I entirely agree that in a point&shoot more than 3-5MP is virtually useless, ditto more than 8-16 in an SLR, but the target market for this camera isn't point&shoot photographers, or even SLR photographers. Or even medium format photographers. It's aimed at large format photographers, as evidenced by it's use of Schneider and Rodenstock large format lenses. And trust me, if you're a large format photographer with a good large format lens, more than 8-16MP (or 35mm of film area) is not "virtually useless".
Certainly, but as I said if you'd read my post, the "close application" option in the file menu is a backwards compatibility concession to people who'd been closing applications that way before Windows existed. If you're looking for someone to blame, blame people like Wordperfect, who put 'close' in the file menu of Wordperfect for DOS when they first introduced a menubar. Microsoft just kept it there, not as the preferred way of closing the program, but as a concession to people who'd been doing it that way their whole life. Hence the comparison to shift+ins kept as a working shortcut for those used to using it for 'paste'.
Almost everyone on Slashdot, maybe. But the average user who's just bought one of them computer things from PC World to see what all this fuss about the interwebs is about? I don't think so. The former set of users will understand both 'Duplex' and 'Print on both sides of the paper', though they may prefer the former command for its brevity; the latter set will understand only the latter command. In changing the former to the latter, Microsoft are just increasing the percentage of people who will at least understand what the command will do.
>In Windows, the option to close the application itself is found, as the parent noted, inside the file menu.
Nope; in Windows, the option to close the application itself is found on the big red X at the top right of the application window. The fact that Microsoft also kept the option in the File menu as a backwards compatibility concession to people who'd been closing applications that way before Windows existed is irrelevant. Same as the keyboard shortcut for paste; when they made ctrl+v the shortcut in Word for Windows, they also kept the ability to use shift+ins as a concession to people who were used to using the latter in Wordperfect.
Sorry, you're talking rubbish. Vista's not even based on XP; it's based on a redesigned Server 2003 kernel. Let's see... Completely new memory management, new window manager, new user account model, new sound stack, new graphics stack, new networking stack, new resource-protected driver model... Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windo ws_Vista for all of them.
>Why was XP not good enough? I wish you trolls would make up your minds. Either XP is an abomination to humanity and the worst OS you could choose or it's so perfect that there's nothing Vista could possibly do to improve it. Right...
Dang, so you mean I need to re-buy the same operating system that I bought years ago when it was released?
No, I mentioned further in the post two methods you can get it for free, most prominently, slipstreaming it into your original XP disk.
Why should I have to take my computer offline in order to install an operating system? I never installed a Mac, so I can't speak for that, but I've installed plenty of Linux distros, and at no point (that I am aware of) during the installation has my machine been vulnerable to hacking from the Internet before I apply a patch. Heck, the default install of Fedora Core 4 (maybe even earlier versions) enables the firewall pretty early in the installation.
Hold on... Why should you have to take a computer offline to install an operating system?? Possibly I've misunderstood you, but stating the obvious -- barring virtual machines, you can't stay connected to the internet whilst installing an operating system. Your connection to the internet kind of requires an operating system on which to run. If you choose not to follow either of my suggestions above for installing SP2, it is the work of 10 seconds to turn on the pre-SP2 firewall. If you're that worried about being hacked in those ten seconds, might I suggest reorganising your sechedule to connect to the internet *after* switching on the firewall? Just a thought. And Fedora Core might have a firewall turned on by default, but Ubuntu, Linux for Human Beings, doesn't.
Apple clearly mentions that Tiger and whatever cats there were before are not the same operating system. Different products = different complaints. [...] The point of the thread is that the default configuration of a freshly installed unpatched operating system needs to be reasonable to some extent, and Windows XP simply doesn't fit in that category. If the very first release of Vista comes with a firewall that's enabled by default (and hopefully fewer services), then Vista will be the first Windows OS to have reasonable defaults.
That is possibly the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard. So if Microsoft had called SP2 a new version of Windows (possibly charging $129 for it) then that would fulfil your requirements, but because they (quite rightly, as it's a security update) didn't change the name of the OS, it suddenly doesn't? If I go out and buy a fresh copy of XP from a shop, take it home, and install it, applying no patches from Windows update, I would count that as a fresh, unpatched release of the operating system. To call it otherwise simply because Microsoft didn't change the name of the OS when they released SP2 it frankly ludicrous.
