rayzoredge

Now here's a good argument: Why would you want to pay $5 for an emulated or dedicated version of Battlefield 2 (or other games) when you can simply dual-boot and play them normally for free (aside from actually buying the game and the OS)? Most computers ship with Windows pre-installed and companies are more than willing to bundle recovery software, which includes a copy of Windows.

I heard about this on the news last night.I kind of shrugged it off though. I have no stock in either company, and in my eyes, Microsoft is simply offering to buy Yahoo out to get another cashflow coming in.If they plan on making a search engine and/or features that better what Google has to offer already, they'll have to work quite a bit to top the Google giant.Heck, if a company successfully puts itself into our culture, I think it's going to be hard to knock off. (How many times have you told or heard someone say, "Just Google it?")

All righty... I'll have to keep the hard drive upgrade in mind for the future.I just ran BootVis on this comp and I can't get a result because apparently there's a known issue that BootVis can't snag system configuration information from a computer equipped with a Pentium 4 processor with HyperThreading... which, conveniently enough, I have. I still ran the optimizing process but with no changes to boot time. I timed it with my watch and it still boots into Windows, leaving the Welcome screen at just over two minutes, which is ridiculous. I booted up my tablet PC, and it boots up just over 50 seconds. (BootVis reports it as 45 seconds... but then again, I don't know exactly when BootVis starts tracing.) Both computers hang quite a bit on the Welcome screen.I also looked at some other possibilities, and it may be that my hard drive is dying. I'm looking to purchase a new one... taking your guys' advice about RPM speeds, so I'm looking into a 7200RPM HD. However, I don't know for sure if the hard drive is already on its way, since it's just a little over a year old. I don't know...I don't know what I'm doing wrong here either, but my 1.4GHz Pentium Centrino with 1GB of RAM and a 4200 RPM hard drive is booting Kubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn) at 1:40ish, 1:25ish booting into the OS and before Beryl takes over as my window manager. Is this typical?

Here's a good question: Is Linux better at utilizing hardware efficiently to produce optimal performance out of your components. I hear a lot about Mac OSX being so much better with Intel processors and yada yada, but I don't know if this is true or if a bunch of Mac elitists said a bunch of crap and ran with it. I don't think there are actual comparable benchmarks, but if there are, where does Linux lie in the hardware efficiency race? (Or is it dependent on which Linux distribution it is, like how XP still beats Vista in performance?)

Just a minute ago I was ready to throw my computer across the room because Beryl was bugging out on me. Linux users will know that this outstanding window decorator and "eye candy engine" is and will still be for some time to come in a beta stage, which means that it will have its fair share of bugs. There are two bugs that completelly ruin my Kubuntu experience: 1.) When drawing a window, sometimes just the title bar appears and the rest of the window is completely black unless you resize it or have it redrawn in any sort of way. This means that I can't see ANYTHING other than the title bar... but this happens occasionally. Enough to peeve me off. 2.) Sometimes Beryl likes to lock up windows. As in render them unresponsive. I was just tweaking appearance settings (configuring the desktop), clicked on OK on one of the dialogs, and nothing happened. I clicked Cancel; nothing happened. I hovered over the application task buttons (minimize, maximize, close - X, sticky) and they highlighted as I hovered over them, so they were responsive, but clicking on them did nothing. The only way to get rid of the windows is to ignore them completely... and I'm not savvy enough to know the Linux equivalent to Windows's Task Manager. (I know I can kill the task from a command line, but I'd rather be able to do it using the GUI, as most people would prefer.) Has anything experienced these problems? How did you fix them? (I installed Beryl using Adept Manager, so I'm assuming that I have the latest and greatest. And to my understanding, there is no further support for Beryl... only Compiz. And it doesn't work very well with Gutsy Gibbon at the moment.) I have an NVIDIA GeForce 420 Go in this machine... and I also have installed the nvidia-glx component using the apt command line. (I'm a noob when it comes to Linux.) Another minor annoyance, although not as great as 1 or 2, is that Linux brings to focus any window that you hover your mouse cursor over. I don't know how to change this, so if anyone could also help me there, that would be awesome. (I'm not sure if this is a Beryl setting or if this is a KDE thing.)

