Discussion
Did a really stupid thing tonight - my PC has been playing up for weeks, so in a fit of pique I decided to do a Restore (via the F1 function during the boot-up).
It hasn't wiped any of my important files but it's now back to the state in was in in about 2004!
So, is there any way I can restore to a pre-restore?
I suspect I know the answer but thought I would ask.
What a twonk!!
It hasn't wiped any of my important files but it's now back to the state in was in in about 2004!
So, is there any way I can restore to a pre-restore?
I suspect I know the answer but thought I would ask.
What a twonk!!
Moose. said:
XP!!Apple OS/X wipes the floor with both, comprehensively, in every area, but if you must use an archaic single-user toy operating system, XP is the way to go.
If you get a decent spec of machine, there are drivers for all the hardware, and all your software is supported, I'd go with Vista.
Having used it for actual work (!) on a couple of laptops and a desktop I wouldn't say that it's miles better than XP, but it's certainly no worse. So on the basis that Vista is the future, I'd say go with it.
Having used it for actual work (!) on a couple of laptops and a desktop I wouldn't say that it's miles better than XP, but it's certainly no worse. So on the basis that Vista is the future, I'd say go with it.
m12_nathan said:
Globulator said:
Apple OS/X wipes the floor with both, comprehensively, in every area, but if you must use an archaic single-user toy operating system, XP is the way to go.
Fan boy mode well and truely engaged there. Utter nonsense of course but don't let that stop you.
An OS should not use that much of the system resource. Vista being such a resource hog isnt worth the price. The best desktop OS released by MS so far is Windows Server 2003 but it is also a bit pricey.
I'm not a heavy user (spreadsheets, mail, net, downloading a bit of stuff etc etc)
Saw one that has this spec - any good?
# Intel Pentium D 915 Dual Core Processor
# 2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2 X 2MB Cache
# Genuine MS Windows Vista Premium
# 1GB DDR2 RAM
# 160GB Hard Disk
# Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive
# 512MB nVidia GeForce 7500LE Graphics
# 9-In-1 Media Card Reader
# 5 USB Connections
# 19" LG Widescreen TFT Monitor
Might upgrade to Vista Ultimate, seeing as though I'll be putting it through the Company
Saw one that has this spec - any good?
# Intel Pentium D 915 Dual Core Processor
# 2.8GHz, 800MHz FSB, 2 X 2MB Cache
# Genuine MS Windows Vista Premium
# 1GB DDR2 RAM
# 160GB Hard Disk
# Multi-Format Dual Layer DVD RW Drive
# 512MB nVidia GeForce 7500LE Graphics
# 9-In-1 Media Card Reader
# 5 USB Connections
# 19" LG Widescreen TFT Monitor
Might upgrade to Vista Ultimate, seeing as though I'll be putting it through the Company
m12_nathan said:
Globulator said:
Apple OS/X wipes the floor with both, comprehensively, in every area, but if you must use an archaic single-user toy operating system, XP is the way to go.
Fan boy mode well and truely engaged there. Utter nonsense of course but don't let that stop you.
True - it is fan boy mode - dead right
Not nonsense though, based on engineering principles and design considerations.
Graphics:
Like the fact OS/X uses a type of display postscript:
www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/mac/2005/10/11/what-is-quartz.html
that means the graphics runs rings around windows right up to Vista. Vista now has to support both pixel based and vector based stuff. Meaning it's top heavy.
In theory Vista can do some of the Apple tricks now like Expose' etc, but all they seem to have implemented is a reliance on top graphics cards and some rollidex thing.
OS:
Things like MSBlaster occasionally show up the under-developed nature of windows, BSD Unix (the foundations of OS/X) was running the internet before Windows even had TCP/IP.
Linux and OS/X have a properly layered OS + Graphics layer. Windows is all munged together. Windows also is not multi-user. I can log into a Mac or Linux/unix box as a user, and the OS stops me from looking at other users stuff. OS/X has built in user encryption - even extended to shared memory. If OS/X had the WMF bug, only my account could have been compromised, whereas viewing a WMF image with Windows, with administrator rights (which most people have) can prompt the re-writing of your system files!! And it did.