Versions of Windows XP bought in the last couple of years include SP2 by default. A fresh install of a current version thus has the firewall switched on by default. You can hardly compain that a version bought in 2001/2 has vulnerabilities that are fixed in the current version; that's why it's a newer version, because (some of) the vulnerabilities are fixed. Incidentally, I believe exactly the same is true for the Mac: versions prior to Tiger did not have the firewall switched on by default.
Incidentally, XP prior to SP2 still had a rudimentary firewall, which whilst it isn't anywhere near as good as the SP2 one, it'll still protect you fine from external attacks whilst you download SP2. And in fact, if you're so worried about it, it only takes half an hour or so to slipstream SP2 into your Windows CD. Or if you don't want to do that, Microsoft will happily send you a service pack 2 disk.
It certainly will be hacked within minutes of you going online -- if you manually disable the firewall. It's been enabled by default since SP2. Mac OS X is also vulnerable to being hacked if you go online without a firewall; does that mean it's a bad OS? No, it means you should use a firewall if you go online, in any OS. Basic stuff.
A 64 bit OS on a 64 bit processor runs faster than a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit processor? Hmmm, wonder why that could be? Both Windows and Linux have both 32-bit and 64-bit native editions, if you want to do a comparison. And if the 32 bit Windows is "still in the 32 bit dark ages", then so is 32 bit Linux. Except they're not, since both are for 32 bit processors, and both have 64 bit editions for 64 bit processors.
That seems a very selfish point of view. Soldiers don't actively fight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; they need time to eat, sleep, and, like the rest of us, relax. In fact, I would say that those in combat situations should actually have considerably *more* right to be able to spend at least a little time recomposing and recollecting themselves than the rest of us, considering the enourmous stresses and strains they are under.
"You cant get much stranger than the iKitty. This cat-inspired silicone case features a bendable tail and a screen protector to prevent those annoying scratches."
Hmmm... Remind me, what's second-from-bottom in the geek hierarchy again?
Paltalk is a company that makes an addon for AOL, Yahoo, and ICQ that apparently "enhances the traditional instant message and chat room functionality you know and love with state-of-the-art voice and video that you'll enjoy with all your senses", including the equivalent of multiple-user audio/video-conferencing in chat rooms and instant messages. Presumably, then, they are going after the in-game chatting ability in X-box live. If this is true (though don't take it as read, I'm not a patent lawyer), it seems utterly baseless -- or at least, an obvious extension to an already existing technology, which is pretty much the same thing.
>Give me an inexpensive beige box with Gnome or KDE any day.
Gnome or KDE wouldn't actually be much use without an operating system on which to run them...
Besides, Apple has made significant improvements in pricing, especially towards the higher end; to the point where, in equivalently specced high end workstations from Apple and Dell, Apple is $90 cheaper (both with displays) and $581 cheaper (without displays) (source).
I suppose it could be useful if you want something 'semi-portable' - e.g. if you need to take a computer to and from University or something, but don't like typing on laptop keyboards. Assuming students can afford one. Or possibly aimed at the "Lifestyle PCs" market, similar to this or this. In any case, it's rather a niche within a niche -- but on the other hand, isn't that Apple's forte, taking a niche within a niche and making it mainstream?
>You can read it all on the printer-friendly page, but you'll miss out on the pretty graphs.
Why? Is there any legitimate reason for this? Printers have been capable of printing graphics for quite a long time -- anyone around who still has a text-only printer? Thought not. Or do they think the idea that if you prefer to read an article on paper, you must also dislike non-textual forms of conveying information?
Wireless Networking support in Windows Vista has been upgraded. Support for wireless networks is built into the network stack itself, and does not emulate wired connections, as was the case with previous versions of Windows. This allows implementation of wireless-specific features such as larger frame sizes and optimized error recovery procedures. It will also be easier to find wireless networks in range and tell which networks are open and which are closed. Hidden wireless networks, which do not advertise their Service set identifier (SSID) will be better supported. Security for wireless networks is being improved with improved support for newer wireless standards like 802.11i. EAP Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) is the default authentication mode. Connections will be made at the most secure connection level supported by the wireless access point. WPA2 can be used even in ad-hoc mode. Windows Vista will also provide a Fast Roaming service that will allow users to move from one access point to another without loss of connectivity. Preauthentication with the new wireless access point will be used to retain the connectivity. The wireless card may also be virtualized to connect to multiple wireless networks simultaneously.