First off, why are people even mentioning software in STORES for Linux? Everything for Linux is free (unless you purchase licensed commercial copies of sUSE or some other distribution like that). All the software that you will have available to you will be listed in the Adept Manager (in Ubuntu... I believe it's Yast in sUSE and called other things in other distributions). Tetraca is very right on needing an Internet connection to get things working... most likely a hard-line connection, since some wireless cards are still not supported ON installation. (But with programs like Ndiswrapper and WICD, connecting to your wireless network is a little easier with a bit of work.) With an Internet connection, a wealth of FREE software is at your fingertips. Why spend $100 on Microsoft Office, $600 on CAD software, $300 for Photoshop, 3DStudioMax, or anything, really, when you can get equivalents for free? (I'm talking about OpenOffice, TurboCAD [?], GIMP, Blender, etc.)People are turned off by the idea of Linux because it immediately brings up the idea that it's geared more towards the technically-proficient (i.e. geeks). Another obstacle that most people won't bother with is the fact that they'll have to learn another operating system.I just jumped back into Linux not too long ago with Kubuntu 7.04 (Feisty Fawn). I tried upgrading to 7.10 (Gutsy Gibbon), but I love my eye candy and Compiz was just not working for me, so I downgraded simply to have a working version of Beryl. (Oh, and by the way... I think that Beryl/Compiz is much better than Aero. It's almost like a combination of Aero and the eye candy effects of the Mac OSX interface... I think.) In all reality, Linux is designed for familiarity from other operating systems, depending on which distribution you decide to install. I'm personally happy with the look of Kubuntu, which almost mimicks and betters the Windows interface, whereas Gnome has more of a Mac feel (that I didn't like as much).If you actually take the time to look at the operating system, you may find similarities between your current OS and your Linux distribution. In the case of Kubuntu, Add/Remove Programs is accessed by either the Adept Manager (a more advanced version) or by Kubuntu's own Add/Remove Programs interface (a GUI version of the Adept Manager). KNetworkManager or WICD replaces the Windows Zero Wireless configuration; the Start menu is the KDE menu; the taskbar is still there, but you can customize it so much more to your liking; you can personally skin just about anything in Kubuntu as opposed to Windows' limited options; and all the program support is there, including Wine, the Windows program emulator. (If it seems like I'm comparing Windows to Linux, I am... I'm not familiar enough with Mac OSX to make much of a comparison.) Linux, in my opinion, is good for basic use (i.e. Internet, word processing, image editing, listening to music, etc.) as well as the advanced (i.e. CAD work, programming, etc.). Game support, however, is lacking in the aspect of the latest and greatest that we have for Windows (games like Call of Duty 4, World in Conflict, Crysis, etc.), as is Mac OSX. (I'm not sure what game developers have in store for Leopard.) Linux provides its own share of OpenGL games that will not blow you away as far as graphics go, but they can be as fun and addicting as Flash games online. (They also have a sort of charm to them too.) Basically, I would recommend Kubuntu to anyone looking for an operating system that is flexible and able to do anything but play games... which will turn off most gaming enthusiasts, but rumor has it that there is an answer to the DirectX compatibility issue that keeps gamers off of the Linux operating system.The largest appeal to Linux will be its flexibility and being able to tweak it to however you want your operating system to look and function. Another large appeal is that it is free as opposed to having to fork over hundreds of dollars for Windows Vista and Mac Leopard (which are ridden with problems... it doesn't "just work" now, does it?). For a free OS that works and that caters itself to however the user wants it to, it's worth a look.And keep in mind, I am a Windows user primarily but starting to play around more with Kubuntu. Each operating system has its pros and cons and I like Windows XP SP2 and Kubuntu Feisty Fawn, which is why I dual-boot.

