re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

been running systems since dos 1.3 came out,through win xp sp2,never really had many problems,with any of them. started out with texas instrument,comandor16&64,then moved to 8088 with 4meg of ram and a giant 35meg hard dirve. now running 4 machines networked.one running 98 SE for old dos games,2 xp Home sp2 updated:and one xp pro sp2 dual boot with the newest (lunix) version of kubuntu 7.4 all seems to work fine.

Sure there have been problems with any of the windows OS'S, but nothing that couldn't be fixed.

I've been a fan of ubuntu since it came out but there has been a great deal of compatiably problems.
With the 7.4 distro just out many of the conflicts have been taken care of and I'm leaning more and more towards switching compeatly

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

My linux .....

Arrived at the cost of the blank DVD . . .

Asked me where, how and what I wanted installed . . .

Did not bug me about registering it'self. . .

Found all of my hardware . .

Did not over-write the boot sectors of other systems on my hard-drive . . .

Is supported at short notice by a comunity of people who aren't paid, but do help . . .

Is widely documented . . .

Internal open source code has been checked by hundreds of thousands of eyes . . .

Does not assume I am Stupid . . .

Gives me meaningfull messages if an error does occur . . .

Installs with a minimum of ports open by default . . .

Does not waste my electricty or time doing other peoples bidding . . .

Updates it's self when I ask it too . . .

Looks good out of the box . . .

Allows me to readily choose or change which programs I'd like to use . . .

Is less prone to viruses or worm attacks . . .

Does not have to reboot for most software installation and removal processes . . .

Tends not to accumulate E-Lint . . .

Is highly Adjustable as I learn more and more . . .

Can read and understand other file systems . . .

But most of all .. my Linux is

. . . . Ethicaly Clean ! ! !

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

JOHN

NO INFO

I AM NOT GETING INFO ON WINDOS XP FOR MY NEW WINDOS 98.I HOPE YOU GET MY LETTER.AND ON SOME OF MY GAMES THE SOUND GOES OF.BUT THE PLUG IS IN THE HOLE AND I HAVE A SOUNDCARD.

(Sorry John. I haven't the faintest idea what you're talking about. -Paul Zucker)

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Let me guess. You were using Internet Explorer, with Windows Firewall, no service packs and hadn't installed a virus scanner.

Good idea. If we all go on the net with this setup we'll be right.

Windows is probably the best operating system. Sure, I'm not the biggest fan of Windows Media Player, Windows Update is c**p, Service Pack 2 doesn't work with some stuff and whatever else.

Don't laugh. It's not a joke. Why would 92% of computer users worldwide (and big companies like Nissan and Xerox) use Windows Server? Because it is easy to use.

Tell you what. I spent a week with Linux. Gave up, don't have time. With Windows, switch on your box and off you go. Drivers are better for Windows, pretty much all apps work with it (it's not an Apple or Linux OS, alright? I knew that) and you can customise it heavily if you know how and can edit the registry.

Where else can you get so much support and not be fobbed off by the company? Apple fobs you off, and is there any support for Linux?

Twice this year I've emailed MS and recieved a reply in two days which was pretty good. Tried emailing Apple...support from them was worse than iTunes.

Windows, as Antonio has said above is perfect for beginners and Vista will only make that better. My 78-year old grandma uses Windows XP Home with ease for crying out loud.

Sure WPA is a pain in the backside but its not the end of the world. And try programming an operating system. It's not exactly simple thing to do.

Persevere and keep trying. I'm now using Windows XP Media centre edition and you try getting that to work.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

As a matter of fact, any OS suffer from any or other problem. That problem can be amplified by the user if this is a novice or reckless one.

The supposed "big" problems are related to number of users reporting problems in direct relation with installed platform around the world. Windows is the OS that has the bigger installed platform , but in proportional numbers, the problems are small as small are the ones reported for Linux. The difference resides in the case of let's say 9% of windows user is aroud 100.000 users and 9% of Linux Users should be merely 10.000 and Mac probably 100.

There's a question of price, the problem of not spending money on OS what attracted Linux, the drawback is lack of standard software to use. But face it ladies and gentlemen, if you want the serious version of StarOffice, you should pay, if you want a decent version of a Database Manager System over Linux, you have to pay. There's no free software at all but for occasional, newbies and students who love to test and go deep in the Linux system. Something that's not usual in the average home user.
As for usability and ease of use is hard to tell what's easy to use: windows or mac. Linux offers also some friendly user environments. Graphic designers love Macs, as long as Macs come with graphic cards and small instruction code processors that turn them on faster computers. There's a real difference between a commong Intel or AMD processor and the Motorola inside a Mac. But rigth now the difference is small.
Try using the OS where you feel more confortable. Do something like when you choose your car, do you want a muscle car (pay more gas), do you want a fast car (be aware of potholes), you want a SUV (gas and parking problems, at least in Europe).
As for any OS, stop messing around if you do not have enough knowledge.
I have worked for 12 years with Windows, Mac, Lunix, Unix, AS400, and everytime that somebody puts his/her nose where he/she is not supposed to be, something happens.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Win XP works fine as long as you keep the Windows OSupdates current and dont fiddle around with it too much. Avoid updating drivers for hardware if things are already working fine. Do a complete anti-virus scan every week and also full spyware scan with a program like Spysubtract from Trend Micro... XP is one of the most stable OS I have ever used.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

dnn't get bigger, get smarter.i use Ad-Aware(free) Spybot search & destroy(free) ZoneAlarm(free) Avg(free)& mozilla suite(free) and configure your e-mails to get rid of spam.,update regularly and you shouldn't have any problems.
also don't keep fiddling around with your system:if it ain't broken why fix it?

