windows 2000 or xp???

[ALBPM]

Pro of course

[Kosh Naranek]

Win XP Pro.Haven't seen or tried Home

[Jon P. Inghram]

Windows 3.1! Oh wait.... that wasn't an option was it? I've played around with XP Pro, but had problems with MS Office '97 (Excel and Word specificly) not working properly, so I took it off and switched back to Win98 SE.

[Paddy]

I've never seen a copy of home being used...

[KvHagedorn]

I thought XP Pro was basically the same thing as W2K with the additional requirement that you lick Steve Ballmer's ass and then tell him you like it.

I use W2K SP2 now.. was a Windows98 original holdout like Paul for a long time, but wanted dual processor support and some of the other goodies. This OS has been the easiest I have ever set up on any computer.. by a long shot. And if I feel like it, I can set up my other computer without having to give any Redmond Billionaires another $140 for the priviledge. It's a good thing the various unixes are getting more useful, as I might be using them when the time comes..

[Jon P. Inghram]

Originally posted by Paddy [MU]
I've never seen a copy of home being used...

Well, if you're gonna sell your soul there's no point in getting a stripped down partially functional version of hell.

[dsp]

Paddy [MU],

I guess that now you will see someone who uses/used XP Home. Yes I use it and to be honest apart from activating it everytime I tried to change something its great.

Needless to say I'm going back to Win2K.

dsp

[GNEP]

I've played around with XP Pro, but had problems with MS Office '97 (Excel and Word specificly) not working properly

I run these under Win2k SP2 at home, without any problems at all. Even before I applied any service packes there were no problems.

Never tried with XP though.

gnep

[Fat Tone]

Office 2k works as it should for me on XP Pro! (apart from the arithmetic errors of course)!

[KvHagedorn]

Originally posted by Jon P. Inghram
Windows 3.1! Oh wait.... that wasn't an option was it? I've played around with XP Pro, but had problems with MS Office '97 (Excel and Word specificly) not working properly, so I took it off and switched back to Win98 SE.

Gee, I wonder why MS can't make their new OS compatible with their own older software. Could it possibly be that they are A BUNCH OF SLEAZY THEIVES WHO BREAK SOMETHING ON PURPOSE SO YOU WILL BE FORCED TO BUY THEIR LATEST SHIT? Oh, no.. couldn't be that. Microsoft is at the forefront of innovation and played a crucial part in the tech revolution over the past decade.

[xortam]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
... Could it possibly be that they are A BUNCH OF SLEAZY THEIVES WHO BREAK SOMETHING ON PURPOSE SO YOU WILL BE FORCED TO BUY THEIR LATEST SHIT?...

I was in a developer lab on MSFT campus and their product managers tolds us exactly that ... its a good thing that their OS releases force users to upgrade their applications ... that's more money for us app developers.

[ALBPM]

OUCH!!!! That one left a mark....LOL

Paul

[KvHagedorn]

Originally posted by xortam
I was in a developer lab on MSFT campus and their product managers tolds us exactly that ... its a good thing that their OS releases force users to upgrade their applications ... that's more money for us app developers.

Sorry if that one hit too close to home, xortam. But we are talking about Word and Excel here. These things are the 21st century equivalent of the pencil, paper, and abacus. They do much the same function, but in a snazzy new way. When fountain pens were new, they were the cool must-have item. The difference there is that that 100 year old fountain pen probably still works. If you could give me real innovation now in a word processor, I would probably buy the thing. (As a matter of fact, I just bought some of those cool new G2 pens the other day because they were cool and new. ) You'll have to do better than "Clippy," though, I'm afraid.

[xortam]

Don't misinterpret my statements. I was offended by the PMs remarks. I'm much more of a computer scientist versus a computer business person. I've always strived to develop systems that support forward migration (I've done much more systems development versus apps). I still haven't been able to adapt to modern business practices. Someday I'll need to accept being a whore and get on with it.

[KvHagedorn]

I just read a good post on TMF's AMD board which really fits here.

sorry, maybe I am just in a bad mood this evening.

The PC industry is not dead. This is induced coma.

Moore's law is still alive (for what its worth).
Simply more transistor don't add value. More speed doesn't add value.


The fault is simple: Microsoft.


In the last 10 years innovation on the desktop has been limited. Microsoft may have alot of merits but the scope of innovation for 97% of the market in the last 10 years has simply been Micro$copic (I rember them buying NCSA Mosaic and build it up in IE. An internet browser good for windows.)

This last sentence is actually the key to my post.

Microsoft is doing and will only do the good for windows.

If microsoft had this kind of stranglehold on the market in 1986 we would still be using DOS XP and I can't immagine what PC's would be.

I guess I AM in a bad mood this evening, but I met the guys from the NCSA developing Mosaic just after Netscape was founded and before M$ bought the thing - 1995 circa.

IF the web and the internet have not been able to subvert the computing paradigm fast enough to set the market free I just simply cannot imagine any product, innovation or new market able to put MS out of power and back in the market.

In the last 15 years the windows paradigm (which again MS did not invent) has been beaten to death.
The problem is there is no serious research in The Next Big Thing.
The Next Big Thing MUST be windows (the paradigm) compatible.
PC's today handle this paradigm easily. software applications which are still resource starved address niche needs.
Microsoft has no interest in the PC moving to a new paradigm, they own this one.


Standardisation is a good thing. Even forced standardisation can be. But too much is too much.
If a product menaces to put M$ windows in a corner and not at the center of the way everybody uses computing that company will be bought. If it has merit it will become the next central piece of windows 2005 if not it will be shut down.

You want the PC industry to flourish?

Break M$ in 5 pieces. One os company, 2 competing Office productivity companies and an internet group.
The fifth piece should own the COMPLETE IP to Office file formats. It shoud be owned by the 2 competing companies which should sell 60% of this company on the market giving preferential access to companies with a stake in office, productivity and software in general.


It will take time.
say in 5 years you will have a much more open and competing market. I bet that PC's wouldn't be idle 99% of the time in that case.

bindo

He's on the right track...