All righty... I love the potential of the Adobe program suites but I'm still confused as to the differences between and the purpose for some of them. Take the Master Collection for instance. In it, we have: Adobe Bridge CS3 This seems like a media file manager for all of your projects, images, videos, and audio files that you create with the Adobe suite as well as your other images, videos, and audio files that you already have. Adobe Version Cue CS3 Apparently, it's a file system geared towards collective projects that involve networking with other people in completing the finished product... which means that you can use this to keep everyone on the same page and easily access shared project files, so to speak. Useless to the average user. Adove Device Central CS3 This looks like an emulator to preview how projects will look on hand-held devices, such as portable video players (PVPs), cell phones, and portable digital assistants (PDAs). Basically, it's supposed to help you see how things would look without having to put it on the device itself (especially if you don't have a variety of portable devices readily available to preview your work on). Useful only if you work on projects geared towards usage and viewable on portable devices. Adobe Stock Photos Basically, a glorified stock photo and clip art gallery. Adobe Acrobat Connect I'm guessing this is a glorified instant-messaging and teleconferencing program geared towards show-casing Adobe projects. Useful only for project managers and people who need to show their work to others in a commercial environment. Adobe Dynamic Link Apparently this allows you to work with After Effects and Premiere without the hassle of fully-rendering the results to see the final production. I'm confused as to why you would want to do this unless you were only doing rudimentary changes or experiments to see how things would basically look. Adobe InDesign CS3 From what I understand, this program is a much more powerful version of Word as it incorporates the design aspect of publishing paper products with elements and other graphical enhancements. Basically, I think this is good for making brochures, magazines, and even books and flyers. Adobe Photoshop CS3 Extended The famous image manipulator. Great for creating and manipulating images and photos, adding special effects and retouching tools for your photos and/or images. You can also create images using the draw tools within Photoshop, but as I will explain below Illustrator is better suited at that task. Regardless, a lot of general users still use Photoshop to create images. Geared for a wider general audience. Adobe Illustrator CS3 The often-overlooked image vector-based program. People like to argue the Photoshop vs. Illustrator case, but in all reality they are two different programs in the aspect of how they draw elements. Geared towards a more professional application as vector-based images do not become pixelated when having to utilize images for larger, higher-resolution uses. This is good for web design applications, creating logos and simple images with a bit of Web 2.0 design flair. Adobe Acrobat 8 Professional The creator of PDFs. This almost seems identical to InDesign except for the fact that it has more of a focus delivering publications in the digitized PDF format as opposed to publishing hard copies on physical paper. Adobe Flash CS3 The famous Shockwave Flash program. For web design only to create interactive online applications, movies, and applets. Adobe Dreamweaver CS3 Another well-known application for web design. It looks like a WYSIWYG editor, giving you the power to edit web pages with no knowledge of HTML or CSS. Adobe Fireworks CS3 This is another program that confuses me. Why Photoshop, Illustrator, and now Fireworks? What's the difference? Photoshop is an image manipulator [primarily] and Illustrator is a vector-based image creator [primarily]... I hear Fireworks is the in-between, but why would you want it? Adobe Contribute CS3 Apparently this is a direct-edit website editor. I suppose this would be desired for the technically-deficient that don't wish to use Dreamweaver or for people that do quick edits on-the-go (typos, etc.), but I don't see the significance of this program. Adobe After Effects CS3 Professional This LOOKS like a program that adds effects (animation and special effects to your Flash and Premiere projects and... additional? effects to your images in Photoshop). Great if you work with Flash or Premiere... but what can After Effects do that Photoshop can't? Adobe Premiere Pro CS3 I'm just learning this program myself, and it looks to be a powerful video editing program. Compile clips, transition effects, audio, and whatnot, and with After Effects, you have a heck of a program here. Adobe Soundbooth CS3 Sound editing. Looks good, but I haven't delved into it much as of yet. Adobe Encore CS3 Encore is another seeming non-essential. Basically, you can do Blu-Ray authoring and SWF movie publishing with your existing projects. Not a great deal, if you ask me. Adobe OnLocation CS3 This depends what kind of video authoring you do. Apparently this program allows for direct-to-hard-drive video recording, which is great if you want to skip the middle media, but I don't see what is so great about this when you can import your clips and whatnot from your other mediums and then use Premiere to edit your work. Adobe Ultra CS3 This just looks neat as an addition to Premiere. You know all those green and blue screen deals that Hollywood uses to take elements out of a video to superimpose them in places they shouldn't be? That's what this program looks like it does. Above are my GUESSES or knowledge as to what the program does. I primarily use Photoshop and Flash but I'm also exploring Premiere and Illustrator and After Effects. I'm posting this for your information simply because the Adobe site is VERY vague when it comes to describing what the program does. Take for instance the description for InDesign: The only key words that jumped out at me as to clue me in was "page layout software." If anyone can provide insight or further descriptions as to what each program does, throw your thoughts here.

