It’s sort of funny to watch Windows users groveling like dogs for Windows XP, an OS so awful it made me feel like some programmers and UI designers had just taken a dump on Windows 2000 and rereleased it. This sort of silliness makes me glad that I haven’t used Windows as a primary OS in a long, long time.
Yeah I don’t quite get that. I am a Mac user but I had to set up a PC for my wife. It had XP on it. It was actually much easier than I remember, the last time I had run a PC was a Dell 386. Back then I remember having to specify an interrupt for the audio card I installed, it was a total pain. XP was actually plug and play so I didn’t think it was that bad.
You have nothing at stake James, so it’s easy for you sit back and scoff at someone else’s misfortune. No doubt you would whimper like a lost puppy if your favorite OS were headed for extinction.
XP may not be great, but what scares me is Vista. MS not selling XP doesn’t mean you can’t use it any more. Besides, Windows 7 was moved up, so everyone can take a deep breath and pass Vista by.
I finally bit the bullet and started using Vista when I bought a new machine recently. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised, but I’m aware that the ’pleasantly’ part of that experience is in large part due to the staggeringly powerful nature of the hardware: this is not an operating system that I would want to be using on a slower machine. But on the whole, I like it, and see many features that I had long wanted in XP (including an ’Install’ option in the right-click context menu for font files, and the ability to overwrite an existing font without first uninstalling the old version, which is like gold for font testing).
Windows 2000 was great. It worked pretty well and the interface made some degree of sense. And then Microsoft got all insecure when OS X came out and Windows XP turned into some deranged knockoff with a murky interface. And don’t even get me started on licensing headaches and getting the early releases working right in my corporate LAN were like. Windows XP should have just been another service pack for Windows 2000.
No doubt you would whimper like a lost puppy if your favorite OS were headed for extinction.
Not really. When Windows 2000 was replaced with XP I just moved over to Mac OS, and that’s not the only OS I’ve dumped in favor of something better. Finding something else to use has never really been an issue.
I love XP. Never had any trouble with it. I don’t think our machines will handle Vista. I guess we’ll have to think about upgrading hardware soon. I’d rather have a new lens.
As a primary Mac OS X user, I have to say that I quite like Vista. I have boot camped my MacBook Pro and have Vista running on a partition. It runs like a dream. So far, I’ve only had three problems:
1. That security window that pops up all the time really pisses me off :)
2. One piece of (common) software that I wanted to install wasn’t Vista-compatible
3. Printer-compatibility issues with one (new) printer
As for 1, I guess that is never going away :(
But 2 and 3 would no doubt change very quickly if Vista were the default OS.
I don’t use slow computers, so I haven’t any hardware needs I guess.
Also, Vista’s non-Latin script support is the best there is. So…
I use XP, and it’s not perfect - but once you’re familiar with an interface, it’s typically usable. Vista both sounds flawed *and* has all the annoyance of learning a new interface. I will hold out a while before switching.
(James, your derision seems misplaced. Not all of us get paid corporate design salaries... I am a lifelong Mac user who switched due to budget - my boyfriend built a ridiculously cheap, powerful, silent PC from components.)
I actually prefer XP. You can customize almost everything in it. As for interface issues, I don’t think the dock or the lack of a right-mouse button really add to OS X’s utility. (I haven’t used OS X much, so I could be wrong.) I disabled the fisher-price theme, so it looks just like 2000 and runs fast. I dual-boot Linux, which is far less sophisticated than either Windows or OS X. There was a similar outcry when MS stopped support for 98. I’ve used 2000 a lot, which is an OK system, but crashes more than XP. XP almost never crashes. Vista had some bugs, which always happens when you make so many changes. OS 10.0 Cheetah had similar issues. You can tell that MS spent a lot of money on Vista. It has a lot of cool new features like automatic diagnostics. The cost of Windows is a big plus for me, too. I haven’t bought a single program for my computer and it was built from parts. I heavily modified my security settings so I don’t get any viruses, even with all the crap I download from the net. I imagine that viruses will have a really hard time infecting Vista, too.
I don’t think [...] the lack of a right-mouse button really add to OS X’s utility. (I haven’t used OS X much, so I could be wrong.)
Yes, you’re wrong about the lack of a right mouse button. Though the actual multibutton “Mighty” mouse wasn’t a standard shipping part with Apple computers until 2 years ago, the function was supported in the Mac OS since system 8 (more or less. You could map the contextual menu activator to the right mouse button with a third-party mouse and driver at least that far back, but now no additional drivers are needed.)
“And then Microsoft got all insecure when OS X came out and Windows XP turned into some deranged knockoff with a murky interface. And don’t even get me started on licensing headaches and getting the early releases working right in my corporate LAN were like. “
Although XP as such is far from being ideal, my interface is customized exactly the way I want it and I don’t use corporate LAN so I have no complaints in this section. Mac users also have their specific issues so who knows what could make me switch to another OS.
> But on the whole, I like it, and see many features that I had long wanted in XP (including an ’Install’ option in the right-click context menu for font files, and the ability to overwrite an existing font without first uninstalling the old version, which is like gold for font testing).
