Speaking of the Fisher Price's "My First Operating System..."

[Zorro]

Check out http://www.themexp.org for this and other exciting stuff...

[[AK]Bribo]

I've discovered one thing at this site - these themes are either really cool or downright ugly. :P

[Slaughter]

ewwww.. XP.. yuck!

[[AK]Bribo]

The real problem I have with XP is that M$ has put more things in Wizards. I hate Wizards. Example: Adding a new user to your system. Used to be a straight-forward process - now it takes multiple screens and you're not really sure you've done it right when you're done.

WinXP is M$ atempt to be Apple OS X... and it aint working.

Other than that, WinXP has been really stable for me. I crash much less than WinME but notice no real improvements over my Win2000 work machine.

[Slaughter]

my new computer is getting Win2k...

XP i don't think is trying to be like Mac OS X, X is built on Unix afterall.. that and they came out a relatively the same time.

Someday there will be someone out there to compete with M$.. Hopefully its me.

[[AK]Bribo]

I meant the user interface only - not the guts of it. M$ is trying to make things "easy" for the non-technical user. But they are forgetting that there are a lot of techies out there who don't need the Fisher-Price treatment.

Another example - try adding another Ethernet card into your XP system. XP makes all kinds of "assumptions" on what you are trying to do and creates quite a mess of things.

Stop with the Wizards already!

[Zorro]

Actually, as far as win32 operating systems go, XP had hands down been the best of the lot for me so far. All the stability of w2k with the multimedia and gaming compatibility of Win9x. I don't often say this about a M$ product, but it really is a good OS. You're right about the wizards, though. Whenever I see an option button that says, "Leave me the hell alone, I'll do it by myself," I take it. But, I have to say that in reality the only reason I actually run the system is because I didn't have to buy it, and I didn't have to endure the activation process. Otherwise, I would have stuck with w2k.

[[AK]Squidly]

My next OS WILL be OSX. Tomorrow or Saturday, baby...

[Widowmaker]

I agree mostly with Zorro's last post. I have no stability issues with XP then again I had no problems with 98 either which is still my favorite OS, not a huge fan of XP or 2k here. Not that I have any maijor problems with XP or 2k they just do not add anything at all to my computer experience. I have not noticed any difference in game performance between 98, xp, or 2k regaurdless of tech sheets that say that 2k and XP handle memory management better, etc... Well, OK I did notice some performance degredation in XP since it does have some more overhead by default than 2k but I went in and turned off all the UI crap (set to "best performance" under performance settings so the UI looks and acts like 2k to reduce the overhead) and did the Quality of Service tweak and I have noticed my downloads rock now on the new cable modem.

The only reason I am now using XP is because I need to get used to the OS and particularly the UI for end user support. I put it on my home system because at work I only have 2 PC's, one running 2k (my main machine) and one running 98 so that I can use them as reference for doing remote user support. I would not have bought XP, ever if only because I am opposed to the whole activation scheme on principal alone... and because I think it is the first step towards MS starting to charge a subscription fee to use their OS's. Oh, and of course I am using XP from work so I too get to dodge the whole activation thing otherwise there is no way in hell it would go on my own system.

I don't need all the fluff MS put into XP at all. I am a pretty spartan computer user, no screen savers, no desktop themes, not even a background and I use the "storm" color scheme so I have a nice black desktop with my icons all over the place. For some reason I don't realy care for the whole design of XP to try to keep the desktop clear of icons with the "frequently used programs listed in the start menu". I actualy find it easier to point to what I want to run on the desktop rather than have to hit start->then find the program I want to run. The nice thing about XP is that it is highly customizable so if you don't like all the fluff you don't have to use it. I even turn off every power management option I can because when I am not using my computer it is powered off, old habbit from the days when my mother would chew me out for leaving things on around the house I guess.

These are just my feelings about XP. I have no problem with the OS realy, I think it is fine but it and 2k add nothing at all to my computer experience. I don't use computer multimedia functions... I am not a big music buff and when I want to listen to music I have a stereo with a CD player right here (I have never even downloaded an MP3), I have a TV to watch movies on etc... My computer is for games and some other uses like doing my books (that reminds me, I have not done my taxes yet) and email, etc... I live alone so do not need multiple profiles. I also turn my machine off when I am not using it, even under 95 and 98 I never had a problem waiting for the machine to boot up, it normaly takes less than a minute which to me is not a lot of time.

I have always loathed wizards too.

As a disclaimer I realy do not have anything at all against XP or 2k I just would never have actualy paid money for either OS... Come to think of it I never paid for 98 either

As to the origional post if I did do the whole desktop theme thingie I would think that Themexp stuff would rock. Looks cool to me, but I just don't use that stuff.

P.S. I am at home today with a sinus infection left over from the flu I had a while back, bloody anoying sinus infections. At least I don't feel "sick" just got a massive migrane style headache and very sore sinuses. Got my penicillin yesterday to knock it out after avoiding the antibiotic route as long as I could, tried to let it drain and heal naturaly. Of course that is probably more than you needed to know but I am bored.

[[AK]Bribo]

Originally posted by [AK]Squidly
My next OS WILL be OSX. Tomorrow or Saturday, baby...

You were the one that just talked me into XP a few months ago! Sheesh!

[[AK]Squidly]

If I told you to jump off a bridge, would you do that too?

[[AK]Bribo]

Well.... yeah!

[Zorro]

I actually wouldn't mind having one of those new G4 1GHz dually workstations that Apple has these days. I just don't like the idea of having to pay as much as you do for an Apple product. OSX is QUITE cool, being as it is that it has UNIX underneath...always a good thing...

[[AK]Bribo]

I've been trolling eBay looking for a cheap used G3 to buy and slap OS X on. Wife will kill me though if she finds out I bought more hardware.

[[AK]Squidly]

Originally posted by [AK]Zorro
I actually wouldn't mind having one of those new G4 1GHz dually workstations that Apple has these days. I just don't like the idea of having to pay as much as you do for an Apple product. OSX is QUITE cool, being as it is that it has UNIX underneath...always a good thing...

I have an 800mhz G4 iMac coming. Shipped on the 20th, should have it tomorrow or Saturday.

It's one of the new "iLamps" if you know what I'm talking about.

Looking forward to adding it to my network.