Audio:
Windows Vista features a completely re-written audio stack designed to provide low-latency 32-bit floating point audio and new audio APIs created by a team including Steve Ball and Larry Osterman[19][20]. There are three major new API components to the Vista audio architecture:
Multimedia Device API - For enumerating and managing audio endpoints.
Device Topology API - For discovering the internals of an audio card's topology.
Windows Audio Session API - Very low level API for rendering audio, render/capture audio streams, adjust volume etc. This API also provides extremely low latency for audio professionals.
All the existing audio APIs have been re-plumbed to use these APIs internally, for Vista, all audio goes through these three APIs, so that most applications "just work".
A completely new set of user interface sounds are being introduced, including a new startup sound created with the help of King Crimson's Robert Fripp[21].
The new audio stack is run at user level, thus increasing performance and stability.
It also allows controlling system-wide volume or volume of individual audio devices and even individual applications separately. This feature can be used from the new Volume Control windows or programmatically using the overhauled audio API. Different sounds can be redirected to different audio devices as well.
Sound Recorder has been replaced with a new application, Windows Audio Recorder, which supports recording WMA, and can record clips of any length.
Built-in support for microphone arrays, which will let a user connect multiple microphones to a single system, so that the inputs can be combined into a single, higher-quality source. A likely implementation of this is for laptops to incorporate multiple microphones at different points.[22]
Although frankly, I've found sound cards always worked better if you don't install the manufacturers utilities & drivers. Creative drivers especially were complete crap.
As for graphics cards, Widnows has always supported them for everything you need out of the box, but gamers will always want the latest and greatest drivers from the manufacturer, which will inevitable have their own control centres for the latest and greatest features. Although these are also usually crap. Nvidia aren't bad, but I don't know how ATi gets away with the horribly buggy mess that is the Catalyst control centre.
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Large format photographers have been finding uses for this sort of thing for quite some time, and I doubt they're going to stop now.
I entirely agree that in a point&shoot more than 3-5MP is virtually useless, ditto more than 8-16 in an SLR, but the target market for this camera isn't point&shoot photographers, or even SLR photographers. Or even medium format photographers. It's aimed at large format photographers, as evidenced by it's use of Schneider and Rodenstock large format lenses. And trust me, if you're a large format photographer with a good large format lens, more than 8-16MP (or 35mm of film area) is not "virtually useless".
RTFA -- it takes Schneider and Rodenstock large format lenses
Certainly, but as I said if you'd read my post, the "close application" option in the file menu is a backwards compatibility concession to people who'd been closing applications that way before Windows existed. If you're looking for someone to blame, blame people like Wordperfect, who put 'close' in the file menu of Wordperfect for DOS when they first introduced a menubar. Microsoft just kept it there, not as the preferred way of closing the program, but as a concession to people who'd been doing it that way their whole life. Hence the comparison to shift+ins kept as a working shortcut for those used to using it for 'paste'.
>Most everybody knows what "duplex" means.
Almost everyone on Slashdot, maybe. But the average user who's just bought one of them computer things from PC World to see what all this fuss about the interwebs is about? I don't think so. The former set of users will understand both 'Duplex' and 'Print on both sides of the paper', though they may prefer the former command for its brevity; the latter set will understand only the latter command. In changing the former to the latter, Microsoft are just increasing the percentage of people who will at least understand what the command will do.
>In Windows, the option to close the application itself is found, as the parent noted, inside the file menu.
Nope; in Windows, the option to close the application itself is found on the big red X at the top right of the application window. The fact that Microsoft also kept the option in the File menu as a backwards compatibility concession to people who'd been closing applications that way before Windows existed is irrelevant. Same as the keyboard shortcut for paste; when they made ctrl+v the shortcut in Word for Windows, they also kept the ability to use shift+ins as a concession to people who were used to using the latter in Wordperfect.
Sorry, you're talking rubbish. Vista's not even based on XP; it's based on a redesigned Server 2003 kernel. Let's see... Completely new memory management, new window manager, new user account model, new sound stack, new graphics stack, new networking stack, new resource-protected driver model... Have a look at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windo ws_Vista for all of them.
>Why was XP not good enough? I wish you trolls would make up your minds. Either XP is an abomination to humanity and the worst OS you could choose or it's so perfect that there's nothing Vista could possibly do to improve it. Right...
Dang, so you mean I need to re-buy the same operating system that I bought years ago when it was released?
No, I mentioned further in the post two methods you can get it for free, most prominently, slipstreaming it into your original XP disk.
