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Thread: OT: New Computer OS

  1. #21
    Ian Lewis
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    I gather from a piece I saw recently in the UK's Guardian newspaper that
    ALL 32Bit operating systems (including Linux, and Mac) can only use 3Gig
    for applications because the address locations above are used for
    display (this has nothing to do with your graphics card's actual RAM,
    but how it's addressed). So, yes, the 4th Gig is a waste of time and
    money. Dell have apparently admitted it, even though they continue to
    sell 4GB.

    Ian

    LBA wrote:
    > When he says... "yes, you can run 4 gigs but it will SHOW only 3
    > gigs"... does he mean "you really do have 4 gigs of usable ram"... or
    > does he mean "sure you can stick 4 gigs into it, but the system will
    > never see or use more than 3 gigs"? There's a big difference. And his
    > comment could be interpreted either way. Which did he mean?
    >
    > Laurence
    >
    > Sheila Hoffman wrote:
    >> I'm so glad I asked this OT question here. I knew I'd get great
    >> advice. I'll go visit all those links now. Nancy, that's quite a funny
    >> tip. Thanks for sharing it.
    >> The Gateway rep told me [grain of salt] 32 bit will run 4 gigs of ram
    >> but will only SHOW it's using 3 gigs[/grain of salt]
    >>
    >> Sheila
    >>
    >>
    >>


  2. #22
    LBA
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    I too am in the midst of buying a new computer (and as a result of this
    thread, am now looking at Velocity Micro.) But I asked Dell that very
    question. Why are you offering to sell me 4 gigs when the computer you
    ship will only recognize 3? They said, "Well, that's in case you ever
    have a way to utilize it in the future." Which I interpret to mean,
    "Well, that's because we know that most people think that 'more is
    better' and so, since we are in the midst of some serious financial
    problems, this looks like a good way to eek out some extra profit while
    still maintaining competitive pricing." Just for the record, Velocity
    Micro seems to be quite happy to sell you 4 megs, as well. If you love
    the idea of buying something you can't use, it's worth noting that
    Velocity Micro charges less for useless RAM than Dell does.

    Laurence



    Ian Lewis wrote:
    > I gather from a piece I saw recently in the UK's Guardian newspaper that
    > ALL 32Bit operating systems (including Linux, and Mac) can only use 3Gig
    > for applications because the address locations above are used for
    > display (this has nothing to do with your graphics card's actual RAM,
    > but how it's addressed). So, yes, the 4th Gig is a waste of time and
    > money. Dell have apparently admitted it, even though they continue to
    > sell 4GB.
    >
    > Ian
    >
    > LBA wrote:
    >> When he says... "yes, you can run 4 gigs but it will SHOW only 3
    >> gigs"... does he mean "you really do have 4 gigs of usable ram"... or
    >> does he mean "sure you can stick 4 gigs into it, but the system will
    >> never see or use more than 3 gigs"? There's a big difference. And
    >> his comment could be interpreted either way. Which did he mean?
    >>
    >> Laurence
    >>
    >> Sheila Hoffman wrote:
    >>> I'm so glad I asked this OT question here. I knew I'd get great
    >>> advice. I'll go visit all those links now. Nancy, that's quite a
    >>> funny tip. Thanks for sharing it.
    >>> The Gateway rep told me [grain of salt] 32 bit will run 4 gigs of
    >>> ram but will only SHOW it's using 3 gigs[/grain of salt]
    >>>
    >>> Sheila
    >>>
    >>>
    >>>


  3. #23
    Karl Strieby
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    <snip>

    > A couple of weeks ago I read of an in-production o/s that MS is considering
    > as a replacement for Vista. I wish I could remember its name, it would be
    > easy to google. Maybe someone here has heard of it.
    >
    > Waterspider
    >
    >


    Linux?

    OSX?

    <grinning ducking and running for cover>
    --
    Cheers,
    Karl

    http://www.k-c-p.com/

  4. #24
    Karl Strieby
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    Hi Sheila, I'll just weigh in here, FWIW...

    <snip>
    > I think your best bet is to find a reputable, local dealer and have one
    > built to your specs (they'll help you decide what to put into the innards
    > depending on what you want to do with it). This way, you do not get all that
    > aftermarket crap, useless programs and demos, that clog up your hard drive's
    > arteries, and it saves you the time and hassle of fomatting your hard drive
    > to get rid of it (uninstall does not work, still leaves behind mucho
    > garbage).


