What OS! do you use?

[seether]

If my memory's accurate (probably not though), the storage review threads werent about RAID issue in xp persay, but about honest SCSI HDDs in xp - an inaccessible disabled write flag (write throug,write ahead, don't remember) for the sake of data integrity, and some had no issues, others claimed improvements with a registry DWORD hack - the "dangerous" cache filter resets the flag and shouldnt be dangerous unles you cut the power in the middle of transfer. - should be a non issue for IDE drives on third part controllers that are seen as scsi though. Cant postulate on raid issues though, ran a software stipe for awhile last year on xp without any performance complaints.

oh yeah:
game toy - 98se/xp pro
graphics toy - 2k pro/xp pro
file server - 2k pro/2k adv svr
exchange/access server - 2k adv svr
main laptop - xp pro

this'll sound twisted, but i still miss using dos 622 with win 311, and nt4

[Greebe]

this'll sound twisted, but i still miss using dos 622 with win 311, and nt4

I concure, well cept that NT4 thang

[High_Jumbllama]

I just got ahold of some old original Dos and 3.11 disks. I'm gonna get an old pentium machine and set that up for fun. Now if only I can get a Voodoo1.

[High_Jumbllama]

Originally posted by Indiana
Always the latest drivers - except if they're crappy

Games: mainly QIII, RTcW, UT2003 (don't have exact frames here, only slight differences anyways), 3DMark2001SE gained about 400 points.

Apps: mainly vid-capturing with realtime DivX'ing with both, a Hauppauge WinTV and a Cinergy.

The GUI in Win2k is more responsive as well, even if you turn the crappy lego-look off.

(I don't understand why everyone accepts the fact that WinXP does use more resources, has a much higher memory footprint,.. but when you say Win2k is slightly faster (which is the logic result of the above) some people tend to try to jump on you)

I was not jumping. I was curious as to what was slower for you.

[Gurm]

Well, Win2k is ... err ... slower in virtually all aspects on my machine. Lower memory footprint? Sure. Also less services. If I load up Win2k with everything that XP does for me, it uses MORE memory and runs SLOWER. Not to mention that I simply CAN'T make it do many of the things that are built into the XP kernel.

- Gurm

[Gurm]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
Let's just say I utterly despise product activation, as well as every other out-of-hand phone-home activity, and will not have anything to do with it under any circumstances, so all other points are moot. Is that clear enough for you?

Sure, but you'd better get used to it. Despite all our protests, more and more companies are adopting it. Intuit now uses it on Turbotax 2002, and next year across their entire product line. Other vendors are jumping on it. Why? Because of the rampant loss due to piracy.

Now, as an aside - I think the money they're spending on "product activation" could be deducted from the purchase price - THAT might help curb the piracy of their products, no?

Everything I use works quite well on W2k, thank you,

It does? Great. The stuff I want DOESN'T. Specifically, I have to log out of Win2k for Julie to log in. Not acceptable. Someone shows me an addon to allow that, I might be tempted to switch - no wait, all my games run faster in WinXP.

and if I want to play Galaxian, there's always my other hard drive with Win98.

It's NOT JUST OLD GAMES. All new games run 25% faster on XP. How many times do I have to say this?

The future? Who knows? If there's some software I have to have XP (or whatever new MS OS) for, I will see what their attitude is at that time. If I don't like it, I will not be buying their product under any circumstances.

Go join the Linux zealots. You want usable software, you have to play MS's game. Period. End of story. You want to play games, you REALLY have to play their game. Do you have to upgrade to XP today (or anytime soon)? Nope. Stay with Win2k. Or do what the rest of us have done - buy a license for XP pro and then install the version without activation.

I don't care whether they think they should have control over me, mind and body, because they are a monopoly or not. Screw them. I would probably be one of the outcasts in that camp at the end of Farenheit 451, memorizing books so that big brother couldn't destroy our culture, too.

So melodramatic! You're just upset because you can't pirate your operating system any more.

Yeah, I'm playing devil's advocate here. No, I don't LIKE WPA. But it seems to be the way the industry is going.

- Gurm

[Slougi]

Originally posted by Gurm
Sure, but you'd better get used to it. Despite all our protests, more and more companies are adopting it. Intuit now uses it on Turbotax 2002, and next year across their entire product line. Other vendors are jumping on it. Why? Because of the rampant loss due to piracy.

Now, as an aside - I think the money they're spending on "product activation" could be deducted from the purchase price - THAT might help curb the piracy of their products, no?

Product activation has several major flaws. In the slapper attack for example the product activation servers were down for 16 hours. Anyone wanting to register in that time could not. I want my software now, thank you.

It does? Great. The stuff I want DOESN'T. Specifically, I have to log out of Win2k for Julie to log in. Not acceptable. Someone shows me an addon to allow that, I might be tempted to switch - no wait, all my games run faster in WinXP.

