OT: To windows XP users

[slothy]

Originally posted by mikegronholz
I too am an IT guy. I recieved a very interesting email from a Microsoft rep that was out discussing AD domain migration strategies with us. I was asking about some of XP's short comings in AD. His response to me POINT BLANK was (and I quote):
"It is our general recommendation, that you NEVER use a Microsoft OS until it has at least 2 Service Packs."
Now, bear in mind that this is a CORPORATE DESIGN ENGINEER that is a blue badge MS employee (that means his check says Microsoft, no contractor).
Just thought I'd share. And buy the way, if you can't see the differences between 2k and XP, yank the power cord clean out while the machine is on. With 2k you will get a blue screen and probably lose whatever you HAD, with XP, no worries. You can't see the differences, but they are different in the background.
we have about 20 XP machines on a domain (2k sp3) and not one prob.. i have more probs with 98 and the AD then anything else..
XP impressed me so much i even "bought" my first microsoft product..instead of running a hacked copy as i have the years before..
SP1 did fix some stuff.. but outa the box on the 30+ machines i dealt with allbeen postive.. (cant say that for windows 9x)

 

[wamp]

OK - I agree that activation may be inconvienient but it only exists due to massive piracy.
Respectively, I have to disagree. YES, Piracy is huge in this industry but do you think this will make it stop? I do not think it is right for me to have to suffer for other people. This will stop nothing. There is a way around everything. Espically software.
The price on microsoft products is high to begin with, you start throwing things like this on top and your hunting for competion. Right now, Microsoft is a monoply. But things can quickly turn if they keep messing up like this. There is always some one out there with the next BIG idea in their head. One day they will let it out.
Throughout American histroy their have been monoplys. They have risen to te top fast, but now lie in ruins. They better beware of making people mad. They can now due to no real competion, but in another 5 years.... Who knows....
I've already started work on my OS... WampWare... What you guys think?

 

[slothy]

Originally posted by wamp
Respectively, I have to disagree. YES, Piracy is huge in this industry but do you think this will make it stop? I do not think it is right for me to have to suffer for other people. This will stop nothing. There is a way around everything. Espically software.
The price on microsoft products is high to begin with, you start throwing things like this on top and your hunting for competion. Right now, Microsoft is a monoply. But things can quickly turn if they keep messing up like this. There is always some one out there with the next BIG idea in their head. One day they will let it out.
Throughout American histroy their have been monoplys. They have risen to te top fast, but now lie in ruins. They better beware of making people mad. They can now due to no real competion, but in another 5 years.... Who knows....
I've already started work on my OS... WampWare... What you guys think?

there is always linux !! free and stable..

 

[slothy]

Originally posted by Redawg
i think the activation is a little far too.. i change alot of parts and am almost constantly upgrading.. i'd buy a copy if it wasn't for the activation.
its not that bad.. acutally ive never hadto call them even with mb changes.. activation window pops up again, hit okay.. bamn its done.. REACTIVATED !

 

[redawg]

Originally posted by arkman
OK - I agree that activation may be inconvienient but it only exists due to massive piracy.
i think it probably causes piracy... it's not hard to find and running a hacked copy is easier then running the legit one

 

[mikegronholz]

arkman - email me, we can chat.
To those that complain about piracy and reactivation blah, blah, blah..........if it were YOUR money, you do what you could to not lose it.
Now I have to be anti-Microsoft as well here. When I worked at Microsoft in Las Colinas, we were able to buy (this will date me) Office 95 on CD, fully boxed for $35 !!! Retail was like $600. So that tells me that Microsoft isn't losing money, they are losing POTENTIAL money. And even further, when we went for a government conference to the campus a few months ago, we were all allowed to shop in the "Microsoft Store" at which time my boss bought an Intellimouse Explorer Wireless for $5 !!!
Now I will be pro-Microsoft as well. Is it their fault that they found a niche (granted a swindled niche) that the world has come to rely on ? NOPE Why did NT conquer Novell so fast .......... MARKETING and a GUI !!! Marketing was a HUGE part !!! Why is Netscape pissed at MS for IE ? IE is FREE and integrated in the OS. It is designed to work flawlessly (emphasis on designed ) while Netscape does not share resources, it goes to get its own.
Just my $0.02

 

[simm]

Originally posted by arkman
Simm - 6 years of financial data - without a back up?
No it was backed up. Still the thought I had to redo the computer again and stuff could have been lost for good if not.
Another thing speaking of novell. Im novell all the way. Active directory stinks.

 

[causeidm]

If you want XP cheap, go to a college and make a friend who works there, in CA go to a CSU I don't know about any other states. I have a friend who works there so he bought a copy of windows xp for like 26 bucks. Got a copy of office XP for like $16. Microsoft has some kind of deal wth them, pretty smart, if the teachers get it for cheap, they'll teach it.... if they teach it, then thats what corporations will want to use.

