Windows XP Still the Best — so says
Windows Vista is a pig for memory. While it makes hardware manufacturers very happy I presume ($300 computers just don’t cut it any more) it doesn’t really offer anything new. In other words, I don’t see the point.
Linux — don’t know anything about it and I was always afraid to try. Not sure how much stuff works on it. In other words, for a little bit of improvement, it could add a lot of extra work.
Mac — I only worked on a Mac for about six months. It was okay but I didn’t like that I was limited by the software choices. I’ve always said they were good computers, but you pay for that. They’re pretty user friendly, though if you’re used to a PC, they do have some differences. I had to call John a few times when I first started using it (help, I can’t get the disk out of the drive!…what do you mean I put the disk icon into the trash, I don’t want to erase it!).
Of course, Apple the company is every marketer’ dream. This is a company where users are 100% loyal. When ‘fans’ actually cheer the CEO like he’s a rock star, you know they’ve reached a new level. Seriously — it’s just a company people. They’re stuff is built in Chinese factories just like everyone else’s crap.
Windows XP — sure, it has problems, but I love the fact that you can customize anything, and everything is made for it. There are security issues, but I’d say that’s more because it’s the #1 OS…so everyone guns for it. Nothing that a good firewall and some extra software can’t solve. Stability is pretty good. Not fantastic, but again, this OS is built for tens of thousands of hardware components.
The following quote is how he ended the article…which is pretty much what I’ve always told everyone (if you aren’t computer saavy, spend the extra cash and buy a Mac):
Recommend that your mom get a Mac. (You’ll thank me when she doesn’t call you for tech support.)
Recommend that your IT department’s Web server run on some variant of Unix.
But for your own PC, and for the PCs of people like you it’s XP all the way.
BETTER than XP…not the same. It’s got more better features. Most of the features it has are all invisible behind the scenes things. Stuff like real time indexing (so when you type in something to search you find it in 2 seconds). The memory key feature is really cool. You could have added a $20.00 USB memory key to your computer, enabled the new Windows ReadyBoost option and instantly had the equivalent of 2GB of RAM added to your PC.
For a cheap bugger like you, this is a perfect option.
In 2 years you’ll come around and you’ll be raving about Windows Vista.
To be honest, I still think Windows 2000 is a way better option than Windows XP. It was faster, more stable, and did everything that I needed Windows XP to do. I think Windows XP was the Windows ME of the last few OS’es from Microsoft…despite what the dim witted “analysts” from Fox and other places will tell you.
Stupid Fox News.
You don’t recommend that your IT Department’s web server runs on Unix. You recommend that it runs on Windows Server 2003 (which allows you to run the various flavours of PHP and other open source development platforms, but gives you way more administrative options).
XP is shitty. Yeah, it works better on old POS computers, but in six months Vista ready computers will be down to $400.00. It’s so unstable that it crashes all the time, the stupid updates will just make your computer stop working, and if you just leave it alone it will progressively choke more and more over time.
What extras does Vista give you? There are a lot of little things. I’ve never had a blue screen of death. There is instant search. You can search your start menu. Programs tend to work a little quicker. You can add a memory key to your computer to speed it up. My favourite new feature is that when a program fails, Vista goes out to the web to find out if it can prevent the problem from happening again. If it CAN’T find a fix for the crash, it checks again in a couple of weeks, and then keeps checking until it finds a resolution (or you tell it not to worry about it).
The downfalls are:
It’s a RAM hog. Add 2 gigs of RAM for under $100.00 and you’re golden.
It has a lot of pretty stuff that is essentially useless (round corners and the Aero interface in particular). Turn it off, and you’re golden.
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Macs are okay, but you literally pay double for all of that extra “usability”, and make no mistake about it, Macs still crash…all…the…time, but when they crash you get a pretty “Beachball of death”.
Oh, and the great and powerful “Macs have no viruses” argument is such a load of bunk. There are Mac specific viruses and worms, but the script Kiddiez write most viruses for the most popular platform, ergo Windows XP.
Okay, Garfish…how did you do it? After making this post, my computer is going nuts. No blue screens of death — but it has now decided to reboot…randomly. Nice.
One of my ‘flaws’ is that once I find something I like, I tend to resist change. Why spend the energy relearning when everything already works fine? Such is the case with Windows XP.
Macs: don’t know enough about them to really comment. Only worked on one for 6 months and it was a pretty old machine.
Servers: Don’t know anything about them.
PCs: I don’t have issues with crashes. None. I used to on my laptop, but I think that was more of a case of Dell software being buggy. Once I finally broke down and formatted, my laptop hums along.
Vista…hmmm, didn’t seem like programs worked quicker. In fact, that sounds like a marketing gimmick. You see, I bought this emachines computer for $299. Yup, $299. It came pre-installed with Vista, and was terrible. Since I’ve gotten rid of Vista and returned to XP, it’s lightning fast.
For the ‘benefits’ of Vista, I have to go out and spend an additional $100? BUT I’M CHEAP! I don’t want to go out and spend another $100 to make something work the same as XP.