Posted on 02/19/2009 1:30:25 PM PST by Chet 99
Remember when Vista was announced, and Microsoft decided to release six different versions of the operating system, much to the confusion, disappointment, and ridicule of potential buyers? Well guess what? Microsoft is back with the Windows 7 strategy. What has it learned in the last three years? Pretty much nothing.
While Microsoft is touting the "two primary editions" of Windows 7 -- a Home Premium edition and a Professional (intended for business) edition -- the fact is it's sticking with the same six different versions (or SKUs, stock-keeping units) that it had for Vista.
The real difference is that Windows 7 Home Basic -- the much-reviled stripped-down version of Vista that was designed for bare-bones PCs -- is now being shunted to emerging markets only, though it will still exist. But to confuse matters, a Windows 7 Starter edition, which will run only three applications simultaneously, will also be available.
(Excerpt) Read more at tech.yahoo.com ...
I’m thinking the same thing. Time for me to put together a dual-core XP system, then use my old system to run a Linux OS. I’m tired of Windows.
When Ballmer said Windows 7 was based upon Vista, he lost me as a customer. I’ll continue to run XP on my system until I get a new one, then I’ll start running a Linux OS.
What is this DRM doing in the back ground?
I’ve ripped CDs. I’ve ripped DVDs. I’ve converted recorded HD programs to DIVX.
When I heard about all of the DRM on Vista, I thought I might not be able to do those chores on Vista, and I was prepared to wipe the drive and install XP. I have not had any problems doing these potentially DRM related activities.
I’m curious what DRM is going to stop me from doing.
Mint (same thing only...different)
There is no way in he** he is exaggerating. I have run windows since before there was a windows(beta versions) and the blue screen of death is very real and very ofter shows up on MS computers. If you and your friends don't see it, count yourself lucky. It doesn't show up as much as it used to but I have seen it on all versions of windows including Vista, just two days ago on a friends computer.
Actually the first version of win95 crashed on me 13 times in the first month I had it, and so it happened to many others also, in fact MS got so many calls in the first few days after it released that they kept telling people it wasn't windows fault it was the user. Finally they had to admit it was the product. Eventually they brought out Win95 C version I believe, and cured most of the problems. Then they released Win98 and it started all over again until once again they brought out a good version of 98, Win98SE, then the same thing again with ME but they couldn't fix that POS and the XP original version without service pack 1 was also a POS, now it is a good system and they needed to stay with it instead of dumping their customers and trying to force Vista on everyone.
Through all those versions, including Win2000 and NT I might add, I saw the BSOD more times then I can remember.
Count yourself lucky if you have only seen it twice in 10 years!
Only nerds who like to naysay are going to make a big deal about this. The truth is that these OSs all serve a purpose and you know you are most likely always going to get ultimate or one of the two premiums.
Unused RAM is wasted ram. Ideally the ram is close to all being used as it anticipates what you are going to do next. It's much faster to access info from RAM than from the HD.
I haven't heard that. Could make a heck of a lot of difference to folks perceptions when it's turned on.
what?? That doesn’t sound good.
No doubt!
~ :) ps -ef | grep zeugma | wc -l
72
~ :) ps -ef | wc -l
155
And that's just my home box.
At work, I normally have about 70 ssh sessions open at a time, in addition to a browser (or two), email, VMWare, mp3 player, spreadsheet, IM client, and occasionally a word processor. In all, I think I normally have about 150-200 processes doing stuff for me, not including system processes and stuff like a webserver, anonymous ftp server, and various other misc stuff. Thank G-d I'll never have to deal with windows except in a VM. I really can't imagine what it would be like to be constrained by the limitations of windows, even without the 3-program restriction. When I have to watch someone attempt to do something for me from their windows box (for example, when I don't have access to the resource in question), it's painful to see what they have to go through.
“This whole Vista scare is getting a little over the top.”
Perhaps you are correct. But from my perspective, it doesn’t make any sense whatsoever to up grade to another platform simply because it is new. XP has proven itself to me over the years as a very stable and suitable OS to use. Negating the fact that if I were to upgrade, I would needlessly need to reinvest an additional year if not more; to relearn all that Vista has to offer. The amount of learning I incurred during the transition from 98 too XP was exhaustive enough at the time for me. Now that I have a much better than average understanding of (what to do / Not to do) in order to get my system back up and running in a top notch running condition in the event something does go awry; there simply isn’t any incentive on my part to make the switch. I’ve gotten to the point that I can totally reload my entire inventory and windows platform in as little as 4 hours, and in the end have a completely new operating system as new and usable as the first day I bought my computer over 5 years ago.
Nope, Trying to get people like me to switch to NEW will be a hard sell to say the least.
You need to run into DRM-locked media. In ripping the DVDs, you are bypassing the DRM.
I guess that’s my point. I haven’t been stopped from doing anything in Vista that I could do in XP yet.
I've been running the Windows 7 Beta for weeks now and haven't found a problem yet.
You will be stopped if you run the wrong content without the right hardware. But the point here isn’t about being stopped, it’s about the processor cycles and memory the deeply ingrained DRM in Windows steals.
Where'd you hear that? Over at Slashdot, which is obviously a questionable source for anything, but they're claiming "Draconian" DRM has already been found.
Yep.
I use Kubuntu. Outstanding.
I’ve been using Macs at work for 10 years (desktop and laptop), and PC’s at home for the same length of time. There is no way I’d by a Mac.
That article didn’t mention anything more than known DRM in Vista. If you are playing DRM audio content, the Vista drivers will downgrade any sound so you can’t capture the audio with any quality. Same with video. Guilty until proven innocent.
All I had to do to get Windows 98 to crash was run high-speed software on it like Photoshop and other professional graphics applications together. You could watch it getting less and less stable over the span of a few hours. Preemptive re-boots were standard in our office at least once a day, usually more.
What don’t you like?
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