This is something 2k does not, quite true, and I find it very annoying. Why do you need to stay logged in btw?

It's NOT JUST OLD GAMES. All new games run 25% faster on XP. How many times do I have to say this?

Well, I see everyone saying this, but personally I have experienced the opposite, XP runs games dog-slow compared to w2k/w98. If someone cares to enlighten as to why that is, I'd be very interested as I currently have a w98 partition for games on the other computer.

Go join the Linux zealots. You want usable software, you have to play MS's game. Period. End of story. You want to play games, you REALLY have to play their game.

I find Linux software in general highly usable. It is just about getting accustomed to how things work in Linux. For example the choice in Window Managers is fantastic, and most of them beat windows default behaviour completely. The part about games is true though, although wine and winex are advancing pretty fast lately. Also many games have linux ports.

Do you have to upgrade to XP today (or anytime soon)? Nope. Stay with Win2k. Or do what the rest of us have done - buy a license for XP pro and then install the version without activation.

Well, the problem is, the version without activation makes it a pita to install updates, like SP1. And windows really has a lot of updates

So melodramatic! You're just upset because you can't pirate your operating system any more.

Maybe melodramatic, but a view held by many

Yeah, I'm playing devil's advocate here. No, I don't LIKE WPA. But it seems to be the way the industry is going.

It will only be going that way if you don't do anything about it. Personally I switched to Linux, this was one of the many reasons. Other reasons were to learn more about unix in general, free software and a faster OS overall. I can really do anything on Linux that I do in Windows, but Linux when properly set up is a joy to use compared to the clunky windows UI, imho.

[KvHagedorn]

Specifically, I have to log out of Win2k for Julie to log in. Not acceptable. Someone shows me an addon to allow that, I might be tempted to switch - no wait, all my games run faster in WinXP.

Is this really a problem that troubles you? Why do you have to make yourselves two different accounts? I never have to log in or out, I just set my w2k up to assume a default user when I did setup. The traditional login is a nifty feature if you are in a formal situation at a workplace, but at home logging in or out is just a bother for me.

[KvHagedorn]

So melodramatic! You're just upset because you can't pirate your operating system any more.

I PAID for Windows 2000, as I paid for 98 and 95. Has the fact that I use it on two computers hurt big bad Bill or any of the other Redmond billionaires? Get f***ing real! They are just a bunch of greedy, out of control business pricks who will do anything the government lets them get away with. These are the richest, luckiest bunch of yahoos in the country and they are whining about poor people "stealing" their "intellectual property" like it is some horrible plague that will destroy the country. The plague is them and their overpaid upper-management ilk who take all the money while average people eke out a living with no health insurance. F*** them!

[seether]

I PAID for Windows 2000, as I paid for 98 and 95. Has the fact that I use it on two computers hurt big bad Bill or any of the other Redmond billionaires? Get f***ing real! They are just a bunch of greedy, out of control business pricks who will do anything the government lets them get away with. These are the richest, luckiest bunch of yahoos in the country and they are whining about poor people "stealing" their "intellectual property" like it is some horrible plague that will destroy the country. The plague is them and their overpaid upper-management ilk who take all the money while average people eke out a living with no health insurance. F*** them!

Yeah I don't like parting with my money that much either.

But for what you get, MS software IS considerably less expensive than a lot of others in man cases. Windows isnt even their financial bread and butter by a long shot. WPA is nothng more than a nuisance really - it's not like it's as intrusive or time consuming as just about any product registration or anything. All they're doing is making people pay more attention to their EULAs anyway. Hell, I've come across SHAREWARE online that requires activation! Can anyone name a handfull of sucesul companies who aren't a> greedy, and b> don't do whatever they are allowed to do to make a profit? Besides, everyone forgets that all it takes is one loudmouth running to the DOJ screaming "MS knew I had a pirated copy of their software and th said it was no big deal" that by the time they are through paying legal fees, opening up 100% of their code, and reimbursing every company and individual who purchased their software they would be bankrupt and out of business. So **** the warez monkeys that annoyed ms to the point of WPA to begin with!


Don't get me wrong. I'm all for options besides microsoft - it' not a one flavor fits all world, but if you don't like it then use something else. If i can't do what you need, than use ms and shut up about it, or deal with it and shut up about it. Either way, just use whatever floats your boat and we can live as one bihappy little planet. The constant bitching about all things MS (especially when it's not even relevant) just comes across like childish penis envy. just like this thread, or did I miss the option titled "FVCK MS!!!!!" in the "what os do you use" poll?

sorry, got carried away and went off on a tangent - none of that was directed and anyone in particular

[3dfx]

Well I've decided to stay with XP and I found out why I was getting abysmal performance from my computer, well it was smargart in the ATI drivers it kept enabling fast writes and my Radeon 9700 hated it so I managed to disable it through smartgart and the bios. I belive that this can only be done with certain drivers. Cat 2.3's and original Cat 3's and my kit now run's problem free touch wood

[THE_Editor]

Main Os = Win2kPro Sp2... On a slide mount cos my ancient but trusty Gt5000 scanner doesn't have drivers for Win2k so i change over to Win98 for scanning.

Oh.. Soooon, Os4 ( Me hopes .. real soon)

@ Kent. Agreed about product activation. etc.

[Gurm]

Originally posted by Slougi
Product activation has several major flaws. In the slapper attack for example the product activation servers were down for 16 hours. Anyone wanting to register in that time could not. I want my software now, thank you.

Oh, don't get me wrong - I agree that it is evil. But it's just NOT going away, no matter how much we hate it. Boycotts will do nothing when 90% of the world is apparently just accepting it. If someone has a GOOD idea (other than "switch to linux, d00d!" on how to exert pressure on MS and others NOT to use it, let me know.

This is something 2k does not, quite true, and I find it very annoying. Why do you need to stay logged in btw?

Well, I have stuff (downloads, uploads, processing) going pretty much 24/7. When Julie just wants to hop on to check her e-mail or play a game, I'd really rather NOT lose my place in line (which I waited 24 hours to get) downloading that file, thanks.

Well, I see everyone saying this, but personally I have experienced the opposite, XP runs games dog-slow compared to w2k/w98. If someone cares to enlighten as to why that is, I'd be very interested as I currently have a w98 partition for games on the other computer.

It really depends on your hardware and drivers. How long ago did you try it? It does seem that there is a small but vocal minority that just has everything run dog slow in XP for no good reason, while the rest of us are running games at lightspeed.

That's for Win2k vs. WinXP, though - I'm not going to argue that in some cases Win98 is faster, because that's just plain ol' true - although so many manufacturers are dropping VDM support that it's hardly going to be true much longer.

I find Linux software in general highly usable. It is just about getting accustomed to how things work in Linux. For example the choice in Window Managers is fantastic, and most of them beat windows default behaviour completely. The part about games is true though, although wine and winex are advancing pretty fast lately. Also many games have linux ports.

I also find Linux software highly usable - when I can find a piece of software that fulfills my needs and has the featureset I want. Sadly, that precludes most Linux software. But that's another argument for another thread.

Well, the problem is, the version without activation makes it a pita to install updates, like SP1. And windows really has a lot of updates

Incorrect. My WPA-less version gets and installs every update - including SP1 - with no problems at all.

Maybe melodramatic, but a view held by many

Again, small but vocal minority. It's like the Gay and Lesbian alliance. The number of Gays/Lesbians in a given population center is about 2% (excluding San Francisco and Provincetown, of course) and yet they are THE SINGLE LOUDEST MINORITY. Linux users are much the same way. Every single one is an activist. It's the nature of the beast.

It will only be going that way if you don't do anything about it. Personally I switched to Linux, this was one of the many reasons. Other reasons were to learn more about unix in general, free software and a faster OS overall.

All good reasons. Same reasons I am running a Linux box.

I can really do anything on Linux that I do in Windows, but

I can't, sadly.

No 3D modeling, no 100% compatibility with office apps. See dZeus's recent post when you want to talk about video playback - nevermind editing. Working with photos is hard, considering that photoshop is not yet ported. Every year I wait for these simple needs to be met, and every year I am disappointed. Again.

Linux when properly set up is a joy to use compared to the clunky windows UI, imho.

Matter of personal preference, but in some ways I certainly do agree.

- Gurm

[Gurm]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
Is this really a problem that troubles you? Why do you have to make yourselves two different accounts? I never have to log in or out, I just set my w2k up to assume a default user when I did setup. The traditional login is a nifty feature if you are in a formal situation at a workplace, but at home logging in or out is just a bother for me.

Absolutely a requirement.

Julie desires her own desktop, themes, sounds, pictures, images, storage directories, favorites, and whatnot.

If I get the job I interviewed for, I'll build a second box when we move to our new larger apartment. In the meantime, we're sharing.

- Gurm

[Gurm]

Originally posted by KvHagedorn
I PAID for Windows 2000, as I paid for 98 and 95. Has the fact that I use it on two computers hurt big bad Bill or any of the other Redmond billionaires? Get f***ing real! They are just a bunch of greedy, out of control business pricks who will do anything the government lets them get away with. These are the richest, luckiest bunch of yahoos in the country and they are whining about poor people "stealing" their "intellectual property" like it is some horrible plague that will destroy the country. The plague is them and their overpaid upper-management ilk who take all the money while average people eke out a living with no health insurance. F*** them!

No, it didn't "hurt" them, in the sense that they didn't suffer unduly as a result. But it WAS illegal, and still IS illegal. Always has been. The fact that you and I would BOTH prefer our copy of Win2k to be a multi-machine license does not make it so.

They're ENFORCING what has always been law. I know it hurts, and I know it sucks, but don't accuse them of undue greed. Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's.

- Gurm