Re: Anyone using Vista?

biblepolyglotte@xxxxxxxxx wrote:
On Mar 6, 8:15 pm, "Pete Dashwood"
<dashw...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
The Beta pre-release of Windows 7 was released for download a few
weeks ago and I am putting this onto a virtual machine (Sun'sVBox),
just to get a "feel" for it. I haven't done so yet as I have too
much going on, but I'll post my impressions here when I get time.

Pete, you asked for opinions from Vista users. Professionally I
develop software for the Windows desktop, and use both XP and Vista.

I haven't yet used Windows 7, but would suggest that you let it stand
or fall on its own merits.

I would have to do that if I skip Vista... :-)


In non-marketing terms, it's a point
release of Vista, but enough has changed that it could surprise you.
Performance in particular is said to be vastly improved.


I've never been disconted with XP performance. I'm running it on a core 2
duo Sony Vaio with 2GB of RAM. It just works.

You mentioned Sun xVM VirtualBox. Have you considered running Windows
7 indefinitely as a guest OS?

No, I hadn't thought about that.


Being able to keep Windows off the network has a certain charm. That's
how I'm running XP now on my laptop. Even if you do let Windows access
the network, you will find it convenient to click a button in
VirtualBox, and revert to a pre-exploit snapshot.

That's a very cool idea. Thanks. Fortunately, so far, I have never been
exploited. I have layers of protection on my system, some of which I wrote
myself. I have had the odd virus, a couple of Trojans, and dialers and
hijacks on various other machines, but not this one. All of them I removed
manually so I could understand better how they worked, what they did, and
possible ways oif dealing with them. The worst one had my system out of
action for about 6 hours and the experience I gained removing it was
invaluable (every cloud has a silver lining... :-)) Nowadays I really don't
worry about this stuff. Nevertheless, the idea of virtual snapshotting is
really much more attractive than system restore.Thanks for that.

Disclosure: I am a long-time Windows user and, like half the world,
have several times been hacked by means of the latest RPC/Outlook/IE
exploit. Interestingly, never in Vista.

Desktop usability is no longer a deciding factor in favor of Windows.
My youngest son had no trouble, at age four, finding his way around
the GNOME and KDE desktops. With no input from me, his six-year old
brother discovered that there are console games in /usr/bin/games,
which can be launched from a GNOME terminal session.

If I'm not careful, by summer they will be writing shell scripts.

I won't step too far into the faith and reason minefield, except to
acknowledge that some things have moved on since Aquinas. For example,
now we have operating systems. The guiding principles remain the same,
however, which is why the choice between operating systems has always
been acknowledged by the Church to be a prudential judgement.

I should stress that, while I don't believe in God myself, I realise this
kind of belief is a very personal thing and I deeply respect the right of
others to do so, without having to argue their case or defend their
position. I took exception to the claim for Religion being rational, more on
rhetorical than philosophical grounds.(Although I don't believe a case can
be made in either arena.)

We've had some huge debates here on Religion and the sad result was that we
lost a couple of very good contributors (Daniel , and Judson).

Although no minds were changed, it was very interesting (to me at least...)
to examine the arguments.

I write a regular column for an Arts magazine here called "Bravado". My
column is called "The Sharp Point". I deal with the various sharp points
that we all encounter in our lives and sometimes what I write is anecdotal
and light hearted, sometimes it is more serious. For the next issue I'm
doing 1100 words on my religious beliefs (actually, the lack of them :-))
and how it is possible to cope with things like loss and tragedy, without
necessarily needing Religion. Just as I don't need fear of Hellfire to make
me behave morally, neither doI need to find solace in Religion. I know it is
going to be controversial and some people will be offended, but the magazine
is called "Bravado" and I've tried to make it as inoffensive as possible.
Nevertheless, I KNOW there will be letters to the Editor (assuming she even
prints it in the first place...she may demand I redo it :-))

(If anyone is interested, Bravado is an Arts magazine containing poetry,
prose, fiction, and art work, by New Zealand, and, occasionally, overseas
contributors. It is produced by a Collective and the quality is very high.
You can subscribe for USD30.00 or GBP20.00 (includes postage). 3 issues per
year. Subscriptions to: Bravado, PO BOX 13-533, Tauranga 3141, New Zealand.
Mention my name if you subscribe; it may help me if I have to defend myself
to the Editor :-))

Pete.
--
"I used to write COBOL...now I can do anything."


.

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