Why should I have to take my computer offline in order to install an operating system? I never installed a Mac, so I can't speak for that, but I've installed plenty of Linux distros, and at no point (that I am aware of) during the installation has my machine been vulnerable to hacking from the Internet before I apply a patch. Heck, the default install of Fedora Core 4 (maybe even earlier versions) enables the firewall pretty early in the installation.
Hold on... Why should you have to take a computer offline to install an operating system?? Possibly I've misunderstood you, but stating the obvious -- barring virtual machines, you can't stay connected to the internet whilst installing an operating system. Your connection to the internet kind of requires an operating system on which to run. If you choose not to follow either of my suggestions above for installing SP2, it is the work of 10 seconds to turn on the pre-SP2 firewall. If you're that worried about being hacked in those ten seconds, might I suggest reorganising your sechedule to connect to the internet *after* switching on the firewall? Just a thought. And Fedora Core might have a firewall turned on by default, but Ubuntu, Linux for Human Beings, doesn't.
Apple clearly mentions that Tiger and whatever cats there were before are not the same operating system. Different products = different complaints. [...] The point of the thread is that the default configuration of a freshly installed unpatched operating system needs to be reasonable to some extent, and Windows XP simply doesn't fit in that category. If the very first release of Vista comes with a firewall that's enabled by default (and hopefully fewer services), then Vista will be the first Windows OS to have reasonable defaults.
That is possibly the most ridiculous argument I've ever heard. So if Microsoft had called SP2 a new version of Windows (possibly charging $129 for it) then that would fulfil your requirements, but because they (quite rightly, as it's a security update) didn't change the name of the OS, it suddenly doesn't? If I go out and buy a fresh copy of XP from a shop, take it home, and install it, applying no patches from Windows update, I would count that as a fresh, unpatched release of the operating system. To call it otherwise simply because Microsoft didn't change the name of the OS when they released SP2 it frankly ludicrous.
Versions of Windows XP bought in the last couple of years include SP2 by default. A fresh install of a current version thus has the firewall switched on by default. You can hardly compain that a version bought in 2001/2 has vulnerabilities that are fixed in the current version; that's why it's a newer version, because (some of) the vulnerabilities are fixed. Incidentally, I believe exactly the same is true for the Mac: versions prior to Tiger did not have the firewall switched on by default.
Incidentally, XP prior to SP2 still had a rudimentary firewall, which whilst it isn't anywhere near as good as the SP2 one, it'll still protect you fine from external attacks whilst you download SP2. And in fact, if you're so worried about it, it only takes half an hour or so to slipstream SP2 into your Windows CD. Or if you don't want to do that, Microsoft will happily send you a service pack 2 disk.
BSD's disappeared into oblivion? Tell that to Apple...
It certainly will be hacked within minutes of you going online -- if you manually disable the firewall. It's been enabled by default since SP2. Mac OS X is also vulnerable to being hacked if you go online without a firewall; does that mean it's a bad OS? No, it means you should use a firewall if you go online, in any OS. Basic stuff.
He did use Ubuntu for a year. RTFA.
A 64 bit OS on a 64 bit processor runs faster than a 32 bit OS on a 64 bit processor? Hmmm, wonder why that could be? Both Windows and Linux have both 32-bit and 64-bit native editions, if you want to do a comparison. And if the 32 bit Windows is "still in the 32 bit dark ages", then so is 32 bit Linux. Except they're not, since both are for 32 bit processors, and both have 64 bit editions for 64 bit processors.
In conclusion, you're an idiot.
At that price, you need to buy a few extra iPod Nanos to protect the case...
>How much do those heavy metal cases weigh? Doesn't that kind of ruin the point of creating a small, easy to carry music player?
From TFA: "at 446gram, it is 2.5 times the weight of a new iPod Photo"
I'm guessing something like one-way bulletproof glass?
That seems a very selfish point of view. Soldiers don't actively fight 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; they need time to eat, sleep, and, like the rest of us, relax. In fact, I would say that those in combat situations should actually have considerably *more* right to be able to spend at least a little time recomposing and recollecting themselves than the rest of us, considering the enourmous stresses and strains they are under.
"You cant get much stranger than the iKitty. This cat-inspired silicone case features a bendable tail and a screen protector to prevent those annoying scratches."
Hmmm... Remind me, what's second-from-bottom in the geek hierarchy again?
Brings a new meaning to people loving their ipods...
According to this guy, loads of times. Which of you is right?