OS/X also has Spotlight, a properly written and implemented disk system database that makes searching for stuff trivial and extremely fast.
Bloat:
Windows takes ages to install and the more you install, from DLL laden programs and drivers to virus scanners, the more time you spend and the slower it becomes. If you want lean and mean - use Slackware Linux. If you want inefficient - use windows. In windows you are also slave to The Registry. In Linux and OS/X that simply isn't there.
Development:
OS/X out of the box comes with full PDF support, full IDE for program development, full Java, NFS support, terminal, Textedit, the iLife suite etc.. just add on NeoOffice, VLC and Fink and you have more than you'll ever need. OS/X supports STANDARDS, something Microsoft have proved with ODF (and the rest) that they are opposed to. This is why microsoft stuff doesn't work well with other stuff - it is designed to lock you into the MS world and then milk you for all you are worth. I'm not making this up - MS have been tried and convicted in the US and EU courts.
Summary:
With windows you get a buggey pile of various software components thrown together, including stuff with holes (see the latest ANI bug in vista - added in around Windows 3.0 I think), that is designed to work only with MS stuff properly, and the stuff to trip competitors up like ActiveX only serves to let people attack your single user system at will. Sadly they cannot even seem to get their own stuff working, editing HTML in Outlook office is hell with Word, and try CTRL-F in Outlook. WTF?!
With OS/X you get a full, advanced multi-tasking, multi-user operating system that has a very modern, neat, well designed graphics subsystem that is fully scalable and adaptable, combined with thought, passion and care about how a user will want to use their computer.
Utter nonsense? You decide!
Globulator said:
In theory Vista can do some of the Apple tricks now like Expose' etc, but all they seem to have implemented is a reliance on top graphics cards and some rollidex thing.
'In theory' as opposed to what? Globulator said:
I can log into a Mac or Linux/unix box as a user, and the OS stops me from looking at other users stuff.
Not sure how this is different from NTFS permissions stopping a Windows user looking at other users stuff. Globulator said:
with Windows, with administrator rights (which most people have)
If you use anything incorrectly, it can have bad results. Globulator said:
Textedit
Clutching at straws, surely? Notepad or Wordpad, if you insist. Globulator said:
try CTRL-F in Outlook. WTF?!
Start a new message. WTF indeed. Globulator said:
Utter nonsense? You decide!
I've decided. jamieboy said:
Globulator said:
In theory Vista can do some of the Apple tricks now like Expose' etc, but all they seem to have implemented is a reliance on top graphics cards and some rollidex thing.
'In theory' as opposed to what?As opposed to reality.
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/os/pre
You have to re-write parts of your applications to take advantage of the new Vista features - legacy Win32 apps will merely be pixel texture mapped, not the dynamic, scalable nature of the existing Apple apps.
jamieboy said:
Globulator said:
I can log into a Mac or Linux/unix box as a user, and the OS stops me from looking at other users stuff.
Not sure how this is different from NTFS permissions stopping a Windows user looking at other users stuff.jamieboy said:
Globulator said:
with Windows, with administrator rights (which most people have)
If you use anything incorrectly, it can have bad results.jamieboy said:
Globulator said:
Textedit
Clutching at straws, surely? Notepad or Wordpad, if you insist.jamieboy said:
Globulator said:
Utter nonsense? You decide!
I've decided. Be aware that despite Microsofts best illegal efforts there are still three widespread computer choices:
1) Apple
2) Linux (Kubuntu on various hardware)
3) Microsoft (various hardware)
Although 3) requires the extra work of using a free Kubuntu image on a CD to convert a Microsoft PC into one running possibly the most reliable PC OS ever made.
