Posts by Andy Enderby

Microsoft promises less-annoying Vista OS early next year

@James

It may just be that the person that ordered her lappie (her son I believe) couldn't find the option to order XP, or that it wasn't offered on her particular product. I don't know what the exact circumstances were. Either way she didn't order with XP.

Whilst she's certainly no techie, she isn't unfamiliar with previous editions of Windows, and as a returning user her overwhelming opinion is that practically everything is more difficult with this edition than what she is used to from XP for example.

In terms of ease of use, which has, I would submit moved forwards from one Windows version to another, this represents a step back for MS. Whilst this particular user is distinctly none technical her opinion is as valid as anyone elses with regards to usability.

At those posters who claim that this is the best release ever.....

Being here tends to suggest that you are technical users at the very least, have some respect for those users who lack your technical background and have spent substantial time and money to find that Vista is not the amazing experience the marketeers told them it would be, and that even though they bought in their eyes high spec machines (ie RAM > 1GB, dual core processors etc etc) found that this release runs far worse their old XP/2000/.... machines and is more difficult to actually use.

My first encounter with Vista.....

.... A friends retired mother recently asked advice from me regarding the purchase of a PC. She bought her laptop from Dell with Vista regardless. In her own words, "it would have cost another £130 quid for a Windows XP license buying from Dell".

Between Dell's, "value added software" (ie crap like the Google desktop, amongst others), and Vista itself, it took an estimated 5 minutes to + to finish starting up even after a spot of what can only be termed as decrapification in an attempt to make the beast usable. Despite a dual core processor, and goodly amount of RAM, it ran like a crippled pig in comparison to my full fat P4 (none of your crappy mobility processors for me thanks) 3.2 Mz, 768 MB RAM Amilo D 1845, a machine I have now owned for more than two years.

The overwhelming impression is that Vista as I saw it yesterday, despite all of the appropriate updates being applied is borderline unusable. It reminded me strongly of beta releases of Windows I have tested in the past in terms of stability. Tools that Windows users rely, such as display properties appear to have been hidden away under new applets purely in order to drive training revenues. Basic tools fail to start, despite running under what passes for admin rights. The control panel regularly took 3 minutes or so to finish loading......

Less annoying Windows next year ? Upgrade now.....

..... Let's see, we pay MS in order to be annoyed, increase our hardware and training costs and piss off users when stuff that should "just work" doesn't...... Thank god my buddies mother doesn't want to do much more than browse the web and send emails. Who knows what would happen if she wanted to watch a hi def DVD, or heaven forbid work for instance.

Laughable.

The thing about Linux, FreeBSD et al, is that it's free. In the main however it works as advertised. Vista, in its current condition can only aspire to such quality.

What kind of brain damaged corporate IT department would order Vista as the O/S of choice in the condition it os in right now ?

I do hope I understand correctly that MS bloggers are talking about fixing this mess of MS making, rather than, as is implied by comments above they are thinking about a new Vista edition and leaving existing users to their fate.

AT&T turns screws on iPhone unlocker

@Ogdru

work for Apples marketting department do we ?

Most important technical innovation in twenty years ?

Most important purchase of my life ?

Get a grip man

London man coughs to 172mph Porsche jaunt

A sense of proportion for the boy racers.....

..... Is vital. Read other comments here, it's a road open to cyclists and Joe and Joanne Schmoe in clapped out diesel clio's etc...... Have any of you guys a clue as to the kind of damage an impact between one of these slow moving, legal road users and this cretin would mean ? Some poor bloody copper cleaning human remains off the road with a broom and mop.

I've ridden motorcycles, and currently own a sports car. I've nearly lost my life whilst riding legally at 30 miles per hour because some schmuck thought rules didn't apply to him.

Laying in a casualty room with a leg hanging off, nurses talking about bikers being de facto organ donors and always at fault - in front of you, whilst doctors tell your wife to say goodbye - not expected to survive....... PTSD, wheelcairs, hip replacements at age 41...... Seven years off work and now untouchable by mainstream IT employers...... Maybe you'd like to see life from where I'm sitting ?

Bloody well grow up.....

Girls prefer pink: official

Title

Astounding what they'll issue research funding for isn't it ? Now I need to bang together a proposal involving the study of time dilation as applied to pubs.......

I'll get my coat.

Alienware Area-51 m9750

Title

I picked up a Fujitsu-Siemens Amilo D 1845 from the bargain bucket at ebuyer instead of this beasts predecessor. By the time I'd specced up what I wanted the Fuji cost me about £750 as end of line. The Alienware equivalent was still current, featured the same motherboard (Intel 915P based), processor and graphics, but would have cost me more than 2000 quid. Once I'd cured the spontaneous bsod's with a BIOS upgrade it gave tremendous service. Still does.... There are high performing Lappie bargains, just not necessarily with fashionable cases and badges. That particular Fuji had a pretty poor name at the time, but I've found if you keep the cooling system clean it's a heck of performer for the price of hack.

Doh.....

That is hack as in cheap, plain vanilla, not at all exciting. Jeez after this long in the biz....

First Vista service pack beta for 07

@ the poster of Lesson 1 - How to save a dead horse

Isn't that only half of the problem. Amongst other problems, how about "the Long Goodbye", losing interactivity during routine file operations whilst the O/S tries to work out whether you have the legal right to delete your own files ? This windows release is I agree essentially a bells and whistles release, but actually manages to make a horlicks of the routine operations that earlier versions managed just fine. I occasionally look after friends PC's and am advising them to avoid VIsta on new purchases because they want to actually use them and not spend more than they need to on memory in order to do so.

