Vista

[ChrisFilter]

You could run Gutsy, launch Crossover, put the CD and it will install. Once its installed selecting MS Word from the Gnome menu will make it run. (Can also run it from double-clicking a file)

Ah, fair enough. Can you run games like this yet?

Google, for one... (New employee get the option of Windows, Apple, or Ubuntu)

I imagine the majority choose PC, eventually. Though I get the point.

 

[jæd]

Ah, fair enough. Can you run games like this yet?

I think so, though I don't play games using PCs so I don't know how successful they are...

I imagine the majority choose PC, eventually. Though I get the point.

I think the answer was that the majority, given the choice, opted for the Mac laptop. (Though I could be wrong as this is based on a conversation with a mate who works for Google in a pub...)

 

[stdPikachu]

Popped the Vista-ridden hard drive that originally came with my laptop back in t'other day. Installed all the latest updates, etc.

Still can't say I'm impressed - explorer is a huge step back from the interface used in XP (yes, even when in "classic" mode) which, IMHO was itself a step back from explorer in w2k.

Bugbears in point:

• Why do the little boxes with a + in them, used for expanding folders in tree view, vanish when you mouse-out? It's distracting and pointless, and if you're working in another window and looking at explorer, it's nearly impossible to figure out what is the child node of what. It doesn't make the interface any less cluttered, and the + boxes don't line up with one another properly anyway. Looks terrible. The one in XP lines up nicely. Why the big step backwards?
• "Apply to all folders" doesn't work for "computer" and "desktop" views
• Fucking task pane. How do I get rid of it? Alternatively, how do I stop it pinging to the bottom of the screen and losing my tree view when I accidentally click it?
• Breadcrumb bar implenentation = teh suck. How do I switch it between breadcrumb and path views at a pinch like in Dolphin?
• Don't get me started on the "save" dialogue box - it's so awful as to make the one that ships with GNOME almost usable. Why is "browse fodlers" at the bottom when the actual folder breadcrumb bar is at the top?
• Backspace to go up a directory doesn't work in breadcrumb mode
• Once expanded, the save dialogue turns into a clutterfuck of poorly aligned buttons

As the shell for the worlds' biggest software company's flagship OS, it's inexcusable. Slowness I can live with - crappy interfaces make we want to kill things.

 

[ChrisFilter]

[*]Breadcrumb bar implenentation = teh suck. How do I switch it between breadcrumb and path views at a pinch like in Dolphin?
[*]Backspace to go up a directory doesn't work in breadcrumb mode

[/LIST]

Not sure what you mean on the other points, 'cos I haven't noticed them, but with regard to the two above.

To get into path view, just click at the beginning or any part of the bar without text in.

Backspace works for me.

As for the plus thing.. the arrows look fine to me.

I suppose it's all a matter of use and taste.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

dude i remember people saying it, they might be wrong(in fact that was my point) but loads of eople were saying xp was a bit crap when it first came out.

Ignoring the plug and play(which didn't really work properly for a while) and the better wizzards and more usful control panel and stuff. Seems to me peeps are doing the same with vista.

dave

they did say it beacause it's true; xp was a pos when it came out it took til sp1 (see the levels of simiarlities) for it work propperly and until sp2 for them to sort out some fundamental security issues

so the same is likely to be true of vista will be a pos til sp1 will be functioning after this but will be much better by sp2.

better wizzards aren't what make an OS they are mickey mouse features and the control panel hasn't really altered between 95 and vista so the more useful control panel isn't really a factor other than neater prettier icons and more obviously accessable feature sets.


people are doign the same because M$ are doing the same releasing summit before it's ready and then expecting users and software devs to pick up the slack...

don't forget that this is the company who refused to accept for some time that there was anything wrong with IE6 or that it posed any kind of security risk to a machine.... and when they released the fix it didn't take into account that literally millions of websites had to recode themselves in order to accomidate their problems with their shitty browser.

 

[GarfieldLeChat]

Still can't say I'm impressed - explorer is a huge step back from the interface used in XP (yes, even when in "classic" mode) which, IMHO was itself a step back from explorer in w2k.

you can get a patch from auto patcher which returns the explorer to win2k look and function although auto patcher is down atm due to M$ being twats they'll release a new version soon...

 

[sojourner]

You've clearly missed the point then.

In summary:

Microsoft are utter cunts, the release of Vista made life very difficult for smaller developers in an already competitive marketplace, the whole launch was shoddy and they probably should have waited another six months. But: that's life, it's not going to change, the developers need to sink or swim. Microsoft being Microsoft is no excuse for not updating you programs when you've had fucking ages to do it, Microsoft have been like this since the word go.

last word

 

[stdPikachu]

Backspace works for me.

In the save file dialogue too? Not 'ere it didn't.

Arrows are fine, but when you switch to classic view it reverts back to using the tried and tested + boxes which don't line up like the arrows do (due, IMHO, to the fact that the placeholder for the arrow must change orientation as a non-uniform shape rotates, and the + boxes have been made to use the same placeholder - hence the square + box is rotated off-axis and you end up with not-nicely-lined-up + boxes).

you can get a patch from auto patcher which returns the explorer to win2k look and function although auto patcher is down atm due to M$ being twats they'll release a new version soon...

Meh, I only put the Vista drive back in to see if it had improved any since I originally took it out, I don't plan on using it for any other purpose than rampant derision . Been happy with Kubuntu on the laptop since I got it.

I'm not talking about WINE a few years ago. I'm talking about Crossover *now*.

Even if you were talking about plain jane WINE now, it certainly bowled me over how much it's progressed in the few short years since I first started using it. Don't even have to boot into windows to play classics like Half Life and Deus Ex any more now.</digression>

The whole "compete with MS" thing is a complete fallacy though; Linux can't in the current climate because the deck has been stacked against it. If we observe the arguments from people like ChrisFilter, Linux becomes a contender when it'll run all windows programs (using office as the example) flawlessly, as well as all of the usual Linux stuff. Since operating MS programs flawlessly means, essentially, re-writing every windows API (including the secret, undocumented ones) for Linux. This is such a colossaly complicated task even if we don't consider new API's being developed that I doubt it can ever be achieved. This is why the open source community tries very, very hard to introduce things that'll level the playing field somewhat - e.g. widespread adoption of the ODF standard so that office apps can live or die on their own merits, rather than wasting developer time reverse-engineering MS's continually mercurial office file formats.</digression style=bigger>