    This is good advice. You might not save money over the price of a cheapo
    mass market box like an HP or Dell, but you will know that all parts are
    premium quality vs. what's cheapest. Every desktop computer I have
    bought (until the one I`m typing on now) has been from a good local
    dealer who used parts they recommended, or that I researched and
    specified. More on that in a bit...

    > And, if you do ever have a problem, it doesn't have to be shipped back to a
    > manufacturer. Your local guy or gal will probably come to your home to take
    > care of any problems.


    This is where the integrity and reputation of the local dealer/system
    builder comes into serious consideration. I have experienced (and heard
    of) major horror stories with local system builders in my town pulling
    shady practices and getting away with them for decades purely due to the
    ignorance of their customers. Low ball price usually equates to low ball
    quality. And the more pressure you get from a sales droid, the faster
    you should walk out the door, hand firmly on wallet!

    Now for my $.02 about Vista. (I intend to write a full-length article
    about my experiences with it and the cheapo HP box I felt I had to buy
    in great haste when my 5-year-old P4 desktop suddenly packed it in the
    week before last Christmas. My trusted system builder was available, but
    my business could not tolerate waiting until he could order and receive
    the necessary parts and build a new box for me.)

    Vista actually runs faster on this box -- even with the piggy Aero
    interface running in all its glory -- than the XP Media Center 2005 OS
    that it came with. I think that`s because I did not try to upgrade from
    XP to Vista, as both Microsoft and HP advised, but instead did a clean
    Vista install to an empty disk partition that I created before
    installing Vista. (I have done so many version "upgrades" of Windows
    that hosed my systems of the day that I swore to never go through that
    nightmare ever again...)

    The best feature of this arrangement is that it allows me to choose
    which OS to boot. And it`s a very good thing that I still have XP
    available, because my 5-year-old (then very high end and expensive!) HP
    Scanjet 6300C is not supported (no driver available) under Vista
    (*&^%!). I have complained loudly about this to HP, but they are
    ignoring me. (HP has therefor fallen off my list of recommended vendors
    of anything.)

    Getting back to Vista, my present installation has something like 60% of
    the apps installed that I ran under XP. For example, I did not even
    attempt getting NOF 3, 4, 5, MX, 7, 8 or 9 to run in Vista, just NOF 10
    with update #2. I also did not try to install my old Macromedia Studio 8
    web suite in Vista, but upgraded to the new Adobe CS3 suite.

    More importantly, perhaps, the gazillion MS patches to Vista and the
    assorted HP crapware that occupies space and robs performance from XP do
    not exist when I boot Vista. And I have lots of other old apps that I
    have not yet tried to get working under Vista. Those still run OK (but
    slowly) when I boot XP.

    As for Vista, if you lived through the changes from Windows 3.1 to 95 to
    98 or NT to 2000 to XP, it's not that much bigger a leap to learn the
    Vista GUI and way things work. It helped me a lot to read the excellent
    book "Windows Vista Secrets" by Paul Thurrot and Brian Livingston before
    I even started down the path -- I knew what to expect.

    After a few months of living with Vista, I have to admit that I like it.
    It's pretty, and it's faster than XP *on this box*. (Your mileage will
    vary.)

    I still have unresolved learning curve things to get over, and there are
    lots of things that Microsoft either needs to document better or fix.
    But as long as I can reboot to XP when I hit a wall, I'm OK.

    That's my $.02 on this OT thread...but I did mention NOF at least once :-).

    --
    Cheers,
    Karl

    http://www.k-c-p.com/

  5. #25
    Waterspider
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS


    "Karl Strieby" <karlDOTstrieby@kDASHcDASHp.com> wrote in message
    news:f42llr$deh1@flsun90netnews01.netobjects.com.. .
    > <snip>
    >
    >> A couple of weeks ago I read of an in-production o/s that MS is
    >> considering as a replacement for Vista. I wish I could remember its name,
    >> it would be easy to google. Maybe someone here has heard of it.
    >> Waterspider

    >
    > Linux?
    > OSX?
    > <grinning ducking and running for cover>
    > --
    > Cheers,
    > Karl
    > http://www.k-c-p.com/


    LOL!
    <throws Amiga at Karl>



  6. #26
    Richard Wayne Garganta
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    Waterspider wrote:
    > "Karl Strieby" <karlDOTstrieby@kDASHcDASHp.com> wrote in message
    > news:f42llr$deh1@flsun90netnews01.netobjects.com.. .
    >> <snip>
    >>
    >>> A couple of weeks ago I read of an in-production o/s that MS is
    >>> considering as a replacement for Vista. I wish I could remember its name,
    >>> it would be easy to google. Maybe someone here has heard of it.
    >>> Waterspider

