Free Vista Beta 2 CDs

[mvent2]

I missed out on downloading the Beta, but I don't have that great Broadband so this is a great opportunity, if it is true. You just need to answer a quiz.http://www.microsoft.com/india/offers/vista/quiz.aspxVistaClarityNovember 2006TrueAeroAll the aboveAll the above512MB

[Marsden11]

Windows Vista RC1 will be available Sept 7th...

[mvent2]

Windows Vista RC1 will be available Sept 7th...

For everyone or just beta testers?

[greengeek]

I just signed up for some Microsoft thingie so I could get the CD and I did it from my Linux machine. Not sure if any of my pcs will even run Vista but I'll try it anyway. :'(

[Marsden11]

RC1 of Windows Vista will be released to testers and the public after the Labor Day holiday in the United States, which falls this year on September 4. Currently, Microsoft expects to ship RC1 on or after September 7.

[ThunderRiver]

Just curious where did you get the information about Sept 7? Is that from one of the Microsoft PR?

Edited August 17, 2006 by ThunderRiver

[Marsden11]

I like Scot and many others have access to inside information. I'm under an NDA agreement like others and what I shared is not covered by my individual NDA agreement.Your mileage may vary... It's like when MS has a huge launch, like last year's SQL - Visual Studio gig in SF. I had a VIP pass and sat 2nd row center for the main show... I later had lunch with Steve Balmer. Like the CC commercial... "Membership has it's rewards."

[mvent2]

I later had lunch with Steve Balmer.

I hope you sat on park benches instead of chairs! *hears groans from crowd*Thank you! I'll be here till Tuesday!*hears more groans from crowd* Edited August 18, 2006 by mvent2

[Dard]

I like Scot and many others have access to inside information. I'm under an NDA agreement like others and what I shared is not covered by my individual NDA agreement.Your mileage may vary... It's like when MS has a huge launch, like last year's SQL - Visual Studio gig in SF. I had a VIP pass and sat 2nd row center for the main show... I later had lunch with Steve Balmer. Like the CC commercial... "Membership has it's rewards."

Well, now I understand why you pimp microsoft products.Enjoy your 30 pieces of silver.

[Marsden11]

Hmmm... let me guess, another windows hater...

[ross549]

Hmmm... let me guess, another windows hater...

Marsden...It is not that I hate Windows.... I am just tired. Tired of the constant updates, most of which require a reboot. I am tired of having to deal with virii, which do not install on linux. I am tired of spyware, adware, and malware, which are not an issue with linux. I am tired of Microsoft and other companies telling me what I can and cannot do with my computer.... linux gives me the choice to do whatever I want. I am tired of having to reboot countless times to get the system up and running with my drivers and security updates.I am just tired. Certainly, there is a learning curve with linux. But all that I lose in simplicity I make up for (and much more) in configurability and freedom to do as I wish with the hardware I purchased.Adam

[epp_b]

NDA agreement

Ah, those Non-disclosure agreement agreements. Kinda like automatic teller machine machines, right?Sorry, I'm a grammar nazi for these abbrivation duplicate kind of things

Well, now I understand why you pimp microsoft products.Enjoy your 30 pieces of silver.

Ooh...zing!

[Marsden11]

Linux gives me the choice to do whatever I want.

And yet I read countless posts in ATL on how this distro or that distro does not like my hardware particularly with laptops. You may call that "freedom" but I call it restrictions...You would think by now EVERY distro to come down the pike would use the same internal mechanism to discover hardware and apply working drivers. They all try to use the latest kernel... so please explain why at this point in time some distros work and some don't on any given hardware stack.You claim you have choice and I don't with windows. How so? If I want I can add a 3rd party app and make XP look like OS X or any other wild configuration I choose, I can. Sounds like choice to me. I can hack the Registry just like you can hack your config files. All the same... just a different approach to configuration.I can take my XP install CD and use a 3rd party tool like nLite and strip out any standard windows components I don't want (like remove windows media player and replace it with REAL player), add 3rd party software programs, add hardware drivers missing in XP for new hardware, make Reg hacks and configuration changes before I even install XP... but you say I have no choice. I can slipstream service packs and add the latest security fixes and hotfixes through yesterday and create a new ISO which then gives me a complete up to date custom XP install that after installing needs no updates, no reboots and is ready to run... but you insist I have no choice.I can even make the entire install process completely unattended from setting my time zone to creating HD partitions and formatting, to network configuration all with ZERO user input during the install... but I'm hopelessly stuck with no choice.The cool thing is I even have a easy to use GUI interface to make my customizing windows easy to do and if I want I can play all day on the CMD line just like you do...Your argument is old and tired and getting more so by the minute...But if you believe you have more choice than I, fine... you are free to hide behind your Reality Distortion Field for as long as you like. That is your real freedom... Edited August 20, 2006 by Marsden11

