yes infact everyone knows how to play cards on windows. I think I'll add that into my CV! and I'm really good playing HEARTS!

ahah anyway here my 2 stations with my new desktop pictures.

It doesn't look like you're running Linux on any of those? :D
Is that a Titanium powerbook? That desktop picture looks very cool,
with the photo taken at the right angle.

from theuk.independent
Vista gives a view of a new world
Internet law professor Michael Geist casts an eye over the fine print in Windows Vista and is concerned at what he finds.

Consumers got their hands on Vista in late January
Vista, the latest version of Microsoft Windows has made its long awaited consumer debut. It incorporates a new, sleek look and such novelties as better search tools and stronger security.
Early reviews have tended to damn the upgrade with faint praise, however, characterising it as the best, most secure version of Windows, yet one that contains few, if any, revolutionary features.
While those reviews have focused chiefly on new functions, for the past few months the legal and technical communities have dug into Vista's "fine print".
Those communities have raised red flags about Vista's legal terms and conditions as well as the technical limitations built in to the software at the insistence of the motion picture industry.
Hard look
The net effect of these concerns may constitute the real Vista revolution as they point to an unprecedented loss of consumer control over their own PCs.
In the name of shielding consumers from computer viruses and protecting copyright owners from potential infringement, Vista seemingly wrestles control of the "user experience" from the user.
Vista's legal fine print includes extensive provisions granting Microsoft the right to regularly check the legitimacy of the software and holds the prospect of deleting certain programs without the user's knowledge.
During the installation process, users "activate" Vista by associating it with a particular computer or device and transmitting certain hardware information directly to Microsoft.
Even after installation, the legal agreement grants Microsoft the right to revalidate the software or to require users to reactivate it should they make changes to their computer components.

For those users frustrated by the software's limitations, Microsoft cautions that "you may not work around any technical limitations in the software".
Vista also incorporates Windows Defender, a security program that actively scans computers for "spyware, adware, and other potentially unwanted software". The agreement does not define any of these terms, leaving it to Microsoft to determine what constitutes unwanted software.

I use these 2 computers to work and so I had to accept the standard rules and so I cant use Linux. yes it is a powerbook I bought 3y ago, it's already dated but it's okay for other 3y for sure! glad that you like the picture. It was an experiment but I hope to use this idea to do something good.

ive got that mxbx sticker on my hipflask!
great for these cold nights, swig of brandy to warm the cockles!

im seriously considering a) sticking to xp for future shit, b) buying a headless imac. my OLD OLD stuff is in mac format anyway (does anyone here remember the mac classic? ha ha ha. yes.)

about linux, i'll consider switching when installations, drivers, etc, cease to be a Royal Pain in the Fucking Ass. right now for me mac is the "easy linux".

Yeah, The installation is the biggest pain about linux. It takes weeks to perfect it, and then you have to reinstall kernels every once in a while, delete the grub entry, and recreate the master font file every time you install one. It's so so smooth once you have everything perfect, but it takes a lot to maintain.

Make sure if you do that you buy an older iMac to do it with. Don't think you can pick up a new Mac Mini for $400 and do anything with pre-OSX files, because you can't. Mac "Classic" OS doesn't exist in the new intel machines. I'm sure some Mac addict hacker will program an emulator one of these days, but Apple uprgrades their old shit to death faster than McMicrosoft.

I'm no Jobs worshipper, and I agree with those who lambast Apple for putting out hardware product on the market that disintegrates from use. Nonetheless, when it comes to software MS has been chasing Mac from day one, and they continually come up with shit that loves to crash, freeze, reset itself for no reason, and invite every virus ever dreamt of for dinner when it's not busy arguing with security software that makes it crash, freeze, and reset itself for no reason. I'm sure Vista is more of the same.

So, after a few months, how's this OS? Any opinion from regular users?

yeah, unfortunately i lack the time for that. was trying gimp for windows just last night & the thought of being stuck in a linux environment is quite terrifying. i used to run a little linux web/ bittorrent server for sonic youth shows (2 years ago i think? a little longer?) & it took me forever to sort shit out.


thanks yea. imy first machine ver was a mac classic & i have things currently stashed in a bondi blue imac w/ os9. the files are just macwrite though. old crappy stuff that probably devoid of literary value & useful only as psychoanalytical material. but i want it around....

im guessing mac write files should still be openable, right? or maybe i'll just export them as DOS files & open w/ some filter in ms office. ha ha.

xp2 is solid & trouble-free for me though. i remember when i had to transition from win2K to xp, it was such a pain! xp home remained shit (I had it on a work machine), but pro was just great & i never missed driver installation w/ win2k.

i'll wait until the dust settles on vista & their first service packages are released.

Not really.

There's two families of Windows:

- Windows 3.X, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me
- Windows NT, Windows 2K, Windows XP, Windows 2003 Server and Windows Vista

Inside a family the more recent versions are just evolutions of the previous kernel (so the first family is an evolution of the 3.x kernel while the second one is an evolution of the NT kernel).

We had some kind of promo pre-release version of Vista at work last year, and I can tell you for nothing that it was a load of bobbins. Windows XP is fine.

Can we be the first forum in the world to call on the Windows Vista bullshit? XP works just fine, thank you, Mr Gates.

I love XP sp2, it works just fine, I asked mainly because of the directX 10 support in Vista and the fact that I'm still wondering wether or not to buy a new "branded" pc or assemble a new one with my hands, and almost all the already built ones have Vista Home Premium already installed.

guy i worked with got it and when he uploaded it the first thing it told him was to upgrade.

apparantly microsoft have been losing lots because no one wants it. cant say i feel bad about that.

i think that they think that because scanners, printers etc dont work with vista that we will all buy new ones from them and increase their wallets.

Nice work, Microsoft - you've given the world an operating system that even the humble ZX Spectrum could better.

:D You guys are not helping:D

the best... but yeah.. i use xp very often.

build with your own hands, of course!!

that goes without saying bro.

let me suggest....

the ars technica system guide

there are 3 levels: the budget box, the hot rod, & the god box. i've always wanted to build a "god box" he he. but all are pretty good combinations.

this regardless of what OS you pick.