    >> Linux?
    >> OSX?
    >> <grinning ducking and running for cover>
    >> --
    >> Cheers,
    >> Karl
    >> http://www.k-c-p.com/

    >
    > LOL!
    > <throws Amiga at Karl>
    >
    >

    No need to run for cover - in my opinion getting rid of Microsoft
    anything at this point is becoming more and more sensible. Hate to say
    it - it is not microsoft bashing - but the realities are windows has
    turned desktop computing into a nightmare in many ways. Most of my
    friends now are having to wipe their drive and start over every 6 months
    or so just to get rid of the "unknowns" that are slowing things down -
    and that is after running about 5 different programs to "protect" their
    system.
    Take a computer in for service and watch how they suggest you "wipe the
    drive" if you "really" want to get rid of everything. It is pathetic
    and I am fed up with the whole damn mess.

  7. #27
    Waterspider
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS


    "Richard Wayne Garganta" <richinri@cox.net> wrote in message
    news:f44moo$k612@flsun90netnews01.netobjects.com.. .
    > Waterspider wrote:
    >> "Karl Strieby" <karlDOTstrieby@kDASHcDASHp.com> wrote in message
    >> news:f42llr$deh1@flsun90netnews01.netobjects.com.. .
    >>> <snip>
    >>>
    >>>> A couple of weeks ago I read of an in-production o/s that MS is
    >>>> considering as a replacement for Vista. I wish I could remember its
    >>>> name, it would be easy to google. Maybe someone here has heard of it.
    >>>> Waterspider
    >>> Linux?
    >>> OSX?
    >>> <grinning ducking and running for cover>
    >>> --
    >>> Cheers,
    >>> Karl
    >>> http://www.k-c-p.com/

    >>
    >> LOL!
    >> <throws Amiga at Karl>

    > No need to run for cover - in my opinion getting rid of Microsoft anything
    > at this point is becoming more and more sensible. Hate to say it - it is
    > not microsoft bashing - but the realities are windows has turned desktop
    > computing into a nightmare in many ways. Most of my friends now are
    > having to wipe their drive and start over every 6 months or so just to get
    > rid of the "unknowns" that are slowing things down - and that is after
    > running about 5 different programs to "protect" their system.
    > Take a computer in for service and watch how they suggest you "wipe the
    > drive" if you "really" want to get rid of everything. It is pathetic and
    > I am fed up with the whole damn mess.


    Like it or not, most of the best software out there is built to run on
    Windows, and until that changes we're stuck with the status quo. Linux is a
    good product sadly lacking is industry-standard software, so it's pretty
    much useless for other than a "safe internet experience." Everyone loves to
    hate Bill Gates (or any dramatically successful businessman), so his
    customers are targeted by pc terrorists. So he has to go overboard with
    protection. So his programs become bulky and complicated. His customers
    still persist in opening unknown attachments, visiting questionable websites
    and downloading all kinds of dodgy "free" software. I don't know what the
    answer is. Instead of giving away millions of dollars to "worthwhile"
    charities, I'd like to see MS launch a war on the virus disseminators.

    /end rant.



  8. #28
    Sheila Hoffman
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    Richard...If I were willing to wipe my drive clean and start from scratch I
    could probably avoid buying a new computer for awhile longer. But I've had
    this P4 6 years and never done that. It would be a nightmare to try to
    reconstruct it all...hence the new system.






  9. #29
    Sheila Hoffman
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    Karl:

    Thanks for weighing in. I've made a few notes regarding some of your
    comments...


    I've always bought Gateways and been fine with them. We went with an HP
    Media Center for the living room because we qualify for an academic
    discount. I've been very pleased with the quality of the hardware and of
    their service. Sorry to hear your experience with them hasn't been as good.
    I'm too price conscious to spend the money on a local company. Sorry... I
    know the pros and the conns both.

    I went ahead and ordered an HP yesterday with Vista. I figured, they have a
    21 day no questions asked return policy and they pay the shipping both ways.
    Now I have to decide if I want to wipe the system clean, partition it and
    then install XP-Pro, Vista or both. I have 2 weeks to decide before it
    arrives. I'm open to input. I'm not even sure if I do wipe it clean how hard
    it'll be to reinstate the basics I need. I hope they'll be providing disks
    (I should've asked). Have to check that out.

