Let's talk about Windows Vista

Brave new world...

Your impressions in the longer post brought a smile to my face. After having fun with Linux for years now, this all sounds like the coach of the other team purposefully shot his best players in the leg. And then there's this air of finality about Vista, like this was the last stand of the MS operating systems (and maybe the proprietary development model altogether). Because - like Dayvon said - Microsoft will try to abuse their (fading) monopoly to no end, enforcing DRM and the use of their own products.

So hopefully people will finally wake up on a broader scale and realize how they're being screwed all over again and US and EU courts will prohibit the inclusion of numerous programs and technologies right away. Of course, it might just not happen after all - this I'd blame on the lack of public awareness or unwillingless to acknowledge just how important computers and digital media are in our everyday life.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by RABicle

Computer is the top level, Username Folder is within that and Desktop within that. It takes some adjustment but it's essentially what Unix has been doing for decades.

Does anyone have a screenshots or diagrams that illustrate this new structure? I'm curious.

How ya doing, buddy?

Then again DirectX 10 will be Vista exclusive, this could shorten the time span one will be able to do everything with XP quite a bit. (Seeing that the availability of games is still a strong pull of Windows when compared to other OSs).

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

I'm still hoping the industry will react by increasing their adoption of OpenGL/SDL.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

The following might be a little beside the point in a Vista-related discussion but here's my experience with security levels in Windows:
I'm not exactly sure how much more secure it is on XP to do my everyday stuff on a restricted account - which is feasible with little initial effort (by setting everything up as the admin and then switch to the low-rights user, obviously). It just becomes a pain later on with all the small annoyances thrown in for good meassure:

• The control panel modules are simply deemed unaccesible in restricted mode while the OS could simply ask me for my admin password.
• Software installation is possible using the "Run as..." option in the context menu of executables but some of the subsequent desktop shortcuts and Start Menu entries cannot be altered or removed with low rights.
• Some programs become quite forgetful in resticted mode, due to saving their settings only in system wide registry entries (Ragnarok Online for example).

These issues force the security aware user back to run certain applications with full rights or switch to the admin account altogether to set up and fix stuff. I don't know what bothers me more, that Microsoft implemented such a cumbersome security model while the malware threat was already very real and far more sophisticated approaches had long been available on Unix like systems or that Vista's UAC has already been reported to be even more annoying than helpful in the majority of reports I've been reading.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by DarkRavenX

UAC has been backed off tremendously (only shows up for major config changes)

There go the security improvements...

I mean, hey, this is a classic already: Microsoft actually tries to implement a system which seperates every-day-use and administrative space and the masses cry out to have it removed again - either because it was poorly designed to begin with or the average Windows beta tester is too lazy to type in a password before making system-wide changes. I guess Microsoft customers will get their money's worth, sandboxed web browsers and virtualization rootkits instead of a long due, well structured security model.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

But hey, are we POSIX users in the least surprised?

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Merv Burger

this obviously means we should all use linux and free ourselves..................

It rather means that a person who would like to operate a secure and reliable system (read: everyone using a computer) should actually make a damn effort, put those brain cells to use and refrain from following dimwitted suggestions like, "turn off UAC", "pour yogurt into your CPU fan" and "cut off your penis". Regardless whether the end result is a Linux desktop or a Windows box with the available security measures in effect, it will certainly be miles away from the grim reality seen on the average Joe's machine - this includes the legions of wannabe experts.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Sure, and there is probably some sort of international law against that.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Well, if you don't like my rhetoric, maybe this little analysis is more to your liking.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Just curious, what mission critical features does OpenOffice.org lack in your case?

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Ultima

I think it's the ribbon. A lot of my teacher's have loved my aesthetic reports since I started using it last year.

Hm, I'm a LaTeX person, so anything bigger than a letter never sees a conventional word processor anyhow on my box.

Originally Posted by ^-^

All I know is that Microsoft is going to let users download the operating system.

Well, they pretty much have to.

How ya doing, buddy?

There was this bit about "Decreased Playback Quality" in a DRM-related analysis (LINK) I posted earlier and how it could prevent smaller content producers from creating high quality products (see footnote G). I'm not sure whether this only applies to video or audio as well. You might want to check it out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Let's hope this guy didn't pay more than 7 bucks either...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxQm3IsSKAo

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Basic doesn't have the whole fancy 3D-desktop and a lot of administrative tools/options are gone as well.

See also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows...ns_and_pricing

FELIPE NO