*ding* On Sat, May 10, 2008 at 5:11 PM, Martin Blackstone <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On the graphics part, I disagree. Vista is good looking. Mac OS is > gorgeous. > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Michael B. Smith [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 8:59 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: Why XP is doomed > > Hah. I blogged on this just yesterday: > > > http://theessentialexchange.com/blogs/michael/archive/2008/05/09/just-fluff- > on-vista.aspx > > And no, I didn't read Cringely... I think it was something Paul Thurrott > wrote that was the "straw/camel's back" for me. I dunno, I read too many > things every day. > > Granted, I'm not the average user. Not even the average power user. I've > got > physical machines that run XP, that run Vista, that run Server 2008, that > run Server 2003 - and believe it or not, one that runs Linux. And probably > twice as many virtuals as I've got physicals. > > The market can't have it every way. Since XP was released, Microsoft has > been absolutely PUMMELLED by spam, by viruses, by worms, by lack of > hardware > capabilities, by lack of software capabilities, etc. etc. etc. Microsoft > responded to what the market demanded, and Vista is the answer. > > Graphically, Vista is gorgeous - if you have the graphics horsepower to > make > it happen. Vista provides software support for technologies that weren't > even conceived of when XP was released. The hardware support that Vista > provides makes it MUCH easier for the OS to NOT crash when there are driver > bugs. Or bugs in any add-on product. And on and on and on. > > All of those things come at a cost - in memory and in processor. > > If you want a minimal version of Vista - go install Server 2008. See how > lean and mean it is. And how little it can do in the base configuration. > Then, start adding the features and roles you require in order to get to a > workable desktop machine, and see how those changes impact performance. In > some ways, a desktop machine has to be more powerful than a server. It > certainly has to have more "fluff". > > I'm not a Microsoft "rah rah" man. However, I'm well aware of where I make > my money - and that's based on Microsoft products. I criticize the > Microsoft > machine on a daily basis - and I do it in public forums, such as this one, > on my blog; and I do it in private forums, for betas (and even alphas) of > certain software that I take a particular interest in. > > Vista _IS_ sucky in some ways. And I've bugged those that affect me. For > example, even after SP1, wireless doesn't "just work" like it did in XP. > Many users have to reboot when switching wireless connections. For me, I'm > tech savvy enough to open a command prompt and do an "ipconfig /renew". > It's > irritating. > > But does that mean that Vista is going away? Don't be silly. Even if you > hate Vista, it introduces many technologies that are part of the future of > computing. You need to learn it. It's the stepping stone to what comes > next. > > Microsoft isn't abandoning Vista. They've made that clear too. Many people > have taken the fact that there is so much talk about Windows 7 already to > mean that Microsoft is abandoning Vista. The only reason that they can make > THAT claim is because they choose to ignore that Microsoft has also stated > that "never again" will there be 5+ years between operating system > releases. > It was simply too long, and Microsoft heard that message too. > > You don't have to get with the program. But you should. Time marches on. > And > so does software - and hardware - and Microsoft. > > Regards, > > Michael B. Smith > MCSE/Exchange MVP > http://TheEssentialExchange.com <http://theessentialexchange.com/> > > > -----Original Message----- > From: Martin Blackstone [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 10:44 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: RE: Why XP is doomed > > > MS's earnings were disappointing? Welcome to 2008. They can stand in line > with the other 80% of companies with the same problems. > > As for support, XP has been around since 2001 and mainstream support goes > until Apr. 2009. > That's a damn long life cycle for any software maker. This is the same > whining that went on with Windows 98 and Windows 2000. I don't remember the > world ending in either case. Think about what other software was released > in > 2001 and if it's still support. I wonder if Adobe still supports Photoshop > 6.0? I'll bet Apple still supports OSX 10.0.0, but Apple seems to be living > the rock star life these days. > > Now Ill also say I'm still a HUGE XP fan. I use XP at home on all my > machines. My work machine is Vista and while I don't really dislike it, it > really doesn't do much for me either. But eventually the time will come to > upgrade, and I'm sure my world won't end either. The "Vista sucks" thing > has > certainly taken on a life of its own. I would venture to guess that a very > large percentage of the people who say it sucks have never tried it. > It doesn't totally suck, it's just....slightly sucky. Frankly if they could > just get it to perform better, it would be great. > > -----Original Message----- > From: Angus Scott-Fleming [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] > Sent: Saturday, May 10, 2008 7:20 AM > To: NT System Admin Issues > Subject: Why XP is doomed > > Interesting analysis from Cringely. As always, "follow the money" ... > > ------- Included Stuff Follows ------- > I, Cringely . The Pulpit . Wimpy | PBS > > ... > > Several readers are concerned about Microsoft's decision to stop selling > > Windows XP and -- most importantly -- end security updates for the > venerable operating system. This has everything to do with business and > nothing at all to do with technology. Wearing my business reporter's > fedora, then, I'll point you back a week or so to Microsoft's most > recent > earnings announcement, which disappointed Wall Street. This is > significant > because it is hard to find a Wall Street analyst who remembers the last > time Microsoft's earnings were disappointing. It simply doesn't happen. > That's because Microsoft has a myriad of tools for adjusting the numbers > > to look just right. > > Because Microsoft has so many tools for fine-tuning its financials > (primarily the management of expenses, by the way -- Microsoft makes so > much money that it tunes the numbers by throwing cash away), the fact > that > this last set of numbers disappointed suggests to me that they, too, > could > have been avoided. Microsoft probably decided to deliberately take an > earnings hit precisely so they could play the "we have to get the > earnings > up" card to justify the final death of XP. > > Microsoft has been under huge pressure from its hardware OEMs to dump > XP, > thus forcing millions of customers who have been avoiding Vista and > Vista's inevitable hardware upgrade to finally buy new computers. > Dumping > XP will help Dell and HP AND Microsoft, big-time. It won't do anything > for > you or me, though, since Vista still sucks, but we obviously don't > matter. > > Those customers who think they'll keep XP going on their own will > probably > be out of luck, too. With Microsoft abandoning security upgrades, > hackers > will eat holes in the old OS practically overnight. And if one or more > of > the security companies like Symantec or McAfee think they can make a > business out of defending XP, I simply doubt that customers will pay. > > --------- Included Stuff Ends --------- > Other topics also discussed in his column here: > http://www.pbs.org/cringely/pulpit/2008/pulpit_20080509_004880.html > > > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ > > > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ > > > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ > > > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~ > ~ Upgrade to Next Generation Antispam/Antivirus with Ninja! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbelt-software.com/SunbeltMessagingNinja.cfm> ~
