I know Windoze Suck..but..

[nyteschayde]

I have been running the beta for a while now. If you have supported hardware it's not bad. I don't like all the added security but with a little effort you can figure out how to turn it off.

I use all the major platforms. I am writing this on a new MacBook Pro that I convinced my company to buy for me. =) All in all, each of the platforms including the Amiga have their pros and cons. Anyone who cannot admit as much is overly biased towards their platform of choice.

Nonetheless if you are used to an Amiga there will be many niceties. If you are used to WinXP or Mac OS X the novelty factor won't be quite as big. But like everything new it has its merits and faults.

Have fun with it. When you get frustrated, and you will, remember there are others out there that have probably solved your problems. Use google.

[Homer]

I guess the dream is still to be running OS4 or OS5 on a military spec Multi Ghz PC with Gb+ RAM and to marvel at the speed of it compared to WinSlow on the same hardware. I'll drink to that :pint:

[coldfish]

Want fast booting and nimble operation; try DSL (damn small linux) and boot "toram".  Very quick, and free!

[Samuar]

I have used Windows Vista RC2 and whilst I wouldn't claim to be overwhelmed by its features, I would say I was relieved.

Everyone knows Microsoft has played the catch up game with Apple. Mac OS X has some great features and has had them for some time.

I'm just glad this release of Windows does have the graphical eye-candy: I'd be annoyed at being stuck without it for another 5 years.

Mac OS X is amazing. In March, I bought a cheap G3 Mac for my sister. She loved the look of the machine and the interface. I loved the fact that she enjoyed using computers (i.e. keeps her up to date with the skill set) and that I don't have to remove spyware/worms etc etc.

But, lets face it, Games support is pants: like linux, but at least you can install Microsoft Office.
A new Mac is far too expensive for me. I'm still a student.

Linux is fantastic for giving old machines a new lease of life - like my Dual Intel Pentium III 733 box; which with an nvidia graphics card allows me to use XGL/Compiz and get all the fancy eyecandy Aqua and Aero offer. Don't think Linux is useless: install Ubuntu and use O'Reilly's Ubuntu Hacks book. You'll achieve lots in a very short period of time including the DVD and multimedia support that a lot of people say is missing.

I keep returning to Windows though. I do need games to distract me from my studies (Applications of Formal Methods and Requirements Engineering do take their toll). I also need Visual Studio 2005.

I think some people that do not like Windows last used Millenium Edition. Windows XP had crap eyecandy but it did have two things that kept me from returning to 2000: considerably better stability: I havent seen a blue screen of death in years; and compatibility mode for applications.

Windows also comes preloaded on cheap yet powerful computers supplied by Dell. (Student - remember?)

I enjoy using all three operating systems. But I can't enjoy Amiga OS 4 because no one has given me the opportunity: I can't see or use either hardware or software.

Alternative operating systems (to Windows that is) need to fit into niche market. Linux is great for older machines (and manipulating text within files). OS X is great for fashion extremists and people with lots of money (lucky lucky bar-stewards).

Not a dig, just a balanced viewpoint.



Sam Holland
Final Year Undergraduate,
BSc Computing Science

[SamuraiCrow]

Samuar wrote:

Mac OS X is amazing. In March, I bought a cheap G3 Mac for my sister. She loved the look of the machine and the interface. I loved the fact that she enjoyed using computers (i.e. keeps her up to date with the skill set) and that I don't have to remove spyware/worms etc etc.

But, lets face it, Games support is pants: like linux, but at least you can install Microsoft Office.
A new Mac is far too expensive for me. I'm still a student.

I agree on the expense side.  I'm also a final year computer science major.  My next computer is going to be a laptop with a Linux dual-boot to run those Amiga cross-compilers so I can bring some of my work home to the people that need it most.

I keep returning to Windows though. I do need games to distract me from my studies (Applications of Formal Methods and Requirements Engineering do take their toll). I also need Visual Studio 2005.

Visual Studio is expensive but even the freebie versions are powerful.  I'm avoiding it like the plague so that I don't get too used to it's features that I can't use a cross-platform solution instead.  Try downloading Code::Blocks and MinGW for Windows instead.  It's a cross-platform solution that will soon work with Linux and Mac as well.

Also, use SDL and OpenGL to make games with and it will recompile for use on high-end AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS systems as well as Mac and Linux.

I think some people that do not like Windows last used Millenium Edition. Windows XP had crap eyecandy but it did have two things that kept me from returning to 2000: considerably better stability: I havent seen a blue screen of death in years; and compatibility mode for applications.

Windows also comes preloaded on cheap yet powerful computers supplied by Dell. (Student - remember?)

I bought a Dell Dimension L800r back in 2001 and it is still my primary computer for internet usage.  I have SUSE Linux dual-boot and a student licence of XP installed.  Unfortunately SUSE 10.1 takes more memory than XP does otherwise I'd use Linux more often.

I enjoy using all three operating systems. But I can't enjoy Amiga OS 4 because no one has given me the opportunity: I can't see or use either hardware or software.

I would use AmigaOS 4 more except that the hardware that it runs on gives me fits.  My MicroA1-c has a core-voltage problem but it's such an expensive piece of equipment that I'm afraid to try to fix it.  As it is, I'm still on update 2 and so on because I'm afraid my system will lock up in the middle of the reFlashing of the Bios...

You're better off waiting for new (tested) hardware.

Alternative operating systems (to Windows that is) need to fit into niche market. Linux is great for older machines (and manipulating text within files). OS X is great for fashion extremists and people with lots of money (lucky lucky bar-stewards).

Amiga's low-overhead per feature selection could make Amiga great on handhelds but nobody seems to want to make a handheld for PowerPC chips.   :-(

[motrucker]

If anyone is thinking about using Vista - check out the networking specs first. You just might be shocked back to reality. Also check out the bloated overhead of Vista.
It figures that when they finally fix XP, and get it working rather well, they want to dump it. I guess that's par for M$.

[Floid]

stopthegop wrote:
I believe unix was developed in the early 1960s, wasn't it?

You have an Internet.  Please use it.


Seriously, though, probably half (and now I'm pulling a figure out of my *) of the bloat in Vista comes from Microsoft finally pushing most of the system into 'userland.'

If they're virtualizing or partitioning multiple working sets of various components that weren't exactly small when they were insecure and shared, it's easy to see why hardware requirements skyrocket.

Or in other words, the price you pay to run the whole existing library of Windows apps (how far back does the compatibility still go?) somewhat securely is up there with the price you'd pay to run multiple instances of older, sloppier MS distributions inside VMWare.

There's probably some irony in how much less overall API turnover various competing OSes had, while still managing to break more apps per update.