Alternatively, you can start with yourfont+99 and go on countdowning — without uninstalling the first version — until YOURFONT(+00). Possible even on the the golden version 3.1.
In response to Dan Reynolds, it is possible to disable the annoying screens that always pop-up, but needless to say it isn’t recommended. If I remember correctly, the option is somewhere in the Users dialog of the Control Panel (I downgraded back to XP a while back).
I have to admit I’ve never used OSX (or any of the previous Apple OSes), but what puts me off the most about it is all of these swirly animations that make me feel sea-sick.
I don’t want to go on at great length about this, but I’ve been using OSX 10.4 for nearly 4 months now again (after using windows 2k and XP for some years before, after using os9 and early osx versions before and in parallel), and I have to say: if you are really into it, Windows is much better than most would think that are primarly using an other system. This does not mean it is superior. An osx user adopting to windows may have as much problems as I still have adopting to the ways osx works. It’s just different, and the ways are not very compatible, which makes it difficult to understand the “other side”.
Besides that, xp with 2k-interface is the best windows version I had until now. It’s just very stable, the handling is streamlined, it’s fast on todays computers, and everything runs on it. I’ve tried vista with a new notebook I purchased but replaced it for XP a week later.
What I do not understand is why we should “save” XP: there are so many XP licences to purchase out there, why should I buy a new one from MS?
Yes, Michael, you’re correct. There is a setting to disable User Account Control in the control panel.
Dan: the fastest way to find the setting is to enter “user account” into the Start menu (Vista logo menu?) search thingie. A link to the User Accounts control panel should appear, and there you can turn off User Account Control.
I’ve been using Vista for almost a year now, and I quite like it. I haven’t had any compatibility problems, and the interface itself is gorgeous. My only complaint is a rather long startup time.
Stop the “fanboyism” XP was good. I’m Both a Win and Mac user and i never had major problems with none. But the truth is that at this moment, the leopard seems much better then Vusta on a usability pov.
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18.Apr.2008 3.56pm
It’s sort of funny to watch Windows users groveling like dogs for Windows XP, an OS so awful it made me feel like some programmers and UI designers had just taken a dump on Windows 2000 and rereleased it. This sort of silliness makes me glad that I haven’t used Windows as a primary OS in a long, long time.
18.Apr.2008 4.17pm
What makes it “so awful” in your opinion?
18.Apr.2008 4.33pm
Yeah I don’t quite get that. I am a Mac user but I had to set up a PC for my wife. It had XP on it. It was actually much easier than I remember, the last time I had run a PC was a Dell 386. Back then I remember having to specify an interrupt for the audio card I installed, it was a total pain. XP was actually plug and play so I didn’t think it was that bad.
pbc
18.Apr.2008 6.45pm
You have nothing at stake James, so it’s easy for you sit back and scoff at someone else’s misfortune. No doubt you would whimper like a lost puppy if your favorite OS were headed for extinction.
18.Apr.2008 7.41pm
XP may not be great, but what scares me is Vista. MS not selling XP doesn’t mean you can’t use it any more. Besides, Windows 7 was moved up, so everyone can take a deep breath and pass Vista by.
18.Apr.2008 8.03pm
I finally bit the bullet and started using Vista when I bought a new machine recently. I have to say that I was pleasantly surprised, but I’m aware that the ’pleasantly’ part of that experience is in large part due to the staggeringly powerful nature of the hardware: this is not an operating system that I would want to be using on a slower machine. But on the whole, I like it, and see many features that I had long wanted in XP (including an ’Install’ option in the right-click context menu for font files, and the ability to overwrite an existing font without first uninstalling the old version, which is like gold for font testing).
18.Apr.2008 9.12pm
What makes it “so awful” in your opinion?
Windows 2000 was great. It worked pretty well and the interface made some degree of sense. And then Microsoft got all insecure when OS X came out and Windows XP turned into some deranged knockoff with a murky interface. And don’t even get me started on licensing headaches and getting the early releases working right in my corporate LAN were like. Windows XP should have just been another service pack for Windows 2000.
No doubt you would whimper like a lost puppy if your favorite OS were headed for extinction.
Not really. When Windows 2000 was replaced with XP I just moved over to Mac OS, and that’s not the only OS I’ve dumped in favor of something better. Finding something else to use has never really been an issue.
18.Apr.2008 11.27pm
I love XP. Never had any trouble with it. I don’t think our machines will handle Vista. I guess we’ll have to think about upgrading hardware soon. I’d rather have a new lens.
19.Apr.2008 3.40am
As a primary Mac OS X user, I have to say that I quite like Vista. I have boot camped my MacBook Pro and have Vista running on a partition. It runs like a dream. So far, I’ve only had three problems:
1. That security window that pops up all the time really pisses me off :)
2. One piece of (common) software that I wanted to install wasn’t Vista-compatible
3. Printer-compatibility issues with one (new) printer
As for 1, I guess that is never going away :(
But 2 and 3 would no doubt change very quickly if Vista were the default OS.
I don’t use slow computers, so I haven’t any hardware needs I guess.
