theres been a lot of commotion about vista lately, the DRM issues, hardware requirements, et al. i'm curious, what do you guys think of vista? personally, i'm going to keep XP and use it when i can't use ubuntu. by the time XP is EOL'd i'll be fairly adept with linux. i saw the black macbooks at the apple store, if i could take off any markings on the case it would be a nice little laptop, of course i'd put linux on it, i can't stand OSx
I have Vista already (through University MSDNAA scheme) and I use my XBOX to watch media and DVDs and so on. I also have two other machines running Linux and I will use one of them for HD-DVD watching/Streaming.
I can't promise I'll ever switch to Vista, and I marked Ubuntu on the poll. However, I'd like to clear up the DRM thing - there's nothing technically wrong with it being available in Vista. It's not like the OS encrypts all videos on your computer, it just provides the tools to watch media that's been protected by someone else. The content producers are going that direction whether Windows cooperates or not, so Microsoft is merely allowing you to use your computer to play HD content if you choose to. It's a wise business move and good for consumers. DRM itself is bad for consumers (some implementations more than others), but that's not Microsoft's fault. They aren't technically even facilitating, since I think most DRM devices will be things like standalone players and TVs. So all Microsoft is doing is making it possible for consumers to use their computers for one more thing.
i think microsoft has enough clout to tell the DRM folks to DIAF, post haste. think about it... windows tells the movie folks to shove off, MS won't allow DRM'd media to be played. the DRM folks (RIAA, MPAA, et al.) can either bribe apple with metric shiatloads of money to get them to go for it and hope apples market share increases, or they can just deal with it and lay off the DRM. ubuntu is the common entry point for linux from windows, right? it was for me. that option basically means "Hello Linux"
Yes, but you're looking at it from the wrong point of view - you're looking at it as a technology elite. Try to look at it from a normal person's point of view. My parents, for example, will never watch a DVD on their computer. That's what the DVD player hooked up to the TV is for. Same thing will happen with high def and whatever other content is going to be DRMed. The world is changing and this may not be true in another five years, but at the moment I think embedded devices will provide plenty of market for DRM. MS telling the movie folks to shove off will irritate the movie folks, but it won't stop them. I'd agree. I'd also say that option keeps getting more tempting. It took me less than a day to install Kubuntu on my laptop and get all the drivers and programs set up, along with XGL and Beryl. And even people who don't care at all about computers are impressed with Beryl.
I quite disagree... I took the first plunge in the Linux thing with Redhat, but that wasn't very succesfull... Then I went all the way and got Gentoo (still loving it every day). I absolutely hate Ubuntu. It's all messed up with userrights... By disableing root, and granting a user root privileges (in CLI with sudo, but not in the GUI) is like wearing a kevlar vest with the zipper open. Don't get me wrong though. Altough I really detest Ubuntu, I know that a lot of people don't. Due to a lot of descisions the developers took in your place, Ubuntu is about as easy (and as bloated) as Windows. But that is the thing I'm not looking for... I want my system to work and look as I want it... And I install my fully working desktop environment on my 1.5GHz laptop in 4-5hours... From source... I don't get why people think that from source compiliaton is bad. It's optimised code for your system, you put in and leave out what you want,... And Portage just owns apt, yum,...
I'm going to stick with XP for the most part. I voted for Ubuntu though as I'd like to make the switch one day on this laptop. Just need to find the time and back up important stuff
honestly, i'm thinking about buying a new hard drive and just keeping the XP drive in a safe place in case i need it. seriously, i got about 31.1 gigs of porn saved on this drive, i can't lose it. remember the thread when i asked if downloads will continue with a locked screen? how expensive would a 100 gig HDD be really? you'd also have a backup in case the ubuntu drive fails
I think all of us at some point will use Vista. The real question is who's excited enough to mortgage the kids for the Ultimate version. It'll be like XP - buggy at first, stabilized with a service pack, and everyone using it within a few years of release.
i'll avoid it for as long as i can, XP may not be perfect but it does the job. Im not an extreme gamer, so i'm not that worried about the lack of DX10 in XP. The only reason i can see for people to upgrade immediatly is to compliment the nice shiny new 8800 they have just splased out on. Although the idea of spending as much on an OS as a top end GFX card worries me.
im going to wait a few months for the major bugs that are still in the system to be found and then switch over.i played about with the Beta and RC1 and had no problems with it other then it being a cpu whore with aero. although i am told that has been fixed now.
Probably when I find a bit of spare cash, although not retail Ultimate, thats just silly money. The DRM hassle doesn't bother me as thats what my XP Media Portal box is for.
I actually have to change my vote. I'll probably get it pretty soon, or at least as soon as I either build up the motivation to resize some partitions, or build up the cash to grab a small hard drive. Apparently I can get Vista Business for free through my university, so I figure, why not?