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Hose you hard drive. Get a real os like linux, windows is bloatware.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Things to make Windows safer when on the net.

I am running Windows 98 SE with a Mozilla Firefox Browser ,Mozilla Thunderbird email, Zonealarm and AVG Anti-Virus free edition..I have not had any trouble with this setup so far, and i feel much safer when surfing the net.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Linspire 5.0 is the answer.

"Linspire 5.0" Linux best Desktop OS ever.

Linspire takes only a few mouse clicks to install and takes about 10 minutes on most computers. The interactive multimedia tutorials walk novice users through everything from navigating the desktop to setting up email, wireless networking and more. Installing software is also a snap with the CNR Software browser, which lets you click and run software by downloading and installing any of the 2,500 programs in the CNR Warehouse, each with one click of a mouse, hassle free!*

With Linspire's advanced automatic hardware detection, your hardware will automatically be detected, and Linspire will install the drivers for you (no need to keep track of all those confusing and annoying driver disks). Linspire has extensive hardware support, including expanded WiFi support for wireless Internet access.

Linspire is "Plug & Play" ready, so you can plug in your USB or Firewire devices, such as scanners or digital cameras and Linspire will quickly recognize them and load necessary drivers in just seconds.

The Printer Wizard will walk you through adding a printer to your computer quickly and easily, without any driver disks or additional software necessary. In addition, Linspire's Easy Networking lets you read, write, share, and browse on a Microsoft Windows network just like you would on Microsoft Windows computer!

Go to www.linspire.com

to get all the info on linspire 5.0

Linspire is the latest and greatest OS from Linux, it has been getting great reviews from those who have tested it. You can read the reviews from those tests at the Linspire web site, it sounds like a very good OS.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I for one dont pay for an OS. I know its wrong and I do feel guilty for it, but why pay 100's of dollors for a programme that does not work the way its meant to. Sorry but thats just the way i feel. Ofcause once I can install windows and go at least a month with no issues then i will pay. Oh, I am a computer tech and know what I am doing , its the OS who does not.

Ian Smith there are alternatives you know

If you are unhappy with Windows try Linux.

I did and now have a new respect and appreciation for Windows...

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I am sick of hearing how bad windows is when they the user plays around with the puter and the operating system and stuffs up, i have no problems with windows it does what i want from it and is very easy for a mere novice like me to fix something i did wrong, especially XP.
why play with it when it is working fine.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

i personnaly have nothing against mac, but i hugely prefer windows.
there are just so many things you can do with it.
im only 15 and have use 3.1 thru longhorn(dont ask, hehe...), mac, linux and dos. and have only ever had problems when it was my fault.

a little knowledge is a dangerous thing, you should be sure of what your doing before you do it

u can use knoppix (linux) which runs strait off cd without install.

ps. wmp 9 is still the best

re:PCUSER website & Jared, PC vs MAC

I'm still getting the PCUSER askwizard is temporarily out of service, after six months!!?
I also note that the date stamp at the top pf each question, directly below the topic, is always the current date, why can't that be the date originally posted, as you have with all replies, todays date appears further up the screen anyway above the "Your home of tech help...." banner, so is pointless where it is.

Now... to Jared's comment. The world is PC/Windoze based because of marketing decisions many years ago. If the majority of the world's business and home users were MAC based now, we would be experiencing the same problems with fools targeting MACs with their scumware. I currently use firefox and, since changing browsers, have yet to experience any malware infecrions, that, I expect to change, as firefox becomes more popular. As you say, diversity is an advantage, which is why the Apple still survives.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Try Fedora Core 4, it's free, works really great and I subscribe to a program called Cedega which also allows me to play most Windows games, even ones like Half Life 2 under Linux.

Forced upon us?

I think the main reason that people are afraid to switch to Mac is that not many people use them. Everywhere we go, windows is on the computers. Movies have to be paid by Mac to have their characters use Macs, otherwise windows is used without any pay from Microsoft.
Windows is going to have to do something majorly wrong in order to lose the market majority. I dont see Mac coming up with a brillant operating system that will tred all over Windows.
I like Macs, but the amount of support they receive from gaming compnaies and shops is poor that i am forced to stick with PC.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

yes windows can be a pain but like another punter said here, try writing a computer language. these guys are gods and you can't blame them if they work for William cos they would like to make a living (if that's ok with you)....chers andy. :) :)

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

pc's are meant to be USED, I shouldn't have to spend half my life worrying about what MS security flaws someone has found this week...As for MAC's, a MAC was my first computer 10 years ago (Performa 580CD) and i STILL use it on the net with no hardware or software upgrades or anti-virus or firewall or.... I also have a new system running WinXP and do find it a bit confusing sometimes..WinXP could be a lot more user friendly in regards to start-up programs, processes etc but a little bit of research can yield results...a lot of useful functions on XP turn up in the most unlikely tucked out of the way places..usually found by mistake or a friend of a friend. MS phone support I have rung twice and never had problems....Numbers of PC's in the world is not a good indication of the quality of a system it is usually good marketing and business strategy that acheive market share. (Think BETA vs VHS, BETA was far superior and the network I work for used them up until 3 months ago, until replaced with digital) As for PC vs MAC well diversity is good if every PC was windows based one virus could wipe us al out (Think genetic diversity) and lastly if a Qantas 747 I was on had to rely on an OS to fly from London to Sydney...MAC for me coz if WINXP was in charge....CFIT (Controlled Flight Into Terrain and 747's screaming earthbound in flames everywhere!!!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I can never understand people that seem to have continual problems with windows machines. I run several machine all using XP professional. Most of these boxes are up 24/7 and I use them for a variety of tasks including play games like HalfLife 2 and the like. I have found XP to be most fault tolorant os I have used in a long time. I have also used and use Linux Red Hat and Suse. All operating systems have good and bad points but I think that if you look on balance that Windows is running on 90% of the worlds desktop - it can't be all bad. Maybe it you and your lack of understanding and ineptness that is causing your problems. - Pack it up in the box it came in and send it back. You are obviously not coping with it.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Im guessing most of these responses are written by windows who are afraid of macs because they're too primitive to understand them...

Apples are excellent machines if you can afford to buy them. Many have said in this forum that the reason why your windows machine isn't working properly could be because you bought it from a reputable vendor, and that they are not built right. That instead you should have built it because you are far more qualified. Either/or... your machine still wouldnt have been built properly.

This is the main difference with apples. They are actually designed rather then assembled. They aren't simply wacked together from what is going to give it the cheapest shelf price. They are built from quality parts too.. for example the burner in this laptop is a panasonic, not some generic 'cyberdrive' or something... and this well thought out design is reflected throughout the machine making every use a nice one...

So you're probably thinking, this guy has never used a PC in his life, he wouldn't have a clue... I was actually in the same position as you Steven. For about five years I had been stuffing around with my two PCs, also trying to remove worms, viruses, constantly reinstalling windows to fix corrupt profiles, replacing modems because they weren't 'digitally signed'... I spent more time fixing windows' problems then I did using it.

In the end I decided to take the plunge and have never turned back. I've had this iBook for a year now and have not had a single problem with it. It has frozen up a total of two times in the past 12 months (trust me im not complaining). I have never had a corrupt file, virus or security problems with it and have most definately never had to reinstall the operating system. It cost me $1600 and is competent at digital video editing, multitrack audio recording, graphic design and so many other tasks not comonly assosciated with DESKTOP PCs of the same price... It has the same processor as the mac desktops (so no sacrifices) but still manages to pull a 6 hour (real world) battery life... many parts ARE upgradable in this machine and applications for the mac platform are a plenty(10,000+ native applications for OS X).

If you are seriously considering the switch Steven, I would strongly recommend moving towards an apple.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I got sick of the look of wingows XP and i was on d net d other nite and saw a skining program called Object Desktop: Windows Blinds its realy good on xp but not on 2000 it looks realy cheesy!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Try Linux

Ubuntu 5.04 and Suse 9.2 are my favourites

Go to www.distrowatch.com

to follow the trends

Hope this helps

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I've used Windowz for several years found constantly updating the Firewall, Anti Viral, the Anti Spam, Ad ware, Patches both for IE, Windowz and Office, facing the Dreaded Blue Screens and conflicting device drivers and blank startups. When I started my Uni degree in 2001 I got a taste of Linux/Unix, my first encounter with linux was daunting, but 4 years later I know allot more about linux. other Unix variants 3BSD, SUN OS are all good alternatives to Windowz. Mid 2004 I switched over to Apple MAC OSX it was the best thing I have ever done, it is safe, secure and a very modern OS. MAC OSX is the linux of Apple and I assure you that it is the best Personal OS of choice for the future. I know I have more time surf the internet instead of constantly downloading Windowz based firewalls, virus definitions, antispam, patches...

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Hi
I've used Linux, Mac and windows from 95,98,ME, NT, 2000, XP, NT Server, 2000 Server and 2003 Server. I found that MS software is more user friendly than Mac and will run more software than Linux.

I'm a tech I fix peoples problems for a living and I have found that most problems are caused be THE USER, HARDWARE or THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE( as an example running nero and direct CD on the same OS)

forgive me I have found the MS is the best

Michael

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I personally have never had a problem with windows, except when i got a virus (user fault) or it didn't like my kingmax tinyBGA ram (hareware fault)

If however we all flock in the millions to macs or linux i can assure you that you have problems we will soon have 50000+ virus for those Operating systems so you will have just as many problems. You will still have your hardware problems even with a mac as people will start making more stuff for them. I'm not saying Windows Xp doesn't have its faults but whether you have a mac or run a distribution of linux it will to. Get used to things not being perfect, we ourselves arn't even.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I always find these things amusing when people decide to winge about Microsoft. So fare warning to all those who hate Microsoft, I'm about to defend it along with Bill and Windows.

First off, as one person pointed out, Microsoft buys businesses and claims it as it's own, well welcome to the coportate world. For those with little knowledge out there, that's what coporations do, the buy other businesses and all large coporations do it. I can also probably tell you that investors and owners are laughing all the way to the bank when they do, which is why it happens in the first place. Don't feel sorry for those companies, I'd say the majority probably get more than what they are worth! MS is also into making money. When you spend millions developing something you want a return on it. It's common sense.

As for Bill Gates, regardless how you feel about him, any one of us would trade places with him in seconds. Let's face we're all just jealous. Though at least he's starting to give back to the community through charity, something that a lot of rich people don't do. I find that if you think about he's just been lucky and a good business man.

As for Windows, the only thing I got against it is it's price. I find that it could be cheaper as well as other products from MS. Windows crashes majority of the time due to 3rd party software, viruses and users screwing around with it. You should really marvel at what it does. Think about it one day.

I am not fond of Linux, simply because I find the interface not user friendly and I don't like Open Office either and I've used both.

As for MACs, pricey, very pricey and I question if it's worth it.

I've been an Microsoft user for years and I don't plan to change anytime soon. I'm looking forward to the next generation.

As for the tech side of me, I'm a person who has been building computers and doing upgrades for years and have never had any issues with hardware and Windows, I'm not sure what that lot number stuff was about...

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I'm one of those common people who sit there abusing Microsoft whilst, at the same time, run my system on Windows XP, listen to music with WMP, do my homework with MS Word and use Age of Mythology CDs as a coaster.
I am yet to work out how a program becoming unstable can warrant the need for a complete OS reinstall. Windows Media Player is NOT Windows, it is merely a program included with Windows which can be uninstalled/repaired/reinstalled just like any other program.
Just a note to Izlude- your system sucks, man. You say you have the perfect system, but you have a 2.8GHz P4 and a 9200 graphics card. You have PC4000 RAM, but only 512MB of it. You use onboard sound. YOUR COMPUTER IS ONLY AS FAST AS ITS SLOWEST COMPONENT. Good luck getting a decent framerate with HL2 on that rig. I also don't quite understand that your motherboard favours Maxtor. The motherboard will only determine how fast it can send and receive data to/from the HDD, and this should be similar for all brands. If not, your MB sucks. I built my computer myself, at first I was extremely limited for funds. I got an okay Gigabyte mobo, Athlon XP 2400+, horrible GeForce 4 MX 440, 256MB PC2700 RAM. It wasn't a beast, but it worked fine, even though I didn't check these "lot numbers". I slowly began to upgrade my system; graphics card, more RAM, finally CPU/motherboard. Now I have an Athlon 64 3200+, ASUS A8V Deluxe, ATi Radeon 9600XT, 1gig PC3200 GeIL RAM (2x 512), Audigy 2 ZS, blah blah. It isn't the best system out there, but it's pretty good. And I didn't purchase the components at once, it was very gradual - what are the odds that the "lot numbers" matched up?. One of my CD drives is 5 years old, and it works excellently (52x). And my system has NEVER crashed, unless you count the time my PSU decided to die and take the HDD with it. It's also pretty amusing that you say companies like Dell don't know how to put systems together when that is what they do, that is what they are professionals at. It seems like you don't really know what you're doing to me. BSODs usually occur as a result of hardware misconfigurations, ie. incorrect jumper settings, overheating, IRQ no. conflicts, overclocking problems, memory issues, etc. not because someone is using a Western Digital instead of a Seagate.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

If your having so much of an issure, maybe you just need a pen and paper.
Seriously, I was in a near punch up over this very subject a while ago, at a seminar, an IT manager in a small company was complaining that he needed to have a watchdog timer to reset his Windows 2000 servers ever night, so they wouldn't hang thru the work day...I piped up and said if he needed to do that he shouldn't be the IT manager....woops...(takes a step back and clenches his fist as his face turns red).
In the large organisation we I work in, (30K desktops) Windows problems are rare, with helpdesk calls approx 1 per user per month, and the vast majority are not Windows issues, but accounts locked on UNIX systems etc.
The Windows issues we see most are related to 3rd party add ons. Especially the user who loads up the cracked copy of "Super-App-1" and wonders why they have problems...
There is a place for Linux and MAC, but anybody who sits back and smiles because their Linux box with Firefox is secure "just because it is" obvoiusly does not subscribe to Auscert or other security bulletins. Just because it is not Windows does not make it secure.
Windows made the mistake early on of making it easy enough for a monkey to load, and now there are a lot of peanut shells in keyboards around the world.
Oh and Microsoft support?, never a problem with them...

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

i think 9/10 of all operating sytems in the world are windows systems.
the stats speak for themselves.computers are forever challenging which is what makes them so much fun.live with it man!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Why the hell are you thinking about going to mac? Sure they are more stable then MS Windows but what about the upgrade options you just can not open the mac at all and just upgrade it is impossible. If any thing go to Linux and keep the IBM Campatible PC!!!!!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Linux is supposed to be a better system so I am trying that out. All microsoft seem to want you to do is upgrade all the time so you pay them more money. I hate the configiration of windos xp professional as you can't do anything "complicated"

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

This is why I have my xp pro with sp2 and latest updates slipstreamed and then I took all the files I don't need out of xp I now have a 279MG XP PRO with sp2+updates :)

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Go to Longhorn next year

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I have been using windows since win 3.1 (On 8? Floppies) and started on an 80mHz cpu. I now have 3 pc's in order 3.0, 1.8 and 500 mHz all networked together with two running win xp home and one 98se. I do have problems but only usually due to bad installs of dodgy programs, children not understanding what they are doing and late nights. However I keep my systems working 99% of the time by performing maintenance. I use AVG av, Zonealarm Free firewall and MS Antispyware on all systems and regularly update all components. I think that most problems are caused by human error and not the software. Scandisk, Defrag, Update and understand more about what you are doing to your PC and I think Windows will give you no problems. And yes I do play games heaps and I have two Dell's (Excellent machines!) and I also built my last PC from the cpu up. My 3.0 mHz system works a treat and most of my knowledge was gained from PCUSER Magazine.
Hope this helps.

re: sick of Windows?... Izlude

Izlude could you explain what you mean by lot numbers please. I guess you are talking about mixing and matching parts that are compatable with each other to create a healthy and stable system, But how do you find out which peices of hardware are not only compatable with each other but recomended by the manufacturer. I have checked online and in mags but not many mfg. of hardware list these things unless there is a known risk of catastrophic failure or regular conflicts [ie DDR 400 RAM when it first came out].
So My overall question is how do I go about finding out the important compatability facts regarding creating my next system or upgrading my system.
Thanks,

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Maybe I am lucky, have had xp home for 3 years now. Not one problem, even installed a bigger hard disk and reinstalled windows on it.

Just as good as new.
Maybe you wingers just don't know how to use windows. ?????

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

the only problem I.ve had with xp is if I install media player 10, it seems to clashwith nero dvd burning soft ware ,I now stick with default
media player 9 and no problems.
Crashes are rare and I find xp pro very reliable.

regards

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

>>Wasn't it Malcolm Fraser who once said that life wasn't meant to be easy?

George Bernard Shaw actually:

"Life wasn't meant to be easy, my child, but take courage, for it can be delightful"

Nevertheless, perhaps this unintentionally refers to life with MS Windows? :-)

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Some people seem to have luck with Windows, others not.

I seem to have luck. Perhaps you do not.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Steven's installation had only one flaw to it.
He rang Microsoft to activate his installation, after he had installed it.
He should have rung before and explain that he had done an upgrade.
And quote the code-number of the cd's center, to get a new one to re-activate his XP.
Maybe he still would have had to wait 45 minutes, to get through, anyway.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Instability... tsk tsk... did you buy an already made PC or did you build it yourself? The problem with already built, ie dell, gateway etc... is that they're put together wrong! Most people who make their own PC also put it together wrong. You can't just buy a motherboard you favor and then any video card and etc... the reason computers become unstable is because their configuration is off! Windows has a preference of configurations! Each motherboard, cpu, video card, sound cart and network card has a "lot number" if these lot numbers do not coincide ( To agree exactly, as in opinion; concur) then guess what? CRASH, BSOD, INSTABILITY occurs! About 80% of the people out there do not know this! In a BSOD, there are specific numbers that appear. These numbers are actually telling you whats wrong. The most common problem is using the wrong memory modules on a motherboard. Just because it says DDR400 supported, doesn't mean "ANY" stick will work. Most computers "HATE" GEIL memory, even more so than "Buffalo" (a generic brand) Windows programs will be affected by this off configuration. Here's an example of a perfect system! I've had it for 2 years and not a single crash! Mind you, XP did work for me for the first 5 months, but I got hold of WIN2K3 somehow and installed that as a means of testing... testing... right... here's my setup:

AX4C MAX Canterwood chipset motherboard. (AOPEN)

P4 2.8C (northwood)

ATI Radeon 9200 (Planning to upgrade to Aeolus 6600, a compatable video card with this board's lot number)

Onboard sound of course

Netgear LAN card

Maxtor Drive (maxtor is favored by this motherboard, even though it supports WD raptor for raid setup, maxtor drives just are more prefered on here)

QualityRAMs 512 PC4000 (1 stick)

any CD drive works, using a memorex 52x

This is a perfect configuration I have. It's dated from 2004 to 2005. I am planning an upgrade soon, and will be careful about which motherboard is compatable with the other pards. I'm sticking with AOPEN because it's more stable than ASUS and EPOX, but not as fast. We call these AOPEN boards "rock solid" due to their reliability.

The reason we should stick with windows (most of us) is because a lot of the software we use, especially games, are only compatable with windows. I can't run IL2 on a mac. They'll never offer mac support for that great line of games! Windows can be a great thing, really great! But you gotta know what you're doing! Media player becoming unstable was probably caused by software conflicts, a bad drive, or even crosslinked status. Good luck in the future. I advise you "not" to buy a dell! Stay as far away from them as possible!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Listen, I can only stick with windows because I do not have teh appropriate resources to multi-boots other oses i.e. Lack of hard drive space.

Now for the tricky bit, Showing how you can utilise Windows, Linux, and Mac for your activities.

Windows: If Apple copyrighted their software years ago, Microsoft would not exist and Bill Gates would be broke ('sulk!' 'sulk!'). Windows seems to be the all rounder in my vote, but Windows has the support for heavy gamers and Video enthusiasts e.g. Linux does not support DV editing unlike PC and Mac; but, if you love gaming, it's windows all the way.

Linux: Now Linux is a capable OS, but it really only supports Office type work. Games are a no go zone for Linux and the same with DV editing, but if you own a PC only for buisness apps, Linux gete the wrap.

Mac OS: The problem with Apple Computers is that the iPod is the only popular thing on the list. Mac OS does support DV editing, but i find gaming fairly limited, but there is less support for Linux anyway. Microsoft has developed many Windows Programs for the Mac like Office for Mac, Virtual PC for Mac etc. As i said, i have no choice in what OS i can run at the moment, but the only reason i wanted to use Windows is that i had many things that a Mac/Linux system can't do; but if you do have the choice, the Mac is a great choice when it comes to Oses because it's got everything you need, and Microsoft makes version's of their Windows programs for Mac, but if you intend of connecting it to the net and on a network; please unless nessecary, Don't full stop. And shame on Apple as well, because their recent Oses should be able to support other hardware, and should have been distributed on installation CD's for the general Public, because the Mac system is versitile, but you just can't go by without distributing OS CD's of Mac OSes. Windows and even Linux (there are also downloadable ISO files which you can burn to CD) does it, why can't apple do it.

Do this, buy a Mac PC, buy an installation disk for XP, and downlad Linux, buy Virtual PC for Mac and everything you need, install Linux and XP on a virtual PC and follow suit. Enjoy your system where best possible.

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

yes its true that microsoft has more software written for it (over 30000! programs!) but how many programs do you actally think your gona use or need.
go the mac ,its better

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Make the switch, If more people did then there would be more software available for Macs and Linux, sure Windows based sofware doninates the market, but thats only because


the majority of people stick with Microcrap that software developers continue to "only: make windows software.

Shell change

i call for a microsoft total shell change. the standard taskbar, title and menu bar config is getting boring, although MS did make a good attempt with xp. i am seriously considering bying a mac g5 notebook :-)

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

I have two computers and both are running XP since its release with no problems. Activation is easy and Microsoft answered the phone after tw minutes in a que to activate Office XP on a new hard drive (third activation).

WINDOWS 98 SE LOCK UP

MOST LOCKUP PROBLEMS ON SHUT DOWN CAN BE PREVENTED BY GOING TO THE ICONS NEAR THE CLOCK AND RIGHT CLICKING EACH ONE ,AND THEN CLOSING EACH ONE DOWN(JUST ANSWER THE QUESTIONS ).THEY WILL COME BACK ON RESTART.

someguy's opinion

I have nver had one problem with WinXP. I had it pre-installed on my computer when i got it nearly two years ago and haven't had a problem since, i install stuff, play games and everything. I do agree with you that Microsft has gone a bit far with all this activation crap. But anyway, what can you do. I defently prefer Windows over mac. macs just don't compare to Windows, software, games, hardware. I think they crash more than Windows!

Thats my opinion

Finally!

I have been waiting for this discussion. I am a student who is looking for a new laptop soon and I have always used wintels and I want to switch. The ONLY sticking point is the fact that Microsoft have you over a barrel when it comes to the real world, as they have infiltrated the intire world with their dodgy stuff. If i switch to mac i will still be bound to the inferior product due to the stupid choices made by the generation before.


Prehaps PCUser could feature more mac/apple products in the mag. They are obviously not getting kickbacks from microsoft like some mags, because there are advertisments and the odd review.


Even if you ask apple to send you in stuff to match your top 5 PCs and that.


Also, PLEASE have more laptop reviews and definatly include the new G4 14" 1Ghz iBooks.

Unqualified

How unqualified are most of the people to respond to this. I see some claim Linux & Apple are stable and have no viruses - can't have ever owned one if that's what they think.


If you produced a product as buggy as Windows (don';t get me wrong I use it all the time and like it) then in the normal retail world there would be massive recalls.


Microsoft needs to be held accountable for faulty software. Even without third party software and running standard configurations Windows will fail on a regular basis. After all, the thousand of hours that they have spent on their system is mostly spent trying to understand the ideas and inventions of others and convert it to Windows.


Microsoft never had an original idea they steal interlectual property and claim it's their own OR pay out after they are caught. If Any other business did this the owners would end up in court or jail. So why not microsoft? Big money big connections = power to heap on the unsuspecting public inferiour products.

What if?

Having worked for an IBM Dealership that was also attatched to an Apple Centre, I wonder what the computer world would be like if Apple had licensed its technology all thos years ago. I am a PC User Win2K but the mac is still inherrantly more stable and better for some things than a PC. If it weren't for the dependance on Microsoft we may be all mac users now

Stick

I grew up on a windows based system, and I wouldn't change. My dad has a G4 Mac and I can't stand it. But maybe that's because I am used to windows.

I look at it logically.


There are way more games/software available for windows than a mac.

A PC is also a hell of a lot cheaper than the new G5. My dad is looking at getting a G5 and I am trying to talk him out of it. Yes it is the most powerful home computer in the world, but do you really need ALL that power??? I can build my own PC for under half the price of a G5 and it will handle most of the stuff I throw at it.

Also, my dad's G4 broke and the fixer said it was the video card and was $800 to replace. This is on a computer that is over 3 years old. I would doubt that the whole computer was worth $800. I have been looking on ebay for a replacement, but they are still towards the $500 mark. NOT WORTH IT!!!...I might use it as a boat anchor when i go fishing on saturday

My suggestion: Stick with windows!!!! you'll be better off in the long run.

Change

my pc is running Microsuck Winblows XP , no its not mistyped


I wish i could afford to replace it with an apple

Appreciate

Stop whingeing!You are obviously not a qualified techie.If you had to work on and with Win'95,98andM.E you might appeciate what you have!


I must be lucky according to you,Microsoft answered the phone immediately,and to date,the only problems with XP can be traced back to third party software!As for media player,what happens for this software to "become" unstable?Try "tools">"options",untick "download codecs automatically".


Ken England,A+,N+,M.C.P

Best yet

I'm sorry but i think XP is the best thing yet, it's just you need to know a little bit about it before you load it from scratch. Have you got the right drivers, is your anti-virus and firewall on the machine and Updated before you log onto Windows Update (If you logon through Norton Live Update for instance, you are as safe as it gets before all updates are installed anyway.) and install all updates needed from Microsoft. Check all The software you are loading works on XP, Check The Net for Forums or Reviews on software to see if it's OK.


I have had XP Home since it hit the shelves, yes it has had it's bug's like anything but Microsoft have tryed very hard to make it the best they have done yet and it's close (If it Wasn't for all the W&#K*RS trying to ruin it for Honest people with their viruses and crap) to it. I'm in No Way Sick of Windows, I'm Sick of Distructive Idiot's With nothing better to do but prove to the world what Losers they Are!

Games

Windows may be annoying at times but I still prefer it over the Mac OS. Why? Because games take up part of my life and most of them only work under windows.

Macspensive

Well Mac is the answer but you have to pay extra and be saisfied with a much less software available at a reasonable price. It is the range of software that stops me dropping Windoze in a flash, so I have tp put up with a flakey OS. XP is the best so far but still not perfect. Maybe if it was optimised and not so bulky it would eb a lot better.

Dumpit

dump windows

Unstoppable

The problem with Windows is its greatest asset, its dominance.


When it comes to alternatives there are few.


No matter how much Linux gurus talk it up its still no alternative to Windows (Loading RPM are a nightmare!) and for all the hype, Apple has no where near the program support of Windows.


When it comes to OS you really have no choice.

Both

Here's what I do:

I dual-boot Gentoo Linux and Windows XP, with a data partition shared between the two. (Easiest method: stick another hard drive into your PC, set aside a 10gb data partition formatted Fat32 and use the rest of that drive for linux. Then tell Win XP to use the 10gb partition as your 'My Documents' folder.) A 40gb drive is less than $100 now, but I recommend 80gb.

Next, install Open Office and Mozilla Firebird on XP and stop using Internet Explorer and MS Office. The browser swap is easy, the Office swap depends how complex your existing files are.

When you boot Linux, make sure you have OpenOffice and Firebird installed. Point OO to the 10gb shared partition, to the same folder you use under XP. Now you can open and edit docs in XP or Linux.

You can import your Windows bookmarks into Linux Firebird - mount drive C read only, and you'll find a 'bookmarks.html' inside C:\Windows\Application Data\ (It'll be inside a subfolder, but you can search for it.) Since Windows Firebird will have automatically imported IE favourites when you first ran it, this will bring the same favourites into Linux Firebird.

Email is trickier. I wrote my own mail client (yMail - www.spacejock.com) which runs under Windows and/or Wine (Linux). I've set it up so that my inbox is sitting on the shared partition, so either copy of yMail (in XP or Linux) reads and writes to the same message store.

When buying hardware, tell the person at the store you will be using the item with Linux, ask if they can confirm it works, ask if you can return it if it doesn't. (Use the net before you go shopping, or while shopping if they'll let you - e.g. I needed a USB to Parallel cable, and Harvey Norman had a Belkin model. They let me use Google in-store to confirm it worked, and I walked out a happy shopper.) As a side-note, the salesperson commented that many people had been asking about Linux lately.

Watching DVDs - better under linux (no region encoding to worry about)

Email - no viruses under linux

Web browsing - no browser holes letting other people mess your computer up.

Gaming - I'm a flight sim enthusiast, and have purchased the last 6 or 7 Microsoft flight sims in a row. 2004 runs like a dog on my P4-2.26ghz machine (TI4200 video card, 1024x768 res, 1gb ram) Flightgear is an open-source simulator for Windows and Linux, and it's fast and very realistic. Quite a few other games available, and I use WineX with several of my fave Windows games.

Video Editing - stick to XP, the apps aren't there yet for Linux

Art - I'm a Corel Draw nut, been using it for almost 2 decades. Hard for me to use anything else. Gimp looks interesting, Scribus looks good.

I'd like to see more 'how to wean yourself off Windows' articles in the magazine. A $100 investment in a new hard drive is a whole lot less than $200+ on Windows XP.

Options

Is it worth the hassel..... Yes and No.


If you want to have compatibility with the general public then I believe that you need to stick to windows. LindowsOS is a good choice also as it gives you windows style interface on a Linux based OS.


I have had to call Microsoft on 3 seperate occasions to activate different versions of XP and have never waited longer than 10 minutes (maybe just lucky)

Anyway all in all there are options out there for the PC other than Windows. If you do go MAC there is always virtual PC. I have heard that Windows 2000 runs better on a MAC under virtual PC than it does on a PC box.

Riddle

Three words....

Microsoft... Evil inside!

re: Am I the only person who's sick of Windows?

Hi Steven,


You can have "the best of both worlds" by having both Windows (e.g. Win XP) and Linux (e.g. Mandrake) on the same machine, preferably on two hard drives, and then dual-boot. Linux installs a bootloader, enabling you to choose either operating system on startup.


"The sum total of the frustrations is a constant", but it is great fun to use both systems, at least at present.


Cheers


Eric

Both

Hi Steven,


You can have "the best of both worlds" by having both Windows (e.g. Win XP) and Linux (e.g. Mandrake) on the same machine, preferably on two hard drives, and then dual-boot. Linux installs a bootloader, enabling you to choose either operating system on startup.


"The sum total of the frustrations is a constant", but it is great fun to use both systems, at least at present.


Cheers


Eric

Notsobad

Overall I think Windows is actually getting better. I use XP Pro as well as Mandrake 9.2 and they both have their strong points and their week ones. However compared with previous flavours of Windows I think microsoft is generally on the right track.

Ask Tammy

Malcom Frazer probably never used windows lol

Nothing wrong

Im sick and tired of people bagging windows all the time. Lets see YOU program Windows and then let hundreds millions of people mess around with it and see what happens, not to mention the companies who produce dogdy drivers and programs. You cant expect them to find all the bugs before release due to the millions of configurations out there. The only reason Linux and Aplle computers are so much more stable is because no one produces viruses and backdoors because of the small user base! And because there arent as many programs or hardware for them. I'd never change, for one I'm a gamer and it'd be a waste of time trying to get all my games to work in Linux. Linux will never catch on either until big companies start OEMing it on their PC's. It'll only ever be for power users. The average user doesnt want to forgo productivity and conviniance for something else just because its a little more stable. As for the Product activation thing yes it is a pain but lets see what you do when thousands of people around the world install inlegal copies of your stuff. No one listens to the OEM thing with their old copies of windows. Microsoft does have a right to protect which it has spent thousands of man hours on creating.


So lay off WINDOWS!

Stable manure

persevere with Windows???


only 'coz we have to!


unstable (even in XP form) as your reader shows, a pain to install and Activation, well, why should we?


Why go through the hassle, when you know you are going to have to do it again?


If only OS software had improved at the same rate as hardware, since the introduction of the PC!!


Geez, even OS2 was more stable than XP... and just remember, they run US defence systems on Windows (so be scared, very scared)

Activate okay

Due to my fiddleing around with my computer and upgrading i have had to ring to activate 3 times. All 3 times i was finished within 10 mins. Maybe you just got a bad time of day to ring. As to instability i have found all of them to be caused by user error and dodgy games or other software. As to Mac go for it but be aware there is only a limited amount of software out there that supports Mac and not a big variety of games. Good for education. Maybe this is what you need. As to being sick of windows i say NO. am still learning all the bits and pieces that make it tick. And besides if not for windows you would still be using DOS. EEEEKKK.

Still the way

Windows is the perfect operating system for beginners and intermediate users. Windows is compatible with all software, where as the Mac until not recently had difficulties in finding ALL programs to be compatible with it.The new operating system that Microsoft will be releasing in 2006 named Longhorn is suggested to be the best operating system microsoft ever created. It has fixed many bugs/issues which have been discovered by users now and in previous years.