[greengeek]

The problem posters in ATL and many other Linux forums are just a small percentage of Linux users. There are many more of us who do get things to work without all the drama.I see just as many posts in Windows' forums and a lot of those for something that's supposed to be easy to do.

[Marsden11]

So I can install ANY distro on ANY hardware stack without issue?

[mvent2]

And yet I read countless posts in ATL on how this distro or that distro does not like my hardware particularly with laptops. You may call that "freedom" but I call it restrictions...You would think by now EVERY distro to come down the pike would use the same internal mechanism to discover hardware and apply working drivers. They all try to use the latest kernel... so please explain why at this point in time some distros work and some don't on any given hardware stack.

For me it's the opposite. I had severe troubles finding drivers for my $400-something computer which uses pure Intel hardware on Windows. It took me two days of googling and registering to finally get the installers I needed. Ubuntu detected all my hardware without any intervention from me. I could boot into 1024x768 from the start.

You claim you have choice and I don't with windows. How so? If I want I can add a 3rd party app and make XP look like OS X or any other wild configuration I choose, I can. Sounds like choice to me. I can hack the Registry just like you can hack your config files. All the same... just a different approach to configuration.]

Hmmm, my mileage varied with this one too. With Linux, I could tell it PRECISELY how much Ram I wanted to allocate to my integrated graphics. 128MB here and AIGLX/Compiz runs like a dream, although I'll admit setting it up gave me pain for a few hours, and the full cube effect isn't a perfect frame rate but still very tolerable. I even have glass on my window borders. With Windows, I was told how much Ram was allocated and if I didn't like it, too bad. All the effects from WindowFX ran at the frame rate of a Powerpoint presentation, with 64MB allocated. There was no registry setting or anything to change this, the driver set it in stone based on how much Ram was in my computer.EDIT: Scratch what I said about the cube. A few tweaks made it better, though still not at the level of the latest Radeon.

I can slipstream service packs and add the latest security fixes and hotfixes through yesterday and create a new ISO which then gives me a complete up to date custom XP install that after installing needs no updates, no reboots and is ready to run... but you insist I have no choice.

I just use Apt-get dist-upgrade. Done. No reboots, NO exceptions.

I can even make the entire install process completely unattended from setting my time zone to creating HD partitions and formatting, to network configuration all with ZERO user input during the install... but I'm hopelessly stuck with no choice.

I'm positive Linux can do this, but I only just switched yesterday so you'll have to see someone like Bruno or Teacher about whether this can be done or not. Certain distros I am certain do utilize this, but once again YMMV. But that doesn't matter to me because the Ubuntu install takes less than 10 minutes from start to end on my machine, and thats with everything like X, The GIMP, Firefox and Openoffice.

The cool thing is I even have a easy to use GUI interface to make my customizing windows easy to do and if I want I can play all day on the CMD line just like you do...

Who said Linux doesn't have this? I have a Control Panel to customise basically any aspect of my Linux, including power features with gconf-editor. I can have themes without needing WindowBlinds. And you can keep that excuse for a CLI, Bash blows the Windows CMD Terminal right out of the water and to the far reaches of the galaxy. Do you have a web browser that can run from pure DOS, not just the terminal?Trust me, after an initial day of getting everything set up, I now no longer have any reason or intention to use the CLI.

