Apple to Intel, platform switches, and the cult mindset

by Midget-Sasquatch 27 Replies latest jw experiences

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  seattleniceguy

  1) Make Windows so that one does not have to wipe the hard drive every once and a while to make it run more efficiently.

  Agreed. One of the tough things about writing Windows (as opposed to, say Mac OS whatever) is that it needs to run on any conceivable hardware. When you think about it in those terms, it does a pretty good job. Not to say that they couldn't or shouldn't improve it.

  2) Window ME was such a failure. Don't come out with new versions of Window every few years, just to make money. You did a good job on XP, but I don't want to have to buy Windows "Longhorn" considering not much is different. When there is something SIGNIFICANTLY different, get back to me.

  Again agreed. Windows ME was really and truly a nothing upgrade. XP was a significant leap forward. With regard to Longhorn, much is indeed different. They have spent six years building a brand new operating system from the ground up (something that hasn't really been done anywhere in the software industry for a very long time. I think Longhorn will be a quantum leap forward.

  3) Make a simple media player. I don't like WMP; I'd rather use iTunes.

  Can't say I find WMP that complex. I rather like it myself. But to each his own.

  SNG
• 

  the_classicist

  By simple, I don't really mean that WMP is complicated, but when I want to play music or watch a movie, I like to use separate programs instead of a one-size-fits-all kind of thing. So, I'll use iTunes for music, some program for the DVDs, etc.

  Of course, I'll take WMP over Real Player anyday.
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  Jeffro

  If you rearrange the letters of 'Apple', and squint just a bit, it spells 'Satan'. OK, I might have made that part up... But Apple computers are certainly overpriced, and are not as easily upgradable as a 'PC'. (Of course technically they're ALL 'PCs'.)
  
  Apple's software may be more friendly to newbies, but I find it irritating. Being told 'System Error 12 has occurred' is no more helpful than many of the unhelpful Microsoft messages that are so often mocked by Mac devotees.
  
  Microsoft tries to go too far, makes programs that try to do everything, and in the process makes terribly resource-hungry apps packed full of features that most people seldom if ever use.
  
  Apart from Luna (the new optional Windows XP visual styles), XP is very similar to Windows 2000.
  
  My first computer was a Commodore 64 which in many respects was well ahead of its time. Games on the Commodore were many times better than their IBM-compatible counterparts. The C64 boasted 16 colours and 3 simultaneous audio channels using 4 different waveform types, and 8 simultaneous hardware driven 'sprites'. Compare this to the 4-colour CGA graphics, single PC speaker with control of only pitch, and no hardware support for sprites at all of IBM-compatible computers of the time. For some reason the half-hour it took to load certain games off the Commodore 1530 tapedrive didn't seem like time wasted at the time. And the programming was fun too... doing things like filling the keyboard buffer with keystrokes (POKE 631 to 640), forcing a warm reboot (SYS 58260) PRINTing commands on the screen and then executing them from the keyboard buffer (POKE 198) without lifting a finger. Yeah a bit lame, but I was 10.
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  Abaddon
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  googlemagoogle

  [quote][/quote]
  interesting post, abaddon...
• 

  Jeffro

  interesting post, abaddon...

  You have to read between the blank spaces. I think it's what he isn't saying that really counts. LOL
• 

  googlemagoogle

  that's possible. however i think apples move to intel left him speechless.
• 

  Midget-Sasquatch

  When I was at my most intense stage of indoctrination, Microsoft only had win95 out for a couple of years and I still saw alot of win3.1. But even then price/performance for the pc platform was better than Amiga. Oh god...I don't want to even admit how much I spent on that Picasso II gfx card for my A3000.

  Well I have to say Win2000 and Win XP are very nice OSes, and [the following is spoken in a spacey, monotone with odd pausing] " I am...very happy...with...my wintel machine...now."
• 

  tetrapod.sapien

  I can tell you that they really try hard to fulfill their impossible task of pleasing everyone all the time

  SNG,

  true. also, considering that their army of OS developers is considerably small compared to some of the opensource OSs. but really, i don't think they have it that hard with the hardware. i mean, if they don't provide a driver built in, the manufacturer almost always does from their web site. or did you mean something other than drivers? and as far as the desktop is concerned, XP is as easy for newbies to learn as any OS. and linux desktops could really do more in this regard. even mandrake. a newbie should never have to open the command line, even though that is where all esoteric wisdom comes from.

  XP is very similar to Windows 2000.

  jeffro,

  ya, XP is basically W2K with a new face slapped on it. the admin features are streamlined a bit better, and they have re-arranged some furniture, but it is basically W2K from what i can see.
• 

  zen nudist

  I like linux, but I dont like that there is much it cannot do, so my solution is that I am running linux on my old HP [circa 2000] which has 192M ram and I am connecting to it via NX or nomachine running on my new xp....so I use one keyboard and one monitor for both... the linux shows up as a window and It runs on my local network without much delay

  I now have access to both from work from a free web service called mywebex.com which has a bit of a delay but works great.