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Mostly used OS


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HP M7257c PC and a couple of laptops, an ancient Sony GRZ610 and a HP dv5000. Wifi courtesy a NETGEAR router.
 
When it comes to PCs, I roll my own. The most stable OS I ever ran was Win2kPro. I still have that disc and might use it when I build my dedicated audio streaming PC. XP Pro is fairly stable for me....I have tweaked it and tweaked it, and it runs pretty good now.

I am looking at getting a MacBook or a Mac Mini when Leopard is out, just to get the experience. I have used Macs and like them, and I think its time I try one out. I only really use the PC for email, communication, web-surfing, and storing music and photos. I dont do any gaming, video editing, business, or anything else critical or demanding...so I dont really need anything crazy...but for those things I use it for, a Mac can do....and probably better. :) So I will likely make the switch to Mac before I switch to Vista.
 
Same here, my most used OS is still Windows 2000 Pro, because of its stability.

Yeah Kal, w2000 kinda rocks. Windows NT , too. years and years old but still running circles around the current Msoft OS iterations. It's the only version stable enough to be used on a couple of PC's in my firm, mission critical stuff, Widows only soft ... I think Gates fired all the guys that built it - making a great OS which could run pc's for centuries does not bring money. Flawed, eye-candy OS's needing patches and antiviruses do, so the only good products have been ditched.
 
Same here, my most used OS is still Windows 2000 Pro, because of its stability.

If you want stability, you can't beat DOS! I'd love to be using that today! Simple, fast, easy and productive. A 286 running DOS 5 was many times more responsive than any PC today......it's such a shame everyone fell for all that eye-candy stuff.

For proof, I have an IBM 486 laptop running DOS in my holiday house, just running software for a weather station there (temp, RH, wind direction, etc). I think it's been running for over 3 years non-stop! It would run for longer if there weren't occasional lengthy power failures.
 
I use whatever OS is most useful for the application that I will using. In my case, for home use, I am an WinXP Pro user. Perfect for checking email, and the occasional microsoft word document. I personally use it for doing home videos onto DVD's too. I have heard that Mac's are supposed to be pretty good in this area too. I used to be a Mac guy as we had a Mac all growing up. My dad had a Mac SE, and then a Performa. I have seen OSX, but I haven't used it much.

I am also a big HP-UX/Linux guy. I love Unix, therefore I have a healthy respect for Macs, which are apparently based on BSD unix, Darwin isn't it? I don't use it though because I like to build my own machines to have exactly what I want in them. I haven't found that to be possible with Mac's yet. You cannot just go buy a case, then a motherboard, then a processor, and ram etc, etc, etc, and hope to run Mac OS on it. If I could, I probably would, though I may do a dual boot with WinXP Pro.

-capT

PS: I've seen Vista and was absolutely NOT impressed. I doubt I would go there, ever. I'd go to Fedora, or something like that first before Vista.
 
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I have a healthy respect for Macs, which are apparently based on BSD unix, Darwin isn't it? I don't use it though because I like to build my own machines to have exactly what I want in them. I haven't found that to be possible with Mac's yet. You cannot just go buy a case, then a motherboard, then a processor, and ram etc, etc, etc, and hope to run Mac OS on it.

Well, captain, you don't customize much your Martin Logans either, don't you ? Maybe a spike here and there, but you don't mess with the crossover, you don't swap out the woofer etc... why ? Because you're happy with the result of countless hours spent by engineers, culminated in a very enjoyable product; you're enjoying their work and... it just works. You buy it and concentrate on the effect, on using instead of tweaking. (btw, with a Mac Pro you can easily add HD's, install RAM, put other video cards and so on).

There are LOTS of things that we buy, use and enjoy without modifying them much, and we're perfectly happy. The plethora of possible Win PC configs is a false freedom, IMHO, because once you've got your "dream machine" frankensteined together, here comes the software - which is the part you'll mostly use - and the duels begin. And after some hours of heavy use, when your end result melts because of underdimensioned ventilation (just an example), you can't blame anybody except yourself, even if you might have 10 different potential culprits, who will juggle responsabilities from one to the other. With Apple, you've only got one partner, and if it has a problem, they will respond for it.

Did you watch the video I've linked to, here: http://67.19.167.226/~tdacquis/forum/showpost.php?p=44204&postcount=145 ?
 
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I tweak my logans! Midbass array and crossover/eq. Very high performance at very low cost! If it breaks, I know how to fix it...cause I built it! Good analogy!
 
Lugano,
Hmm, you know that's a very interesting way to put it. It has been a while since I have messed much with Mac's, so I guess that by now it is possible to have a bit more freedom hardware wise, but only once you have some level of base Apple hardware.

I have nothing against Apple, I just have not had any real exposure to them for quite some time now, and am very behind on their features and use. I am sure that it has a wonderful OS, especially now that it is unix based. It would seem that Apple has been wise by keeping their hardware close to the vest for the very reason you described, only one partner, so if something goes wrong, you know whose fault it is. This is one way to do it and seems to work well for them, keeping them quite exclusive. There are other ways of doing it too, and that is the way Microsoft and the countless clones of the original IBM hardware have done it. It all depends on what you want. It is not up to me to say that one is better than the other.

