Welcome to the Machine by Carl

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StevieJ wrote: Excusy.....but you just did

LMAO

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ronviers wrote: my new non-trial version of FF

What a nice set of words

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ronviers wrote: Hopefully a game maker will get a hold of it and use it like crazy.

I really hope some one does

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ronviers wrote: Hopefully a game maker will get a hold of it and use it like crazy

That was the first thing I thought of when I first saw this filter

I actually think you could take this concept further towards alien metals, eh???

yes there's possibilities for a few things

that's a despicable thing to accuse me of - I'm hurt - really hurt
come back in a month time and we can discuss this slur on my character further

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Carl wrote: that's a despicable thing to accuse me of - I'm hurt - really hurt

You're right, I'm sorry......it was an aweful thing of me to say

I didn't know if you were bumping or just going crazy talking to yourself

Yeah, when is your new computer due to arrive???

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Carl wrote: first of november

The first is better than the twentieth but damn... I wish Dell would get their act together. The last laptop I purchased (not for myself) I went straight to Dell but I finally got so frustrated trying to understand what the final price would be (after rebates and contracts etc.) I decided to go to Lenova and buy there instead. That was nearly a year ago so I hope you had a better experience. I just hope that when it does finally arrive you are satisfied with it - that will make it all worth while.

Good luck!

Part of my problem with Vista is that after waiting five years for it I expected that it was going to be a big improvement. I honestly thought it would finally be Mac-like. Instead it seems to have nothing significantly improved. For example, I think wi-fi should be easy, it has been easy on the Mac for almost ten years, but it's not. Micro$ucks does not want to do peer to peer automatically. I think that the default should be that any time two PC's or PDAs are brought within close proximity they should start talking and the fastest one should route for the slower one - without the users having to do one single thing. Another thing is that she always has to acknowledge the same things again and again. The system arrived with almost 5GB of trialware on it which took a couple of days to get off – and I still accidentally caused a problem by stopping a necessary service. Anyway, I feel almost sure you will have better luck with yours now since. Plus I am certain they will get the performance issues dealt with as third party drivers and OS updates or a service pack becomes available. Oh yes, she has two GB of ram. I guess that is now the minimum, 4GB is normal and 8GB is a lot – but I'm not sure how much the 32 bit version of Vista supports. Did you get the 32bit or 64bit version?
BTW, I am typing this on a Dell that I am extremely happy with running XP Pro that is very solid. I wish I did not have to be so negative about Vista I really did have super high hopes for it. Things change I'm sure I will warm to it eventually.

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Carl wrote: Vista and it is directly effected by the graphic card

Even if the graphics are a little slow right now you can be sure they will release killer drivers soon - just keep checking back with the manufacturer. When I got my new graphics card they (ATI) released a new driver for XP during the week I had it in the shop - and that's XP! So you know they will be updating their Vista drivers all the time.

I had no choice with Vista or xp because - would you believe the sound card which does surround sound won't work with xp or i would have stuck with xp and got the media centre [ obviously i could have chosen a different computer which would have allowed xp ] - craig know your scaring [ and probly scarring LOL ] me that i've made a terrible terrible mistake o no it all going wrong LOL

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ronviers wrote: Did you get the 32bit or 64bit version?

i don't know and couldn't find anywhere on the dell web site where it mentions which one it is - please don't tell me it's a disaster if it's the 32 bit version - o no it's all going wrong

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Kraellin wrote: the general rule of thumb with a new o/s, at least with a microsoft o/s is, wait at least for service pack one to come out first.

how long is that usual - are we talking months or years

the more i read sound like it's the 32 bit but dell doesn't tell you - in there american forum people were pissed that they expected the 64 bit and even been told by the tech support that it would be and when they get there system it's the 32 bit

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ronviers wrote: think the only time it matters is when you have memory above 2GB.

well it's got 4gb

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ronviers wrote: You need the 64bit address bus to get non-multiplexed access to memory over two GB. That translates into an across the board hit, even with XP, for enabling the memory above 2GB. XP requires a switch for it to be enabled – probably the same for Vista (32bit) as well.

i'm not sure what that means - are you saying 2 gb won't be used - some one on the forum said vista only services 3gb and he was pissed that dell had sold him 4gb meaning 1 gb was totally unutilised - that sounded strange is that how it would work or not work or does the guy not know what he is talking about

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Carl wrote: are you saying 2 gb won't be used

4GB is the limit of a 32bit OS. The OS and kernel have to share that space. Vista will use 3GB. Everything else is about how to cut up and utilize that final 1GB - actually I think it's 1.25GB.

AFAIK

I'm trying to get my tiny brain around this - if the os is using 3gb and for example ps cs2 and it see 2.2gb and you try to multi task with say illustrator and indesign do they divide up the 4gb or 3gb or am i an idiot

carl, it's been true with any o/s microsoft puts out that it's going to be laden with bugs when it first comes out. there are backward compatibility issues, which seems to be the main grumble. the memory thing seems to be something some have and some dont. i've heard of folks using 8 gigs just fine, while others complain that photoshop and some other apps cant address the extra memory.

on the other hand, some folks seem to love vista, so, your only real evaluation, the only one that will matter, is when you get your new rig, how do you like it and what bugs or not do you find. i've really no way of answering and i'm a bit sorry i posted a 'scare' blurb here. like ron said, vista is here to stay.

microsoft spent a couple years making 'longhorn'. that was going to be the new o/s after xp. it failed miserably and they threw the whole thing out. that's why vista has been so long in the making. normally, microsoft likes to put out a new o/s every three years. but, longhorn was a boondoggle and just didnt work right. if i remember correctly, they decided it was the language they were coding in that had shortcomings.

you shld also know that i've not been following the computer industry for a couple of years now, or not that closely anyways. so, take my scare story with a BIG grain of salt. i know it sounded like 'everyone hates vista and everyone is returning it.'. and, that's just not true. that microsoft is forcing vendors to sell ONLY vista machines is a mistake, in my opinion, but, oh well. and bear in mind that that salesman was just telling me what i wanted to hear. i wanted an xp machine so he made that idea even more palatable. also bear in mind that there's always going to be a certain resistance to any change and there's always going to be trolls that are going to find something to complain about regardless.

the two biggest complaints i've heard about vista are compatibility issues and that vista is an even bigger hog of resources than xp and xp was pretty bad compared to win 98. part of the compatibility is going to be 3rd party vendors catching up with drivers. that will happen fairly quickly. backward compatibility with other software will be a hit and miss thing. some of that will be handled with drivers. some not. some may never work with vista while others may well work fine at the get-go.

as for the 32 bit versus 64 bit issue, i wouldnt worry about it. most are going to get the 32 bit version just because you need a special motherboard to run 64 bit. so, if you didnt ask for a 64 bit motherboard, you wont get a 64 bit vista. think speed when you're talking about how many bits. the first home computers were 8 bit, apple, commodore and the radio shack pc's. then, in the late 80's the industry moved to 16 bit. that was the first macs and the amiga's followed later by the pc's. and now we're at 32 bit, for the most part. i think that happened around the time when directx came into the arena. and 64 bit is around but hasnt really caught on mainstream yet. most folks are using 32 bit. my pc has a 64 bit motherboard, but runs a 32 bit windows.

the really smart thing, the one thing that has made windows the industry leader is, it's always made its latest version backwards compatible with the last version's software....mostly. but, you also have to remember that at the heart of any pc is the old 8088 processor. as microsoft and ibm and intel grew, that old beast got tweaked, bubble-gummed, hammered, altered, worked around and generally turned inside out. i remember going through a real confusion period when i first got a pc. i was always a commodore man, having a c-64 and then an amiga 2000 (loved that machine). pc's were just plain weird. you cant run a game from the gui? you have to run it from dos? what kind of idiocy is that? you have to re-write your config files before you can run the software? who invented this mess? lol.

the point is, microsoft, actually bill gates, demanded backward compatibility. that meant you had to evolve the processors and software in steps. each step was just enough to show a nice increase in power and speed while also staying compatible. there were more work-arounds and extended memories and tweaks and patches than i care to remember. and vista is the current re-incarnation of all that. it's the latest evolution, the latest new offspring, the baby. and, like any new baby, it has a few problems. it kinda walks and talks funny, but it does walk and talk. it tends to fall down a lot, but it will grow and get better and it is the new defacto o/s. windows 98 is the old grandfather and it's just about dead. his day is over. xp and 2000 are the parents. they are still strong and functioning, but, they've hit their hayday (sp? heyday?). vista is new generation.

and keeping this analagy going, vista isnt really a baby. it's more like a teenager that's finally been kicked out the door and told to go make it in the world. it's going to stumble and get in trouble and get help and will need medical attention at times and do some really stupid things as it grows up. but, microsoft has spent a TON of money on its education and will continue to do so. so, vista is here to stay.

now, all of that doesnt answer your concerns about if you made the right decision or not or how long it will take microsoft to fix some of the bigger issues. and frankly, i cant answer that. i'd say months, at least, before you see the first service pack. but, there will be smaller fixes in the interim. check the updates downloads at least weekly to start.

myself, i'll probably eventually get vista. but, i'll get it as a second machine, not my primary. we, the consumer, are like an employer who is hiring this new kid to work for us. it's generally not a good idea to make the new kid a vice president, no matter what his credentials are (and frankly, those are questionable to an extent (sorry, couldnt help taking a shot at MS here )). you start the new guy off lower down on the ladder and let him work up. give him some easy stuff to do and see if he can do it, then move him up gradually.

so, for the most part, i think you'll like your new rig. you may not see a lot of differences at first, but there is more power there under the hood, especially if you're doing any networking. microsoft is BIG on networking and there's been quite a few improvements in vista in that regard. it wont be as stable as xp or 2000, not at first. you will crash from time to time. but, drivers and MS patches and updates will help that as things move along. how much, i dont know. MS has a tendency to push the new kid out the door, reluctantly patch it up and then move on to the new kid and start the same cycle all over again. it's the one thing MS can be upbraided for on a regular basis... they never quite completely fix the thing. win 3.1 was very messy. win95 had more patches than an old pair of jeans. win98 still crashes on a regular basis. xp is fairly stable but leaves a lot of small stuff undone and does still crash on occasion, mostly just to the desktop now rather than all the way back to rebooting. and win 2k is pretty stable, hardly ever crashing, but doesnt have quite as much functionality and power. vista reports are quite varied. some like it, some hate it but it does seem to have more potential and that's pretty standard for a new MS o/s. so, we'll see.

you shld also bear in mind that i dont have vista. all my 'knowledge' of the thing is 2nd hand. so, bear that in mind as well. i'd recommend going to microsoft.com and looking around. and, i'd also recommend going to review sites and getting their point of view as well. sometimes those review sites can point you to fixes before MS can. so, if you run into trouble, go there and call Dell support as well.

so, sorry for the scare. it may amount to nothing or it may amount to more headaches than you can shake a stick at (lol. another scare ). but, that's the world of MS. love it, hate it, kick it, find the patch and call tech support. and like my brother always says about MS, it wouldnt be any fun if it all worked perfectly!

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Carl wrote: I probably should have asked

I would have advised you to get exactly what you got - Vista and all. You still have your XP machine to fall back on. I think it's as good as you can do for the money. It really is going to be great!


Only 5 more days!

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Craig have you ever done or considered doing writing you have a very accessible humorous enlightening style.

thank you! really! thank you and yes, i have been told this before and i've considered it several times. about as close as i've come is doing some editing of a book a friend of mine wrote and published, some song lyrics (non-professional), some custom wedding poetry for some online friends (we held a mock wedding online. in fact, i did more than one), some competition, online, ballad/poetry (which is quite tricky to do when you've only got five minutes to do it) and a bit of technical writing along with thousands of posts in forums. oh, and i wrote an epic warrior/poet sonnet sort of thing which i and another person performed online. that was pretty cool

i used to play some online text games before the internet existed, on Genie (a General Electric sponsored network/bulletin board sort of thing) and Compuserve, which was also pre-internet. in two of those games, they were rpg's, i had bard characters, or bard-like. and the admins of the games would hold bard competitions from time to time. in the one, you had a very small time limit, the five minutes i mentioned, and were given a theme. you then had to write something up in song/lyrical form and present it in turn with the other competitors. prizes were things you could use to enhance your character in the game. it's amazing what you can do in five minutes given a chance to get that special armor i won some nice items from time to time and had a ball doing it

so, thank you

I had heard it was one of the most challenging programs around art wise - it'll be interesting to see ff stuff incorporated in - I don't know is it possible to post animated sequences as well in the forum

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ronviers wrote: I have to be careful right now because I'm a little manic so I'm not getting much sleep and I have to watch what I say

Look after yourself - and you can't upset me so smart arse away Hehe

I don't mind the bumps; not only does it deserve it but it get that Pink Floyd song stuck in my head - which I like.

Would you beleive that I got so burned out on Pink by the late eighties that I have never owned one of their CDs - wore out untold numbers of cassettes. All the songs are still right here in my head though. I'm still mad at Gilmore for leaving and taking the name. I'm still a fan of Waters – KAOS has some of the best production values of any album ever - Amused to Death makes me think of this Iraq mess. One day when I make it big I'm going to replenish my CD shelf - Pink Floyd will be first on the list.

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StevieJ wrote: David Gilmore is my favorite guitarist of all time

Me too

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StevieJ wrote: "One Slip" is one of my favorite tunes.....

ah yes, regret... a wellspring of creativity. I guess we all have to pay our dues around here.

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StevieJ wrote: I've overpayed my dues...

Don't tease the tigers. You're lucky you're still alive - "even the hero gets a bullet in the chest"

Hehe you know how you have a couple of filter that you love [ this one work better with the tiling turned of ] where you come up with something different and because your proud of it you feel it deserves an HU and others will see a value in it - so I'm still hoping one day this will go HU

"Dark Side of the Moon" is one of the all time classic albums, sounds as modern now as it did in 72