one specific distro, we will install it on a testing box so we make an honest effort to support it, but we, like most Colleges, have a very small staff (1 hardware tech, me) that limits the amount of time I can spend learning Linux.
For this reason, when it comes to hiring students, we prefer those with OSS/Mac knowledge.
Also, try not to be to hard on the Tech department. Chances are, they are not inept, just overworked and underpaid.
Now if this uni went the way of OSS and used proper open source networking resources then I may be in favour of it...
But knowing most unis they're just a money pit so who do you think they'll align with.
Most Collegs's and Universities can not go OSS simply due to the cost of support and training. Most Admins, and techs in general, learn Windows. I'm not saying this is good or bad, but that's how it is. Yeah, OSS may be free to install, but it's not free to support. Certified MS techs are a dime a dozen, but a *nix tech is worth a lot more. Most *nix techs would probably like to make a lot more then what educational institutions pay.
Most College's and Uni's are also understaffed, which means the Tech people don't have the free time to learn several OS's, which is why they recommend specific ones. Those techs that do learn enough of linux to do basic support, generally do so on their own time. As such, not many really know much more then Windows and the utter basics of Mac OS X.
If you think your Uni needs to learn linux, or some other OSS, instead of complaining, volunteer to work there, or if you qualify for work-study, see if they don't have an open position. If nothing else, this will give you a chance to ask about OSS, support those that prefer OSS, and see what College/Uni techs really go through during a day.
Last I checked, I could go to pretty much any Hastings store and pick up or order any CD, including the Eagles. iTunes may have exclusive "digital store" rights, but they can't stop me from getting off my lazy butt and purchasing a CD.
--nutz
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I have been running Vista on my laptop (HP nc6320) since it was released to business users. My laptop is a Core Duo 1.66Ghz with 512MB of ram. It was sold as "Vista ready" and even had that wonderful 100% Vista Compatible sticker on the side. Sadly, it was not.
Vista failed to recognize almost all of the hardware. Thankfully, it did recognize the wireless card, so I was able to go to HP's site and download most of the hardware. It never did recognize the fingerprint reader (likely bad drivers) and there were two devices that came up as unknown device which I have yet to be able to track down. Also, since the video card is shared memory, I do not get all of the nice visual features on this laptop that I would on a more powerful desktop.
That being said, I am very happy with the performance of this latop. The boot time is significantly nicer, and it runs Office 2007 perfectly. I also enjoy the menu structure so much more. Some of the layout reminds me of Mac/Linux, such as not having a "Documents and Settings" folder, but instead having a "Users" folder on the root drive. Things like this are not massive changes to the user experience, but for someone like me, who works on both Macs and PCs all day, it seems more natural, and I do feel I'm a little more productive during the day.
I would actually like to replace Windows XP on my home machine with Vista, which can handle the special effects, but as I have a very old Brooktree tv tuner card, I will likely be stuck with XP until I can afford a new tuner card as well. The Beta releases of Vista did not recognize the card, so I don't have any hope for the final release.
Also, for those wondering, Windows ReadyBoost has done wonders for my latop performance. I can actually tell a difference in the opening/closing time of office documents when I have my 1GB thumb drive attached. My older 256MB drives were not even offered the option of ReadyBoost, but they are not USB2.0 native, so that is likely the issue with those units.
Ok, so two-thirds of the tricks used in worms and virus buffer overflor attacks are negated, but are those two-thirds heavily used attacks, or very minor ones?
This is a nice step, but I'd like to see them be a little more active on the security front. How about patching some more of those released zero-day exploits for Word?
Only in WoW...
Yes, I know, there goes my Karma.
I have a laptop now which runs Windows XP, Windows Vista Beta, and Kubuntu Linux.
Windows, if set to install to a different partition, will not overwrite your XP install, and creates a dual boot menu, but it will overwrite the MBR.
For the 3 OSes to work together, I had to install in this order:
XP
Vista
Kubuntu
Doing it this way, everything works fine. On boot, I can choose either Windows or Linux. If I choose Windows, then I get a second loader that lets me pick either Vista or XP.
Hope this informatin helps.
--nutz
Any bets on how long those 40 people wait only to have Leroy Jenkins exit before it starts, thus ruining it for all everyone else?
I have, but sadly, I have never really had a chance to sit down and work with it. I have a feeling it would meet our requirements, but it's an issue of time to get it fully configured and set up correctly.
