I have to say that I am really excited the more that I read about Windows 7. For those of you that don’t know but care (or not) Windows 7 is the successor to Windows Vista and it is due out in early 2010 though most are speculating a late 2009 release. It is basically a fantastic performance boost along with a UI polish for Windows Vista. There are so many enhancements and I encourage you to research it while it is still in its early stages so that you will know about it when it is released.
I find it interesting that Apple and Microsoft are again going to be releasing performance enhancing updates. Microsofts is a little bit more “major” in the fact that it changes a lot of things that the end user will notice along with the backend improvements. Obviously I don’t know what Apple is cooking but it seems to be only the huge backend improvements.
This pattern semitypical of the companies but these releases will be coming closer together than the releases have in the past, which I think is a good thing for both companies. I hope that Microsoft releases only 3 versions of Windows 7: Windows 7 Home, Business, and Ultimate. I think it would be good if they just had 1 version total called Windows 7; they are simplifying things, solving problems, etc, so why not carry that through to product marketing and have the one version? It would also be nice if they gave a flat price of $200 for each choice.
November 04 2008 | Software and Technology | No Comments »
So this summer when I built my computer I didn’t have the money to buy Windows right away so I decided to use Ubuntu for a while. Ubuntu is a version of Linux that is very user friendly which is very cool for people who haven’t used Linux before (and those who have). It gives you the stability and security of the Linux Kernel with the looks and usability of Windows or OS X. I love it.
Ubuntu is open source and has a rapid development cycle. There is a new version every 6 months. It does not seem that anything radical changes from release to release but there are some UI tweaks and new features each time. It also gets more user friendly with each successive release.
Another nice feature is that you can install it within Windows and run it as if it was an application and that way you don’t need to partition your drive. I would not use this as a permanent solution if I could help it. I may need to do this on my laptop since I don’t have enough space for Ubuntu if I were to partition my drive. It is a cool feature no matter what.
I commend the folks at Canonical for doing such a good job with this OS.
March 22 2008 | Software and Technology | No Comments »
I want to write my thoughts about Windows Vista and why people seem to really want to hate it. I for one, think it is the best operating system out there. Now, on to the meat of the topic.
I started watching the progress of Windows Vista about a year before its retail release in February of 2007. I preordered it with a Christmas IOU from my parents and got it the day it was released. I have been using it since then with no problems. I want to know why so many people want to hate Vista. Keep in mind that most of these Vista haters have not used the thing for more than an hour, if at all. Some “experts” say that Vista is buggy but they never actually say what bugs they run into.
For one, people ran into problems installing it on their machines that were running XP. These people said that they ended up having to reinstall XP because Windows Vista “didn’t work” or was slow. I’m curious to find out what the specifics of “didn’t work are but I can tell you that most of the people that ran into this scenario did not check the System Requirements, and I stress requirements, before they bought it. If your machine doesn’t have the juice, don’t use try it. Honestly, does it get more simple? The thing is, most machines do have the juice to run it if they were made in the past couple of years.
The next thing people complain about is compatibility. I have only had one compatibility issue and that was with my video card. That isn’t a Vista problem because the maker of the graphics card has to provide the driver. Think about comparing Vista with OS X. There are an unbelievable amount of drivers for Windows vs the amount for Macs. In terms of program, I have had no issues of compatibility.
One of the other things to consider is how Windows Vista compares with Mac OS X. I still think that Vista is better on many levels. For OS X you will not need Virus or antispyware software which is great but there are also a lot of negative aspects of it. It is also a good looking operating system, but so is Vista. It is very user friendly, but so is Vista. I have noticed zero difference in speed (boot-time or general responsiveness) between the two. With OS X you have to sacrifice your compatibility with the rest of the world. Macs are holding only around 3% of the worldwide marketshare despite what Apple may try to report, more than that in the US. Mac users just have to face the fact that there is just not nearly as much software for their operating system. I want to use Windows as an architecture major since AutoCAD and related products don’t run on a Mac.
The last thing I want to mention is security. Some people are under the impression that Vista is virus-ridden, or more vulnerable than XP. That is blatantly false, Vista is much more secure than XP and also includes more security features. For the record though, I have had my laptop for 1.5 years and my desktop for about half that and I have never had a virus or spyware on either of them. One feature people complain about is User Account Control which pops up prompts when certain actions are attempted. These are the same messages that Linux users and OS X users have had for a while now.
Long story short, don’t avoid Vista. Embrace it. It is a great operating system that offers great speed, looks, security, and compatibility.
February 23 2008 | Personal and Software and Technology | 9 Comments »