    Glad to hear Vista runs pretty fast on a properly equiped system. I've been
    looking into my hardward/driver compatability. Like you I have an older
    scanner (Epson). They also are not going to provide drivers for it in Vista.
    I looked into buying a new scanner and can get a cheap Epson for $60 however
    it'll be a piece of s**t compared to what I have now. Of course when I
    bought this old one I did a lot of scanning for print. Now I mostly do web
    work and when I do do print they provide digital 9 times out of 10. I'm
    leaning toward a switch box and just keeping my old box running. Then I can
    scan on the old system when I need to and use it to run continuous backups
    from the new system. So instead of both OS on one computer I'd have access
    to both via 2 systems.

    I've just upgraded to CS3 also and decided not to even try to install it on
    the old system. So the new one will have just the newest stuff, designed for
    Vista. I'm going to try not to put anything on it I don't have to. I need to
    look up that old thread someone else posted ahwile back about the best
    sequence to install things in.

    I did live through all the old changes. My husband just came in with a photo
    of my first computer... it was a dual OS (CPM & DOS) and dual floppy with no
    hard drive. So I've been at this as long as most of you. I started using
    Pagemaker in a Windows "run time" version! So you're right, I'll make the
    transition to Vista GUI. I'll go find that book you recommended though. Just
    what I need.

    Thanks again.
    Very helpful.
    Sheila





  10. #30
    Karl Strieby
    Guest

    Default Re: New Computer OS

    Richard Wayne Garganta wrote:
    > Waterspider wrote:
    >> "Karl Strieby" <karlDOTstrieby@kDASHcDASHp.com> wrote in message
    >> news:f42llr$deh1@flsun90netnews01.netobjects.com.. .
    >>> <snip>
    >>>
    >>>> A couple of weeks ago I read of an in-production o/s that MS is
    >>>> considering as a replacement for Vista. I wish I could remember its
    >>>> name, it would be easy to google. Maybe someone here has heard of it.
    >>>> Waterspider
    >>> Linux?
    >>> OSX?
    >>> <grinning ducking and running for cover>
    >>> --
    >>> Cheers,
    >>> Karl
    >>> http://www.k-c-p.com/

    >>
    >> LOL!
    >> <throws Amiga at Karl>
    >>

    > No need to run for cover - in my opinion getting rid of Microsoft
    > anything at this point is becoming more and more sensible. Hate to say
    > it - it is not microsoft bashing - but the realities are windows has
    > turned desktop computing into a nightmare in many ways. Most of my
    > friends now are having to wipe their drive and start over every 6 months
    > or so just to get rid of the "unknowns" that are slowing things down -
    > and that is after running about 5 different programs to "protect" their
    > system.
    > Take a computer in for service and watch how they suggest you "wipe the
    > drive" if you "really" want to get rid of everything. It is pathetic
    > and I am fed up with the whole damn mess.


    Hi Richard,

    I think there is no point in trying to get rid of Microsoft. Many big
    organizations from IBM to the US Department of Justice have failed in
    that quest. MS effortlessly shrugged off all the headline 1990-s efforts
    to reign in its virtual monopoly of computing, and emerged richer and
    meaner than ever.

    I believe that sooner or later, MS will find themselves unable to stay
    competitive, and fade away, much like Studebaker did in the automotive
    industry half a century ago. But I don't expect that to happen any time
    soon...maybe not even in my lifetime.

    As for taking a computer in for service, I agree, the "let's format c:
    and start over" strategy you note is pathetic. But from the support
    perspective, it is the easiest answer for any support vendor to take
    when a Windows computer gets mucked up.

    I don`t think that fact is *all* Microsoft's fault. Nobody from the
    typical local computer vendor to Microsoft themselves can keep up with
    all the crap that criminal organizations, who more or less operate at
    will today on the internet, can and do throw at end users of Windows and
    other OS-s.

    I can't blame Microsoft for this state of affairs. I blame "the world"
    for not getting on board a better networking standard sooner rather than
    later.

    TCP/IP version 6 can not arrive too soon for my taste. It will force
    every device on the internet to have a true and unique address that
    anyone with the right tools (including especially law enforcement) can
    trace to its source.

    To MS's credit, they have built IPv6 support (at least as an add-on
    module) for every OS they have released since (and if I'm not mistaken,
    including) Windows 2000.

    --
    Cheers,
    Karl

    http://www.k-c-p.com/

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