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The Windows eXPerience

Y

Yvo

Senior member
Well it happened last night... I decided to go back to Windows 2000. No this is not to start a flame war. I love XP, honestly.

I tested Windows XP, I got Windows XP as gift (twice, from beta testing & going to this MSDNAA thing). So I have been using Windows XP extensively since the betas. I have never liked an OS so much as Windows XP. It had great out of box features and just detected my devices correctly. Now sometimes it had it's mood swing. Everything was "peachy" for my main computer up until 2 weeks ago when the CPU & motherboard died on me. This was anything but pleasant or fun. So in came the new motherboard & CPU and I was back on the saddle.

The motherboard (an Epox 8K3A+) was much more stable then the 8KHA... which I had some USB issues with. All my problems seemed to be gone, for good. Only now weird errors started happening. If I were multitasking between 5-6 programs my taskbar would basically just lock up, so for example: I clicked on an application and the computer did not respond until a good 20-30 seconds later. The window open at that time just worked fine. This was not only annoying but also frustrating. So I back everything up and do another format. I install all my programs... start using the computer like I normally would and yup... taskbar probs here they come. I could live with this for the time being, but then the most annoying thing happened of all... my all-time favorite game, Counterstrike would not load anymore. Well it loads but when I tried to go into a game bad things happened (http://fairwoodfirs.org/images/openglprob.jpg or http://fairwoodfirs.org/images/directx8prob.jpg). Of course I checked my video card drivers and tried multiple versions ranging from 21.83 up to 29.90 betas. Yes I also installed the VIA 4 in 1s. So I reformat again and try w/o the VIA 4in1s... same exact problems. At this point I am furious and last night I whipped out my version of Windows 2000 read up on how to slipstream to SP2 and preceeded this morning to go back to Windows 2000. Now in the last 9 hours that I have been using it, 0 problems yet.

I still use Windows XP on all the other computers as it doesn't even show major problems... but if someone has advice for me on my XP experience.. I'll be sure to consider it because to say the least... I haven't abandoned the OS completely.. just taken a break from it 🙂.

Yvo
 
<flame>

To be honest, I hate Windows XP. I mean I really really really really really REALLY REALLY hate Windows XP. Although my beliefs could be expressed in a very long string of words I can't use on AT, I think a bullet point list of things I hate about Windows XP would be better:

  • The installer. It demands your name and CD key, but never asks what bundled apps I want and don't want. I don't want any of them, not even Notepad, but I get all of them, and there's no easy way to get rid of anything.
    The license. This thing would give George Orwell nightmares.
    The interface. Sure, the baby toy skin can be disabled, the search mutt can be killed off, the counter-intuitive start menu can be replaced, the "protected system folder" sh!t can be worked around, and with extensive registry fishing, the "shared folder" thing can be eliminated. The thing is, WHY THE FVCK DO I NEED TO SPEND 2 FVCKING HOURS TO MAKE THE OS USABLE? Not to mention that installing a program tends to undo most of these changes.
    Big brother. We all know Microsoft simply can not be trusted. I want to know why my completely idle VMware box running WinXP is attempting to reach servers on the ms.com domain.
    File association bullsh!t. I use Paint Shop Pro 7 for most of my graphical needs, however a double-click on an image file associated with PSP will ALWAYS fire up the M$ picture viewer, no matter what. Not to mention that the MP3's you associate to Winamp are NOT going to open in Winamp.
    The sheer size of it all. Windows 95 took up 86 megs of disk space when running. Windows XP, which adds NO additional functionality, takes up almost 2 gigabytes. There is no excuse for this bloat.
    Internet Exploder. Why must a POS web browser which falls victim to a new killer exploit every other month be integrated so tightly in to the very essence of the OS?
    No interoperability support whatsoever. If you want your Windows XP box to play nice with your *NIX network, you get to pay M$ another $100 for a buggy-as-hell package of hacked-together UNIX command approximations that came free with earlier iterations of Windows NT.
    Remote Desktop, AKA Microsoft(R) Trojan Server XP(TM). From the innovators that brought us the e-mail client that could spread worms without user intervention due to a powerful scripting language comes a script kiddie's dream: complete desktop control with primitive authentication and no encryption, enabled by default on half of the world's PCs!
    The stupid login screen, which is useless due to Windows XP's half-assed multiple user implementation that no one will ever use.
    NTP time synchronization that doesn't work.
    Automatic background disk defragmentation. The power just wen't out, so I guess I'll just reboot the computer and... OH GOD NOOOO!!!!!!!!!

And, of course, the question that shll never be answered: Why is M$ wasing all this time, money, and space on sh!t like Windows Movie Maker and MSN Messager, when they could be implementing simple yet useful things like tab completion in the shell, the ability to boot to a command line instead of a GUI, a more powerful formatting tool that at least lets you choose a FAT size when making a FAT filesystem, better partitioning tools in setup, and so many other things that really should come with an OS that costs $400.
And there's another thing, the price. What exactly makes M$ think they can charge $400 dollars for an OS worth about 25 cents, when OpenBSD costs $40, SuSe Linux costs $70, OS/2 Warp costs $300, and so on?

There's just a very quick and short list of reasons why I'm not using Windows XP, or any M$ OS for that matter, ever again. Not even in VMware.

</flame>
 
I can only agree with electrode.... but I do use 2k I think MS should have expanded this Os instead of going the 'dumb' way, but hey, those dumbed down users will be my way of getting money later "ooh sir what is a command line ??? -- how do I boot on a disk ??? -- what is DOS ??? -- how can I get rid of MSN messenger ???" all at the fair price of $1 a minute and my nerves breaking down :S

 
I can understand most of electrode'd comments...although I do have issues with a few of them:



<< The installer. It demands your name and CD key, but never asks what bundled apps I want and don't want. I don't want any of them, not even Notepad, but I get all of them, and there's no easy way to get rid of anything. >>



2k does this too.



<< File association bullsh!t. I use Paint Shop Pro 7 for most of my graphical needs, however a double-click on an image file associated with PSP will ALWAYS fire up the M$ picture viewer, no matter what. Not to mention that the MP3's you associate to Winamp are NOT going to open in Winamp. >>



I don't know about you...but my MP3s open in winamp, and my image files open in photoshop. I don't know what would cause your problem to happen.



<< The sheer size of it all. Windows 95 took up 86 megs of disk space when running. Windows XP, which adds NO additional functionality, takes up almost 2 gigabytes. There is no excuse for this bloat. >>



This isn't quite true either. XP is much more stable than 95 (depending on your hardware....if XP isn't happy with your hardware, its going to crash, early and often), has MUCH better networking features (95 really wasn't designed with networking in mind), enhanced security features when compared to 95....the list goes on and on.

A better comparison would to win2k, which is XP without all of the extra crap.



<< The stupid login screen, which is useless due to Windows XP's half-assed multiple user implementation that no one will ever use. >>



I don't use the welcome screen. I use the good old fasioned log on box.



<< NTP time synchronization that doesn't work. >>



Again, it works fine for me.

I like XP, although I don't love it to the point of becoming a microsoft fanatic. It does what I tell it to do, it does it quickly, and it does it without crashing. Your mileage may vary though...it depends mostly on your hardware.

(If you were wondering about my tux avatar, I run linux on my server 😉 )


 
My windows ExpPERIENCE is one of necessity. I need to master it for the field(the future), but I use Linux for personal use(except I play some games on XP) . I think it's probably the best MS o/s out yet(not saying much), but it definately can be sketchy(spyware o/s?). Overall xp strengths = security and compatibility(more than 2k) Its #1 weakness = MICROSOFT|||||||Need I say More?! :disgust:
 
I have to agree.I love xp and cant bear to go back to 2k because i HATE the look.Sorry, but I do like the new gui.But alas hardware problems are keeping me from playing games.If anyone knows of hardware conflicts for the below configuration, you would save me from this migration🙂






dragon plus 133 mobo
amd 1200 proc
geforce 4 ti4400
ibm 60gxp 40gig
sony 168b burner on same ide channel as cdrom
384mbs ddr (elcheapo brand🙁
sb live! value

any thoughts????
 
Its not too bad, but extremley overpriced for one thing.

another thing i hate, is once I install it, i have to f*ck around with it for a while to turn of all the lame dumbed down stuff.

