The Gang of Five
Beyond the Mysterious Beyond => Hobbies and Recreation => Computer and Electronics => Topic started by: landbeforetimelover on May 11, 2008, 03:05:09 AM
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I've been a part of the demonoid community for quite some time, although I try to stick away from illegal stuff that's hosted there. I just download stuff I can't get such as foreign films that are coded for a different region that I can't play here. Anyway, let me explain what demonoid is. It's the number one most popular torrent site on the planet. You can download free programs, movies, music....tons of stuff. It isn't legal though. My point of telling you this is this site's like a pirate's network. You can get windows vista or windows xp for completely free. Take a look at this poll taken in the forums area:
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa146/tlordame/second%20album/poll.jpg)
More people are using mac than vista. This is EXTREMELY irregular. Not only that, but there's more than double the xp users than vista users. Now if anyone would have vista, it would be these pirates. They can get it 100% free but they don't. Just goes to prove how much Microsoft's new OS just plain sucks. -_-
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Unfortunately, I'm stuck with a Windows Vista. It was a Birthday present, so luckily I was able to get a laptop of my own. But I want a Mac. To me they're so much convenient and comfortable to use.
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Pretty much the same story here Timehopper. Except mine was Christmas and I'd be happier with XP.
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I think I must find myself trapped here...
Since I'm going to buy a laptop this summer, but there's no store in town who sells XP computers anymore... Only Vista.
I could change yeah, but still. :unsure:
/Lillefot
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That is very telling, that folks who can get free software still prefer Xp over Vista.
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Bill Gates would be pleased to know that at least six are still using 3.1 :p :p
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Heh, I have the Mac OS X, and I love it to bits! :P: :D :lol: :) :DD :^.^: :wub:
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I just got 3 new laptops and they all came with the dreaded vista. All ya gotta do is wipe them with xp. Some things don't work like the integrated webcams, but the other stuff does. If I were the rest of you, I'd get a computer that's really fast from 2006 and just use that until vienna comes out. Let's just hope it uses less resources. Jeeze! :angry:
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and a fast laptop from 2006 would be cheaper then a new one also. Also most users likely do not need a bleeding edge laptop if their main use will be web surfing, some word processing, listening to mp3's and other basic things like that.
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Heh, I have the Mac OS X, and I love it to bits!
This is a very viable solution to most people, except Macs tend to cost more per unit of performance than a PC.
Gaming has been an issue forever with regards to switching to a Mac, but you can run Windows on a Mac through Bootcamp to solve that problem now.
Mac is very "day-to-day use" friendly, moreso than Windows in many cases. Fewer daily tasks, fewer concerns regarding viruses, malware, etc. and very consumer-oriented. Windows tends to be more enthusiast/gaming/business-oriented. Vista tried to pull away from that, taking a move toward the Mac business model (approaching consumers with a computer that looks pretty) but as we've all seen, it didn't exactly have much success. :p
Mac is Vista done right.
As for me...I'm still on XP. :p :lol
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Bill Gates would be pleased to know that at least six are still using 3.1
Look more closely Petrie. It says "Windows 2000- windows 3.1". I can guarantee you no one's using windows 3.1 anymore. :p If anything, they're using 2000 pro for their business computer or windows NT or some other form of server OS.
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in holland they got many holes in the antivirus
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Oh whoops. :p XP pro is pretty good for me.
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Yeah, I'm running XP Media Center Edition, and I couldn't be happier with it, except for a tiny lack of support for a few DOS games - the DOS version of Doom doesn't run right even on the fastest computers; it slows down when sounds are played - which gameplay issues are solvable by running them in a virtual machine with DOS 6.22, or, what-have-you. But, yeah, in my case, XP Media Center Edition - which is basically an upgrade of Pro, but with better support for 16-bit programs than Pro - I haven't had too many problems with yet! I've hardly EVER had a crash, even with the dreaded Intel Celeron *choke* processors! (Of course, I've applied some tweaks, too, but it's not like I'm really good at it, like landbeforetimelover probably is; I'm just running a few tweak programs, and, for web usage, I patch up all the security holes I know about...)
Unfortunately, I doubt Vienna will work better than Vista. I don't recommend Vista to ANYONE that likes their PCs! And, DirectX 10 will no longer be a problem soon...
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even with the dreaded Intel Celeron *choke* processors!
If you know how to tweak your computer right, Celeron processors can just about match Athlon processors. I don't have many computers with Celeron processors, but the ones I do have can match my other computers with other types of processors.