/. I should have time to do this *smile*
Of course, If I have time to
--nutz
For me, this would be the perfect solution. I am the lone hardware tech for a College (not counting student work study). I have to support both Windows and Mac OS. For me, having a laptop that will let me dual boot means I don't have to worry about grabbing the right bag, or having the right software on hand when I head out and make service calls. It also means that support for either OS is just a reboot away.
Yes, a geeky part of me wants to dual boot just because I can, but in my field, having a dual boot machine just makes sense. I can run the Mac for my day to day stuff, and launch Windows when we need to troubleshoot some odd scientific software package designed for DOS that they are still using (happens a lot more then people realize), or when I need to run specialized software like Datatel locally; as remote desktop has made that need even less of a need.
It also means that I have trimmed my office computer budget. One Mac Book Pro, although a little pricey, is much cheaper then an iBook and a Windows laptop ($1000 for the iBook, $1300 for the PC laptop we have stanardized on). $2300 total compared to the $1800 for my MBP.
Honestly, I think there are 3 camps of people.
1. Geeks who want to try this out
2. People like me, who could actually benefit from it
3. People who want the PC games
Of the above list, I think group 1 will tire of it quickly. Group 2 has the most to gain from this. Group 3 should really wait for DarWine or Qemu, but for the short term, this will work for them.
Just my $0.02
--nutz
I fail to see how the admin saving a string to an unencrypted text file that the user can just read later does anything for security, unless wasting the admin's time is a new security technique I'm unfamiliar with...
/. crowd, most people are not going to take the time to figure out the WEP code. Seriously, making something just a little difficult to do keeps about 98% of the kids from doing stuff they shouldn't.
Yes, it can be read later, but to be honest, aside from the
Those that want the key will find a way to get it, and there's no stopping those who are truely determined. But by simply requiring the students to bring their machine in to have the WEP key will go a long way to keeping the key internal, and not known to the local community.
For the record, where I work, we don't use WEP keys, but instead use management software that requests a valid username and password. This way, if kids experiment with various OSS, or get a new machine, they don't have to bring it in. I don't care for the concept of using WEP, but I do know a lot of campuses that do.
--nutz
I seriously hate admins of schools they're the most useless technologically inept people ever. Which was funny given the program I was in was for techies (e.g. software/hardware developers).
You dealt with the Admin? Admin of which area? Are you sure it was an "Admin" and not just a student worker, or possibly the schools only full time pc tech (which is not an "Admin" by any standards).
Good job that social engineering got you what you wanted though. If you came to the school where I went, you would have been asked to bring up the prompt, and they would have typed in the WEP key for you. they don't care what OS you run, but they can only officially support XP and Mac OS X.
Were I work now, as a hardware tech for a College, We try to support linux the best we can, and provided they are running a WM like KDE or Gnome, we can normally get your network and e-mail client configured for you just fine.
If we start to see one specific distro, we will install it on a testing box so we make an honest effort to support it, but we, like most Colleges, have a very small staff (1 hardware tech, me) that limits the amount of time I can spend learning Linux.
For this reason, when it comes to hiring students, we prefer those with OSS/Mac knowledge.
Also, try not to be to hard on the Tech department. Chances are, they are not inept, just overworked and underpaid.
--nutz
Now if this uni went the way of OSS and used proper open source networking resources then I may be in favour of it...
But knowing most unis they're just a money pit so who do you think they'll align with.
Most Collegs's and Universities can not go OSS simply due to the cost of support and training. Most Admins, and techs in general, learn Windows. I'm not saying this is good or bad, but that's how it is. Yeah, OSS may be free to install, but it's not free to support. Certified MS techs are a dime a dozen, but a *nix tech is worth a lot more. Most *nix techs would probably like to make a lot more then what educational institutions pay.
Most College's and Uni's are also understaffed, which means the Tech people don't have the free time to learn several OS's, which is why they recommend specific ones. Those techs that do learn enough of linux to do basic support, generally do so on their own time. As such, not many really know much more then Windows and the utter basics of Mac OS X.
If you think your Uni needs to learn linux, or some other OSS, instead of complaining, volunteer to work there, or if you qualify for work-study, see if they don't have an open position. If nothing else, this will give you a chance to ask about OSS, support those that prefer OSS, and see what College/Uni techs really go through during a day.
--nutz
I don't know about the OP, but we use a product called http://www.bradfordnetworks.com/Bradford Campus Manager. --adam
Last I checked, I could go to pretty much any Hastings store and pick up or order any CD, including the Eagles. iTunes may have exclusive "digital store" rights, but they can't stop me from getting off my lazy butt and purchasing a CD. --nutz