downix wrote:
OEM's like packaging up a ton of junk that you cannot remove. It's like buying a car from a dealer that adds a $200 "pinstriping" charge.
That's only relevant if you use the factory load. The first thing I do when I get a Dell is reload using the OEM disk, everything's spit-spot.
But there are a number of factors which affect Windows XP performance, one big one which most people tend to overlook: quick versus full NTFS format. A full format takes longer during the installation, but you will see a massive performance benefit. Then there's the speed of the drive interface, memory (256MB is BARE MINIMUM for XP as of SP2 if you want any semblance of performance,) and so on.
As for Amigas, the only suffering which I experience is the inability to purchase or register some software packages (Miami, in particular.) Other than that, I love my machines. My exgf reminds me that when we started dating in 2000, the only PC in my apartment was only ever used to run the specialized Windows-based billing software used by the ISP I worked for. Everything else I did on my Amiga 4000. It wasn't until 2001 when I actually purchased my first full-fledged Windows machine, a laptop.
If it weren't for the work I do, I could easily go to being all Amiga on the home-front. Even if I had a job in a PC world, I could either not work at home, or use a company laptop to do a few things at home as necessary.
Now, web browsing does make things a little more difficult. I'm pretty sure that my bank's on-line system won't work with Amiga, but I've never tried :-) Might need a PC for that. But then, it doesn't necessarily have to be Windows: my Solaris 8 workstation with Firefox handles this aspect quite well.
Anyway, far from suffering, I find that my interest in all of my "classic" or "retro" or flat-out obsolete computers is enlightening. While the machines themselves may be obsolete, the thought and spirit behind them is certainly not. I believe that I have a good grasp on various technologies, and am well-rounded enough to not be dragged into fanboydom. I am also going to enjoy getting into hardware hacking on the Amiga, just as much as I did on the TI and the C64. I'm looking forward to being able to spend some time converting my TI BASIC programs into machine language, C64 programs to C128, and learning programming on the Amiga. I'm also hoping to expand into the ST and Atari 8-bit a little. I know there are more systems out there. A friend drolls on about programming the Z80 CPU, which I've never done, only TMS-9900 and 6502, so that would be interesting as well.
Why? Pursuit of knowledge, perhaps? Personal satisfaction? Mental masturbation? What does it matter so long as you're happy and productive in both the real and your own world?
A colleague asks me a few months ago about my interest in Solaris. He says, does that make you any money? Well, technically none of my customers use it, but it is a part of my own server infrastructure which is used by a number of customers. In a way, yes, it does make me a little money. But the knowledge of something other than Windows helps me to understand more about the technological world in which we live. And besides, if one day I decide to ditch this self-employment gig, the state often advertises jobs involving experience with Solaris and Windows environments which pay $75k+. So, yeah, it might make me money.