I'm con-fu-zed.Are you FOR or AGAINST vegetarians? I see your point in how we as a species took it upon ourselves to keep ourselves at the top of the food chain and how other animals (i.e. chickens) would have done the same thing, but I got confused as to where your standpoint is.I'm a meat eater but I'm also in support of the PRINCIPLE of PETA: to prevent unjust and unnecessary harm to animals. I am a hypocrite when it comes to extreme application of that principle (i.e. not wearing fur, leather, etc.) as I have leather boots and a leather jacket (I think it's faux leather, though), but what I'm getting at is that animals shouldn't suffer unnecessarily. The idea that we raise livestock to kill it for food and items sounds very cruel, but at the same time, it would actually be a shame to kill and WASTE.Fur suppliers are a scary bunch that I wouldn't mind serving an eye for an eye to. Videos of animals being skinned ALIVE sickens me, since apparently they can't kill the animal first, not to mention that they don't have any use for the carcass afterwards. That's the equivalent of someone hunting and then killing you just for your nice teeth, or to put your skeleton on display, or even wear your hair.Yar. I don't know.It's a touchy subject, and I believe a lot of us are hypocrites if you apply the belief of unnecessary suffering in the extreme way, but I take more comfort in knowing that my animal products were from animals that didn't suffer than from animals that died slowly and painfully.

NewEgg spits out two laptops that might fit the bill as far as graphical rendering capability goes. Toshiba Satellite X205-S9800 Toshiba Satellite X205-S9349 Both laptops sport the NVIDIA 8700M GT, which is the high-end of video chipsets in the mobile computing field. I have NO idea how this will actually perform in real-time, but if it surpasses my mid-range ATI X600 that I have in my HP Pavilion zd8000, and if it's that much better... I'd say it's a good bet. Both laptops ring in at around $1300-1500, which really isn't that bad considering what you're getting. The processor speeds aren't awesome, but they make up by being dual-core. If you want HD DVD capability, you'll have to go for the more expensive one, but at a price hike of around $100, it's not that bad for HD DVD.

Posting because I found it to be a good read. It's quite a bit to chew on but brings to reality what happens when you're throwing your hands in the air when you have choppy, stuttering gameplay. To summarize, the CPU handles objects, movement, sprite locations, and anything that has to deal with what and where things are. The CPU passes down this data to the GPU, which draws out these lines, vertices, and whatnot where they should be, then "fleshes" them out with preloaded textures, THEN applies effects like shadow, blooming, lighting, etc. This happens at LEAST 50 times PER second... so in reality, it's quite a toll on the hardware to render a scene in a computer game. Makes you wonder about how amazing and quickly technology has come forth. Pretty crazy, really. The information about packages really just means that the files (textures, sound bytes, etc.) are broken up into accessible chunks that make it easier for the main program to extract and execute when needed. That's why we have those lovely archive files that are +1GB large, chock full of data for one or more stages or types of data for the game. I hope this opens up the eyes of any non-technical person that wonders why their games run slowly... and why we pay big bucks to update our video components. Source

x2 Laptops in themselves are intimidating to take apart, since they're not exactly easy to get into in the first place. The lack of readily-available documentation and the fact that everyone's afraid of stripping screws, breaking enclosure parts, and whatnot keep most people away from doing just that. Kudos to Watermonkey for initiating what most people wouldn't even dare think of. But then again, it's much better to do that than to just junk it and buy a new laptop... financially, anyway. I took apart my Dell Inspiron 8600 a couple of years ago to rip out a video card from a Dell Latitude and upgrade my Inspiron (from a NVIDIA 64MB to a 128MB card). It actually isn't that hard, in my opinion... but like Watermonkey mentions, you have to be careful with parts.

Uhh... are you sure that you're looking at VRAM vs. RAM?VRAM is video RAM, which is physically ON your video card. VRAM can only be used for video and graphical applications where a program needs to load up textures and perform graphics-related tasks.From my understanding, if you have a dedicated video card, you are strictly limited to the VRAM that's on that card (unless the video card comes with software/utilities that allow you to share system resources to help bolster your graphical performance). If you have INTEGRATED graphics (on the motherboard), you may have integrated video memory which also shares memory with your system (your RAM). If that's the case, you can actually specify how much memory is shared by going into your BIOS and changing those values there.However, you just told us that you have an ATI Radeon X200. Edit: Sorry, I just got shed some light that the X200 is actually an integrated solution. So you will be able to change what is shared through the BIOS as I've mentioned earlier... unless the BIOS utility sucks. You might want to look into purchasing more RAM for your computer, since 512MB is rather meager, especially if you're running XP. (Forget Vista.) I think that, in my opinion, 2GB of RAM will suffice for ANY computer, gaming or general use (which actually can get away with 1GB for basic stuff without too much bog-time). RAM is much cheaper nowadays... and with the advent of DDR3, expect it to be even cheaper down the road.

