Including a browser and standard browser-ish components and APIs makes just as much sense as including a TCP/IP stack with the OS.
What you seem to ignore in every post is that since IE4 it wasn't just that that was being done. IE was integrated in the sense that it planted itself in explorer.exe and shell32.dll, essentially taking over your entire desktop environment. Everyone was instantly subjected to all of IE's bugs and crashes, even though they weren't browsing the Internet.
Even games that aren't that good, like Mario Golf and Mario Strikers get rehashed on every system.
Some examples in your list just don't apply.
Mario Party
Smash Bros
Systems: N64, GameCube, and Wii.
Metroid
While this franchise has seen a game on every Nintendo console except the N64, the series has seen a 7-year-long hiatus, so I wouldn't say they are pumping them out per se.
Mario Strikers
Mario Strikers is actually a pretty recent sub-series. Only an entry on the GameCube and the Wii.
I'm not paranoid, I'm just being efficient. Using an e-mail client is much easier, faster, and hassle-free, versus webmail. Yes, I have used webmail for years before I tried an e-mail client. I'm not going back.
Every time you want to do something in webmail you have to get a new page, wait, choose, wait, and so forth. With an e-mail client I don't have to wait at all, it's instantaneous. Or how about adding attachments in webmail? That's even more clumsy.
A bonus feature is that I can have my e-mail client open in the background, periodically checking e-mail, and it will alert me when I have received one or more of them.
Flash is a monstrosity that can't run on such hardware, agreed. But HTML pages with stylesheets and JavaScript? No problem! I do it every day on my Pentium II 233 Mhz with Windows 95 OSR 2.5, at reasonable speeds.
It has been known for quite a while now that Metroid Prime 3 would be the last Metroid Prime title, and I don't think they would have done anything else.
It's good they're taking a rest, because quite frankly, they've been losing direction since after the first game. Metroid Prime was a great transition to 3D. It felt right, the gameplay was solid, there was exploration, an interesting world, etc. But then something went horribly wrong.
It is my understanding that the original Metroid Prime was heavily influenced by Nintendo. It was they who told Retro to use a first-person view instead of a third-person one, for one thing. After that, they let Retro use their own ideas, which involved copying Metroid Fusion's X idea, light/dark worlds, and the result was Metroid Prime 2. The gameplay remained solid, and the bosses were good, but everything else that was good about the first title was gone.
No more interesting architecture, no more unique landscapes, Aether was a pretty barren planet with no defining flair. Dark Aether looked bland, and you weren't encouraged to explore because the environment hurts you. There was nothing Chozo on the planet either.
The game was also completely linear, you barely had any choice of where to go. This is reinforced with the amount of lock and key mechanism present in the game. Aside from the obvious 3 Temple Keys you have to collect in each area, there were all kinds of locks added. Light Beam doors, Dark Beam doors, Power Bomb doors, Multi-Missile doors, Annihilition Beam doors, Super Missile doors, and those light beams you access with the Light Suit.
And who had the brilliant idea of assigning AMMO to BEAMS?! Never before has it been done, and it doesn't work well.
Oh, and the Echoes subtitle? Doesn't mean much. You get the Echo Visor very late in the game, and it's only used for a couple puzzles and one boss. Whoop-de-doo.
The game's saving graces are the third area, the Sanctuary, and Dark Samus.
I haven't played Metroid Prime 3 yet, so I can only hope they've learned something. Seeing how Metroid Prime 2 was widely praised, though, it's not likely. Reactions have been mixed about the new game, so far.
The "On Wii" part isn't part of the subtitle. The title is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
"Corruption" refers to the one of the game's main gameplay features. You have to make sure that you don't store too much Phazon, or you'll be corrupted and turn into Dark Samus, and then it's Game Over. To avoid this, you must fire Phazon at enemies to discharge yourself.
There's more to it than that, but that's all I know. I haven't played the game yet.
No it's no apologist. There is nothing wrong with programs growing to use the resources available. It gets you more.
What I'm pointing out is that often it does NOT get you more. I wouldn't be complaining if it did.
I know it's geek-fashionable to claim that it's all just bloat, but that's just not the case. Take firefox for example. Currently it's using 30MB just by itself (with several plugins loaded). Time was, I didn't even have that much in a computer let alone for a single process. All bloat right?
What the hell do you mean? 30MB is very reasonable for a web browser. You picked the wrong program to use as a point.
Sure, Lynx is really efficient both memory and processor wise, but I'll take Firefox any day.
Firefox, however, offers you so much more than Lynx. Vista doesn't offer that much than XP. Really, what feature that XP doesn't have is worth an additional 512MB-1GB of RAM for the whole system to run well?
