I guess they do hide it:
Posted on 12/26/2007 7:40:03 PM PST by CedarDave
It’s official, manufacturers are starting to dump Windows XP support entirely and some new models won’t even have Windows XP drivers or any kind of support available, anywhere. One reader, “Mark” contacted us regarding installing Windows XP on his HP V6610 (AU) laptop which is the V6620 in the US.
“Mark” said when he went to the HP driver/downloads section that very few Windows XP drivers were available for it and he was right, there were almost no useful drivers for the laptop there.
His call to HP support didn’t get very far as “HP is no longer supporting Windows XP on the newer PCs.”
Almost all new computers will ship with a version of Vista be it Basic, Premium, Business or Ultimate and deciding to install Windows XP might be problematic if not all the drivers are available. It’s also doubtful that the drivers will ever be available so you may as well stick with Vista.
Personally, I’ve not had that many problems with Vista, sure I had issues in the past but most of those have been resolved now and I would also have all my hardware working, despite the operating system.
Of course, those of you with Windows Vista and older hardware can attempt to install XP drivers, sometimes they take, sometimes they don’t but its a guarantee that Vista drivers do not work on Windows XP.
If you are not aware, Windows XP OEM will cease production in early 2008 so many manufacturers see no reason to provide Windows XP drivers for their newer hardware which will likely be running on a PC with Vista installed.
My guess is that other manufacturers are going to follow this model sooner rather than later. Models that shipped with Windows XP should be unaffected just don’t expect driver updates.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.blorge.com ...
I’m just starting to experiment with Linux to try to get a feel for it. My 13 yr old was trying Ubuntu as a dual boot for a while but now is running Pclinuxos, Ubuntu, Fedora core 6, and Linux Mint as vm through VMWare Player on a XP host. I’ve started playing with Pclinuxos on VMWare Player on XP host just to get my feet wet. So far so good. Not had any problems except some screen resolution issues that got resolved rather quickly.
Son really likes the virtual appliance market from VMWare. For what we use our puters for, there seems to be just what we need as far as applications.
I have a feeling it won’t be long until I feel comfortable enough to make a host switch and run XP as VM through VMWare player. I do all my banking and accounting for home and the business through MSMoney. Which open-source, Linux compatible program do you recommend? It needs to be an easy switch.
Never heard that "reason" before -- that one's at the bottom of my list. LOL
User Access Control (permission handling), and New Technology File System, disk file system introduced with WinNT around 1993-94.
With that, I must depart -- gotta get some sleep (East Coast, up at 6AM).
Thanks for a great chat!
UAC = User Access Control - the evil “Cancel Or Allow” that Vista keeps popping up.
NTFS = NT File System - a disk format introduced in Windows NT and is native in NT, 2000, XP and Vista; so named to separate it from the earlier DOS-sourced FAT16 and FAT32 formats.
They’re not hiding it to avoid pissing off Steve - they “hide” it to make sure that idiot lazy programmers will put all commands in the menu bar at the top where they can be found with a single mouse click instead of burying the command you need in a cascade of right-click contextual menus (in place of the menu bar).
And of course you can use any standard PC-style USB or Bluetooth mouse with a Mac, and all the functions work with the Mac. No requirement to use a Mac mouse (I don't.)
Excellent point.
Sorry to have to say... no clue whatsoever. I don't do my banking or money management on a computer, so I haven't had to go looking for an open-source program for that. I do my taxes with H&R BLock TaxCut, in the past on Windows, this year on a Mac.
Yep!
I guess they do hide it:
You may also use any “Windows” type USB or Bluetooth keyboard that you so desire with a Mac - all the standard functions will work, as well. No need to use the Apple keyboard, either (I just like mine.)
I appreciate your comments. Good night.
Current Apple mouse:
From: http://www.apple.com/mightymouse/design.html
The Button That Wasn’t
Alas the fate of the one-button mouse in today’s multibutton world. Who has time for intuitive, elegant design when there is so much clicking to do? Thanks to a smooth top shell with touch-sensitive technology beneath, Mighty Mouse allows you to right click without a right button. Capacitive sensors under Mighty Mouse’s seamless top shell detect where your fingers are and predict your clicking intentions, so you don’t need two buttons — just two fingers. Click on the left side to use Mighty Mouse in its simplest, single-button form. Click on the right to access contextual menus within applications and edit, copy, label or download from your mouse. It’s simple sleight of hand.
It Squeezes, Not Squeaks
It wouldn’t be fair to call Mighty Mouse a two-button mouse with one button. Especially when it responds to pressure from your fingers in four different places. Besides the left- and right-click functions, the Scroll Ball clicks down to act as a third mouse button. And force-sensing buttons on either side of Mighty Mouse respond when you press in with your finger and thumb. Perfect for Mac OS X users, the side buttons are pre-programmed to activate Exposé, so you can view all your windows with a squeeze. Of course, you can also customize Mighty Mouse to open whatever you choose — Spotlight, Dashboard or any application when you have Mac OS X v10.4.6 or later.
I don't have little ones running around. Went to a friend's house for Christmas dinner and afterwards the kids opened presents. The oldest was nine. The nine year old boy got some sort of a game and promptly went to the computer in another room. The 7-year old girl got something that I thought was a small calculator. She promptly pulled out some small headphones, plugged the A/C adapter in the wall and zoned out. The variety of electronics for kids is simply mind boggling to me. It is scary what they know at their age that I have absolutely no clue about.
Well with all the “Virtual World” upon our kids these days, it was nice to see them come back to “Reality” with uncle Vern’s gift’s to them:
13 yr old got a BB Hand Gun
7 yr old got a Red Ryder BB Gun. (Asked to go out shootin’ in the backyard Tuesday morning right around the time ‘Alfie’ had one come back at him and “shot his eye out”. Just thought that was kind of ironic.)
Ahhhh. The good ol’ Christmas gifts.
It still looks like a one button mouse. I wonder how many other PC users are as clueless as I was when they see a picture of a Mac mouse:
“Only one button? I’m not going to get a computer that can’t do everything I do now.”
If you go into an Apple store, there are nice posters that explain it all, as well as nice people to assist you and answer your questions. [grin]
How about overcoming the need to have the latest, greatest, bleeding edge PC on the block?
You can still get (or build) a very good PC or even a laptop for quite some time that will run XP just fine.
Please make sure Dad teaches them proper use. Couple of kids in our neighborhood got paint guns and pointed it at me and my dog from their yard when I was walking him.
Don’t think they sell Apple’s at Walmart; the only computer store in this town, 2 hours at least from the nearest big city that might have a store that sells Mac’s.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.