Vista SP2

[mrtr33]

Came out, presumably Tuesday.

Anyone heard anything good/bad about it? Should I wait to update?

Anyone ever used this?

[dmac]

If you're a windows guy, there's honestly no reason to mess with openbsd. There's been a huge linux boom in the past few years, and there are plenty of other distributions that are more users friendly and can make the change easier.

Ubuntu would be my first recommendation. Download the image and burn it to a CD, you can boot from it and play around to see if it might fit you. In fact, just about every new, maintained distribution has a live CD that does just that.

I'm not real good at talking about this kind of stuff without rambling. If you have any questions, ask me and I can be more direct.

[mrtr33]

I'm not real good at talking about this kind of stuff without rambling. If you have any questions, ask me and I can be more direct.

Thanks for the input. I used to be a FreeBSD guy, then just got tired of it, and wanted to play PC games again a little bit easier. For one reason or the other, I've bounced back and forth between Windows and Ubuntu over the years. Ubuntu is a nice distro, I think I first put it on a machine in 05 or 06. It is getting a bit stuffy, IMHO. One of the reasons the OS-adventurous choose to go with open source OS's over commercial systems is the lack of crap loaded into them.

I need to have Windows for work. But I just got a new laptop, which means I can play with my old one. Recalling my joy from my previous BSD years, I wanted to know if anyone had ever played with Open. Not really interested in going back to Ubuntu again. I'd rather stay UNIX as much as I can.

[FactoredReality]

I ran OpenBSD for a bit when it was popular. Berkeley put out some good stuff, but they kinda fell of the leading edge. Not before OSX stole the good bits of course.

Ubuntu is a good distro to learn on, but to get back to the OP I would install the service pack asap just to keep the malware at bay. The leading trend is to look as the holes M$ is fixing in the patch and release viril to attack those holes.

I always wondered who would win in a fight between the BSD devil and the Linux penguin.

[dmac]

I definitely wont argue the ubuntu being sort of stuffy angle. In fact, I feel a little disrespectful bringing up ubuntu around a unix FOG. I have experience with a number of distributions, but it's just so darn simple out of the box, I always recommend it first to windows users (which apparently you aren't exclusively). It beats the hell out of a stage 1 install of gentoo. Nothing like bootstrapping your own system by hand.

[mrtr33]

Thanks for the advice. I downloaded and installed SP2 last night. Whatever it was, things are still running smooth. With my new laptop purchase, though, I was able to get a free upgrade to Windows 7 - but I think I'll wait on getting that, too, when it comes out. Should be like Decemberish.

As for malware, I used to be a firm believer in SpyBot and AdAware. But anymore, I am loving MalwareBytes. What a great piece of software.

[badwhale]

Thanks for the advice. I downloaded and installed SP2 last night. Whatever it was, things are still running smooth. With my new laptop purchase, though, I was able to get a free upgrade to Windows 7 - but I think I'll wait on getting that, too, when it comes out. Should be like Decemberish.

As for malware, I used to be a firm believer in SpyBot and AdAware. But anymore, I am loving MalwareBytes. What a great piece of software.

I had about no luck with W7. It was a cool looking environment, but it was crash city. Ask Nate & Dennis & Cinda

[mrtr33]

I had about no luck with W7. It was a cool looking environment, but it was crash city. Ask Nate & Dennis & Cinda

Wasn't that just a beta version, though? I didn't think Win7 was to launch commercially until October 22nd.

I'm seriously not a Microsoft apologist, but since they put food on my table, I'm, shall we say, have taken increasing interest in this upcoming development. Not to say Vista is horrible, it's built for someone who has never used a computer before. THAT'S what I'd like to see - an OS with the balls enough to provide different settings based on past computer technology experience.

For example, you could ask the user if they have used a OS X on a Mac, and include a dock.

Ask them if they have used Linux in the past 5 years and give them multiple desktops.

Ask them if they enjoy working long hours on projects, and then have them crash, and give them Visual Studio 2K5.

It could be great!

[badwhale]

Wasn't that just a beta version, though? I didn't think Win7 was to launch commercially until October 22nd.

I'm seriously not a Microsoft apologist, but since they put food on my table, I'm, shall we say, have taken increasing interest in this upcoming development. Not to say Vista is horrible, it's built for someone who has never used a computer before. THAT'S what I'd like to see - an OS with the balls enough to provide different settings based on past computer technology experience.

For example, you could ask the user if they have used a OS X on a Mac, and include a dock.

Ask them if they have used Linux in the past 5 years and give them multiple desktops.

Ask them if they enjoy working long hours on projects, and then have them crash, and give them Visual Studio 2K5.

It could be great!

Yes, it was the Beta version....speaking of crashes, mine just BSOD'd a minute ago. Maybe I'm just not meant to have a computer

Will

[bigwhiteash]

Yes, it was the Beta version....speaking of crashes, mine just BSOD'd a minute ago. Maybe I'm just not meant to have a computer

Will

.. and you laughed at me last night when I said I had a BSOD!

[mrtr33]

It only took me a week to BSOD my new laptop last week - I'm that good.

[MarineOne]

One of my co-workers has the beta for Win 7 and that's what I'm waiting for .... I have 2 laptops running the abomination known as "Vista" and simply cannot wait for the day to nuke the OS.

Now my WinXP64 system ..... that one I really enjoy. Too bad Zune's software doesn't run on it.