Your argument is old and tired and getting more so by the minute...But if you believe you have more choice than I, fine... you are free to hide behind your Reality Distortion Field for as long as you like. That is your real freedom...

300+ flavours of Linux is less choice than what you have? Sure. Windows is playing serious catch-up here and even so it will never reach the level of feature-richness, stability or customisability (is that a word?) of Linux. I can get so much more for so much less (both $ and hardware requirements) on Linux, but you can hide in your alternate dimension all you want with your fingers in your ears and your eyes shut.I doubt that you have even set foot on Linux soil in your life.And to address your more recent post, the only real trouble you'll have with Linux drivers are Winmodems, which suck anyway as they rely on the computer to do its job. Wifi cards may also be a bit of a hassle however this seems to have improved a lot.However, I have been able to do a lot of things that I could not do on Windows with Linux. While in some cases it's not the most user-friendly way, sometimes you need to have a compromise between friendliness and power to give the user control of HIS OWN computer. Edited August 20, 2006 by mvent2

[Marsden11]

I doubt that you have even set foot on Linux soil in your life.

Right... let's see, the RH 5.2 Embedded on every battery powered DVR we install on Sysco Foods trucks, which has generated a $28 million deal. When was the last time you made any money using RH or any other distro? Oh wait... you are just playing with them...I don't play with it, instead I use it as a tool and make money with it.The Cube... is there a business application for using it that will give you a competitive advantage over a user who does not have it?DOS browsers? Sure, how about Arachne, Knots, SPIN, Minute, WGET, HTGET.Is that enough for you?Can you boot 1600 X 1200 in 32bit color?

300+ flavours of Linux is less choice than what you have?

I figure your 300+ distros will clearly give you more time to waste trying them all out to see which one you prefer the most. It's basically the same tool but 300+ versions??? You penguinistias surely must have time to burn...

[James M. Fisher]

Let's get back on topic here, folks. This is ATW, not a 'Linux vs. Windows' forum.

[mvent2]

Right... let's see, the RH 5.2 Embedded on every battery powered DVR we install on Sysco Foods trucks, which has generated a $28 million deal. When was the last time you made any money using RH or any other distro? Oh wait... you are just playing with them...I don't play with it, instead I use it as a tool and make money with it.

Geez, don't get your knickers in a knot. But doesn't this tell you that Linux is an excellent productivity tool? Businesses can ask for a CUSTOM distribution for their purposes. Right down to the fundamental workings, businesses can get it precisely (emphasis mine) how they desire.

The Cube... is there a business application for using it that will give you a competitive advantage over a user who does not have it?

Does everything have to be business? I guess that means you don't want the eye candy in Vista because there's no business application for it. However, the cube does allow you to preview your desktops before switching to them, thus there is no more need for "did I put it on this desktop or that one?"

DOS browsers? Sure, how about Arachne, Knots, SPIN, Minute, WGET, HTGET.Is that enough for you?

Sure. I also take it they run in pure DOS? If, say, I completely uninstalled Windows I could use those from a command prompt?

Can you boot 1600 X 1200 in 32bit color?

I can boot in 1920x1440 in 32bit colour if my monitor could handle it.

I figure your 300+ distros will clearly give you more time to waste trying them all out to see which one you prefer the most. It's basically the same tool but 300+ versions??? You penguinistias surely must have time to burn...

No. We just customise a distribution to Linux for our needs, and some of us believe our changes could benefit some of the OSS community, so we release a distro out of it. And I have to disagree with the "same tools" theory there. Ubuntu and OpenSuSE are designed for end users who want an easy migration to Linux, whereas Slackware is for the computer Gods who want totalitarian say in how their computer runs. Knoppix runs off the CD so it's great for recovery, whereas Linspire provides a Windows look and feel to a Linux distro. Red Hat is designed for corporate use, as you mentioned. And it's not that we have time to burn, it's that we have the backing of thousands of volunteer programmers worldwide, each working on one thing each for Linux.I guess that statistic I found also counts the distros that have gone belly up over the years, maybe 300 is a bit of an exaggeration...

[James M. Fisher]

Closing this topic until further notice.