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Not car related I know, but as everyone here uses computers has anyone been brave enough to upgrade to XP yet?
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Afraid not, tend to treat new software like new car models, try to wait 6 months or so until someone else has sorted all the little glitches then make an 'informed' decision.
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Loaded and ran the free demo CD from the Sat Telegraph last weekend.
Kept the latest Media Player that was included. Realised that XP didn't do anything I want to do that W.98SE doesn't already do.
XP does make it easier for those who have a digital camera and can't work their PC, could be a big selling point!
David
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Free demo? Never got that from my Telegraph.
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Dear Tom,
I got a free demo disk,- if you want it send an e-mail with your address.
Regards,
Peter.
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How does it make it easier to use a digital camera, David. Genuine interest here, since photography is one of my hobbies - and anything that gets rid of the indeterminate "bugs" in Gatsey's software would be worth looking at.
Ian
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Ian,
It seems to have a "My Images" folder like My Documents. Digital camera images are loaded straight to that file, you can view them in a photo album format and then there is a simple menu to select print sizes and options.
I have image programs that do this anyway but I guess the "one-click" integration into Windows makes it a little easier. Another nail in the coffin of the independent image software guys though.
David
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Thursday's Dotcom Daily Telegraph had Top 10 websites related to Windows XP. One Microsoft site indicates there is already 20 Mb of downloads 'to plug security holes, fix bugs and add new features'.
address is given as 'windowsupdate.microsoft.com'
I'm feeling left out here still running 95 plus Office 97, but it works and rarely crashes!
regards
JS
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Treat XP like any other Microsoft product - with extreme care. Probably very buggy don't install untill at least second service pack released. Preferably wait for second edition as in 98 SE - very stable and reliable. I ran windows 3.1 until 98 released then ran late 95 for ages before using 98. It doesn't pay to want to be one of the first when using Microsoft software.
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Microsoft held a 3 day party here in Manila to launch XP, with terminals you could play with, all the bells and whistles delivered in surround sound, plus demo on a dedicated website. They are obviously having a hard time selling the product to people who say what another upgrade I've only just mastered the last one. Perhaps in its favor is it is more stable than the iterations of W98 which always seems to go off the rails at the wrong moment. Personally I think MS had its best products with NT3.51 and Office 97. I run both and they seem to do just about anything I would ever want. As for all the fancy interfaces, music, cameras et al, unless you have a really fast internet connection, none of the that is much use IMHO. I can get all the pirated CD's I need without adding years to my life waiting for downloads. To the person who said wait a while, I agree completely. XP seems to be just technology for its own sake and the sense I have is (Not just here) MS will have their work cut out to sell it. TYpically MS produces so much bug-ridden stuff that the first couple of years of use are punctuated by those pop-ups saying "Critical Download" bug fixes anyway! None the less here in Asia it is a very trendy IT environment with everyone wanting the cutting edge so it may turn to be a fashion thing in the end.
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Rumour has it lots of problems with the internet (or might just be with internet service provider signup software).
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You just reminded me: a lot of the "programs" (firewall, CD copying) etc are basic versions, often by a third party, (eg no anti virus, basic cut down copier from makers of easy cd, etc).
You still need the pukka prog if you're seriously into something.
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IO,
You're right. I get most of my software from internet downloads. Some of the programs out there are far better than Microsoft and a fraction of the price. Nearly all are available as a free trial limited version or 30 day period.
I guess most of my most useful programs after Windows/Word come from those sources.
David
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For the moment, untill M$ starts "improving" the standard.
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I was gonna try it on one of my other pcs first so i could get to know how to use and fix it,
but it wont be long before we all 'have' to upgrade to Xtra Problems as part of the usual microsoft monopolisation ('need xp to run this new software, that software etc').
But hey, if it'll display the backroom, whats the problem?!!
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A friend of mine got hold of a program which analyses the PC to determine what's fitted to determine how compatible the system is with XP.
The result?
Five printed pages which, more or less, said that everything fitted to the system might not be compatible, drivers may not be compatible and so on. And this is a PC only two years old with some components less that a year old.
I'll leave XP until I get a new PC in a couple of years. Until then, 98S2 will do fine.
Andy
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Have not used XP as I use a Mac, however us Mac users are struggling in parallel with you PC guys with our own 'system X', which will no doubt prove just as problematic.
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Yes, it took 2 1/2 hours to install, then a further 2 hours to get all the latest drivers. Had to buy Norton Antivirus 2002, as 2001 was incompatible. It is now running nicely, significantly faster, not crashed yet, whereas Win ME crashed every day.
Andrew
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The benefits of XP over Win95/98/Me are quite large in that, besides all the little extra accessories you get and the fancy new desktop look, it's based on Windows NT technology and is therefore hugely more stable.
However with regard to attempting to upgrade directly from 98/Me to XP all I can say is....good luck!