 

[mikegronholz]

simm - Are you on CRACK ? AD stinks ? AD allows for a global DFS. Guess what DFS is duplicating (in parts)? NDS !!! Get real man !!! DFS is Microsoft's version of NDS. The appearance of a single instance store. Without AD, DFS is NDS. AD allows for me to touch EVERY single solitary computer (workstation and server) across the world down to the registry and services. Try that with Novell !!! Oh wait, Novell doesn't make an OS so you can't touch that. Better open your MMC and attempt to connect to that computer to start a service, or SMS in. But wait.....you have then bought:
Novell (not cheap)
Windows 2k or whatever for your client OS - not cheap
SMS - really not cheap (plus all the CALs and God help you with bandwidth)
I buy Windows 2k .... I'm done. I get AD, the DFS, ENCRYPTION, Terminal Services, and a single company to complain to. Have you ever called Novell ? Their answer is ALWAYS "You will need to reconfigure your clients." And Microsoft's answer is "You will need to call Novell." With the all Microsoft way no one can complain. Who can they pass the blame to ?
Novell had 2 point MS could not touch...printing and file sharing. MS got the file sharing down with DFS and AD. Printing still needs some work !!! (stupid spoolers) Then get into TCO...I'll leave that for later

 

[simm]

Im not going to argue. My opinions are based on experiance. AD may be well but for what we do it dosent. You speak from experiance obviously. I could care less if novell dosent have an OS. We dont run file servers for OS's. We have had novell run flawless.

 

[rook]

Thanks for the tip Wamp,
I thought I had a virus or something. Just one more reason my next computer will be a mac. Down with Microsoft.
I actually had a pop-up window from messenger that was an add selling a product to stop the adds????
What the hell is that crap?

 

[redawg]

that add probably wasn't selling u anything.. i got one.. several times before i finally looked at it.. all it did was tell u how to turn off the adds.. i thought it was kind of funny, someone sending a add telling u how to turn them off.. but it worked.. at least i haven't had anymore add's telling me how to turn em off lately..

 

[arkman]

Activation isn't increasing piracy. And for Windows being EXPENSIVE??? That's silly. You use it almost every day. It includes great features like media player and messenger. It comes with internet browsing AND email. You pay over $300/year for your cell phone. You paid $300+ for a TV and then pay cable or satellite at least $360/year. Tell me your cell phone works like it should all the time. Or your cable never goes out.
Our products aren’t perfect, but they (almost) always get better. With auto update XP keeps you current. (ok, that sounded like an ad)
The piracy issue is a big deal. People STEAL BILLIONS and BILLIONS of dollars from us. I used to download music. I don’t do that anymore either. It’s stealing all the same.
Yes, Microsoft has been a VERY successful venture. Being a leader in the software market is a good business. Being at the forefront of any new technology is a good business. Rockefeller and Carnegie in the industrial revolution. Gates and Dell in the PC revolution.
Here’s a great NON MS piece of software. – It will change the way you use the internet. I use this every day! www.atomica.com if deleted (check for “atomica”)

 

[jpeavytx]

causeidm.....where I go to school we got a heck of a deal on Win XP and Profession Office XP all for the measley price of $15. How could I ever pass up a deal like that? Supposedly if you ever drop out or get kicked out of school your supposed to give your copy back, but when you graduate you can keep it and use it as long as you want.

 

[redawg]

Activation isn't increasing piracy.....
yeah it is.. maybe a small number pirate it just to get around the activation.. but it is a reason

 

[michaeltx]

kewl thanks somehow I missed this one until I was lookinfg back ober past post LOL never know what ya missed
Mike

 

[beth]

I use dailup and get those annoying messages all the time. I just switched them off, so hopefully it will work.

 

[fshhub]

thanks for the help wamp, it is a great service to us all
as for windows,
well it is way too expensive, and as for loosing money, noone needs that much money and 200 for a program is way too much money.
I have used 98se not bad
winodws ME, bette, IMO, but it takes alot of tweaking and memory. I have techs who used ot argue with me, but that was before theyhad seen my system. more stable than many xp machines. BUT like i said it ook much tweaking and memory, most people could not get those results.
I also used XP, now it is the only one i have on my system other than windows. LOVE It, and it is easier for most of us. But, the price si ridiculous, and jsut like music, I feel sharing is sharing. should be legal, but...... I cannot justify 200 for any OS. Esp sinc you can buile a tower for a little over 300. Why should the OS be as much or more money?
MEMORy, well XP or Win ME, both need more memory, yes, ME says 64 mb, i believe But 512 will provide much better results. XP says you need 128, but I will tell you that I would not put it in anything with less than 256. 512 is better but 1 gig is ideal, IMO. I am running a gig+ and it does not use all my memory
At work, we have some machines wiht 2000 as well, it is good and stable, but I find it alot different than the other versions of windows.
Mac, is great esp for graphic arts. You cannot beat it.
LInux, is the only way to go, I am toying wiht it and love what I have seen. It is also free, and more stable than Windows XP. BUT, it is much more difficult to learn to use, it is not only point and click.
Now, i can tell youthatI am not a tech, but have many working for me, my opinions are based upon the fact that I run an ISP , 2 computer stores, a large tech support center, and a coroporation that owns that as well as car lot and a few other businesses. AND although I am a dumb manager, My employees do not see it that way, in fact my techs come to me with problems and never argue and always listen. I will find the resolution. And do know what is going on. The most difficult of problems are often solved between me and them, not them alone. i have a few friends that do help as well, admittedly. Some of them are even here, so I cannot deny it, but they too can tell you that I am not an idiot with pc's.... far from it.
PS, these ads he is refering to, will not be affected by opera or mozilla's built in stopper I have found that the only thing that helped me was a firewall with these ads.

 

[krux]

you can also turn this feature off in task manager by doing ctrl alt del and then looking down the list and clicking it off. non permanent solution if you are wary about disabling it and missing something important.
intellectual proterty rights... someone spent money to make it, spend money if you want to use it is my philosophy. if i can't afford it, well what do ya kinow, i find something else to use.