Paltalk is a company that makes an addon for AOL, Yahoo, and ICQ that apparently "enhances the traditional instant message and chat room functionality you know and love with state-of-the-art voice and video that you'll enjoy with all your senses", including the equivalent of multiple-user audio/video-conferencing in chat rooms and instant messages. Presumably, then, they are going after the in-game chatting ability in X-box live. If this is true (though don't take it as read, I'm not a patent lawyer), it seems utterly baseless -- or at least, an obvious extension to an already existing technology, which is pretty much the same thing.
>Give me an inexpensive beige box with Gnome or KDE any day.
Gnome or KDE wouldn't actually be much use without an operating system on which to run them...
Besides, Apple has made significant improvements in pricing, especially towards the higher end; to the point where, in equivalently specced high end workstations from Apple and Dell, Apple is $90 cheaper (both with displays) and $581 cheaper (without displays) (source).
I suppose it could be useful if you want something 'semi-portable' - e.g. if you need to take a computer to and from University or something, but don't like typing on laptop keyboards. Assuming students can afford one. Or possibly aimed at the "Lifestyle PCs" market, similar to this or this. In any case, it's rather a niche within a niche -- but on the other hand, isn't that Apple's forte, taking a niche within a niche and making it mainstream?
>You can read it all on the printer-friendly page, but you'll miss out on the pretty graphs.
Why? Is there any legitimate reason for this? Printers have been capable of printing graphics for quite a long time -- anyone around who still has a text-only printer? Thought not. Or do they think the idea that if you prefer to read an article on paper, you must also dislike non-textual forms of conveying information?
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Features_new_to_Windo ws_Vista:
Wireless networks:
Wireless Networking support in Windows Vista has been upgraded. Support for wireless networks is built into the network stack itself, and does not emulate wired connections, as was the case with previous versions of Windows. This allows implementation of wireless-specific features such as larger frame sizes and optimized error recovery procedures. It will also be easier to find wireless networks in range and tell which networks are open and which are closed. Hidden wireless networks, which do not advertise their Service set identifier (SSID) will be better supported. Security for wireless networks is being improved with improved support for newer wireless standards like 802.11i. EAP Transport Layer Security (EAP-TLS) is the default authentication mode. Connections will be made at the most secure connection level supported by the wireless access point. WPA2 can be used even in ad-hoc mode. Windows Vista will also provide a Fast Roaming service that will allow users to move from one access point to another without loss of connectivity. Preauthentication with the new wireless access point will be used to retain the connectivity. The wireless card may also be virtualized to connect to multiple wireless networks simultaneously.
Audio:
Windows Vista features a completely re-written audio stack designed to provide low-latency 32-bit floating point audio and new audio APIs created by a team including Steve Ball and Larry Osterman[19][20]. There are three major new API components to the Vista audio architecture:
Multimedia Device API - For enumerating and managing audio endpoints.
Device Topology API - For discovering the internals of an audio card's topology.
Windows Audio Session API - Very low level API for rendering audio, render/capture audio streams, adjust volume etc. This API also provides extremely low latency for audio professionals.
All the existing audio APIs have been re-plumbed to use these APIs internally, for Vista, all audio goes through these three APIs, so that most applications "just work".
A completely new set of user interface sounds are being introduced, including a new startup sound created with the help of King Crimson's Robert Fripp[21].
The new audio stack is run at user level, thus increasing performance and stability.
It also allows controlling system-wide volume or volume of individual audio devices and even individual applications separately. This feature can be used from the new Volume Control windows or programmatically using the overhauled audio API. Different sounds can be redirected to different audio devices as well.
Sound Recorder has been replaced with a new application, Windows Audio Recorder, which supports recording WMA, and can record clips of any length.
Built-in support for microphone arrays, which will let a user connect multiple microphones to a single system, so that the inputs can be combined into a single, higher-quality source. A likely implementation of this is for laptops to incorporate multiple microphones at different points.[22]
Although frankly, I've found sound cards always worked better if you don't install the manufacturers utilities & drivers. Creative drivers especially were complete crap.
As for graphics cards, Widnows has always supported them for everything you need out of the box, but gamers will always want the latest and greatest drivers from the manufacturer, which will inevitable have their own control centres for the latest and greatest features. Although these are also usually crap. Nvidia aren't bad, but I don't know how ATi gets away with the horribly buggy mess that is the Catalyst control centre.
>I can't believe how many people on Slashdot are now willing to submit to such privacy invasion and hardware monitoring -- while paying them to do it.
I believe the point is to ensure that people actually are paying them to do it.