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/lurkmode off
Stuff XP. Ignore the bright colours and all the hype, if you're going to go M$ at least go for one of their proper OS's - 2000 professional. Under the surface XP and 2000 professional are virtually identical anyway (apart from the extra whistles and bells that come with XP), but 2000 has been around for longer (glitches worked out and mainly fixed) and has a proven business pedigree.
Unfortunately both XP & 2000 suffer from the raw sockets security loophole, but then again so does the 'messiah' of OS's - Linux.
just my 2p's worth
jake
/lurkmode on
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Thank you Phil
The voice of reason at last. Windows XP is just cuddly Windows 2000. Windows 2000 is pretty stable. At home i've been running three desktop machines and a laptop on 2000 since it's release and have seen no problems. The fastest of these is the laptop with a PII400 in it so you don't need a quick processor. The same machines running Windows 98 and ME before hand have been a utter nightmare. I would recommend an upgrade to 2000 to anybody especially if you are still using windows 9x/ME (shudder). Beware of budget and home built machines with funny budget components in them. Three of my machines are dell's and they have been fine. The other is a home built job and required a bios update.
As for XP some of my colleugues have installed it and are giving it a go. Seems OK so far. Time will tell if it's OK. Will be a long while before we even consider using it for any commerce though as we are only just moving to 2000.
Anyone who would like to go back to the days of old before the world got all GUI is welcome but I won't be going there if I can help it. It's bad enough that I have to configure some of our network switches through telnet.
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MY IT guy plugs MS at work, uses Linux at home!
Ah, for the days of DOS, all that C:\format a: /q stuff. So much easier.
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THe Growler wrote:
> Ah, for the days of DOS, all that C:\format a: /q stuff. So
> much easier.
You're showing your age, most of these bright young things won't have a clue what you're talking about!
So am I, I used to work with punched cards and a mainframe that needed its own machine room with air con to keep going!
I think the best thing was that there was a dedicated computer operator who would sort all the problems out. Nobody expected me to understand how it all worked. I've now landed in a job where I know more about computers than anyone else, which terrifies both me and a former manager!
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The only reason 'upgrades' have been encouraged is that MS know that PC sales are down and that is where they normally shift 80% or so of their operating systems. As a recommendation to you all, Windows 98 will run IE6 and all the latest Media Player software etc etc and even Windows 95 is still fine for normal use - I'd stick with whatever you've got at the moment if it is doing the job. Christmas is coming soon and I dunno about you lot, but I can find much better things to spend the cost of the upgrade on (Christmas Spirits!)
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Word of warning -
I installed XP over my existing W98SE setup. I decided I couldn't stand not knowing where everything was, and tried to revert back to W98. XP also has some annoying features such as as dial-up connection bubble that demands a manual response every time you connect (or you don't know that you're connected), and incessant nagging to join up to some irritating 'passport' scheme. Works fine with compatible hardware though.
Anyway, when I uninstallled it, Windows explorer in W98 wouldn't work. Running through W98 setup didn't work either. Some 'protection' mechanism won't let you delete the Windows folder with XP either. I had to boot the system off another W98 hard disk, delete the windows folder on my hard disk, and re-install W98 from anew.
If you're thinking of trying it (maybe with a borrowed cd - copy protection only allows one long term installation per cd), then uninstalling again, beware.
Rob
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Best thing about Windows 98 was it coped with USB connected equipment which Windows 95 did not. However coming up is USB2 which will be much faster. I suggest wait until XP has been out a least a year so the major bugs are out and then see if you will really gain. Good websites for computer info and help are the www.net4nowt.com and www.theregister.co.uk
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computers have got as far as Yorkshire ?
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Oi, ill have your guts for garters saying owt like that. Just cos us Yorkshire lads are ruff, dont mean we dont never have a computer. Me n me mate, Daz will come round in our nova with kicking toons going, v lot, n knock y'up.
Showing my educated side however, we have got most versions of windows [95, 98, 98 SE, 2000, ME, XP] and we run 98 on all our computers [4 and a laptop, I have you know, John]. I tried XP, but its highly graphic intensive, and everything has icons too big. I did however like their new previewing of files. The main reason I degraded it, was that the version on MSN Messanger it ran was rubbish. So im sticking with 98 SE, its doing me fine, runs everything and hasnt crashed yet.
Kev
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There's a shop in my (Yorkshire) village sells especially small coal for my steam powered Libretto. The screen is very difficult to see under the candle light and all the coal dust is playing havoc with my hard disk, but I get by..... ;)
Lee.
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There's only Yorkshire people allowed to be rude about it (just as only women can make sexist remarks and get away with it) so as I was born there and lived most of my life there I qualify. I'm now banished as a consequence of marrying a Lancashire (!) lass. They took my flat cap off me and I miss the whippet something rotten. But Scarborough is still better than Blackpool (she's not looking). :-)
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John,
I don't appear to qualify as a time served Yarkshire satirist, so apologies for any offence.
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In that case I think I'll keep the Commodore 64 for a while. Now where did I leave that C/PM manual?
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