It's not unreasonable for OSes to grow what they need, either. We expect them to do more.
Yes, but the increase in RAM usage (this doesn't include caching!) doesn't measure up.
I think you'll find that 512MB is quite enough for a Linux distribution with all of Vista's features and eye candy.
Now if you are talking older hardware that's fine, but then why are you trying to use the latest, greatest OS? Stick with XP, it's still supported and will be for many more years.
Except that XP was already quite bloated with tons of useless services and eye candy. It won't run well on computers of around 1998, and there's a lot of those. Yet a capable Linux distro works just fine on them.
The "RAM is cheap" argument is quite an apologist one, and it encourages wasteful RAM usage. Ever heard of the perpetual upgrade cycle?
Yes, the OS should use RAM well. No, the OS shouldn't use too much RAM.
As you said, the memory requirements double. The problem is, each new Windows version isn't exactly worth that much more RAM. There's no other explanation than intentional bloat for all the extra RAM each successive version needs for barely any new useful features.
Way to defeat an argument! Just label him an M$ fanboy or troll! Brilliant!
Modding myself up? ohnoes, he got points while defending win9x, he must have done it himself!
Have you thought of how silly you're being?
I actually own a Win95 box and a Win98 SE box. I have done default installations on them. They don't open ports needlessly, unlike people's precious WinXP. I'm sorry you're so anti-Microsoft that you can't accept that.
Linux in its default configuration has no open ports and can be installed safely without a firewall defending it. Can't say the same about many MS OSes. Certainly not Windows 9x, of which there's still a lot of copies running out there
A lot of people are talking out of their ass these days when it comes to Win9x. Have you actually verified what you wrote? I don't think so, because Win9x by default does NOT open ports! No, not even NetBIOS! Win95, by default, doesn't even install TCP/IP.
The page links to http://www.firefoxmyths.com/ , which only an idiot takes seriously after reading it entirely. Either the page is by a troll, or an honest to God retard.
By the way, enjoying an ad-less web thanks to Adblock Plus with SeaMonkey!
In my experience, the USB support is fine, if limited compared to Windows 98SE's. I have a USB scanner that works well, and I can use USB flash sticks without problems.
Slashdot Mirror
Try again with only 1 GB of RAM, and then we'll talk.
What? I thought AOL embedded IE.
You mean Gecko, the rendering engine and libraries, not Firefox.
If you want to get nitpicky, Firefox is an interface fork of what is now SeaMonkey.
Even more tools for easier porn browsing with Firefox can be found here: http://www.squarefree.com/pornzilla/
What you seem to ignore in every post is that since IE4 it wasn't just that that was being done. IE was integrated in the sense that it planted itself in explorer.exe and shell32.dll, essentially taking over your entire desktop environment. Everyone was instantly subjected to all of IE's bugs and crashes, even though they weren't browsing the Internet.
Some examples in your list just don't apply.
Systems: N64, GameCube, and Wii.
While this franchise has seen a game on every Nintendo console except the N64, the series has seen a 7-year-long hiatus, so I wouldn't say they are pumping them out per se.
Mario Strikers is actually a pretty recent sub-series. Only an entry on the GameCube and the Wii.
I'm not paranoid, I'm just being efficient. Using an e-mail client is much easier, faster, and hassle-free, versus webmail. Yes, I have used webmail for years before I tried an e-mail client. I'm not going back.
Every time you want to do something in webmail you have to get a new page, wait, choose, wait, and so forth. With an e-mail client I don't have to wait at all, it's instantaneous. Or how about adding attachments in webmail? That's even more clumsy.
A bonus feature is that I can have my e-mail client open in the background, periodically checking e-mail, and it will alert me when I have received one or more of them.
I completely agree with you, and it's a big reason why I'm still using Windows 95 OSR 2.5 today.
However, users always expect a ton of stuff from their computer, even if sometimes they don't make sense, and they always want more.
Flash is a monstrosity that can't run on such hardware, agreed. But HTML pages with stylesheets and JavaScript? No problem! I do it every day on my Pentium II 233 Mhz with Windows 95 OSR 2.5, at reasonable speeds.
You forgot WinME. :)
I recommend anger management therapy.
Just to accomodate a CPU-hogging plug-in, while all the rest works fine? No thanks, that would be quite stupid.
You must be some Microsoft puppet in favor of the perpetual upgrade cycle.
It has been known for quite a while now that Metroid Prime 3 would be the last Metroid Prime title, and I don't think they would have done anything else.