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Hey lbtl, I have seen you on Demonoid...
I saw you when I searched for Land before time^^.
I don't like Vista at all, my mum has got it on her laptop, but I find it anoying. I prefer Windows XP. =)
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Totally agree, Mumbling... Totally agree...
Well, landbeforetimelover, perhaps you'd like to post a new topic on how to super-tweak one's PC? I've got a few programs, but, I'm certain that your expertise in this matter would be most helpful to more than one of us...
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Wouldn't that be specific to everyone's computer? I don't know thouhg, maybe there are a few tips we could all use (like get rid of Vista. What is the best way of going about that?)
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Getting rid of Vista? Hmm - trash the disc! Ha ha ha!
But seriously, you can reformat your drives with new partitions, using the XP disc. Then install XP. As I am feeling under the weather today, I don't feel like going into detail about it... Maybe another day when I can think straight... (Geez, goofing up an important response to an important topic is a very bad thing. Fixed...)
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Hey lbtl, I have seen you on Demonoid... I'm neonfreak18 heh(well actually its my boyfriends account be he doesnt use it and i do)
I saw you when I searched for Land before time^^.
Yeah, I hang out there occasionally. It's not a very nice place though. I don't exactly like being in the company of pirates, but it is a good place to talk about computers and stuff.
Wouldn't that be specific to everyone's computer? I don't know thouhg, maybe there are a few tips we could all use (like get rid of Vista. What is the best way of going about that?)
Fine. I'll make a video about kicking vista's butt and also a video about supercharging your xp computer. :D
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Hehehe, same ol' landbeforetimelover. The Vista bashing on the net continues.
Personally, I have Vista on my laptop and honestly I haven't gotten any trouble with it. I can't really see from where these complaints are coming from. My programs run fine, I haven't gotten any problems with crashes or bugs, it's all running smoothly and perfectly.
I really don't know where this Vista hate came from. I read all the stories and heard all the criticism, but I still haven't come across anything that has made me unhappy with the OS. Maybe I'm just one of the lucky ones or I'm missing something.
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People who don't really do much with their computers don't find anything wrong with vista. It's only the people who do nothing but log on, go online, check email, and log off who don't seem to have any problems with vista. Of course you could just have a sick laptop. If it was $1,300+ it might just barely have what it takes to run vista. Let me put it this way. If a computer that's 8 years older or less takes more than 30 seconds to totally boot up and load everything (meaning that HD's not still thrashing and the mouse cursor is normal), there's something terribly wrong. Also, some inexperienced people really like vista because they've had XP for 4 of 5 years and they've done NO maintenance on it. An XP computer that hasn't been serviced in so long would obviously be much slower than a fresh install of vista.
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Heh, I already was like 'WHAAAT?!' 'cus I knew you weren't a fan of pirating ^^.
I'm gonna watch that vid and show it to my mummy(A)
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If a computer that's 8 years older or less takes more than 30 seconds to totally boot up and load everything (meaning that HD's not still thrashing and the mouse cursor is normal), there's something terribly wrong.
My computer takes a minute or so to load up completely, although I never timed it, but it runs just fine. I don't think there's anything "terribley wrong" with it.
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People who don't really do much with their computers don't find anything wrong with vista. It's only the people who do nothing but log on, go online, check email, and log off who don't seem to have any problems with vista. Of course you could just have a sick laptop. If it was $1,300+ it might just barely have what it takes to run vista. Let me put it this way. If a computer that's 8 years older or less takes more than 30 seconds to totally boot up and load everything (meaning that HD's not still thrashing and the mouse cursor is normal), there's something terribly wrong. Also, some inexperienced people really like vista because they've had XP for 4 of 5 years and they've done NO maintenance on it. An XP computer that hasn't been serviced in so long would obviously be much slower than a fresh install of vista.
I guess you're right. I don't do much with my laptop, but I just want a Mac instead.
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People who don't really do much with their computers don't find anything wrong with vista. It's only the people who do nothing but log on, go online, check email, and log off who don't seem to have any problems with vista. Of course you could just have a sick laptop. If it was $1,300+ it might just barely have what it takes to run vista. Let me put it this way. If a computer that's 8 years older or less takes more than 30 seconds to totally boot up and load everything (meaning that HD's not still thrashing and the mouse cursor is normal), there's something terribly wrong. Also, some inexperienced people really like vista because they've had XP for 4 of 5 years and they've done NO maintenance on it. An XP computer that hasn't been serviced in so long would obviously be much slower than a fresh install of vista.
