|
|
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
|
|
Author
|
Topic: Microsoft rumored to be preparing to make Windows 8.1 freeware
|
Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
|
posted 03-25-2014 04:01 PM
quote: Dennis Benjamin
Well, let's see, Windows 8 won't run older computers that were optimized for Windows XP.
Actually, it possibly would. I recently installed 7 on my father in law's 2004-vintage XP PC after upgrading the 512mb of RAM it came with to 2GB (cost around $20 from Ebay), and it works perfectly well. As long as you're not making it work any harder than trying to watch a DVD, it doesn't even feel slow or unresponsive. The graphics card was a high end one for its day (including DVI out), and so even Aero works.
Windows 8 is published in a 32-bit version, and so I'm guessing that it would work on most motherboard/processor combinations made since the early '00s, though probably without Aero in the case of some integrated graphics chips on motherboards.
However, as I speculated in my earlier post, MS may be offering a $100 rebate on new PC sales rather than simply giving XP users an 8 license because they actively want to drive older hardware out of circulation.
But the bottom line is that my father in law is not going to want to edit HD video or play World of Wankcraft, and so with W7, I can't see any reason why that machine won't do him perfectly well until 2020 (when W7 support ends).
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 03-26-2014 11:03 AM
quote: Joe Redifer
I think it's funny that Windows users hate Mac more than Mac users hate Windows.
There's simply no way Windows users could hate Apple more than what has been happening the other way around for decades. Just look at Apple's advertising for nearly 30 years: much of it based on bashing anything not Apple branded. In recent years it was the "I'm a Mac" and "I'm a PC" thing featuring Justin Long and John Hodgman in stereotypical roles. I very rarely ever saw any PC manufacturer taking pot shots at Apple. They just concentrated on selling their own products, not bashing what somebody else was selling.
Apple has encouraged a bunch of its users to adopt an arrogant attitude toward anyone not using Apple branded gear, either through its commercials or its product launch events the mainstream media is only too happy to cover as news. It's a central part of the Apple brand's culture. The hipster dick Apple user is a pop culture stereotype. I have friends here in Lawton who use Mac-based computers at home or at work and they'll say, "I'm a Mac user, but I'm not one of those Mac users."
Just about any place online where I see a couple of Windows PC users discussing some technical problem with a piece of software, a video card driver or whatever eventually someone else shows up saying, "I use a Mac" or "you need to get a Mac" or "if you used a Mac you wouldn't be having that problem" or any number of other snarky lines which conveniently overlook just how difficult and expensive it is to switch computing platforms. Then the discussion devolves into the usual Mac vs. PC flame fest that didn't have a damned thing to do with the original discussion.
It's like this thread. We don't have a flame war happening, but the thread is drifting into the direction of the usual Mac vs. PC thing. This topic is about Windows 8.1. Not OSX. Not Linux either. Why the hell would a discussion about Windows 8.1 even be of interest to any Mac user? A loyal Mac user isn't going to buy a Windows PC no matter how good or bad it is.
quote: Joe Redifer
Please give an example of "most programs people want to use today".
There's a lot of PC games developed only for the Windows platform. Various industries have trade-specific software that is PC-only. This is why I use Windows PCs in my day job. In the computer graphics industry some applications only run on Windows or Windows and certain Linux builds (the Mac platform has some of its own exclusives too). CorelDRAW is a popular vector graphics application that is currently Windows-only. Corel did release version 11 for OSX, but sales were terrible so they didn't bother with Mac for following versions.
There's also a problem of some companies not making it clear enough to potential customers that they have a Mac version available. We had a person in my civic club who agreed to take on the treasurer's job. But then she wound up not being able to do the job because the club's finances were organized in QuickBooks. She said she couldn't mess with it since she used a Mac. No one bothered to check if there was a Mac version of QuickBooks (Intuit has one).
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
|
posted 04-04-2014 11:21 AM
This gets back into the whole notion of "if it ain't broke why fix it?" That figure of 27.7% might be a conservative estimate.
Lots of businesses have been replacing aging computers when necessary, but I would actually be surprised if there will be any sort of big rush over the next couple months as Microsoft officially ends support of XP next Tuesday, April 8. Vendors of anti malware applications, such as Norton & McAfee have said they'll continue to support XP. Of course there is a question of how well those applications will work in an obsolete OS that is no longer receiving security patches.
Microsoft has said users will still be able to activate a Windows XP installation after April 8, like in the event a user decides to wipe the hard disc and re-install WinXP clean. One question I have about that is whether all the updates leading up to April 8 will still be available to download.
There's also this matter to consider with old computers: some institutions, such as non profit charity organizations, have no choice but to keep them running. Here in Lawton citizens passed a school bond measure to repair old buildings, replace buses (some of which are over 25 years old) and replace very old computers. Some of these computers are over 15 years old. We're talking machines designed to run Windows 98 and the classic MacOS. Some of these aging computers were running WinXP, but running it excruciatingly slow. Citizens in Lawton have been notorious for rarely ever passing a school bond measure. The new Superintendent publicized a list showing just how little Lawton has spent compared to many other districts across the state. I think residents here might have been a bit embarrassed for being shown as cheapskates. That, and the idea the US Army and other national businesses were looking at those bond figures, helped secure an overwhelming "yes" vote for the measure. The IT dept. at Lawton Public Schools will be able to replace a bunch of those ancients computers. Of course they'll probably be replaced with shiny new PCs running Windows 7.
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
Leo Enticknap
Film God
Posts: 7474
From: Loma Linda, CA
Registered: Jul 2000
|
posted 04-04-2014 03:02 PM
I've been struck by how well Windows 7 works on older machines. I've never tried to install it on a machine as old as 15 (my father in law's PC, mentioned above, is the oldest computer I've installed a 7 license on), but the fact that it'll work happily on a decade-old computer for everything except processor-intensive games and multimedia must be making MS pretty unpopular with hardware vendors. I'm wondering if the fact that free Windows 8 licenses didn't materialize, but a $100 rebate on a new Windows 8 PC did, was the result of negotiations between MS and the big Asian hardware makers; and that (ironically, given the Windows 8 debacle), the basic problem with both XP and 7 for Microsoft was that the programmers who created these operating systems made too good and long lasting a product for the business model that dominates their target market.
Maybe I'm turning into a grumpy old git, but the throwaway culture for consumer technology is something that irritates me. Refurbishing an old computer (which for me means replacing all the fans, the CMOS battery and thermal grease on the processor, thoroughly cleaning inside the case, replacing the hard drive if it's older than around five years, and reinstalling the OS from a clean format), or keeping a 1999 Civic with 150k miles on the clock in good health is not rocket science: it just takes a little willingness to negotiate a learning curve.
In big ticket pieces of technology infrastructure that are operated and maintained by professionals, this is accepted and factored into lifestyle planning, hence the reason 60 year-old DP70s are still running. Trains and airliners typically have a design life of 20-40 years, with planned major refurbishments and overhauls along the way. But yet when it comes to consumer technology, the throwaway culture seems to rule. In the last six months alone I've encountered someone who was about to replace a clothes dryer because a $3 thermal fuse had popped, and someone else who was about to replace an HVAC exterior unit because a $15 motor run capacitor had died. Both were astonished when I showed them how straightforward it was to diagnose and fix them.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
All times are Central (GMT -6:00)
|
This topic comprises 5 pages: 1 2 3 4 5
|
Powered by Infopop Corporation
UBB.classicTM
6.3.1.2
The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion
and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.
|
Home
Printer-friendly view of this topic