It's good they're taking a rest, because quite frankly, they've been losing direction since after the first game. Metroid Prime was a great transition to 3D. It felt right, the gameplay was solid, there was exploration, an interesting world, etc. But then something went horribly wrong.
It is my understanding that the original Metroid Prime was heavily influenced by Nintendo. It was they who told Retro to use a first-person view instead of a third-person one, for one thing. After that, they let Retro use their own ideas, which involved copying Metroid Fusion's X idea, light/dark worlds, and the result was Metroid Prime 2. The gameplay remained solid, and the bosses were good, but everything else that was good about the first title was gone.
No more interesting architecture, no more unique landscapes, Aether was a pretty barren planet with no defining flair. Dark Aether looked bland, and you weren't encouraged to explore because the environment hurts you. There was nothing Chozo on the planet either.
The game was also completely linear, you barely had any choice of where to go. This is reinforced with the amount of lock and key mechanism present in the game. Aside from the obvious 3 Temple Keys you have to collect in each area, there were all kinds of locks added. Light Beam doors, Dark Beam doors, Power Bomb doors, Multi-Missile doors, Annihilition Beam doors, Super Missile doors, and those light beams you access with the Light Suit.
And who had the brilliant idea of assigning AMMO to BEAMS?! Never before has it been done, and it doesn't work well.
Oh, and the Echoes subtitle? Doesn't mean much. You get the Echo Visor very late in the game, and it's only used for a couple puzzles and one boss. Whoop-de-doo.
The game's saving graces are the third area, the Sanctuary, and Dark Samus.
I haven't played Metroid Prime 3 yet, so I can only hope they've learned something. Seeing how Metroid Prime 2 was widely praised, though, it's not likely. Reactions have been mixed about the new game, so far.
The "On Wii" part isn't part of the subtitle. The title is Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
"Corruption" refers to the one of the game's main gameplay features. You have to make sure that you don't store too much Phazon, or you'll be corrupted and turn into Dark Samus, and then it's Game Over. To avoid this, you must fire Phazon at enemies to discharge yourself.
There's more to it than that, but that's all I know. I haven't played the game yet.
What I'm pointing out is that often it does NOT get you more. I wouldn't be complaining if it did.
What the hell do you mean? 30MB is very reasonable for a web browser. You picked the wrong program to use as a point.
Firefox, however, offers you so much more than Lynx. Vista doesn't offer that much than XP. Really, what feature that XP doesn't have is worth an additional 512MB-1GB of RAM for the whole system to run well?
Yes, but the increase in RAM usage (this doesn't include caching!) doesn't measure up.
I think you'll find that 512MB is quite enough for a Linux distribution with all of Vista's features and eye candy.
Except that XP was already quite bloated with tons of useless services and eye candy. It won't run well on computers of around 1998, and there's a lot of those. Yet a capable Linux distro works just fine on them.
The "RAM is cheap" argument is quite an apologist one, and it encourages wasteful RAM usage. Ever heard of the perpetual upgrade cycle?
Yes, the OS should use RAM well. No, the OS shouldn't use too much RAM.
As you said, the memory requirements double. The problem is, each new Windows version isn't exactly worth that much more RAM. There's no other explanation than intentional bloat for all the extra RAM each successive version needs for barely any new useful features.
Way to defeat an argument! Just label him an M$ fanboy or troll! Brilliant!
Modding myself up? ohnoes, he got points while defending win9x, he must have done it himself!
Have you thought of how silly you're being?
I actually own a Win95 box and a Win98 SE box. I have done default installations on them. They don't open ports needlessly, unlike people's precious WinXP. I'm sorry you're so anti-Microsoft that you can't accept that.
Is that the best counter-argument you have? How sad.
I prefer BRAIN.EXE
A lot of people are talking out of their ass these days when it comes to Win9x. Have you actually verified what you wrote? I don't think so, because Win9x by default does NOT open ports! No, not even NetBIOS! Win95, by default, doesn't even install TCP/IP.
Are you kidding? It's quite slow on a PC slower than 1 Ghz. Especially for movies.
It's also badly designed. Seriously, it boasts animated content, yet relies on Windows' standard display driver, without using DirectX.
SeaMonkey and K-Meleon can also use Adblock Plus, you know.
It's "Hear, Hear", dammit...
The page links to http://www.firefoxmyths.com/ , which only an idiot takes seriously after reading it entirely. Either the page is by a troll, or an honest to God retard.
By the way, enjoying an ad-less web thanks to Adblock Plus with SeaMonkey!
In my experience, the USB support is fine, if limited compared to Windows 98SE's. I have a USB scanner that works well, and I can use USB flash sticks without problems.