Posted on 11/17/2001 1:22:43 PM PST by forest
Over the years, I’ve had the bad and the ugly. Finally, mostly by mistake, I got the good.
Years ago, I laid out a thousand bucks for Radio Shack’s TRS-80 -- later called “Trash-80.” We actually did real work on that little computer. That is, after a week or two of programming, one was used for a few years in a major medical institution as a very fancy calculator. That machine did, in fact, save medical personnel many thousands of hours of work.
Later, I spent $5,000 on a fancy DOS machine with two floppy disk drives and a big printer. I still have a copy of the DOS 1.2 disks and the manuals someplace. That, with the MultiMate word processor, became a very well used computer.
Later came the more familiar DOS 3, 4, 5, and 6. Then Windows 3, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME -- and always, the “Blue Screen of Death.” The fact is, if I had a buck for every time I rebooted over the years because of software errors, I could probably buy a new Lincoln Town Car today.
The truth is, these operating systems worked most of the time, but they could also do some very strange things at very inappropriate moments. In fact, the frequency of complete system lock-ups often seemed to be directly in proportion to the importance of the work being done. It often seemed that way, anyway. Writing grants or articles on deadline always seemed to crash Windows. Normal e-mail chitchat never did. Go figure!
One major problem, of course, was that Microsoft kept changing the operating system. So, as soon as we learned one operating system and got most of the problems ironed out, the new one was out and it had its own new set of peculiarities -- and yet a new set of reasons for causing system crashes. So, the whole learning procedure began anew.
To say that I wanted yet another new operating system would be like taping a “kick me” sign on my shirttail! But, I needed a computer. Bummer. So, what to do?
Looking around, everything available had Windows XP installed. I wanted Windows 98. Besides, my Internet provider clearly states that the modems we use are not supported by the new Windows XP operating system and will not work. Double bummer!
Then, a “deal” on a computer popped up. A new computer was available that had everything (and more) that I wanted at a very reasonable price that I was willing to pay. But, it also had the Windows XP Home operating system installed. On the other hand, having a copy of Windows 98 at home, I was in a position to correct that anomaly. So, I bought the beast and took it home.
Well, inquisitive minds want to know. So, I thought I would give the new Windows XP system an evening of my time just to see what all the hype was about. But, I wanted it operating on the Internet -- no matter what my ISP said.
Out of the box, there was a keyboard error. A little message implied something about “fixing it” and I agreed. Keyboard error disappeared. Then I had no sound.
So, I went into the trouble page and it asked a few questions about sound. Suddenly, sound worked.
This was getting interesting!
So, what the heck: I loaded the software for my Internet provider. As they said, I had no driver for my modem. So, I told XP that I had a generic cable modem. That’s when something very strange happened:
I fooled around for another minute or so, and apparently XP was also doing its thing in the background. Because, suddenly a little message popped up informing me that I was on line.
Loading a browser confirmed that, indeed, XP had created a path to the Internet and my connect speed was well over 1,000 Mbps. There has never been a problem with anything since.
At one point, I was listening to a radio program on Netscape Media Player while I was typing in a word processor, had both Netscape and Explorer open and the silly browser for my Internet system opened when I clicked on a link from e-mail. That’s a lot, even with 512 MB of Ram. But, still nothing crashed.
I have now spent a week with the new Windows XP Home edition. I planned to list all the problems I found with Windows XP here, then reformat the hard drive and use Windows 98 from then on. But, there were no problems. Nothing crashed. Nothing didn’t work. Nothing needed extensive setup. The system just works as I intended. No fooling around was necessary.
I’m keeping XP. But, certainly not because I want another operating system to learn. I’m keeping it simply because it has caused me zero problems in its first 60 hours of use. What’s not to like here?
The impression is almost that all those other Microsoft operating systems were little more than aggravating toys and now we get to use the real thing. So, my next step will be to network the two computers -- which is also a function that comes with the XP system. That done, I will revert to being a computer user and leave all the “system management” problems to Windows XP. Because, the computers will then be doing every little thing I want my computers to do. Fast, too!
Truly, this was the fastest I have ever gotten a computer set up and running properly. Within two hours, all my software was installed and I was on the Internet reading news. I expect there may be some sort of problems develop in the next couple weeks, but I have no idea what they might be because everything I use installed properly the first time and works great.
Sure, I have heard a few gripes about XP. I don’t have any yet, though. Someone also mentioned “Product Activation” -- calling Microsoft for permission to use your own operating system. However, I was already up and running before that was mentioned to me. Too late now. . . .
The downside, as I see it, is that when XP makes repairs/changes, it does not inform the user what it did. The upside is that everything works and I didn’t have to do any fooling around whatsoever to make things work properly. For the latter reason, so far, I like XP Home a lot -- and I have never said that before about any operating system in the first week of use. Never!
Windows 2000 is just as stable but does not require product activation. It also does not require a Passport account.
