If Microsoft has any sense, they'll make damn sure that Vista supports all of the hardware that Apple uses. Any additional retail Windows sales they might get from this have got to be good (because how many people buy Windows off the shelf nowadays?) - and isn't 5% of the market a lot to ignore?
They'll never do a "Windows for Apple" - it'd be too easy for Apple to pull the rug from under them - but I wouldn't be surprised if Vista quietly gains support for the non-working components and 32bit EFI, and that this quickly becomes the worst kept secret in computing...
It's interesting that people report all of these problems with VIA chipsets, but that those same chips (or, at least, the southbridge) work just fine when used in desktop motherboards.
I suspect that the fact that VIA Eden processors (I'm not sure about the Nemehiahs) are not actually i686-compatible, lacking a CMOV (conditional move) instruction.
People then install super-whizzy latest Ubuntu (say) with uber-optimisations, and wonder why certian things break.
This may not always be the case, admittedly - but if you've got a chipset which just works for desktops but doesn't work when coupled to a processor with special requirements then I'd be tempted to suggest that it's software not meeting those requirements which causes problems, not the hardware directly.
One point of interest is that the UK publisher of The Da Vinci Code is also the UK publisher of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail... so Baigent and Leigh are in the somewhat uncomfortable position of suing their own publisher;)
I myself have a 40Gb iAudio M3, and although it's a nice unit, it seems to have been totally abandoned by Cowon. One of the reasons I chose this over the other options was the frequency of firmware updates which added new features... but this only lasted until about 5 minutes after their next product was released:(
For example, the 40Gb player is incapable of handling more than 99 playlists over the whole device, and text display is buggy for long tracknames. There is no ability to search by, or even in some cases display, track metadata (such as year, genre, etc.)
Even worse is the problem which the flash players have (although it's primarily an issue on the 2Gb players, because of their capacity) - due to what is apparently a deliberate design decision, they simply *will not display* (or play) more than about 400 files. So, unless all of your audio files are more than 5Mb in size, you're wasting capacity.
Details of these, and numerous other, problems are discussed on Cowon's user forums at Cowon's iAudio site.
Cowon, for their part, seem to have abandoned their own site: You used to get replies from Cowon staff regularly, and now they don't even answer emails...
Its a fair point to look at other devices - but *please*, not the Journada!
I have nothing (in this instance) against it being a Microsoft device (I have a Pocket PC and owned an Orange SPV Smartphone for about 10 days:) - but just that the OS really didn't seem to have been designed for what it was used for.
Its probably great if you're left handed, but if not the menus are all in completely the wrong place. The benefits of mimicing a desktop layout (where handed-ness doesn't matter) are far outweighed by any right-handed users having to reach right across the screen to access *any* of the menu or start-menu functions.
This might sound like a minor point, but I borrowed a Journada beloning to a friend whilst at Uni myself, and found it infuriating!
Desktop metaphors aside, mobile devices *must* be designed to be usable on the move - which means at least featuring switchable UIs that place control functions nearest to the hand holding the stylus.
Personally, I'm a big fan of laptops. But failing this (as too bulk/expensive) I'd probably look into a Psion Series 7/NetBook. These are beauttifully designed and built devices that can run all day off batteries without a problem, and still feature a 640x480 colour screen.
Slashdot Mirror
If Microsoft has any sense, they'll make damn sure that Vista supports all of the hardware that Apple uses. Any additional retail Windows sales they might get from this have got to be good (because how many people buy Windows off the shelf nowadays?) - and isn't 5% of the market a lot to ignore?
They'll never do a "Windows for Apple" - it'd be too easy for Apple to pull the rug from under them - but I wouldn't be surprised if Vista quietly gains support for the non-working components and 32bit EFI, and that this quickly becomes the worst kept secret in computing...
It's interesting that people report all of these problems with VIA chipsets, but that those same chips (or, at least, the southbridge) work just fine when used in desktop motherboards.
I suspect that the fact that VIA Eden processors (I'm not sure about the Nemehiahs) are not actually i686-compatible, lacking a CMOV (conditional move) instruction.
People then install super-whizzy latest Ubuntu (say) with uber-optimisations, and wonder why certian things break.
This may not always be the case, admittedly - but if you've got a chipset which just works for desktops but doesn't work when coupled to a processor with special requirements then I'd be tempted to suggest that it's software not meeting those requirements which causes problems, not the hardware directly.
One point of interest is that the UK publisher of The Da Vinci Code is also the UK publisher of The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail... so Baigent and Leigh are in the somewhat uncomfortable position of suing their own publisher ;)
No! Please don't!
I myself have a 40Gb iAudio M3, and although it's a nice unit, it seems to have been totally abandoned by Cowon. One of the reasons I chose this over the other options was the frequency of firmware updates which added new features... but this only lasted until about 5 minutes after their next product was released
For example, the 40Gb player is incapable of handling more than 99 playlists over the whole device, and text display is buggy for long tracknames. There is no ability to search by, or even in some cases display, track metadata (such as year, genre, etc.)
Even worse is the problem which the flash players have (although it's primarily an issue on the 2Gb players, because of their capacity) - due to what is apparently a deliberate design decision, they simply *will not display* (or play) more than about 400 files. So, unless all of your audio files are more than 5Mb in size, you're wasting capacity.
Details of these, and numerous other, problems are discussed on Cowon's user forums at Cowon's iAudio site.
Cowon, for their part, seem to have abandoned their own site: You used to get replies from Cowon staff regularly, and now they don't even answer emails...
Hmm - I'm sure that only a few days ago, the UK price to upgrade to Wifi+BT was about £90.
It's now £143(!)
Compare this to the US upgrade price of $99, or £52.56. Also bear in mind that this UK price is, as with the US price, before tax...
A mistake, surely?
Its a fair point to look at other devices - but *please*, not the Journada!
:) - but just that the OS really didn't seem to have been designed for what it was used for.
I have nothing (in this instance) against it being a Microsoft device (I have a Pocket PC and owned an Orange SPV Smartphone for about 10 days
Its probably great if you're left handed, but if not the menus are all in completely the wrong place. The benefits of mimicing a desktop layout (where handed-ness doesn't matter) are far outweighed by any right-handed users having to reach right across the screen to access *any* of the menu or start-menu functions.
This might sound like a minor point, but I borrowed a Journada beloning to a friend whilst at Uni myself, and found it infuriating!
Desktop metaphors aside, mobile devices *must* be designed to be usable on the move - which means at least featuring switchable UIs that place control functions nearest to the hand holding the stylus.
Personally, I'm a big fan of laptops. But failing this (as too bulk/expensive) I'd probably look into a Psion Series 7/NetBook. These are beauttifully designed and built devices that can run all day off batteries without a problem, and still feature a 640x480 colour screen.
More at Psion.
-- Stuart
I've always thought the system proposed by (Kim Stanley Robinson) in the Mars Trilogy books was kinda neat:
All clocks stop at midnight, wait 40 minutes, then tick over to 00:01
(Yes, there are practicality and "yes, but *WHAT'S the TIME*??!?" issues, but I still reckon it'd be cool)