Months go, I reviewed Windows Vista, and concluded: "All in all, I am impressed by Windows Vista [...]. Windows Vista is better than XP, and definitely more than just an improved look as many say." After 5 months of usage, it is time to put that statement into perspective.
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Member since:2007-03-04
"I'm using Vista and I've NEVER have been limited by any form of DRM so far. I have no HDDVDs or BluRay movies though, so that's why maybe."
You are lucky.......so far.
"WGA and activation? Activation takes like... 30 seconds after install, and you're done. It's gone. Never bothered me again."
MS will be "authenticating" the OS every month, just remember the computer belongs to MS, not you.
http://www.mypcpros.com/computer-blog/2007/5/1/microsofts-new-valid...
"System requirements are of course higher - no suprise here really, but my 3-year old Athlon64 (2GB of RAM and a gf7600 gt) system runs it flawlessly."
The system requirements for Vista are absurd, but I guess that is what happens when a poorly made OS is loaded with DRM. Linux is a quality, secure, reliable, reasonably priced, DRM free OS with modest system requirements, you should try it.
Edited 2007-05-09 17:30
Member since:2006-01-08
Linux huh? I thought we were discussing Windows differences but what the hell, a bit OT never hurt anybody.
Yeah, I use/administrate linux systems, gentoo specifically, everyday at work and I love it.
It's great for servers (It's the only system my company uses) and work-dekstop environment 
On a HOME desktop though, I just want a multimedia workhorse, a "plug and play" system that I can run my games on, watch a movie and use a program or two without too much hassle. These tasks are still WAY less time consuming (and trouble free) on Windows. And on top of that I'm used to, and like, some of the Windows-only software I use daily. I just appreciate Windows for what it is - a great home system if you know how to set it up and maintain.
I've used Linux exclusively on my home desktop for 9 months just to see if I can switch completely... and it didn't work out for me. Not for anything big, but I just got tired of those little annoyances, like software compilations failing or misbehaving graphics drivers... and lack of my favorite games (no, cedega doesn't cut it - not even close).
I rather spend my free time doing things I like instead of fighting with the os to play that h264 encoded clip without eating all available cpu power or getting that latest and greatest 3d game to somehow work under wine.
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2006-01-08
So those things you mentioned, in your opinion, make Vista a DOWNGRADE from ME?
All this talk about DRM actication and WGA...
I'm using Vista and I've NEVER have been limited by any form of DRM so far. I have no HDDVDs or BluRay movies though, so that's why maybe.
WGA and activation? Activation takes like... 30 seconds after install, and you're done. It's gone. Never bothered me again.
System requirements are of course higher - no suprise here really, but my 3-year old Athlon64 (2GB of RAM and a gf7600 gt) system runs it flawlessly.