Though I'm being dragged kicking and screaming, Linux it is!
I don’t have any yet, though. Someone also mentioned “Product Activation” -- calling Microsoft for permission to use your own operating system. However, I was already up and running before that was mentioned to me. Too late now. . . .
The whole "product activation" fiasco is way overplayed by the anti-Microsoft public. If you purchase a computer with Windows XP preinstalled, you will never see Product Activation unless you change 6 pieces of hardware in 120 days (and even then, major hardware). If you purchase Windows XP in stores, you have to register it with Product Activation. NO BIG DEAL! All it consists of, if you have an internet connection, is clicking "Next" a few times while it connects to Microsoft's site and validates it. No problem at all, no "privacy invasion" (like I had anything to hide anyway).
so far, I like XP Home a lot -- and I have never said that before about any operating system in the first week of use. Never!
I love it too, and would never ever go back to Windows 9x :)
OK. I hate to sound stupid here. But . . . what's a "Passport Account"?
Whatever it is, I do not think I have one.
I am using this XP computer just exactly as I have used other computers. Same software. Same style of work. Same programs always open. Same everything. All that changed is that it is a lot faster. And, so far, nothing crashed.
From my experience, Beta 2 of Windows 2000 was far more stable than Windows XP gold code! I haven't gone back yet as I work for a software development corporation and my staff will eventually have no choice but to support development on the platform, so we need to know the issues up front. The short and long of it is that my recommendation for those contemplating upgrades or new purchases, "Stick with the tried and true, stable Windows 2000. Don't muck with Windows XP. It's as big a turkey as Windows ME."
On another note, Redaht 7.2 is outstanding. I recommend a KDE 2.2.1 desktop over Gnome, however. Out of the box, it works better on a Cyrix PR233 MHz CPU with 96 MB RAM (yeah...I know, ancient technology) than Windows XP on a 850 MHz Pentium III with 384 MB RAM.
Agreed. I recently put XP on a second computer here at home, and, as an experiement, replaced just about everything but the HD and NIC. New motherbord, processor, memory, soundcard, video card, Zip instead of LS120, and a std floppy drive.
No product reactivation required!
It's always been this way. You've just been breaking the law if you were doing this before :) (I won't tell, everybody did it).
For example with a family that has a couple of kids pooters and a laptop things could get pricey I'm not certain but I believe you only save $20.00 or so buying an extra license over the whole shebang.
I believe that is correct. Yes, it is expensive.
The only problem I have had is my HP Laserjet 3100 will not work. HP still has not come out with a new driver, despite the fact that HP's website still says that they will come out with one by the time MS releases XP. (Hellooooo, it's been released, where is my driver?
Win 2000 cause me zero problems in my first 60 hours with it, and few in the year and a half since.
I had my first (attempted) encounter with XP last week and it wasn't pretty. My college age son put XP on his system and, several weeks later, blew out his motherboard (which had nothing to do with XP). I collected his computer and got a new motherboard and processor. Once everything was put together with his old disk I turned the thing on, and XP died during the boot. It had a non-traditional blue screen which suggested I use the old disk controller (Thanks for the advice MS!), or run Scandisk which was impossible because the boot to the command line prompt came up with the same blue screen. I called MS, and during discussions with them, it turned out that the key they gave me for my XP license(s) was invalid. When I asked for a new one, they told me they "were out of keys," and it would take three days for them to get new ones. That was five days ago and I still don't have a key. (Fortunately for me I have no real need to use XP.)
I'm generally supportive of Microsoft. But my first impression of XP is that it is "Bad News." Since my first attempt several days ago I've heard that phrase: "Bad news," from two others in connection with XP.
ML/NJ
PS In my reading of the README files to try to get up to speed to help my son, I believe I read that XP considers the NIC, part of the basic computer, so if you change NICs and you have XP - brace yourself.
The interesting thing though, is that when it did, I simply turned it off and turned it back on. It came back up in a flash, with none of that horrible "Windows was not properly shut down" stuff. And it recovered the WOrd document I had open during the crash.
I must say, I am very pleased with it. And BTW, my system is always on, and gets a constant major work-out from me.
yYeah really, this d00d is high on acid. Then he says this:
At one point, I was listening to a radio program on Netscape Media Player while I was typing in a word processor, had both Netscape and Explorer open and the silly browser for my Internet system opened when I clicked on a link from e-mail. That’s a lot, even with 512 MB of Ram.
I've had Hannity on RealPlayer, FR on Explorer, Flash 5.0 open while editing multimedia on Adobe Premier. That's on a 350 mhz machine with 64 MB of memory.
I'll think I'll wait for a more literate source before I make up my mind on XP. So far I've heard a lot of bad things about it.
The things I really can't get past are the "phone home" feature and the idea that I can't mess around with my hardware setup without going through them.
I also hate when software does things for me such as "fix" my OS.
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