Hehe, I guess that's understandable. The usual thing I do on the laptop is go online, chat, play games, the occasional college work I have to do on computer and maybe toy around with the firewall and router to get my things online. So yeah, I guess I have no reason to have problems with Vista on such superficial functions.
I do find it a bit funny though that my desktop loads up slower than my laptop, and my desktop has Windows XP. Ironic, isn't it? I suppose that's because my desktop is pretty old and in need of either a complete hardware overhaul or a new desktop altogether.
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Your desktop will run faster than your brand new laptop if it's 5 years old or newer if you just do a clean install of xp. With normal use of course. It's not gonna play a high graphics game better than your brand new laptop of course.
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Your desktop will run faster than your brand new laptop if it's 5 years old or newer if you just do a clean install of xp. With normal use of course. It's not gonna play a high graphics game better than your brand new laptop of course.
That's the irony, my desktop did get a clean install of XP a few weeks ago, yet it loads slower than my Vista laptop and it's pretty slow in loading up programs compared to my laptop.
I believe it's just because my desktop is old and its parts are failing. So far It went through two power supply and about three RAM memory replacements.
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Heh, one of my friends got Vista and the only reason he has anti-virus protection on it, anti-spyware protection on it, and Mozilla Firefox is because I went over to his house one day, sat on his computer and installed them. :p :p Somehow his wife disabled their sound drivers and they had to get reinstalled....still haven't figured out how they did that, because they took it to Circuit City and they fixed it under warranty.
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You sure it was formatted correctly? Sure you didn't do something like us an XP upgrade disk to try to wipe it? I have a computer from the year 2000 and it runs better doing regular tasks than my brand new laptop I just spent $900 on that came with vista. Viruses can survive a format ya know. Also, a HD can work fine but make your computer REALLY slow. I have a computer with 1ghz and 512mb ram and it couldn't even run windows 2000 very well. Took 10 minutes to boot on a fresh install!!! I replaced the HD and now it runs xp like a charm, taking only 20 seconds to boot.
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You sure it was formatted correctly? Sure you didn't do something like us an XP upgrade disk to try to wipe it? I have a computer from the year 2000 and it runs better doing regular tasks than my brand new laptop I just spent $900 on that came with vista. Viruses can survive a format ya know. Also, a HD can work fine but make your computer REALLY slow. I have a computer with 1ghz and 512mb ram and it couldn't even run windows 2000 very well. Took 10 minutes to boot on a fresh install!!! I replaced the HD and now it runs xp like a charm, taking only 20 seconds to boot.
Trust me, I formatted it correctly and it still runs a bit slower than my Vista laptop. I still say it's because my computer's old and it's close to dying.
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Most of the time when a computer is slow when there seems to be no reason for it, there's something wrong with the ram. Pick up memtest online. It's a freeware program that'll tell you if your ram is okay.
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In their latest issue, PCWorld mentioned something about Microsoft may cut and run with Vista and shoot for the next version of the OS.
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Yeah. That's pretty much old news to the tech world, although most wouldn't know about that. I've known for a while now that Microsoft is just going to screw everyone who has vista right now. They're just gonna drop support and claim it as a lemon (like they did with windows ME, which only lived a few months and came out the same year as windows 2000, the OS that quickly replaced it). The only reason Vista has lived so long is because it takes a lot more time and effort to make an OS nowadays then it did when windows ME and 2000 were hot.
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Sounds like more of a reason to abandon windows and go to another os. Part of why I am thinking of not buying any video games that you can't play on xp, and trying out linux when I get a eeepc.
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The latest version of ubuntu (called Heron) will actually install like a program on Windows and if you don't like it you can uninstall it like something from the Add/Remove programs list. No more creating separate drive letters. I plan to test run this because it just sounds so cool to try. :p
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I wouldn't count on that. The linux version on the eeepc sucks. If you get one of those, you'll have to either put xp or a different version of linux onto it.
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Won't hurt to give it a try.
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My computer is a riddle to me. I think... it's an Acer... :rolleyes:
It works, it has XP, and does all the things I want.
Fast? Well, define "fast".
Lot's of stuff in it, so I guess I should clean it up or something... <_<
No internet on it, though I want it.
I mainly use it as a source for storing things, media and such.
Creating PS3 themes etc etc.
Also use it to learn new stuff, trying out new programs and such, as my dad won't let me TOUCH download buttons while using the family computer... -_-
It's a... playground! :^.^:
/Lillefot
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I'll certainly run linux if they make it so I can use windows too without having to use a virtual machine. That sounds really cool Petrie. :yes
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You can run it inside windows? Sounds like a cool way to try out an os, or to use one.
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Am I the only person on Mother Earth who loves Vista? I do more than just log on and check email every day. I play games, both online and for the PC, even games that supposedly don't work with Vista. I've got 3 gigabytes of RAM, a reasonable graphics card, and everything runs smoothly. I love the transparency, and the customization options. I've never experienced a system crash, and any errors have been caused by me doing something stupid. :P:
I even created a custom userbar for myself: (http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/Aniu1983/Miscellaneous/d4fb5eff.png)
I usually put text below that image, saying "Vista lovers: the few and far between." Indeed, I've only met one other Vista lover on the Web, and I've seen loads of people.
Is Microsoft seriously going to put Vista in the trashbin? That would suck for me, since my desktop is less than two months old. I'd hate to have to switch OS's already. Even if they do abandon it, who says their next OS will be any better? Although, I've loved Windows for as long as there has been a computer in my home. Since the early 90's. I'm NEVER switching to a Mac. I'm a gamer, and many games never see releases for the Mac...
Why can't Microsoft just work on improving Vista? Are they too humiliated by the widespread hatred of their new OS? XDD
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Good questions I lack all the answers to. :p Maybe Austin knows something...he gets word of this stuff pretty much as soon as its news.
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Am I the only person on Mother Earth who loves Vista?
No you are not :p I love Vista too :). Never experience anything weird. Just errors that I made intentionally to see how vista can manage them. 0 problems with games also DX 10 ruless. I love the Aero look nice clean and shiny for my eyes. Im looking foward to see the new OS, im not so much interested, Vista is giving me all I need right now.
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I've run vista home premium on a computer with a dual core 3.2ghz processor and 4gb of ram and it STILL was slow compared to XP. Even vista lite edition that I got eats 512mb of ram just sitting there. Who can spare those kind of resources to have a pretty looking taskbar? :rolleyes: I can see with directx10 for gamers and all, but it'll be out for XP soon. From what I hear, Vienna will take up less resources than even XP does and it'll look even cooler than vista. I'm sorta skeptical to say the least, but if it's true then bye bye XP! :D
The fact of the matter is that windows XP has been out for 7 years and everyone's gotten used to it. It's become the most stable OS in history. Sure it has a lot of security holes, but Microsoft always sends out updates to patch the most critical ones. I don't think adding user account control to vista is the answer to all the security problems. It just pisses people off. I mean, whenever you want to do ANYTHING, the stupid window comes up asking them to confirm if they want to do it. Also, did you know that window and dimming the screen immediately eats 320mb of ram?! :blink: WWWWWHHHHHYYYYYY!!!??? It can be easily solved by turning off user account control, but most people don't know how to do that and after you turn it off, you always get stupid reminders that it's off. <_< Microsoft should have learned their lesson with windows ME. Everyone's gonna look back at Vista just as they look back at ME today......a total disaster. There were supporters of ME back then just like there are supporters of vista now, but they were in the minority and Microsoft lost lots of money. Businesses refused to upgrade to ME. Same stuff is happening with Vista. Microsoft is going to quickly and quietly sweep vista under the rug and no one will really remember it. I just hope they come out with a kickass OS afterwards like they did with ME. Windows 2000 was great. I still run windows 2000 server on my server. I don't need the XP server.
EDIT: because your opening statement was out of line.
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Just sitting here at this forum, only 1% of my CPU is being used, with Vista Home Premium, and all 'special effects' on. 22% physical memory, but that's because I have an antivirus program always running, and those ate RAM even on my XP computer.
I know Vista is slower than XP, but this is a brand-new computer, and is way faster than my old laptop, so the difference is compensated by my comp's age.
The security features don't bother me. I like having to think a little before I click the "Continue" button, because I download a lot of things, and who knows if there is spyware or viruses lurking within? Besides that, I've gotten used to it. Let's face it, I have a lot of time on my hands. Too much, in fact. XD
Don't bash me because I love Vista: everyone's computer experiences are different. Some people will have truckloads of problems, others won't. I just got lucky with my HP computer.
Edit: According to Wikipedia, Vienna will be released in 2010. If that's true, I don't have anything to worry about. Usually Wikipedia refers to rumors if they're out there, but I don't see anything regarding Windows dumping Vista.
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I can tell you that I can make a 6 year old computer MUCH faster doing regular tasks with XP than a brand new $1000 computer with vista on it doing the same regular tasks. By regular tasks, I mean surfing the web, using MSN messenger, using office 2007, and playing a few games that aren't brand new. Vista is a joke and if you can't see that you've either got a kickass computer that'll run anything or you don't do much with your computer.
Microsoft is going to start doing beta tests of vienna in a few months and I'm gonna try it out. :D
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Vista is a joke and if you can't see that you've either got a kickass computer that'll run anything or you don't do much with your computer.
*Shrugs* I'm just giving my side of the story, is all. I love Vista, and even a world full of haters isn't going to change my mind. If I ever get any problems, I'll dual-boot with XP. Simple.
Vienna just looks like Vista to me: I saw a screenshot on Wikipedia, and it looks pretty much the same(Windows Aero). Microsoft isn't going back to XP style, I can see that now.
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Well of course not. I use the vista style on my xp computer. I love it. My xp computer looks identical to Vista, but it uses like 1/10 of the resources.
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I remember searching for the Vista theme for my XP laptop, but I couldn't find anything like it. Where did you find it?
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LOL. I made it. You can check it out in this thread, but It's not just a vista theme, it's LBT with vista. Sorta hard to explain. You can read it in this thread:
http://z7.invisionfree.com/thegangoffive/i...wtopic=3412&hl= (http://www.gangoffive.net/index.php?topic=3224&hl=)
Here's an image of my desktop. See why I don't need Vista?
(http://i203.photobucket.com/albums/aa146/tlordame/second%20album/screen-1.jpg)
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Heehee, I never said you needed Vista. But one question: why is the taskbar on top?
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For one I can't stand it on the bottom. I don't know why. I can't stand it on either side either. Most prefer it on the bottom and I've never figured out why. An icon just doesn't belong on the very top of the screen. It's nice to look at the upper right corner of the screen and be able to see the clock and the task buttons. That's one thing I don't like about Linux. That OS has two bars. :x
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For the fun of it, this is my desktop background. It's resized, since my actual resolution is 1920x1200 pixels. I have a 24-inch LCD monitor(games look just gorgeous on it).
(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v179/Aniu1983/Miscellaneous/570780e0.png)
I've grown up with the taskbar on the bottom, so that's probably why I prefer it that way. Besides, I use the Auto-hide thing, so the taskbar slides down when I don't have the mouse pointer over it.
My taskbar is green. That is, by far, my favorite color, for obvious reasons(Nature-lover).
Edit: Ack, Photobucket killed it. Oh well.
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We seem to be completely opposite. I hate the color green (except when used in nature of course). I don't think green fits anything but natural things. I wish I had a 24" monitor. Mines only 22". They didn't have 24" monitors when I bought mine otherwise I would have bought one. :p
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Gives you a reason to run out and buy one right now, maybe even a larger one like a 30 inch. :p
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What for? 22" is large enough unless you seriously multitask and need a dozen windows open at once.
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I guess some love having huge monitors, like some love having huge speakers.
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Now huge speakers are not what I shoot for. I have tiny speakers.....and I pay for it with a HUGE sub woofer. I might buy a 24", but after 24" you start paying like $75 per inch and it just gets rediculous. A 30" monitor is $500. Why bother? I got my 22" on sale for only $190.
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The first time I tried vista, I downloaded it (not a cracked version, but a total legit one that I could only use for 30 days). I wasn't very pleased at all to say the least. :angry: God, I used it for the whole 30 days until I had to activate, but it really did suck. I just went onto the pirate networks looking for a copy of vista (out of curiosity) and the thing that I find very interesting is the fact that vista was totally cracked like 2 days after it came out, but MS released a little program that fried all the cracked versions that was combined with SP1 and NO ONE has even bothered to create a crack that will make vista work after the release of SP1. No one even cares! Also, there are like 30 comments on the copies of vista and like 200 comments on the copies of XP, and the xp uploads are newer than the Vista ones!!! :rolleyes: I gotta say, if MS can't even GIVE away Vista, there's certainly something wrong with it. :p
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It does seem so if the usual hackers are not interested enough to put out a cracked version of Vista.