On Mar 12, 10:10 am, "JimH" wrote:
wrote in message
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On Mar 12, 6:37 am, HK wrote:
Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
Eisboch wrote:
"D.Duck" wrote in message
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"Eisboch" wrote in message
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"HK" wrote in message
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Eisboch wrote:
"hk" wrote in message
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Tim wrote:
hk wrote:
...picked up my Mac today...and despite all my thumbs, I sorta
figured
some of it out. Maybe.
Harry, I know some people that are Mac addicts. They wouldn't
use any
other system.
Software issues aside .... are there any claims or evidence that
Mac hardware is better ... more reliable .... longer lasting ...
etc. than the typical CPUs and components used in PCs?
Eisboch
I don't see how that could be, as the main ingredients are pretty
much the same quality, and depend more on price. If you buy
certified memory, you are getting something that may be better than
uncertified memory. The drives are the same, the cpu's are the
same, the ergonomics are a lot different.
The CPU's are the same?
Just goes to show how ignorant I am about computers. Last I knew,
Apple had their own CPU's.
Eisboch
Intel is now making Apple CPUs.
Well, isn't *that* special.
So, what's the difference between a Mac running Windows (I've read
that it can) and a PC running Windows?
Eisboch
Eisboch, With all the problems everyone has been having with Vista, I
can understand why someone would want to buy a Mac. 
"Everyone" isn't having "problems" running VISTA, but I can understand
how some might have problems running VISTA or XP or 98 or Tiger or
Leopard or MS-DOS or even an alarm clock.- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Yeah, the only people that seem to be having trouble with Vista are,
well, everybody except Harry and JimH!
==========
Correct......because (as I stated several times already) our computers run
WinXP. It is my son who has VISTA on his laptop. The laptop was built to
run VISTA. I asked him just the other day (he is home till the 19th) is
he has run into any problems and his answer was "no".
The 3 main problems folks are having with VISTA a
1. Some hardware is not compatible with the system.
2. Computers running the system with inadequate memory.
3. Folks upgrading to VISTA rather than running a clean install.
Got it?- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Jim, there are many, many, many thousands of testimonials, white
papers, and even Microsoft fixes for Vista. Microsoft itself has
realized what a resource hog it is, and has fixes out for it.
Microsoft also realizes, and admits that it has many flaws.
"Microsoft has granted, in a roundabout way, that Vista has 'high
impact issues.' It has put out an email call for technical users to
participate in testing Service Pack 1, due out later this year, which
will address 'regressions from Windows Vista and Windows XP, security,
deployment blockers and other high impact issues.' It's hard to know
whether to be reassured that Service Pack 1 is coming in the second
half of 2007, and thus that there is a timeframe for considering
deployment of Vista within businesses, or to be alarmed that Microsoft
is unleashing an OS on the world with 'high impact issues' still
remaining."
Got it?
http://www.theinquirer.net/en/inquir...-vista-failure
WITH TWO OVERLAPPING events, Microsoft admitted what we have been
saying all along, Vista, aka Windows Me Two (Me II), is a joke that no
one wants.
It did two unprecedented things this week that frankly stunned us.
Dell announced that it would be offering XP again on home PCs. The
second that Vista came out, Microsoft makes it very hard for you to
sell anything other than Me II. It can't do this on the business side
because it would be laughed out the door, but for the walking sheep
class, well, you take what you are shovelled.
This is classic abusive monopoly behaviour, Microsoft wrote the modern
book on it. It pulled all the major OEMs in by twisting their arms
with the usual methods, and they again all fell into line. Never
before has anyone backpedalled on this, to do so would earn you the
wrath of Microsoft.
But Dell just did. This means that Me II sales are at least as bad as
we think, the software and driver situation is just as miserable, and
Dell had no choice but to buck the trend. If anyone thinks this is an
act of atonement for foisting such a steaming pile on us, think again,
it doesn't care about the consumer.
What happened is, the OEMs revolted in the background and forced
Microsoft's hand. This is a big neon sign above Me II saying
'FAILURE'. Blink blink blink. OK, Me II won't fail, Microsoft has OEMs
whipped and threatened into a corner, it will sell, but you can almost
hear the defectors marching toward Linux. This is a watershed.