And the GUI makes me feel like a person on an AOL commercial, and smoking BAD crack at the same time.
😛 (ie. "email is fun!, microsoft is the computer! the internet is so much faster with it!)


I just found out that the home edition doesnt even support mult. users and encryption, etc. thats a shame to the NT name 😛

XP is still better than 9x though 🙂
 


<< I just found out that the home edition doesnt even support mult. users and encryption, etc. thats a shame to the NT name 😛

XP is still better than 9x though 🙂 >>



Home edition DOES support multi-users. Not encryption though.
 


<<

<< I just found out that the home edition doesnt even support mult. users and encryption, etc. thats a shame to the NT name 😛

XP is still better than 9x though 🙂 >>



Home edition DOES support multi-users. Not encryption though. >>




i guess i phrased that wrong. from what ive been told, it supports mult. users, but they all have admin. status?
that doesnt sound too great to me!
 
Stray away from Home... I find it useless... maybe cuz I am used to Professional. I am probably going to try to install Windows XP this weekend, but Windows 2000 is really treating me good with no weird frustrating problems.

I like the fact that I can play Counterstrike in 1280x960 OpenGL instead of the problems I was having (OpenGL DirectX)

Also I am not a Microsoft fanatic... I have tried my share of Linux distributions but I just don't have the time to learn Linux (most famous excuse, I know 🙂). Maybe this summer 😉

Anywho... thats it for now
 
Overall, I am not that impressed with XP. My 21 month old daughter does like the "Teletubbies" default interface. 😉

Likes:
1. I will say that it has been stable, but so was Win2K.
2. WindowsKey + L "Log-under".
3. The clear type fonts. (resource hog, but that's why we buy fast pc's right?)

Dislikes:
1. WMP :| What a bunch of crap! Call me simple, but I have been a winamp user for several years now... why do I need a program of that magnitude to playback my mp3'z?
2. Install flexibility, or lack of...
3. The feeling that I am being watched...
 
I just installed XP yesterday on my Workstation , because my Radeon 8500 drivers in Win2K were f00ked.
using Omega/Plutonium X1.0.71 drivers & getting 8330 3dmark2001 SE points. Games are SMOOOTH.

I have to agree w/ many points...
#1. I hate how MSN messy is installed automatically.
#2. Luckily I don't use this computer to listen to mp3's 🙂
#3. I like the login screen & boot screens, etc... (especially the OSXP one - I set that up for my GF's user so it resembles her Mac (not only that, but my PC is IN a G3 Mac case 🙂)
#4. Useless folders in Program Files...
[*]microsoft frontpage (was in Win2K pro too & unable to delete as well)
[*]MSN Gaming Zone?!?
[*]xerox ?!?!? (WHY!)
these folders are mostly empty - so WHY can't I delete them.. What program is using an empty folder ?
#5. How come the icons in quicklaunch bar are SOOO FVCKING BIG.. anybody know how to make them smaller ?


quote: from dsparks...
Likes:
1. I will say that it has been stable, but so was Win2K. agreed
2. WindowsKey + L "Log-under". THANKS
3. The clear type fonts. (resource hog, but that's why we buy fast pc's right?) lol
 


<<

<<

<< I just found out that the home edition doesnt even support mult. users and encryption, etc. thats a shame to the NT name 😛

XP is still better than 9x though 🙂 >>



Home edition DOES support multi-users. Not encryption though. >>




i guess i phrased that wrong. from what ive been told, it supports mult. users, but they all have admin. status?
that doesnt sound too great to me! >>



I don't believe this is the case either. I distinctly remember being able to create a limited user in XP home. I didn't use home for too long though, I went to XP pro asap 🙂
 
well I hate xp too.. cause micrap-soft came with an new win2k version but with another colour....

I had the same problem like the YVO . I read all the stuff about the drivers of VIA and I installed winxp twice in my Abit KR7 -XP1800 w/o via drivers, cause they say winxp has the right drivers for the via.

Then I install 2 - 3 programs that are winxp compatible, and I had programs just hang there for a few seconds, the whole OS was NOT RESPONDING, and after a few secs back to normal...
but this thing repeats all the time and I cannot even reboot..

Also tried the online updates no hell...

WINXP = HELL



 
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