I just looked at the required minimum specifications for Microsoft Flight Simulator X and figured, hey, this isn't too bad. Then I read the Wiki article on it and saw this: You're out of luck if you're trying to keep under budget and still get a laptop powerful enough to run this game well with considerable eye candy when peers are having less-than-desirable results with video cards that ship with laptops (unless you can tolerate less-than-desirable graphical options and lack of eye candy). Be prepared to fork over $1000 at the very least for a laptop that will be able to play this game without too many hiccups. I say that you're better off with a desktop, if you want value for your performance dollar. The Acer Aspire AS5520-5716 is the cheapest laptop that I could find with respectable performance in running MFSX. At 1024x768 with Ultra Quality, no anti-aliasing, and trilinear texture filtering, it runs at an average FPS of 18... which is playable, and if you're not too bothered by slight choppiness, that's a decent framerate to play at. I suggest you shop around and take another look at that budget. Like I said, it's going to be hard to stay cheap but be able to play your favorite games without killing performance with eye candy. What I suggest you do is go to NewEgg and shop for laptops there, specifying a dedicated graphics card filter (at least), throwing in other things that you want to filter your results, and then looking solely at the video card within the laptop to gauge whether it will suit what you want for a gaming laptop. Use the VGA charts and match them up as closely as possible at Tom's Hardware, as they conveniently have a scenario for Microsoft Flight Simulator X. Edit: More tools incoming... here's a site that actually charts mobile graphic solutions against each other. It's not as intuitive as TH's VGA chart, but hey, it's more accurate than guessing an equivalent. Edit edit: An awesome thread post to gauge what kind of GPU you would want to aim for in a laptop.

I will have to add that Firefox is horrid when loading anything: PDF's, high-resolution pictures, etc. It's one of my irks about the browser, as I like to peruse pictures larger than 1200x800 and save them (just for the sake of having them... because I'm a pack rat for cool stuff). When you click on a hyperlink leading up to a PDF document in Firefox, it's not Firefox loading up the PDF, but Adobe Acrobat opening up WITHIN Firefox. If you look at the bottom-left corner (where the status bar is), you'll see a progress indicator as to how much data you've downloaded out of how much you'll need to temporarily save the file and open it. (If you decide to save the file, it's actually making a copy of the temporary file already on your hard drive.) PDF's can seemingly-take a very long time, especially if it's a large file. The best you can do is to be patient, as Firefox won't allow you to do anything else while the PDF loads (which will be your "hanging" issue): your clicks will be unresponsive and Firefox will seem to be not responding.

x2 on that, odomike. Very often if not occasionally I'll read a response that's completely out of the ballpark... usually one-liners that look like people are just either throwing in for credit or just read a couple of lines of the original post and posted whatever came to mind first. There should be a specific (and not just implied) rule or more enforcement on that... *hint hint* As for the AMD issue, would that be doubly worse than Intel's design as far as heat goes? If I've interpreted correctly, AMD uses an on-chip die that is the equivalent of Intel's northbridge, which is why it can push out single tasks much faster (which is why it's recommended for gaming application) as there is no travel time as with Intel's processors and the need to communicate with the northbridge, which is physically AWAY from the processor (on the motherboard). I would imagine that with this increased efficiency in performance that AMD processors would generate more heat in this way, and it doesn't help that their heat sinks aren't up to the task of cooling the unit as a whole... Now, with that said, for the original post... Someone said something about the processor earlier... I would have to concur. Trying to follow all the troubleshooting steps that you laid out, process of elimination is saying that the processor that's causing the problem. Maybe it finally gave in. Were you overclocking it at all? (That would have killed the life much quicker than if you ran it at the default, stock clockspeed.) What was the cooling like in the case for 2 years? See if you can put your original configuration back together minus the processor and use another processor of the same socket type to see what happens. If it boots, you've confirmed that the processor is bad. If not... whoa.

There's a reason why I made that statement in bold: The time that I'm taking into consideration is from POST (the second I turn the sucker on) to the login screen/Welcome screen. It does not take the time that Windows loads your profile into effect, so MSCONFIG won't help me in this aspect. I just timed my machine and from POST to the time that the Welcome screen went away, it was just under two minutes (1:54), which then proceeds to the 20 or so seconds to load up startup programs, etc. I will look into a registry cleaner and see if that helps, since the registry is loaded up during the OS boot process. Does BootVis look at post-login or does it actually look at how the OS boots? Thanks guys.

Articles like these keep me away from even wasting the time to try out Vista.I just get online and badmouth about it thanks to these articles. It would be smart to have some sort of XP-driver emulation within Vista to get hardware devices working... and of course, it has to be done well to prevent the slow speeds that improper-emulation is infamous for.A lot of the things that Microsoft thought up with Vista are good ideas... but of course, anything good in theory isn't worth salt if it doesn't work in practice.I hate how Office 2007 changes backwards-compatibility with the new .***x extensions. Not to mention that a friend of mine is still confused as to how 2007 is "catered to be easier, convenient, etc." How would it work better with Vista than with XP?I'm wondering why Mac OS X apparently blows away Windows in terms of utilizing hardware and performance. It definitely wins here compared to Vista, which is a resource hog. Someone's going to have to pull their head out of their *bottom* to actually program a kernel that utilizes the power of the PC efficiently... but with yet another article I read on how Microsoft gets things done, I don't even see how anything is possible over at M$.

There are a ton of free alternative programs under Linux that mimick the functionality of popular Windows/Mac programs: - Blender = 3D modeling program - GIMP = Adobe PhotoShop - OpenOffice = Microsoft Office The only problem that I run into going for different programs is that you have to learn how to use different programs when you have the more inciting option of just sticking with Windows. I have Linux on this PC that I'm typing from but I rarely use it because I'm too lazy to learn up the operating system, the programs, and even booting into it. (For some reason, Kubuntu 7.04 seems to take a slightly longer boot time than Windows XP. Not by much, though.) As for network driver support, Linux is pretty good in automatically detecting devices and making it a seamless, worry-free deal for most users. However, if it doesn't find your wireless network card, you CAN use ndiswrapper to get a Windows driver to work. It took me a while to figure out how to use it, and I finally got it working... only to change from my Linspire distro to Kubuntu later, which automatically-detected my network controller anyway. And did we mention that you can emulate the Windows environment and its programs using 'nix alternatives like Wine? I really have to get off my butt and learn that OS...

This has been driving me nuts for quite some time. At work, I use a Dell Dimension 2400 desktop PC. It has the following specifications: - Intel Pentium 4 2.20 GHz processor (Intel 845GV chipset) - 1GB RAM 266-MHz or 333-MHz DDR SDRAM (non-ECC) - Maxtor 6E040L0 DiamondMax Plus 8 ATA-133 7200RPM IDE HD At home, I use an HP Pavilion zd8000 laptop. It has the following specifications: - Intel Pentium 4 3.20 GHz processor (Intel i915) - 2GB 400MHz DDR II SDRAM - 5400RPM IDE HD How is it that the desktop boots quicker than the laptop? Is the extra 1800RPM THAT much of a difference for the HD speeds? I can't remember how long it takes for my laptop (which is over a minute), but I just timed the desktop and from pressing the power button, it takes 20 seconds to get to the login prompt. (I don't use a login prompt at home... it goes straight to the Welcome screen and then logs me in.) Keep in mind that this time is from turning the machine on (before POST) to Windows XP's login screen (either the login prompt or the Welcome screen). This DOESN'T include the time when you actually log in, so processes and startup programs aren't a factor. Anyone can answer this for me, or suggest how I can figure out why my slower desktop PC is faster than my better laptop?

Some disagreements: 8. The Windows Task Manager is a pretty good utility... but sometimes End Task just doesn't like to work. You can try to kill some processes as much as you want, but the Task Manager will just stare back at you blankly like you never even gave it a command. (That's what people are griping about when they mention it.) Of course, when it DOES work it's a charm. I usually have to force-kill Explorer myself a lot because of stupid things like Explorer "using" a folder or file when it's clearly NOT in use, preventing rename and move operations. 6. As an everyday consumer user of a PC, Windows Update is for the paranoid only. I've been running Windows XP SP2 without any additional patches, hotfixes, or other downloads from Windows Update (and of course, I've disabled it). Why? After finding out with my IT guy at work that Windows Update would have the strange behavior of turning itself back on and downloading things without your consent OR your knowledge. Makes you wonder what Microsoft is up to... Most hotfixes and patches are for closing up holes for security and possible exploits anyway... and unless you pissed off a bunch of geeks, I think the average person is safe without it. 5. The Messenger service is NOT MSN Messenger. It's basically a way for network gurus to send out messages to client machines on a network. The funny thing about this though is that there was enough of an exploit in the protocol that even Microsoft's SP2 patch disables it by default. 4. Notifications are handy at times, but sometimes it can just be redundant to the point of being retarded... not to mention repetitive. I wish that you could selectively deactivate certain notifications... 2. I'm not sure about the programming perspective, but an operating system shouldn't be brought to its knees if you change ONE thing in it. I think that just for dummy's sake, if you're around poking and possible screw something up (manually or with a bad patch or install or whatever) that instead of getting an NTLDR error (or whatever) and having an unbootable system that Windows should detect a corrupted registry and offer to restore a BACKUP or even have something like SFC for the registry.

I thought this was a very funny way to look at it and apply gaming to the corporate world. Don't forget: Micromanagement Game examples: The Sims 2, SimCity 2000 When you just need to lay down the iron fist and get accustomed to setting each and every detail of a subordinate's life and how they contribute to the work force and the team. Remember: Free will is never sufficient. (Just look at how your Sims are in The Sims.) Critical Thinking Game examples: Portal, Myst Sometimes you and your co-workers will hit a dead end or an obstacle, such as being stuck on a platform with a lowering spiked ceiling that will kill everyone if they just merely stand around with a "What do we do now?" attitude. It is that time that you might want to start thinking with portals...

Hacking is a widely-misconstrued term.It's the act of achieving a goal with something by using it in a non-traditional way... basically, using it as a tool that it wasn't designed for.You hack things in life everyday and not even realize it. Correct me if I'm wrong, but improvisation is basically hacking. Think of a paper clip. How many ways can you use a paper clip? (If you're not thinking of holding papers together, you're already hacking.)Now, hacking and legality... Depending on what you're hacking and the terms of service/policy that comes with the product that you are hacking, it may or may not be legal. This is why many companies, before offering you services, provide you with lots of fine print that we all know and love as the Terms of Service (ToS). And you know how we read those documents... if at all. It's there not to prevent you from doing things (physically, anyway; but it gives you less of an incentive to do it since it would be a breach of contract), but it entitles them to the ability to cease product and service to you if you breach that contract.So really, it all lies within the terms and conditions that you agree to before utilizing the product or service. Read the fine print.

I actually didn't find this out until I opened up Internet Explorer for the first time in ages. Then there it was, plain as day on the MSN homepage. I simply clicked out and never went back to it.Of course, I heard about it nonstop the next day.I hate it when people make the death of a celebrity a huge deal, since no one even blinks when hundreds are being killed in Burma by the military regime over there, or at how the floods in Oregon have claimed the lives and homes of many people, or even at deaths LOCAL to their towns or cities. That kind of raises the WTF question: Why is it that some people are more special than others? Is it because they're FAMOUS? It's nice to know that Heath Ledger made a handful of movies that we can enjoy forever, and maybe he was a good guy, but maybe there were husbands, wives, children, teachers, entrepreneurs, philosophers, Peace Corps members... maybe even BETTER people (in the sense that they made more of a positive impact during their lives) that died... and no one commends them or even recognizes them because they're not *BLEEP*ing famous. A reporter at some time mentioned the infamous occurrence of the "national yawn." We're just so desensitized to this sort of thing that we don't really care much for it anymore. (I'm unfortunately a part of this, demonstrating it with my nonchalant closing of my IE browser with the newscast on the MSN homepage.) Of course, it's perfectly reasonable to feel bad about someone's passing. It's the fact that people don't even KNOW that person other than the fact that he or she is famous and whatever the paparazzi decide to glean and feed America's retarded hunger for the inside scoop on that celebrity and how people "feel so sad" that's disgusting. *sigh*Anyway, I haven't heard much else about it though other than the fact that Opie and Anthony made fun of how he died in the nude... relentlessly. And that he was at an Olsen apartment/house when he died... and that it wasn't an overdose, according to the autopsy. But frankly, I'm not curious enough to actually go out and figure anything else out.R.I.P. Heath Ledger. Hopefully the papparazzi doesn't destroy what's left of your legacy. He leaves a daughter too. I think she's 2-years-old... or maybe 4. I hope that she'll be okay.

I've played on Xbox Live, but for the most part, I was disappointed with the experience, with emphasis on online play for Halo 2. One thing's for sure: I would not let ANYONE under 17 play Halo 2 on XBL. I'm sure it's similar for a lot of games that have live voice communication. People are rude, crude, and even downright inhumane. The Halo matchmaking games that I play on XBL are riddled with foul-mouthed KIDS that scream out racial slurs, swears, and other hateful obscenities. Very rarely did I actually find a game without some 13-year-old calling me a n*gg*r or some other ignorant word. It's horrible to think that kids, nevermind the adults, can be so - not just ignorant - but almost primitive. The trash-talk is relentless, whether the player is even winning or losing. It would be awesome if you could mute everyone at once, but to do that would require you to mute individual players while in-game... or play the game muted. But enough about the obscenities. Of course, there are my pet peeves. Screaming pre-teenagers that whine and attach to you if you show even an ounce of being a decent player; "de-levelers," who are players that purposely drop skill levels by dying intentionally so that they can play against less-skilled opponents (with ease, of course); standby-ers, hackers, and other cheaters that completely kill the fun out of the game; lag from other players or even myself; and all this for $50 a year? I'm a very competitive person, but I can also play for fun. When the fun is nixed by lag and cheating and constantly losing to people that do nothing but play the darn game (as opposed to occasional players like me), I find no incentive to shell out money for the service, even though I have many friends that are on XBL. (I just use the free-trial cards.) I'd rather get on XBC (Xbox Connect) or play games online on my PC... for free. Anybody got experiences they want to share?

Of course, each have their pros and cons.Windows XP Professional SP2, in my opinion, would be the best pick for most users, simply because it is the most stable and worry-free version/variant/whatever of Windows yet. It still beats Vista in benchmark tests (strangely-enough), and it commands the widest audience for gaming (short of Dx10-only games), popular programs (such as PhotoShop, Microsoft Office, etc.), and it is rather easy to pick up and learn with a little bit of exploration. Apple elitists take pride in the simplicity of the Mac OS X platform because their tasks are accomplished with fewer steps, but you have to be an absolute moron to not make sense of how to do things in Windows XP. (This doesn't apply to LEARNING the OS. I say that because Apple elitists take pride in performing tasks that take a few less steps... which, to me, seems rather retarded.) It's almost weird for a geek to praise a Microsoft product, but hey, I only speak truth. Just about any distribution of Linux would be the next best choice, considering the fact that it is a FREE operating system, it can be modified to suit your needs (if you know how to program), has many good alternative choices to Windows-based programs that work well (Blender, GIMP, OpenOffice), and if needed be, can even emulate the Windows environment or its programs anyway (Wine, etc.). Speaking as a (sadly, still) Linux newbie, I found that it's really not that hard to figure out the interface, but there's heavy use of the command-line when you want to actually do some more advanced work to actually get everything up and running. (However, most of the common Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu, automate everything and keep you from having to manually install drivers, etc.) One problem with Linux would be gaming (with the lack of DirectX, which is why game developers are pushing Windows-based games - not to mention that we live in a Windows-saturated world), although Linux is getting better (with OpenGL support).Vista is my last recommendation. Microsoft still hasn't gotten their thumbs out of their arses and even with the beta service pack supposedly due this month, XP still blows it out of the water as far as performance goes. Everything is rather new in Vista... even the interface, and most of the common functionalities found in XP have changed around, so it's a frustrating process just to do the simpler things that I'm used to in XP. With Vista comes newer programs... which really isn't a great thing considering that Microsoft Office 2007 kills common Office file compatibility with its stupid new .***x filetypes. DirectX10 support is the only thing, in my opinion, that makes Vista shine. If you really need to play the latest games rendered in what DirectX10 has to offer (which isn't exactly something you can shake a stick at; Microsoft DID succeed in making DirectX better ), then Vista is your only option. I've heard rumors of DirectX10 support in XP, but of course, they're rumors. Plus, economically, it makes no sense to further bolster an obsolete operating system.