The other equally monumental Me II failure? Gates in China launching a
$3 version of bundled XP. Why is this not altruism? Well, it goes back
to piracy and how it helped enforce the MS monopoly. If you can easily
pirate Windows, Linux has no price advantage, they both cost zero.
With Me II, Microsoft made it very hard to pirate. It is do-able, you
can use the BIOS hack and probably a host of others, but the point is,
it raised the bar enough so lots of people have to buy it. Want to bet
that in a country with $100 average monthly salary, people aren't
going to shell out $299 for Me II Broken Edition?
What did MS do? It dropped the price about 100x or so. I can't say
this is unprecedented, when it made Office 2003 hard to pirate it had
to backpedal with the student edition for about $150. This time
though, things are much more desperate.
If you fit Microsoft's somewhat convoluted definition of poor, it
still wants to lock you in, you might get rich enough to afford the
full-priced stuff someday. It is at a dangerous crossroads, if its
software bumps up the price of a computer by 100 per cent, people
might look to alternatives.
That means no Me II DRM infection lock in, no mass migration to the
newer Office obfuscated and patented file formats, and worse yet,
people might utter the W word. Yes, you guessed it, 'why'. People
might ask why it is sticking with the MS lock in, and at that point,
it is in deep trouble.
So, it did the unthinkable, and dropped the price. I won't bother to
hunt down all the exec quotes saying how people can't afford clean
water would be overjoyed to sell kidneys to upgrade to the new version
of Office, but they are out there. This was a sacred cow, and it is
now hamburger backed up against the wall.
These two actions by Microsoft are proof of what I suggested three
years ago. Microsoft has lost its ability to twist arms, and now it is
going to die. It can't compete on level ground, so is left with
backpedalling and discounts of almost 100 times.
What we are seeing is an unprecedented shift of power. It is also an
unprecedented admission of failure. And the funniest part about the
moves made? They are the wrong things to do. Microsoft is in deep
trouble.
Got it?
http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/softwar...9272810,00.htm
Microsoft is investigating a security vulnerability which affects
Vista, its newly launched operating system.
Mike Reavey, operations manager at Microsoft's Security Response
Centre, revealed last Friday that Vista is vulnerable to a flaw that
allows a malicious hacker to escalate user privileges within several
versions of Windows.
Proof-of-concept code that exploits the code has been posted online,
Reavey said in a blog posting, adding that Microsoft isn't yet aware
of any malware that takes advantage of it.
"Initial indications are that in order for the attack to be
successful, the attacker must already have authenticated access to the
target system," wrote Reavey.
"While I know this is a vulnerability that impacts Windows Vista I
still have every confidence that Windows Vista is our most secure
platform to date. As always, we here at the MSRC encourage everyone to
enable a firewall, apply all security updates and install anti-virus
and anti-spyware software," he added.
Vista is Microsoft's first operating system release in five years. The
company had repeatedly emphasised that it is more secure than previous
versions, having been extensively rewritten.
One major change in Vista is that users accounts are created with
administrator privileges turned off by default, unlike in XP where
they are automatically turned on. Microsoft has cited this change as a
key security change, as these administrator powers can be used to turn
off other security measures.
As such, this flaw could put Vista users at risk. However, Mikko
Hyppönen, chief research officer with Finnish security company F-
Secure, has already said that the flaw it should not concern corporate
or individual users as a malicious hacker can't take advantage of it
unless they already have access to their machine.
Got it?
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,141317/article.html
The company has slated Vista SP1 for final delivery this quarter, and
on Thursday said it remained on track. "We are still on schedule to
deliver SP1 RTM in Q1 [calendar year 2008]," said the spokeswoman.
In a separate issue, though, the company Wednesday admitted a snafu in
a Windows Vista update it issued Tuesday to prep PCs for the later
release of SP1.
The update, which is described in the support document KB935509, was
one of three prerequisites for SP1 unveiled Tuesday, and was supposed
to end up only on Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate machines, since
it targeted BitLocker, the full-drive encryption technology bundled
with those premium versions of the operating system. Instead, the
update was also offered to PCs running Vista Home Basic and Home
Premium.
Got it?
If you need more, visit Microsoft.com and take a look at the THOUSANDS
of patches and fixes that they offer.
Got it?