In addition there's the problem of legacy app and hardware support. One of my buddies is a professional musician and has a pile of kit and software he needs to run, in order to earn his frequently slender crust. Vista aint going to cut the mustard. Whilst the new frontend might well impress the hell out of him, he's going to be decidedly unimpressed by piss poor performance whilst he's on stage, or incompatibility with, what for him are working tools.

Add in a distinctly lacksadaisical looking approach to support from MS and he's going to have a problem buying a new laptop. If we can't find a bundle with XP Pro for him, or find a suitable license, his upgrade is going to cost him a whole lot more than a budget lappie.

Sure the bells and whistles are nice, but raely has so much functionality been compromised in a new O/S release.

Vista is a retrograde step. Lipstick for pigs.

Linkedin spurns bug bounty hunter

Title

@ julian

bang on.It's a shake down. "Pay up or your good name is trashed". Then again isn't this exactly the kind of corporate business that is going on in the courts vis a vis Intellectual Property...... "I hold IP regarding x,y,z, cough up or I drag you through the courts". With the latter example you essentially play poker - Do you have an idea as to whether any such IP is contained in your product, do you have sufficient resources to withstand a sustained attack in the courts ?

It's no longer business, it's gangsterism. War by other means....

The BBC iPlayer 'launch' that wasn't

final verdict....?

..... And here's me thinking that whole point of the latest iterations of Media Player were designed to foist DRM on users..... Why re-invent the wheel..... oh wait...... That's right, the point was that .wmv + DRM was unsupported on other platforms than Windoze..... oh errr........

As for the beta test...... I've re-visited the site many times, and always found a nice message saying all slots were taken. On the one occasion I actually got as far as a download link I was informed "an unknown error" had occurred. Doh !

Bearing in mind the point of the project was to avoid MS lock in, I think that auntie beeb has wasted their money. Very, very dumb, but then again exactly what I expect from the powers that be and big IT projects in this country.

Microsoft Windows patent will spy for advertisers

targetted spamvertising....

I occasionally do the odd favour for friends. In addition I do voluntary work at a charitable organisation. What does a disparate bunch of folks like this all have in common ? Targetted ads. Google do this now, but what's suspicious is that I get the same ads these people all get. The trouble with targetted ads is that someone always wants to pay for their ad to be the one at the top of the heap. Even UK job centres do this. You search for IT vacancies within five miles of a given postcode in IT, and get sales positions in sanitary protection 1500 miles away. Targetted advertising wont work, because the marketting industry, the market for advertising is so busy breaking it.

My wifes university buddies get the same penis pill ads that everone else gets. I look for parts for my car and get referred to US distributors for a different manufacturer, ie parts that are no damn good for my car. All because the people offering the advertising spaces can't resist taking more dollar for less relevant ads to be placed above what the punter is actually looking for.

Targetted advertising is therefore a myth.

Further examination of the same patent demonstrates that this technology monitors users to ensure that they actually see the ads.... marvellous, you wont be able to chop the content without disabling the O/S functionality. With the obvious implications for corporate or governmental use and you have a none starter.

If I remember correctly, this load of old goolies was first mentioned earlier this year in connection with reduced feature set, cheaper Windows tm. for US schools. I'd hate to grow up in a US public school, the poor bloody teaching staff are already forced to take what amounts to advertising materials for want of a budget for anything better..... In the meantime the students are treated as consumer units.

Nice

Silicon Valley struggles to save toxic landmark

err...... in reply to Mr Pomeroy

Consider the amount of carbon particulate pollution involved in forcing Ms Hilton into such an enterprise, the trees cut down, loss of precious rubber resources. You should be ashamed ;-)

Teens using M-rated games to vent anger

Agree with Paul....

I used ot work at Apricot computers, where each night at office closing time a major team death match between R&D and Tech support featured but two rules - if the phone rings, even out of hours, it must be answered within the customary three rings, and no aimbots - you know who you are Captain Zbot ! We even used to see the occasional director in the arena.....

It's a taste that has continued to this day for burning off stress.

Andy Enderby

McLaren suspends top F1 engineer

Bernie and Max ?

Dastardley and Mutley ? Oh you mean Bernie and Max - in that order.

Headless zombie wanders San Francisco

er....hehe.....cool

Perhaps Beavis has progressed to long trousers, but remains forever trapped in a cornholio moment.

Andy

Robot gunships join US Army

mmmm chicken.

I just spat my first esspresso of the day all over my much loved Amilo D lappie at that chicken and asparagus pie comment Ashley. Please don't do it again. Hehehe

Seriously, modern combat aircraft from F16 on, the autopilot and FLCS (fly by wire system) are getting more and more integrated to the point of quite possibly being in the same physical enclosure. This is the point I really wanted to make.

Andy

Microsoft too busy to name Linux patents

MS/Linux/Unix/patents....... just a thought

Firstly isn't all this somewhat reminiscent of the SCO case, in as much as when pressed by judge to come up with the goods, all SCO could do was many iterations of the dog ate my homework.

Secondly as has been stated elswhere in this thread, patents must be exploited and defended. Since flogging Xenix off, exactly what unix like O/S have M$ been involved with ?

It almost sounds like a shakedown by the Lads from Lagos, I can imagine it now, "Good Day to you. You are infringing of up to TWO HUNDRED AND THIRTY FIVE PATENTS. Send me lots DOLLARS. Signed Charles Soludo".