Mixel ([info]mixelmagic) wrote,
@ 2007-02-20 21:44:00
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Current mood: angry
Entry tags:tech

(one day I'll get..) Windows Vista
I was warming to the idea of Vista (i ran the public betas and it didnt give me problems back then, it seemed quite nice. Reminded me of osX, heh).. I only just got round to reading the comparison matrix for the different editions. I had assumed there was actually a reasonable difference between the different editions, with logical reasons behind them.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/editions/choose.mspx

What the hell? Completely insane. Crippling some versions so you can sell an 'ultimate' version which does everything the others should do. I can understand not including individual apps, but parts of the OS and normal functionality?

Damn. And when you take into consideration scary info like this: http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html and reviews/articles like this: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/02/14/pricey_beta_bugger/ ..

Well, we're still stuck in a Windows-hooked world, and Vista will likely end up on most Windows PCs within the next few years, so it makes sense to do the same (and do it earlier than most), but no way am I forking out extra to get stupid gimmick features and support crippleware.

AND there's no family license, so in this house we'd have to buy *3* copies of at least the Business Edition because you aren't allowed to virtualise the lesser ones. Even buying OEM copies from CCL that makes £270.. And why the hell cant they put a 64bit and 32bit version on the same damn DVD?! .. Apple manage!


This annoys me. Fingers crossed Linux makes big inroads over the next few years.


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[info]vret
2007-02-20 11:22 pm UTC (link)
That Reg article is very interesting. I've yet to hear anything about any real improvements that make upgrading worthwhile. The changes all sound rather superficial, and given the absurd prices, it's really not worth it. There are probably things that will make enterprise network managers happy, but I'm sure it will introduce as many problems.

Oh, there is one improvement. All the sounds are by Bob Fripp, rather than Brian Eno.

Danny is annoyed about the new Direct X. Apparently it has finally reached the standard for gaming that was promised a long time ago, but is only going to be released on Vista. According to him there's no technical reason why it's not on XP, it's purely a marketing decision.

I haven't bothered to install it at all yet, but one of my friends, a very experienced hardware/network engineer, tried it out and couldn't find any reason to upgrade at all.

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[info]mixelmagic
2007-02-21 12:17 am UTC (link)
Yeah ive read about huge driver incompatibilities (and non-existancies) And the DRM stuff is supposed to eat up cpu cycles. Sofar I think no 3rd party security software really works yet either, so there's a big window for people to break it.

That sounds right about DirectX too, i've read others complain about the same thing when Halo 2 (and DX10) was moved to Vista only for no good reason (other than money)

The couple of useful new features (decent search function) are easy to do in XP with little add-ons anyway. Most of the really 'compelling' stuff is related to gaming, and even then it's not v great. DX10 and Xbox live compatibility.. Woop.

Only reasons I'd want to upgrade really are a) "future proofing" b) eye candy (pretty terrible reason considering I'll likely turn off the swooshy stuff within a week) c) being able to support people/know what they're talking about when discussing windows behaviour.

I am looking forward to osX.5 though. :D Has a few new features! omg!

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completely unrelated...
[info]carrot_teeth
2007-02-26 10:47 pm UTC (link)
...but hello, i am in leeds for a while it would be ace to see you. perhaps an evening this week? or next week? i think i am busy at the weekend but other times could be fun if you and kat are free. let me know! hope you're well! jo xxx

(Reply to this)(Thread)
Re: completely unrelated...
[info]mixelmagic
2007-02-27 03:11 pm UTC (link)
ooh excellent.. Do you remember where our house is? :)

And are you free tommorow evening? You haven't met our crazy cat collection! It'd be really nice to have someone visit here tbh. If you'd rather do summat else instead that'd be fine obviously, could go to a pub or somethiiing. ^^

Or we'd be happy coming round to sues too, as at some point i'd kinda like to meet your crazy looking cat as well. :D Hurrah for everyone having cute kitties.

Will be good catching up after your strange spain adventures. :)

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