Vista, Microsoft are avin a larf.

[Gaston]

i remember loading the os. it came up ok but there was nothing there. i didn't know what to do with it from there.i guess i need to load some stuff on it?

 

[ThermalRunaway]

I beta tested Vista, ages and ages ago before it was released. That was enough for me. I'm sure the OS has improved since I stopped bothering to beta test it, but the version I tried was so frustratingly slow that I just couldn't be bothered using it anymore. Add to that the fact that lots of software wouldn't work with it, and the whole experience smacked of paranoia gone mad, I just gave up there.

I notice someone made the comment "1 gig of RAM is a bit low for Vista". You're probably right, it is. But as far as I'm concerned any OS that demands more than a gig of RAM just to run properly cannot really call itself an Operating System at all. The whole point of an Operating System is to manage computer peripherals, manage data i/o and organise resource allocation for applications. A piece of software that steals all of the computer's resources for itself can hardly claim to be a good Operating System can it. What if I were to build a 1KW generator that consumed 900W and only allowed 100W for the end application. Could I call that a good 1KW generator? No!!!

Microsoft... back to the drawing board!!!

Brian

 

[Hero999]

I agree, an operating system should not be the main memory hog, you should still have most of the memory free for applications!

i remember loading the os. it came up ok but there was nothing there. i didn't know what to do with it from there.i guess i need to load some stuff on it?

That depends on what distribution you were using.

Mandriva come with lots of programs - a lot more than Windows comes with!

If you were expecting it to be just like Windows though, then expect to be disappointed, you will have to accept that it is a different operating system with a different user interface.

 

[Styx]

A suggestion to those "toying" with the idea of trying Linux
Get Virtual Box. It is free (not trial-free, but free) and install it and start a virtual-machine session of say... Ubuntu (really is the best for beginers, takes alot of the pain out).

That way you can try linux in a Sandbox with no risk to yr present setup before concidering installing proporly (to get the performance back).

I use virtualbox and home and at work to try out distro, or just to be able to use linux at work. It really is really simple to use


Linux isn't hard, it is just different and once you are aware of its diferences and find equiv progams (Pidgin == MSN, GIMP == Photoshop...) life gets easier. I started using linux ~10years ago and it has just got easier and easier (should of seen some of the pain back then...). In fact the install and support is better then XP (and definitly better then Vista), sure there are a odd couple of obsure hardware that may take some coaxing to work (but saying that Vista has troubles with usb memory sticks...) but it is worth it

Seems there are a few linux users on these boards and I am pretty sure they will be willing to help.
Even if you install it as a secondary OS in the event that windows fails (ie a way to get yr data) its a start

 

[dknguyen]

I notice someone made the comment "1 gig of RAM is a bit low for Vista". You're probably right, it is. But as far as I'm concerned any OS that demands more than a gig of RAM just to run properly cannot really call itself an Operating System at all. The whole point of an Operating System is to manage computer peripherals, manage data i/o and organise resource allocation for applications. A piece of software that steals all of the computer's resources for itself can hardly claim to be a good Operating System can it. What if I were to build a 1KW generator that consumed 900W and only allowed 100W for the end application. Could I call that a good 1KW generator? No!!!

Microsoft... back to the drawing board!!!

Brian

What would computers from the era that only needed a few K of RAM for an OS say about an RTOS today that needs 1MB of RAM? Or Windows 98 for that matter?

 

[Hero999]

1GB of RAM is still excessive when you thing about it.

I have 256MB of RAM on my computer and I very rarely use all of it, I can't ever see myself needing 1GB.

 

[dknguyen]

1GB of RAM is still excessive when you thing about it.

I have 256MB of RAM on my computer and I very rarely use all of it, I can't ever see myself needing 1GB.

I have. Usually for video conversions and burning two DVDs at once...actually I dont have enough RAM for that. Either one disc finishes and the other gets frozen or both get frozen. Probably HD speed related too.

 

[Styx]

I have. Usually for video conversions and burning two DVDs at once...actually I dont have enough RAM for that. Either one disc finishes and the other gets frozen or both get frozen. Probably HD speed related too.

but the point is you upgrade/downgrade the OS to vista and you will have less RAM to work with

I bought 2Gig of RAM so that I can use it for my purposes and NOT to service the OS!

There are applications that do use alot of RAM and thus you buy more RAM to use them. Do you then go and buy an OS where 1gig of that is gonna get eaten for no apparent reason/gain?

RAM is for your use. 1Gig *IS* alot of RAM and an OS shouldn't much that up!

 

[Hero999]

Well I only browse the Internet, check email and play with pictures from my digital camera.

Most modern operating systems are bloated in my opinion, even most Linux distributions. It's just that some operating systems are more bloated than others, Linux is aceptable (especially as it is possible to trim it down if you really want) and Windows Vista it totally unacceptable.

 

[Gaston]

i'm running DOS on one of my machines. it is great. boots up fast and to shut down i just flip the switch : )

 

[dknguyen]

i'm running DOS on one of my machines. it is great. boots up fast and to shut down i just flip the switch : )

You mean you actually have to reach down/over to hit the power switch yourself? Pshhh.

 

[ThermalRunaway]

I have. Usually for video conversions and burning two DVDs at once...actually I dont have enough RAM for that. Either one disc finishes and the other gets frozen or both get frozen. Probably HD speed related too.

I have no argument about a computer using 1gig, 2gig or whatever if it's being used by applications. That's fine. My argument concerns an OS that consumes most of the available RAM for itself, leaving little for the applications. That's not how it's supposed to work.

Brian

 

[Hero999]

i'm running DOS on one of my machines. it is great. boots up fast and to shut down i just flip the switch : )

But I was talking about modern operating systems and DOS is a relic from the 80s.

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

But I was talking about modern operating systems and DOS is a relic from the 80s.

But DOS works fairly well?, and modern OS's don't! - however, DOS was written by a British company (Microsoft bought it from them), Windows is American .

 

[Gaston]

anyone useing os/2 ?

 

[Leftyretro]

But DOS works fairly well?, and modern OS's don't! - however, DOS was written by a British company (Microsoft bought it from them), Windows is American .

Is that a fact? This source says MS-DOS was purchased from a Seattle company:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seattle_Computer_Products

Lefty

 

[Hero999]

But DOS works fairly well?

That's because it's so simple.

There again it has no security model, no memory protection and no multi-tasking (well there is software that can do multi-tasking on DOS, I'm talking about plain DOS) which means that all users can mess the system up and if a program crashes it'l always take down the whole system with it!

 

[Leftyretro]

That's because it's so simple.

There again it has no security model, no memory protection and no multi-tasking (well there is software that can do multi-tasking on DOS, I'm talking about plain DOS) which means that all users can mess the system up and if a program crashes it'l always take down the whole system with it!

You are most correct. In this day of Internet access and interconnectability between processes, DOS is not a practical OS. However many of us miss the days when we it was actually possible for a hobbyist or DIY fan to really understand, utilize and modify the system as we pleased. I fondly recall the days of Turbo Pascal and do miss the DOS days sometimes but at the same time appreciate what the PC can allow us to do today.

Lefty

 

[Styx]

sounds like you want linux

 

[Hero999]

I agree.

Besides, if you miss DOS there are plenty of emulators around, my favourite is DOSEmu, it runs most DOS applications including Windows 3.1, Quake and Qbasic and is much better than the M$ DOS emulator (NTVDM) which no longer ships with 64-bit copies of their latest OSes.

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