Re: Windows Vista at One Year (Dark Side Report)

On Tue, 5 Feb 2008, El Castor wrote:

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 10:20:18 -0800, Rita <Rita@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 09:57:53 -0800, El Castor <No_One@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Tue, 05 Feb 2008 17:35:14 GMT, jimstevens <jimstevens@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

[Default] On Tue, 5 Feb 2008 07:00:30 -1000, "Alvin E. Toda" <aet@xxxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 1 Feb 2008, Rumpelstiltskin wrote:

On Fri, 01 Feb 2008 09:06:09 -0500, Gary <none@xxxxxxx> wrote:

On Fri, 01 Feb 2008 08:25:55 -0500, Jim Higgins <gordian238@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

A computer shop's sales pitch: 'We remove Vista' http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/microsoft/archives/130626.asp?source=mypi

fter reading today's story about Windows Vista's first year, reader Bruce Finlayson of Seattle sent along this photo that he snapped in October outside a computer store in Milford, N.H. ...

I made some calls to computer stores in Milford (pop. 15,000) and confirmed that the sign appeared in the window of A&D Computer, across the street from the town square. Shop manager Aaron Kaplan said they were prompted to put it up because so many people were having problems with Windows Vista, including compatibility issues with older software and trouble adjusting to the interface.

I'm beginning to think that Vista was designed in cahoots with various hardware and software manufacturers to force us to buy new version of stuff we already have.

I've got a good flatbed scanner that will not work with Vista, plus several older software programs.

I suppose Bill Gates need some extra money for his charities.


I still run some DOS programs. My computer bridge game (Micro Bridge Companion) is one example. Windows developers seem to concentrate on a glitzy interface in preference to making a strategically powerful game. I've never bought and rarely played any of the wow-graphics shoot-em-up games that are all the rage with the young whippersnappers, because I'm such an old fart, so I couldn't comment on those. The computer games I play are pretty much limited to GO, "Litlite" (Scrabble), Bridge, Spades, "Wintris" (Tetris), Crazy Eights, Gin, "Rattler" (an ancient eat-the-dots-while-being-chased- through-a-maze game), and Yachtzee. Of those, the Bridge, Crazy Eights, Gin and Rattler games are DOS.

Noticeably missing is Chess, which I used to play a lot in my 20's but which I've rarely played in recent years. I still like to watch people play chess, but it's too much pressure for me to want to play it myself these days.

I have a computer Q-Bert game that I really like. I was addicted to that game at amusement parks. It's now unplayable though, because the graphics go blank in an early screen if I try to play it via Windows.

I used to "play" SimCity too, but I've gotten tired of it. It's become Barbie-Doll-ish in that there are an expanding number of accoutrements associated with it these days, which puts me off.

I still use my windows 95 machine when the windows 98 goes down. Worried about upward compatibility? I worry more about downward compatibility. Those operating systems are no longer supported. I haven't bought new s/w in years because so much is available for free nowadays-- not that I use that stuff. Am thinking of updating an older machine to linux and hopefully will find much open source s/w to use... Tactics of the retired to save costs.

There is nothing better then taking a nice box home, opening it and putting the hardware together, pulling hard drive out of old PC and trashing the rest of the old machine as crap that will take time to keep going. I love it.

In a day when you can buy a Dell dual core machine for $500, it is also a great way to spend more money. Considering the life span of hard disks, using an old relic for more than data transfer is a terrific way to lose data. As for Win 95 and Win 98, not only are they vulnerable to every hack that the mind of an Albanian teenager can devise, with an old processor and modern software they must take a half hour to boot up. Other than that, sounds great! (-8

I wonder if there are any firewalls or anti-virus checkers or spyware detectors available today -- and that are kept updated -- that support Win 95 and Win 98? If not, you might as well say computer security doesn't matter.

Might as well.

Thanx to Rita, I have switched to FireFox which has been easily updated and keeps on working. The same can be said about an AVG virus checker, and SpyBot and Adaware spywhere checkers. My firewall is by Sygate. These are all free versions. My machine takes a reasonable time to boot up-- more like 5 instead of 30 minutes. It's only shutdown that's a little dicey. Sometimes I will just used the switch to powerdown in a hurry. Othertimes, I will just use an extra 5 minutes to stop all processes except the OS to shutdown with no problems.

I've generally used shell access because I can access my ISP from a variety of machines. I mainly do some email, but also need to do some documentation and analysis with a spread ***. Nothing that needs any new software.
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