However quite to the contrary of what you said, I do not simply toss a few things together, and then concentrate on the usage only. I have spent countless hours and way too much cash "frankensteining" my machine together, as you aptly put it :D. I humbly admit that the software CAN sometimes be a pain, (read Microsoft) but thankfully has not been as bad as one may expect.

The main issue I guess is that once you do that, YOU are your own support at that point, as you cannot necessarily call the mothership when (not if) you have problems. But then again, if you feel comfortable enough being your own support, then I don't see why not. Personally, I know google well enough to find drivers or help forums when needed, and have gotten quite creative at times when need be. I like my machines, and am proud of them, perhaps not as much as my ML's, but I am proud of what I have accomplished and managed to keep running for so long with as little trouble as I have had.

Indeed it can take some time to research to make sure that the hardware that I buy will all be compatible with each other, and that the software I will be using will all be compatible with the hardware too, but to me it is a challenge, one that I rather enjoy. That is actually how I earned my nickname, Captain Tinker. :cool: There is a good reason for it. I am constantly tinkering with it, tweaking it, and updating it, and having fun with it. It is another of my deeply enjoyable hobbies, just ask my long suffering spouse. :p

As for tweaking the ML's, I just haven't gotten there yet. At least not to the point where I feel comfortable opening them up to mess with crossovers etc. I am still in my infant stages in this hobby, and am still learning the basics. I will get there with time and experience as I feel I have with my computing mania.

-capT
 
to me it is a challenge, one that I rather enjoy. That is actually how I earned my nickname, Captain Tinker. :cool: There is a good reason for it. I am constantly tinkering with it, tweaking it, and updating it, and having fun with it. It is another of my deeply enjoyable hobbies, just ask my long suffering spouse.

I understand this, and respect it more than you believe. If one knows what he's doing and especially if he's got fun doing it, it's a wonderful thing, be it computers, cars or HiFi. On the other side I'm biased by my work: I have to make sure that 100 computers work perfectly, both from the software and the hw point of view, and the people using them are billing clients in 5 minute increments. They are all quite good at their work, but mostly complete ignorants when it comes to computing, and if there's a way to screw up things, they will eventually find it and my job also consists in making sure they don't find it :) The computer - in this situation - is merely an instrument, one that is mission critical, and having them all "standard" when it comes to hardware is a real help for me. With time, this peace of mind entered deeply in me and being able to move on to other things while being sure that the hardware and the system software just works makes me happy.
 
Lugano,
Gosh, you and I must do something very similar for work. :D I am a phone support rep for an enterprise level backup and restore software program that touches just about everything out there, almost every kind of operating system, almost every kind of hardware platform, many different kinds of databases, tape drives, disk arrays, networks, fibre channel storage area networks etc. Then on top of that, I have a few other products I support as well that are just as complicated, but don't have such a high call volume as the first. So I have to know how all of it works at any time, plus keep on top of all the changes in the industry, the new hardware and os's coming out, the new database versions etc. None of this is an easy task, but thankfully the people that call are mostly highly trained professionals who run the backups and restores for their company, so most of them know what they are doing. Every once in a while I run into someone who was thrown into the job because the other person left on not very good terms, and so they don't know what they are doing, so I have to teach them and guide them through it. I pride myself in being able to stay on top of all this while also administering my own small diagnostic network of Windows, Linux, and Unix boxes that I have all built myself in order to support my customers. (gosh, when I say it like that it sure sounds good... :cool: ) So I understand what you are talking about. It's not easy, but it's fun. I'm glad you enjoy your job. So do I.

-capT

*and now, back to our regularly scheduled programming...* :D
 
Using XP Pro almost all of the time.

I have an iMac, too. It serves two purposes only: to run SlimServer and to let me play with OS X. I like it but since I am rather intimately familiar with WXP a switch over won't be easy. It may happen, though, because of Vista.

In my experience XP is at least as stable as 2K, I have been using both since 2002 and 2000, respectively. My XP installation is heavily tweaked, however, and runs on home brew hardware anno 2002. Runs fine - and I do play games at 1600x1200. Games are the reason why I'll need new hardware soon. A Mac Pro with WXP in Boot Camp would be nice but I have my doubts re. compatibility with games and top of the line graphics cards.
 
A Mac Pro with WXP in Boot Camp would be nice but I have my doubts re. compatibility with games and top of the line graphics cards.

Yes, I have many doubts, too - It will work, but not with all the fps that you could get from a tweaked, specifically built Windows gaming setup. Although we may get different (read: much better) results in october, when the final release of OS X leopard (10.5) comes out. It seems that boot camp will become obsolete. I'm the first one to tell hardcore gamers to steer away from the mac platform... for the time being.
 
Had to reply Vista, as that's what my laptop in the kitchen runs. This is what I type on when having my coffee every morning and chiming in here.
XP runs on my other laptops and desktops (there are 5 other PCs).

My wife's machine is a Mac. (and I lust after it almost as much as I do her ;) )
 
I build my own boxes as well and run Vista Ultimate on the current setup. I may eventually buy a Macbook Pro as well and run a dual boot on it. We shall see.

I do quite a bit of photo editing on my system and the rest of the time I do web browing and email.

I'm a tweaker as well. It started with computers and grew into cars; for a primary everyday use computer I find the Apples too inflexible in this regard though I understand lugano's line of reasoning.
 

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