Globulator said:
Be aware that despite Microsofts best illegal efforts there are still three widespread computer choices:
1) Apple
2) Linux (Kubuntu on various hardware)
3) Microsoft (various hardware)
I'm quite aware of these, thanks. I am also sufficiently open-minded to see that each of the three has value. 1) Apple
2) Linux (Kubuntu on various hardware)
3) Microsoft (various hardware)
OK, so this might seem daft but what exactly (in laymans terms) does a Mac give me over Vista etc?
I'm likely to be using the machine for simple spreadsheets, email, net browsing, downloading music/video, having a go at creating a website, watching DVD's, editing camcorder movies (and putting them onto DVD), and probably some other stuff that I can't think of right now.
I assume that I can continue to use my wireless router that I currently have??
How easy is it to put a version of XP on it (until I'm more comfortable with the resident OS) and how much would that cost?
Someone spec me up a Mac desktop with what I'll need for the above please!!
I'm likely to be using the machine for simple spreadsheets, email, net browsing, downloading music/video, having a go at creating a website, watching DVD's, editing camcorder movies (and putting them onto DVD), and probably some other stuff that I can't think of right now.
I assume that I can continue to use my wireless router that I currently have??
How easy is it to put a version of XP on it (until I'm more comfortable with the resident OS) and how much would that cost?
Someone spec me up a Mac desktop with what I'll need for the above please!!
pincher said:
OK, so this might seem daft but what exactly (in laymans terms) does a Mac give me over Vista etc?
I'm likely to be using the machine for simple spreadsheets, email, net browsing, downloading music/video, having a go at creating a website, watching DVD's, editing camcorder movies (and putting them onto DVD), and probably some other stuff that I can't think of right now.
I assume that I can continue to use my wireless router that I currently have??
How easy is it to put a version of XP on it (until I'm more comfortable with the resident OS) and how much would that cost?
Someone spec me up a Mac desktop with what I'll need for the above please!!
I'm likely to be using the machine for simple spreadsheets, email, net browsing, downloading music/video, having a go at creating a website, watching DVD's, editing camcorder movies (and putting them onto DVD), and probably some other stuff that I can't think of right now.
I assume that I can continue to use my wireless router that I currently have??
How easy is it to put a version of XP on it (until I'm more comfortable with the resident OS) and how much would that cost?
Someone spec me up a Mac desktop with what I'll need for the above please!!
The main thing a Mac will give you is your time back.
The technical reasons are legion, but basically is is TIME.
Everyone I know who uses Windows (and I was one), spends time and effort becoming system admins and security experts.
With the Mac I spend all my time Doing what I want on the computer.
The iLife suite that comes free with the Mac includes iMovie, you may need to buy quicktime-pro to help tho. Wireless routers should be fine - mine connects to pretty much anything it seems. The AirPort Express wireless wallwart also drives Hi-Fi (via iTunes) and USB printers though - worth thinking if you need that.
For creating a website you can install Fink. Then with that or direct from DiskII with your Apple (can't remember now!) you can install MySQL, Apache, PHP, Firefox+Firebug and away you go.
iDVD comes with it for free, just another part of the iLife.
Email use Thunderbird or Apples Mail (comes with it).
I use NeoOffice for spreadsheets.
PDF reading and writing is built in.
Java is built in.
I'd try a little Mac-Mini if you want a desktop, very cute, quiet, powerful. Get the proper Apple keyboard for it though - you need the little 'apple' keys.
Dell USA and business UK seem to have dropped vista due to a lack of drivers and support, but that is what u get when something is rushed out too early, plus u get free drm software that locks down the pc, runs lots of programs to check if the drm is working and then checks again and again....
new pc soon and it will have xp sp2 fitted even if the pc is capable of running vista, waiting until at least the first service pack
linux is great if u know it and u might even get some games to work, windows emulator on linuc plays UT original very well....
new pc soon and it will have xp sp2 fitted even if the pc is capable of running vista, waiting until at least the first service pack
linux is great if u know it and u might even get some games to work, windows emulator on linuc plays UT original very well....
Gassing Station | Computers, Gadgets & Stuff | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff