BEST os?

[Mr ABIT]

as it says .. im running win2k sp2 right now .. never had any probs.. is xp any better performance wise.. heard all this talk about xp is supposed to "order' ur hd or something so it can load programs u use more faster or sumthing...

[KingJackal]

If you have 2k, don't bother upgrading. Though 2k and XP may look very different, they're almost identical 'under the hood'.

XP has a lot of wizards and the like which may your life a lot easier, but at the end of the day any performance feature you can use in XP, you can use in 2k.

*is amazed he beat Whetu to it*
:eek: :D

[SilverPriest]

Bah, win2k with SP2 is perfect for my needs.
It doesnt look all queer like xp, nor has stupid crap i dont need, like xp.
Plus, i cant afford xp :p
win2k runs all me games fine
Different strokes for different folks i say.
Some luv lunix, some love 98se, some luv 2k, some luv xp.
some freaks love macos
go figure

[CmdrChris]

2k is great,

xp is good with some bonus extras, mainly it having extra candy for your eyes.

Other than that its the same as 2k, but I found that XP runs a little slower and slightly less reliable than 2k.

I had huge CDROM/DVD problems (under XP) wouldnt read any of my CDR'd disks under XP in either my burner or my DVD. No idea why but a quick ghost image repair and I was back running 2k.

[Agent666]

XP all the way baby......... you guys are so last century....... 2000 pfftt

[GriffiN]

haha Agent. :D

Naw, stick with w2k man - i really like XP - makes networking easy. But there's not really any reason to upgrade if yer having no probs - wait until you get it second hand or something :)

[whetu]

Originally posted by KingJackal
XP has a lot of wizards and the like which may your life a lot easier, but at the end of the day any performance feature you can use in XP, you can use in 2k.

*is amazed he beat Whetu to it*
:eek: :D

1) xp's wizards also help to make you feel STUPID
2) of course you beat me... youre a bigger forum whore than i am.. but you'll have stiff competition from roman...

[whetu]

and perhaps you can take some advice from somethingawful

...While us Windows / Outlook chumps sit here and delete spoofed Klez worms all day like a crazed duck pecking at, uh, a piece of bread that looks like the "delete" key, the Mac and Linux weirdos are undoubtedly sitting comfortably in their very, very, very large load-balancing chairs and proclaiming their OS's superiority to Microsoft Windows. That's all fine and good by me, however I'd like to point out one little fact: neither Mac or Linux can run MS Paint. Point, match, and checkmate, inferior operating systems!...

...MICROSOFT OUTLOOK ENGINEER #1: "Hey, what do you want to do today?"
MICROSOFT OUTLOOK ENGINEER #2: "I don't know, what do you want to do today?"
MICROSOFT OUTLOOK ENGINEER #1: "It doesn't matter to me, it's up to you."
MICROSOFT OUTLOOK ENGINEER #2: "Let's play Everquest."
(Four hours later)
MICROSOFT OUTLOOK ENGINEER #1: "Let's get lunch."

As you can tell, the programming team is sharpening up their coding skills and it's only a matter of minutes or perhaps decades before Windows ships with a secure email program. However, none of this really matters to me at this point, especially since I have about as much faith in Microsoft as I do in unbiased reporting from Slashdot.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

/me votes 2k
'nuff said

[Humantuckshop]

Originally posted by SilverPriest
Bah, win2k with SP2 is perfect for my needs.



What about SP3 - SP?

[DARKSTAR]

2K all the way, makes win 98 look like a toy.

[SilverPriest]

I wasnt aware that an official third service pack was out....
Damned if im installing some beta one...

[swiftynz]

win2k sp3 isn't out yet, but i'm waiting on it...

*goes to check www.windows2000.com*

win2k sp2 ro><0rz and sh*ts on xp....

[Deviant]

There have been very few problems IMO with XP, most of which will be sorted out with SP1. If you don't like all the thrills, then you can turn them all off and make it look just like 2k. XP is the best of both worlds.

+its got some neat features like compatibility mode, where you can select to run certain older programs in Win95, Win98 or Win2k mode. Lets see 2k try that!!

[Binky Stunt Cat]

it does.
maybe we should ave a poll on this....

[GooGlo]

Lets be honest peoples, XP was just a giant big bloated patch to 2K. There is nothing windows 2k does that XP does better apart from user friendleness. If your posting in here that shouldnt be to much of an issue ;) Stability is the same, XP CAN look better, but hey who really cares that much about looks to go out and spend $400 on an operating system. Speed wise 2k is better.

[whetu]

Originally posted by Deviant
+its got some neat features like compatibility mode, where you can select to run certain older programs in Win95, Win98 or Win2k mode. Lets see 2k try that!!

lol binky 0wns j00... funnier still, such a tool was available for NT4... it was on the resource kit and its called "appcompat.exe" so youre praising the lord for something thats quite old ;)

[AcurA]

win2k vote :D

[varkk]

I'm going out on my own here and put in a vote for Linux, although without naming a distribution it is as helpful as someone saying they like Windows.

Actually I currently use RH7.1(with KDE2) and Win98SE in a dual boot system, RH for work type stuff and WIN98 for gaming, but that may change if I can get WINE setup and running happily.

[whetu]

ok

*for my own "workstation" - 2k
*for people who arent as computer saavy - xp with a runthrough of atomicxp
*for my server - NT4
*for my gateway - smoothwall (guess wot...its teh LUNIX)
*for my secondary box - mandrake8.2...once i get my discs back from haytona

and i like them all for different reasons... but yeah you can say i'm an NT whore... i hate 9x with avengence

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by GooGlo
Lets be honest peoples, XP was just a giant big bloated patch to 2K. There is nothing windows 2k does that XP does better apart from user friendleness. If your posting in here that shouldnt be to much of an issue ;) Stability is the same, XP CAN look better, but hey who really cares that much about looks to go out and spend $400 on an operating system. Speed wise 2k is better.

User friendlyness is TOTALLY unimportant.

We don't need wizards, or hand holding. For example, you could set up a multi OS home LAN using your own 'nix network code in NO TIME, aye??

Even 2k is holding your hand. We 1337 [H]4><0rz far prefer NT4. We can still do everything - we just may need to write our own drivers/apps/etc. But given your post, the rest of you should know by now that that won't be a problem for 1337 guys like yourself and I.....

</SARCASM>
:rolleyes:

[Binky Stunt Cat]

would som nice person who knows most of the popular versions of Linux start a poll???
just so we can see whats prefered....

[TheChosen_1]

Vote for Win2k here as well, Installed Xp but got sick of its little bubbles coming up saying your low on disk space and what whetu said about the wizards that think your a dumbass:mad:

Win 2k rocks man I suggest staying with it:D

TheChosen_1

[Agent666]

but XP is blue............. go XP

[SerN]

I prefer Win2k as it's just as stable as XP and its not all user friendy like XP.
Who wants friendly messages poping up and saying "You have low HDD space" all the time? those sort of things annoy me.

[Antallica]

What I'd like to know is what's the best os in terms of oc'ing? I use XP Home but still perfer 98SE.

[SerN]

Originally posted by Antallica
What I'd like to know is what's the best os in terms of oc'ing? I use XP Home but still perfer 98SE.

I would say any OS using NT technology would be more stable than win9x when overclocked. I run a dual boot Win2k and Win ME, in the early days I had my CPU clocked at 1485Mhz which was fine under win2k but as soon as I used WinMe i got blue screens. If I were to downclock about 30Mhz less, WinME would run fine.
I guess if your CPU is not running stable under a certain OS like win9x its overclocked too far and you should downclock even if your gonna run NT.
But yea.. from my experience anyway NT can run more stable than win9x when overclocked heaps.

[Mr ABIT]

seems like 2k takes the cake:D :cool:

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by Mr ABIT
seems like 2k takes the cake:D :cool:
duh!
:D

i might try xp again after the first major update (whether it be sp1 or second edition). atm i'm hanging out for 2k sp3 cos win2k still isn't perfect...

[Deviant]

My total apologies for saying 2k didn't have a compatibility mode. I didn't use it for long, and never saw it, so I sand corrected.

But I do feel that all the geniesis out there who don't need the help me help me pop up baloons, and can't find how to turn them off, well they better stick with somethin more simple like 2k, ya rednecks.

I'm know I'm asking for trouble here, but what a contradiction, "I got sick of help me baloons, so I went back to 2k". I admire the people who just like a no frills version of windows, like 2k, and hope that we will see more MS OS'es like that.

[Humantuckshop]

Originally posted by Deviant
ya rednecks.





Hehe - I remember a PC game called Rednecks - it was a Duke Nukem style game and you could fire circular saw blades and you had the mandatory shotgun and sticks of dynamite.

Anyone else played this game?

[farns]

Yep :D I got redneck rampage2 its a fun as game, they should make a sequel, it should have been more popular

wohoo new forums!!!

[mird-OC]

Originally posted by Deviant
I admire the people who just like a no frills version of windows, like 2k, and hope that we will see more MS OS'es like that.
dude, it's not so much about "no frills" as it is about "no bullsh*t"... which XP is full of. why install XP and hack out all the crap when you could just install 2K and be done with it :)

[NNA2m]

Well, looks like I shouldn't bother shelling out for XP then...

[BloodDonor]

Originally posted by mird-OC

dude, it's not so much about "no frills" as it is about "no bullsh*t"... which XP is full of. why install XP and hack out all the crap when you could just install 2K and be done with it :)

XP isnt win 2k with a fancy gui, no matter how much people try to say it is

XP runs alot more games than 2k did... ;) and imho, XP pro is faster than 2k pro was... for me at least... :D

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by BloodDonor


XP isnt win 2k with a fancy gui, no matter how much people try to say it is

XP runs alot more games than 2k did... ;) and imho, XP pro is faster than 2k pro was... for me at least... :D
yea you're right, there is a LITTLE more to xp than 2k with frills but for most intents and purposes thats all it is. most games that runs on xp can be "convinced" to run on 2k but yea xp probably is better for older games designed for 9x.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

XP has wizards for everything...and usually seems to buypass the specific setting that i want to change.
That, the security loopholes, the attempt at being user friendly, and the intergration of such things as IE6, WMP8 MSN, yada yada yada, make me not want to use XP.

[Genesis]

I lub XP Pro - its got a classy look and feel to it and is easy as hell to use, any n00b can use it :D

[mird-OC]

hell even microsoft have admitted that the guts to XP is 2K, and that XP is a purely aesthetic upgrade... quite significant yes, but there are very few things that XP can do that 2K can't (infact i can count em on one hand).

[Binky Stunt Cat]

Originally posted by Genesis
I lub XP Pro - its got a classy look and feel to it and is easy as hell to use, any n00b can use it :D
yes, but we arent n00bs are we??

[Sydog]

XP is like 2k as 2k is to nt4.0. It is just an upgrade, M$ have totally ditched the dos based os's now as they have came to a point where nt based os's are better. I prefer XP to 2k as 2k is so very very very plain. Look at all the cool stuff you can do with it.

[Viper_NZ]

Originally posted by Sydog
XP is like 2k as 2k is to nt4.0. It is just an upgrade, M$ have totally ditched the dos based os's now as they have came to a point where nt based os's are better. I prefer XP to 2k as 2k is so very very very plain. Look at all the cool stuff you can do with it.

Actually that's wrong.

NT4 - NT4
Win2k - NT5
Winxp - NT5.1

Windows 2k was a complete code rewrite from the ground up. They threw out all the NT4 code after the NT5 beta.

[swiftynz]

well put viper.
Originally posted by Binky Stunt Cat

yes, but we arent n00bs are we??
exactly :cool:

thus making 2k a better OS for the general demographic in this forum, as can be seen in the poll. :)

[Joshsti_NZ]

Due to a *cough* serial mouse *cough* i couldnt run 2K, XP looks and feels good ... 98SE for me at the mo though .. :D

[mird-OC]

Originally posted by Viper_NZ


Actually that's wrong.

NT4 - NT4
Win2k - NT5
Winxp - NT5.1

Windows 2k was a complete code rewrite from the ground up. They threw out all the NT4 code after the NT5 beta.
isn't XP 5.01?

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by mird-OC

isn't XP 5.01?
i think it is actually 5.1 (gee gotta give it some credit :D) but either way the builds tell the same story. 2k sp2 is 2195, xp is 2600. i have absolutely no idea what NT4 is in build terms, but would it even be comparable since the kernel is essentially the same in 2k/xp but not nt4....

[Sydog]

Originally posted by Viper_NZ


Actually that's wrong.

NT4 - NT4
Win2k - NT5
Winxp - NT5.1

Windows 2k was a complete code rewrite from the ground up. They threw out all the NT4 code after the NT5 beta.

notice the NT in each of em. a jump from 4-5 would normally mean an upgrade, just cuz they restarted the code it's still using same principles, eg not a dos shell.

[Viper_NZ]

I'm not debating that a lot of the principles are similar. But Win2k was NOT just a minor change from WinNT4.

Just because they both don't run off DOS doesn't mean they're the same. Linux doesn't run off DOS???

I don't know if it's a good comparison.. But think along the lines of NT4 being a 1.x Linux kernel and Win2k being 2.x (with XP being a later 2.x).

Sort of the only way I can explain it in my sleep deprived state.

[whetu]

Originally posted by Sydog
M$ have totally ditched the dos based os's now as they have came to a point where nt based os's are better.
LOL the NT os's ALWAYS WERE better, they have come to a point where NT is better suited to the higher demands of mom and pop computers
I prefer XP to 2k as 2k is so very very very plain. Look at all the cool stuff you can do with it.
so when you jump on xp youre like a boy with new toys? this exact same debate came up after 2k was released, along the lines of

"on 98 i can get this third party app which can do exactly the same as that built in feature on 2k AH HA!!!1 I DONT NEED 2K!!!!!"

yeah.. if you consider BSOD a valuable OS feature *mutters*

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by whetu
yeah.. if you consider BSOD a valuable OS feature *mutters*
ah yes the BSOD, such a nice feature.

what was the file that added it called...

ah yes it was kernel32.dll :p

:D

[KingJackal]

I think the consensus is:

YOU should stick with 2k

...but for people on 9x I still think the best upgrade path is to XP. It may have only 3 new things - but IT'S THE SAME PRICE for crying out loud!! Those extra features are effectively FREE! How could you say no to that?

( and yes, I went from ME to XP :D )

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by KingJackal

but IT'S THE SAME PRICE for crying out loud!! Those extra features are effectively FREE! How could you say no to that?
thats only cos instead of lower the price of 2k when xp was released, good old M$ decided to leave it as it was and release xp at the same price... grrrr..... :confused:

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

Originally posted by swiftynz

thats only cos instead of lower the price of 2k when xp was released, good old M$ decided to leave it as it was and release xp at the same price... grrrr..... :confused:

Of course. Otherwise people would have just brought the cheaper 2k. I'm actually surprised 2k is still on the shelves. :D

[BloodDonor]

operating systems in future wont be great steps over previous OS's

just like anything else humans do

Walking: u wriggle on ground, u crawl, u walk while holding someones hands, u walk but fall over alot, and as the years go by you walk and dont even think about it

same With OS's

the major steps are pretty much done, its just little things that will now change, except events like 64bit CPU's for the general public... ;)

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by BloodDonor
operating systems in future wont be great steps over previous OS's

just like anything else humans do

Walking: u wriggle on ground, u crawl, u walk while holding someones hands, u walk but fall over alot, and as the years go by you walk and dont even think about it

same With OS's

the major steps are pretty much done, its just little things that will now change, except events like 64bit CPU's for the general public... ;)
i disagree. that's like saying that cpus are already powerful enough and moore's law is going no longer going to apply....

in the past we've had the move from console to gui based OS's, and theres no reason to believe that there wont be another major step in the future. i reckon the next significant leap is a LONG way off but theres no reason to assume it wont happen.

each to their own tho :D

[BloodDonor]

Originally posted by swiftynz

i disagree. that's like saying that cpus are already powerful enough and moore's law is going no longer going to apply....

in the past we've had the move from console to gui based OS's, and theres no reason to believe that there wont be another major step in the future. i reckon the next significant leap is a LONG way off but theres no reason to assume it wont happen.

each to their own tho :D

my point is that there major steps will be there, like crawling to walking while holding onto things.. i dont believe for a minute that all the major events in OS development have occured, however like the long path we humans take to walk, i think that were like in a stage where little things happen, and will for a while... events like 64bit CPU's will mean a major step

hell if uve seen 'blackcomb' ??? screenshots from MS its not much different in looks to XP, and i dare say theres not too much difference from XP in general OS stuff, just like XP aint too much diff from 2K in the core parts... however, they are different...

just like i dare say Redhat 7.3 isnt too much different from Redhat 7.2... sure some extra features, and extra this and that, and all sorts of little things are different, but in the end, its still mostly the same OS

:D

[Deviant]

I can't wait till I can plug myself directly into that 10 Terahertz port and link my mind directly with the CPU. Then I won't have to use that blasted keyboard thing, and the computer will do everything I am thinking. I want to live in the Matrix.

[swiftynz]

Originally posted by Deviant
I can't wait till I can plug myself directly into that 10 Terahertz port and link my mind directly with the CPU. Then I won't have to use that blasted keyboard thing, and the computer will do everything I am thinking. I want to live in the Matrix.
^^ lol BloodDonor thats the kinda thing that i was talking about.

the only revolution we have had so far in OS design (apart from the invention of the OS itself) is when MacOS and Windows came out with GUI's.

like deviant said the next revultion in OS design has to be when we can finally ditch the mouse and keyboard.

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Deviant
I can't wait till I can plug myself directly into that 10 Terahertz port and link my mind directly with the CPU. Then I won't have to use that blasted keyboard thing, and the computer will do everything I am thinking. I want to live in the Matrix.

'Plug in'? What will be 'plug'??

Computation will occur. It will be seemless. You will chat with the dude next door that's physically located in the LA area - but why would you need to 'plug in'? :D

Lol - to follow the analogy up a few posts.

Yeah - then we learn to run. Then we dream up a thing called a carriage ( WITH horses for now.... ) ;) ;)

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

... Then we'll look to the sky in the middle of the night and deside to ourselves that "that" looks like a good place for a round of golf... First we'll have to greate a game called golf though. :eek: :D

[mird-OC]

introducing an entirely new gaming system from Antenna Research:

. . . . eXistenZ . . . .
(little "e", capital "X", capital "Z")

... coming soon ...

[SilverPriest]

eXistenZ flat out kicked ass :D

[Binky Stunt Cat]

ummmmmmmm
anyone who's seen Invader Zim will get this.....
"Wassat?"

[DiSCLAiMER]

Personally I like either windows XP or windows 2000.

I came into computers kinda late, and have almost always been running a version of Windows NT. At the start this was Windows NT 4, although at the time my machine and other machines at the time were not really upto speed with running it efficiently. I also used to have a win95 and then a win98 machine, as around that time there was alot of stuff, mainly games that would not run under windows NT 4. I then moved from windows NT to windows 2000.

People that are proclaiming Windows 2000 is all they need, will they be saying the same thing when MS releases the next version of windows. Which will have some signfigient changes, including the addition of an SQL server based file system, which I rate as long over due. Of course, it is rumered that MS before the next big release will relase a service update to XP, similar to to how Windows 98 Second Edition was released. Are some people afraid of change, or have trouble adapting to change? Are you also the same people that stayed on 98 for ages, said "there is nothing wrong with 98", only to one day finally goto 2k and say "wholy crap this is heaps different and better!". Sorry if that came out wrong, but I'm don't know how to word what I'm thinking any other way.

There have been a few misconceptions posted earlier:

XP is NOT just a simply win2k with visual candy added. There are some interesting changes:

Fast User Switching & Remote Desktop: Both of these are implemented through using terminal service technology which first debuted with Windows NT4 Terminal Server Edition. Of course, it opperates a little different to Terminal Server, but it is the same underlying technlogy that enables both of these features. Both of these have their own merits. With remote desktop you can easily connect to another computer, and say help your aunty setup her mail connection once shes connected to the internet. You can also do as I do sometimes, connect to a computer back at work afterhours and continue working where you were. Fast User Switching helps in a family enviornement or where multiple people may want to use a computer. Sue can quickly go check her email in her own login, while not affecting the 3 excel documents that bob may be working on in his login at the time.

System Restore: This may seem unnecessary at this stage, until one day you install a driver/service/application that screws your computer, and after uninstalling you are unable to restore the system to a stable state. What am I going to tell my work if this happend, "oh sorry I can't do anything for a day until I fix my machine". Or what would happen if this happened on a work computer, you can't have an employee unproductive for a day becuase of a failure like this. System Restore would help with this, you would be able to go back to a checkpoint that existed before you installed the troubled software. Without it you would most likely reinstall the operating system and spend the day or so installing any other things you like, and customising it to your liking. I have personally used system restore two times through necessity, and have the same install of XP on my machine since I brought this computer over 6 months ago. No stability problems exist at all, and I heavily use this computer for development work.

Application Compatibility: Alot more applications/games work under Windows XP then Windows 2000/NT. Microsoft spent a great deal of time here, particuarly with widly used business applications that may have had problems, etc.

Task Based Approach: You may again not think this important, but this is important for people that may not be fluent when using computers:

- When you insert a CD/DVD it will look at the content type and display a list of appropirate actions. Of course this will not work all the time, as a disk may be a mix of things, but I'm sure it works for the most part. As an example, when you insert an Audio CD, it asks you if you want to play it, copy the songs to your computer, or copy the CD. I'm sure this would be extremely helpful to someone who is not familar with a computer. THe same goes for cameras etc where it may ask you if you want to copy photos off the camera, view them etc.

- When using windows explorer a list of tasks relating to the current object is displayed. Ie if you currently have a folder selected it allows you to easily rename, delete or email its contents.

There are other areas which I won't bother going into, but these include Reporing when applications crash, which gives the user a less indimiating error message, and optionally sends information to MS that could help them identify the error and correct it in the future. Driver signing etc which may help increase reliability through not allowing potentially unsafe drviers into the system, etc.

Someone also mentioned that Windows 2000 is a complete rewrite from NT4. This is not the case. Windows 2000 introdued alot of new ideas, particular in the server/networking area with the arrival of Active Directory, etc. A rewrite is sometimes the worst thing you can do in software development. Certain parts may have been rewritten, but i'm sure in reality most parts would have just been worked on, improved, added to, had smaller areas inside rewritten differently, or maybe adapted to work with new idaes/ways, etc.

As for linux, well I can't be bothered ranting on here at the moment, as to what I believe what the issues are with Linux at the moment. However linux does have its place, and is very good at some areas, I just would not place deskop there at the moment.

[Geek4Life]

XP is just a point upgrade from 2K, so they are essentially the same but with a couple of bug fixes (add ins) and some new features.

2K was not just a point up from NT, they changed from 4 to 5 so it had some major changes in the upgrade. It's like 95 was a major upgrade from 3.11, where as 98 was just a bugfix (addin) from 95.

[Sphyre]

2k

[Deviant]

Originally posted by Geek4Life
XP is just a point upgrade from 2K, so they are essentially the same but with a couple of bug fixes (add ins) and some new features.

2K was not just a point up from NT, they changed from 4 to 5 so it had some major changes in the upgrade. It's like 95 was a major upgrade from 3.11, where as 98 was just a bugfix (addin) from 95.

Then what was 98SE, and ME?

[Deviant]

I like what Disclaimer has written. He said alot of what I was thinking. Some of you are more advanced users than some, and don't need some of all the new stuff, but there are new people out there that do. In fact in everyone has to learn a new OS from scratch at some stage, and if they were all as un user friendly as 2K is, the MS would go down. XP caters for the new and the old, to try and say something different is naieve in my books.


To that end, if you like 2k and are happy with it, thats great, but I bet it's probably not the OS you learnt to use a computer on.

[SilverPriest]

My first OS was DR-DOS, not MS-DOS :cool:
well, PC OS @ least
That was cool :D
*sighs*
Nice, BS free OS
ah, those were the days

[swiftynz]

you obviously know what you are talking about disclaimer but i still disagree with you on many points.

first of all, i was an early adopter of win2k compared to most. i've been running it as my main OS since early y2k when i had a PII 350. i did NOT stick with 98se. admittedly i had some major problems at first, mostly with games and various proggies but that was to be expected since it was a new OS and i still had 98se installed just in case. thus i run against your generalisation of the people that stuck with 98se are also the people sticking with 2k now. i am quite happy to adopt a new OS but when i think the older one is better i dont see a reason to switch. i have tried XP. in fact i was running it for a good month or so but i prefer 2k.

for advanced users like us most of the new features in xp are either annoying or useless:

- asking us what we want to do when a cd is inserted. i like my OS to do what i tell it when i tell it, not stop and ask me what to do. this particular feature wouldn't be so bad since theres an option for it to remember and apply this everytime you insert the cd... only it doesn't work :rolleyes:
- popup balloons in the systray
- bundled software eg MSN
- task lists in folders
- driver rollback (just reboot to safe mode, unistall and reinstall)
- system restore (i have never needed it on an NT OS and it slows up your computer)
- fast user switching... uses lots of ram, runs as an extra service, and i'm the only person who uses my computer anyway.
- simple everything ('nuff said :p)
- driver signing... present in win2k. xp only goes that extra step further and tries to prevent you from installing unsigned drivers.... like the friggin NVIDIA DETONATORS FFS...

as for application compatibility, 2k and xp are so similar internally that any app designed for xp (unless it's a desktop util or other xp-specific app) will run on 2k. thus future software including games will run on 2k. admittedly xp is better for older software but i aint stuck in the past...

i know that xp is better for "Ma and Pa" and i would put xp over win2k on a computer for newbies unless it only had 128mb of ram or so. but in its current state, xp stays well away from my computer....

you're right when you say xp is not just 2k with visual candy BUT there have not been any real improvements in the core of the OS since 2k, so perhaps we weren't specific enough...

so in summation: i like 2k :D

[Geek4Life]

Originally posted by Deviant


Then what was 98SE, and ME?
More supposedly bugfixes and a couple of new features.

[BloodDonor]

Originally posted by swiftynz

^^ lol BloodDonor thats the kinda thing that i was talking about.

the only revolution we have had so far in OS design (apart from the invention of the OS itself) is when MacOS and Windows came out with GUI's.

like deviant said the next revultion in OS design has to be when we can finally ditch the mouse and keyboard.

yeah thatll be good, but till then, its baby steps with OS changes... and when we get that... OS changes each year will be small again... ;)

[Deviant]

Originally posted by Geek4Life

More supposedly bugfixes and a couple of new features.

And there I was thinking they called them service packs and updates. Those new features in 98SE like USB1.1 and System Restore in ME were figments of my imagination.

[Agent666]

the thing is everything EVERYONE *****es about in Xp can be DISABLED or CHANGED in one form or another........ so for all you 2k fanboys you now have no excuse but to upgrade ;)

[Viper_NZ]

Hehe.. DiSCLAiMER Your rants are even longer here than they are on MSN ;)

As for Win2k being good for games as long as Win2k is.. That's completely at Microsofts choice..

NT4 only has DX 3 (equiv of 5)...

What's to stop MS from not releasing later versions of DX for Win2k???

[KingJackal]

People that are proclaiming Windows 2000 is all they need, will they be saying the same thing when MS releases the next version of windows. Which will have some signfigient changes, including the addition of an SQL server based file system, which I rate as long over due.

YES!! Yeah - I'd fully rate that as a feature. It's about time we had the file control flexibility of 'nix. LOL, every time a start working in explorer I just wish I had the same powerfull possibilities that regular expressions give 'nix consoles.
*sighs* :(

Then what was 98SE, and ME?

Well, I'll explain ME anyway.

When MS first released Windows 2000, there was no ME. Well, not officially. MS wanted to realease 2000, and only support ONE code-base. Basically, they wanted to completely do away with legacy 16-bit DOS-based code and the Win 9x way of doing things.

2000 was their silver bullet. Home users would use it. Business users would use it. Server admins would use it. And it almost worked - but not quite. At the end of the day, home users just found it too big, too confusing, and too n00B unfriendly - and it turned out the silver bullet wasn't so shiny after all.

They released ME more as a 'OK - fine, HAVE your d@mn home OS' measure than a 'WOW! Look at this - we have made another revolution in home computing'.

Turns out they were close though. With XP they finally do only have ONE code-base :). And that means snappier fixes ( one bug-shooting team, not two ) and better support ( games only have to run on one code-base ).

Obviously it'll take a long time before all those 98/98SE/ME machines either die or upgrade, so that's still a ways off. But at least they've finally made it!

....the above also goes a long way to explaining the 'fruitiness' of XP, and the small step from 2k. ;)

[Chaos Archon]

For everthing exept gaming linux is my BEST os, for gaming i use 98se.

Unfourtunety even distros like Rh and Man they still come with all this crap i dont want, i'm about the migrate to gentoo, it sounds good.

[mird-OC]

yabba yabba yabba. this... could... go... on... forever. blah blah blah....

[Gh0s7 L3mUr]

Originally posted by mird-OC
yabba yabba yabba. this... could... go... on... forever. blah blah blah....

You get that feeling to :o

Anyone for BSD?? lol

[DiSCLAiMER]

lol... yea it could.. your just lucky there is no clear linux vs windows thread. You could have the joy of watching the many generally uninformed supporters of either camp make incorrect assmptions or comments about the other opearing system.

I'll just make it drag on some more (*hides*):

YES!! Yeah - I'd fully rate that as a feature. It's about time we had the file control flexibility of 'nix. LOL, every time a start working in explorer I just wish I had the same powerfull possibilities that regular expressions give 'nix consoles.
*sighs*

I wish there was more use of regular expressions, or if someone could come up with an easy interface so I don't need to always look at references/help (for the life of me I can't remember the syntax very well!). It would be cool to see it more widely used in applications, such as search tools inside applications, or in any application that allows you to edit text.

I like the idea of a database file system, as it solves alot of things that personally annoy me, and would allow some sort of consistiency/transparency towards dealing with "data". As an example take this bulletin board software (I'm going on an assumption on how it works, I could be wrong here, so don't flame me, but this is how the old one worked!):

- A user attaches a file to a message. That file is stored on the servers file system, and a link is kept in the software.

There are a few problems here, mainly there is no integrity here. If the message is deleted out of the bulletin board, then it makes no sence for the file to still be there. THe file should be deleted also. This if at the moment handled by the application, if someone were to just go into the db and delete the message there, the file would still remain on the hd. Same goes for the opposite way.

There is also no way to find out what references what, and and in what way. I.e, what is this file on my computer used by, what would happen if I were to delete it. In thery also, it becomes unimportant where the file is, it could be moved anywhere on the computer, or maybe onto a network and everything would still have valid rferences to it, and be able to use it.