Also, Vista’s non-Latin script support is the best there is. So…
19.Apr.2008 8.30pm
I use XP, and it’s not perfect - but once you’re familiar with an interface, it’s typically usable. Vista both sounds flawed *and* has all the annoyance of learning a new interface. I will hold out a while before switching.
(James, your derision seems misplaced. Not all of us get paid corporate design salaries... I am a lifelong Mac user who switched due to budget - my boyfriend built a ridiculously cheap, powerful, silent PC from components.)
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eeblet.com
19.Apr.2008 9.30pm
I actually prefer XP. You can customize almost everything in it. As for interface issues, I don’t think the dock or the lack of a right-mouse button really add to OS X’s utility. (I haven’t used OS X much, so I could be wrong.) I disabled the fisher-price theme, so it looks just like 2000 and runs fast. I dual-boot Linux, which is far less sophisticated than either Windows or OS X. There was a similar outcry when MS stopped support for 98. I’ve used 2000 a lot, which is an OK system, but crashes more than XP. XP almost never crashes. Vista had some bugs, which always happens when you make so many changes. OS 10.0 Cheetah had similar issues. You can tell that MS spent a lot of money on Vista. It has a lot of cool new features like automatic diagnostics. The cost of Windows is a big plus for me, too. I haven’t bought a single program for my computer and it was built from parts. I heavily modified my security settings so I don’t get any viruses, even with all the crap I download from the net. I imagine that viruses will have a really hard time infecting Vista, too.
19.Apr.2008 9.55pm
I don’t think [...] the lack of a right-mouse button really add to OS X’s utility. (I haven’t used OS X much, so I could be wrong.)
Yes, you’re wrong about the lack of a right mouse button. Though the actual multibutton “Mighty” mouse wasn’t a standard shipping part with Apple computers until 2 years ago, the function was supported in the Mac OS since system 8 (more or less. You could map the contextual menu activator to the right mouse button with a third-party mouse and driver at least that far back, but now no additional drivers are needed.)
20.Apr.2008 1.59pm
“And then Microsoft got all insecure when OS X came out and Windows XP turned into some deranged knockoff with a murky interface. And don’t even get me started on licensing headaches and getting the early releases working right in my corporate LAN were like. “
Although XP as such is far from being ideal, my interface is customized exactly the way I want it and I don’t use corporate LAN so I have no complaints in this section. Mac users also have their specific issues so who knows what could make me switch to another OS.
20.Apr.2008 2.00pm
Another factor is, there are some critical apps that are not available for MacOS.
21.Apr.2008 12.46am
> But on the whole, I like it, and see many features that I had long wanted in XP (including an ’Install’ option in the right-click context menu for font files, and the ability to overwrite an existing font without first uninstalling the old version, which is like gold for font testing).
Alternatively, you can start with yourfont+99 and go on countdowning — without uninstalling the first version — until YOURFONT(+00). Possible even on the the golden version 3.1.
21.Apr.2008 9.45am
In response to Dan Reynolds, it is possible to disable the annoying screens that always pop-up, but needless to say it isn’t recommended. If I remember correctly, the option is somewhere in the Users dialog of the Control Panel (I downgraded back to XP a while back).
I have to admit I’ve never used OSX (or any of the previous Apple OSes), but what puts me off the most about it is all of these swirly animations that make me feel sea-sick.
21.Apr.2008 1.04pm
I don’t want to go on at great length about this, but I’ve been using OSX 10.4 for nearly 4 months now again (after using windows 2k and XP for some years before, after using os9 and early osx versions before and in parallel), and I have to say: if you are really into it, Windows is much better than most would think that are primarly using an other system. This does not mean it is superior. An osx user adopting to windows may have as much problems as I still have adopting to the ways osx works. It’s just different, and the ways are not very compatible, which makes it difficult to understand the “other side”.
Besides that, xp with 2k-interface is the best windows version I had until now. It’s just very stable, the handling is streamlined, it’s fast on todays computers, and everything runs on it. I’ve tried vista with a new notebook I purchased but replaced it for XP a week later.
What I do not understand is why we should “save” XP: there are so many XP licences to purchase out there, why should I buy a new one from MS?
21.Apr.2008 2.36pm
Yes, Michael, you’re correct. There is a setting to disable User Account Control in the control panel.
Dan: the fastest way to find the setting is to enter “user account” into the Start menu (Vista logo menu?) search thingie. A link to the User Accounts control panel should appear, and there you can turn off User Account Control.
I’ve been using Vista for almost a year now, and I quite like it. I haven’t had any compatibility problems, and the interface itself is gorgeous. My only complaint is a rather long startup time.
22.Apr.2008 12.52pm
Stop the “fanboyism” XP was good. I’m Both a Win and Mac user and i never had major problems with none. But the truth is that at this moment, the leopard seems much better then Vusta on a usability pov.
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www.nunocoelho.com
22.Apr.2008 9.07pm
I’m glad to see I’m not the only designer in the world using a PC...
I felt alone at Typecon ’06 and An Event Apart Chicago ’07.
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eeblet.com