Whoops, have strayed a *bit* off topic :P

With regard to win2k minus xp, as swiftynz puts it, and as I agree it is only a minor upgrade (as the version number indicates), and there is no real signfigient arhitectural changes between win2k and xp. I was more aiming at people who I have heard them say that the visual candy is the sole differance between the two (this includes people outside this forum).

For terms of "best os", I was thinking of the majority of computer users, and for the most part the majority of computer users are not technically literate. They use a computer maybe because it helps them with their job, or they want to say write emails to their daughter in england, I donno :P These people do not know, and I believe do not need to know the inner workings of a computer. They do not think in terms of specifc programs or technologys, they think in ideas such as "I want to write an email", "I want to look at this website", or say "I want to play music on my computer". The technology should try and adapt to how we work and think, rarther than us having to adapt to the technology. This is where the task-based approach helps. Take the example of a car, you do not need to know how it works, you just need to know how to drive it, how to use the interface and thats about it. Additions to the car over the years such as power steering and avs breaking have been done in such a way that does not require relearning or a different interface to using the car. Also with a car, when things go wrong people accept that you take the car to a mechanic, who knows alot more about cars than you, and will be able to hopefully get it working again. Of course, many "back yard" machanics exist that may work on their own cars instead.

I also agree with what you say in that we are not the "mom and pop" users, and thus have different expectations.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

I must say that i was one of the ones who turned to 2k late, being halfway thru last year. Once i installed it however, i soon figured out the tricks and such that the COSC students didnt (i'm a BioChemist) and have got intallation and customisation of it down pat.
WRT XP, while the colours are nice, my initial reaction was "where do i find...." that and the wizards, open raw ports, other security holes, yada yada yada.
Also the alleged spyware thats been included is enough to make me not want it.
I origonaly started with a dual SE/2k setup, but after getting bored with restarting to play games, i tried gaming in 2k, and it worked wonderfully. So i got rid of SE.
My ideal OS is one that, while being easy to use, is also no nonsense.
And yes, i do use XP, mainly on the Uni computers, and it just get annoying with all these extra features (yes i know they can be turned off, but if i only use the damn thing for 1-3 hrs a week i'm not gonna go thru the long and winding process of customising it when I probably dont have acess to most of the options anyway).
And surprisingly, i quite often get asked to help people who have XP with their computers.

So in conclusion, M$ wouldnt know User Friendly if they were sue'd over it.

and you can quote me on that one too :P

[swiftynz]

i'm glad we agree disclaimer :)
no more rants then... *looks at binkys post*

DOH! :rolleyes:

:p

[k14]

XP Pro

[theYANK]

Originally posted by k14
XP Pro
ditto. and btw i've got all the XP 'candy' sh*t turned off. So I'm basically running w2k.

[Artifice]

bring back amigados.
twas unstable as hell but after a while i couldnt figure out how to make it crash.

[Agent 86]

XP Pro here. I support Win2k every day at work so XP is a nice change. Besides that it's so perty. Also can you run sega rally 2 on win2k coz i can on XP and how about the NFS series.

[KingJackal]

Originally posted by Binky Stunt Cat
So in conclusion, M$ wouldnt know User Friendly if they were sue'd over it.

and you can quote me on that one too :P

That's not surprising. Imagine putting those same users on 2k.
*d@mnit, evil grin smiley would be real handy about now*

If they're having problems with 2k, trust me - it'd be worse with XP. And if you think MS OS's aren't easy to use, then find the n00Bist user you can, AND GIVE THEM A GNU/LINUX DISK, heheheheeeeheheeee
*yep, that evil grin smiley r0><0r3d*

It's amazing what MS and Apple have done for the usability of OS's. If it were up to us COSC's, we'd still all be using ( much more powerfull and flexible ) console windows :D :cool:

[Geek4Life]

*d@mnit, evil grin smiley would be real handy about now*
well you are a moderator, surely you can do something about the smilies.

[Binky Stunt Cat]

no, that requires being an admin......
i could have done something similar on another forum till some lil kiddie gamer thort he couldnt trust anyone else being an adim....kinda stealing the whole thing out from under the rest of us......oh well..

[Geek4Life]

Originally posted by Binky Stunt Cat
no, that requires being an admin......
i could have done something similar on another forum till some lil kiddie gamer thort he couldnt trust anyone else being an adim....kinda stealing the whole thing out from under the rest of us......oh well..
Well he'll still have a bit more chance than most of us sending off an email and saying "please put in an evil grin".

But yeah, being an admin would be good.

[theYANK]

LINDOWS!!!!!!!
www.lindows.com :D
Maybe they'll throw in a BSOD now and then so you don't get paranoid :eek: