What version of Windows do you use?
- Thread starter Hemdian
- Start date
Universe 2.
A large chunk of Universe 2 is already written in .NET 2.0 (which runs on Windows 2000 onwards). I was toying with the idea of upgrading to .NET 3.5 (which runs on Windows XP onwards) As this would exclude the Windows 2000 people, I wanted to see what impact that would have ... apparently about 6% less potential users according to the current poll results.
(I've also used Syncfusion componets which, as I understand it, do not run on Mono.)
Yup. But why the overpriced hardware?
My laptop has more uptime than a friend's comparable (bough same month) XP laptop.
He can't upgrade to Vista - it doesn't trust his keyboard nor display!
He can't run anything since the processor delaminated. He averaged a forced shutdown once a week due to hardware failres; he averaged 2 more a week due to software failures; my mac runs abut 1 a month due to software; I've had 2 hardware failures... in several YEARS. One, the HD. The other, due to a bad power-cord.
Plus, with apple updating the security pack monthly, at no charge... and the dearth of virii for mac (there are a few, but the security pack closes their exploits as Apple figures them out), while my buddy has spent more on Antivirus software and spamware removal than the difference in price. And his Vista upgrade for one machine cost more than my 10.5 family pack and 10.6 family pack upgrades (5 seats each!).
I can probably get another 2-3 years before I need to upgrade. He had to upgrade already. And he's not playing heavy duty games on it...
overall cost of ownership? About the same.
Icosahedron
SOC-14 1K
Well, that'll be me out of the loop. I'd be getting Universe 2 about the time you release Universe 3...
C'est la vie.
Admittedly I'm biased, but I'm also curious; if you already have most of it written, and rewriting would exclude 6% of your market and significantly postpone your release date (affecting a lot more people) what advantage is there in going to the trouble of rewriting?
Is it just that Windows 8 probably won't read it?
Maybe I don't want to know - if it's computer-speak it'll be over my head. I just drive the things...
Quality and performance
It's not unusual for my Macpro to have eyetv running and many many apps. And windows xp in a nice little window where if it breaks... I laugh.
I spent 1/2 the cost of my old Toshiba in maintaining it over a 3 year period. The monitor went in the first year at a wopping $600 to replace. At almost a year old my mac is going strong. My wife's sony laptop lost its monitor in the first week...lucky it was under warranty.
So yes HW reputation matters.
It's not unusual for my Macpro to have eyetv running and many many apps. And windows xp in a nice little window where if it breaks... I laugh.
I spent 1/2 the cost of my old Toshiba in maintaining it over a 3 year period. The monitor went in the first year at a wopping $600 to replace. At almost a year old my mac is going strong. My wife's sony laptop lost its monitor in the first week...lucky it was under warranty.
So yes HW reputation matters.
Ugh. Expensive hardware with a decent OS on one side, and better priced hardware with a piece of crap, so called OS on the other.
Why go for extremes?
The uptime on my Dell laptop is going on a year now. OpenSuSE.
Total cost? About $500.
And, BTW, "uptime" is time without a reboot. Total time on my Dell so far? About 3 years.
FreeTrav
SOC-14 1K
Replying at the top level because it's already forked...
Can we PLEASE not turn this into another Mac vs Windows jihad? Or, for that matter, a XP vs 2K vs 98 jihad? Hemdian has already decided that he's writing his software for Windows, and is looking to find out what the level of usage of the various versions of it are. To the extent that the Mac can run Windows - either via programs like VMWare or via frameworks like wine - he'd be interested in the responses from Mac users ("I run Mac, but using WindowSash, I can run anything written for Windows 3.1"), but, bluntly, if you're not running Windows or capable of running Windows applications, your responses are unhelpful and ultimately inflammatory. And you Windows users who poke at the Mac users about their overpriced hardware aren't helping matters, either.
No, I'm not a moderator. But I have to listen to this kind of crap in damn near any on-line venue I participate in; I'd like to have ONE place where I can get away from it, and the flamewars have nothing to do with Traveller.
Edited 3/26/2012: I've since upgraded from my voted Windows XP to Windows 7, skipping Vista. I have no intention at the present time of going to Windows 8, which is in CTP right now.
Can we PLEASE not turn this into another Mac vs Windows jihad? Or, for that matter, a XP vs 2K vs 98 jihad? Hemdian has already decided that he's writing his software for Windows, and is looking to find out what the level of usage of the various versions of it are. To the extent that the Mac can run Windows - either via programs like VMWare or via frameworks like wine - he'd be interested in the responses from Mac users ("I run Mac, but using WindowSash, I can run anything written for Windows 3.1"), but, bluntly, if you're not running Windows or capable of running Windows applications, your responses are unhelpful and ultimately inflammatory. And you Windows users who poke at the Mac users about their overpriced hardware aren't helping matters, either.
No, I'm not a moderator. But I have to listen to this kind of crap in damn near any on-line venue I participate in; I'd like to have ONE place where I can get away from it, and the flamewars have nothing to do with Traveller.
Edited 3/26/2012: I've since upgraded from my voted Windows XP to Windows 7, skipping Vista. I have no intention at the present time of going to Windows 8, which is in CTP right now.
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CosmicGamer
SOC-14 1K
I've had hardware that died the very first day it was turned on and hardware that has lasted forever like my 10+ year old laptop that I got used and for free nine years ago because it was replaced by a newer model by the company I was working for. The laptop still has the original software installation.
Not saying what brand of computer or what OS.
I've been around computers long enough to hear good and bad stories for pretty much any hardware or OS. Even know a fellow that was running Windows ME until earlier this year when the hard drive finally died.
I'm a proponent of if it works, why replace it. Why not just continue writing the software with the older tools that have been getting the job done so far? Even if it is only a handful of people, or only one that needs the older version, why exclude them?
Not saying what brand of computer or what OS.
I've been around computers long enough to hear good and bad stories for pretty much any hardware or OS. Even know a fellow that was running Windows ME until earlier this year when the hard drive finally died.
I'm a proponent of if it works, why replace it. Why not just continue writing the software with the older tools that have been getting the job done so far? Even if it is only a handful of people, or only one that needs the older version, why exclude them?
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Hemidan is writing code in a dialect that won't run on those old macines at all. Won't even run on SP2 XP (SP3 crashes my virtualizer... and I'm outside the upgrade window), so it rules out a lot of us. He's been working in a version that will run in XP SP2+... Either he switches dialects, languages, or doesn't write for old machines, because M$ set up the coding environments that way.
ThunderChilde
SOC-13
Just to make a point, 3.5 gives him more functional code to use, and a bit more flexibilty. Oh, and its more secure.
For the record, still a MAC user, but I do all my gaming and work on PC's.
I've built my last 5 PC's, and have moved from Win2k to xp, sp1, sp2, sp3, VISTA 64, and 7 64 beta. Win2k and XP gave me the most trouble, but I still have XP on a drive and use it from time to time. Tri-boot sys XP, Vista, 7
mike wightman
SOC-14 10K
Vista - and it's pants.
I hope windows 7 is more stable.
I hope windows 7 is more stable.
I use windows XP Home though i do have the professional package aswell which is great.
I have recently upgraded to Special Pack 3, Thankyou for Microsoft updates.
XP is generally better than Vista, My mates have vista and they always complain about it and i've never seen the point in Vista. Though i do love XP
I have recently upgraded to Special Pack 3, Thankyou for Microsoft updates.
XP is generally better than Vista, My mates have vista and they always complain about it and i've never seen the point in Vista. Though i do love XP
o: 
Okay. This thread wasn't supposed to degenerate into bashing this or that OS version, but in the interests of balance I have to say I have upgraded my PC, my Dad's PC, and my Mum's PC from XP Professional to Vista Ultimate and, in general, it has been a positive experience. Admittedly my Dad's installation had some teething problems we eventually identified as due to an old sound card driver ... once fixed it's been fine. I know YMMV but for us the bottom line is: we like Vista. For us Vista has not been pants.
Unfortunately, OS Religions seem to be like certain Traveller Version Religions - there are some really faithful adherents of the One True Faith (c). Bottom line: if it works for you, and does what you need it to, that's all that counts. An OS is simply a method for you to interact with a computer to make life easier. The hardware (at the personal computer level) is pretty much identical for all OS: Linux (or GNU/Linux if you want to get fussy!), OSX, Windows. Heck - the OS are pretty much identical as well (and there is no need to get into who stole what from who - ALL OS steal ideas from each other, which is why (to me at any rate) they all pretty much are the same, visually as well as operationally).
There are advantages & disadvantages to all of them. To paraphrase from another board about "which Spinward Marches is canon" (re: T5 updating the Marches, the Mongoose version, BTC, etc): each OS is best for the person that chooses it for the reasons that they choose it.
I use Windows XP - it has the tools I need to work & play. I use Linux at work, telnetting in from my XP machines. But I could use ANY OS for that part of things - heck, I can even telnet in using my phone, and it has a real keyboard as well (not that I actually use that. Go figure!)
But as per the Traveller canon/version stuff - people will argue continuously and vigorously that their OS is the one true version and all others are horribly wrong. I'm OS agnostic: as long as I can do what I want/need to, I'm happy (and I've used Apple OS, Linux, Datapoint's RMS, various UNIX & Linux systems on a wide variety of platforms, IBM's odd VMS stuff, and MS-DOS through XP. They are all the same essentially: a way to edit files, access other computers, and run programs. Who cares what OS it is?)
I think the purpose of this survey was simply to see who was using what so that a developer could focus on the largest commercial OS to maximize both productivity & his potential user base. Arguing the merits of one over another is, to a point at least, interesting, but ultimately as useless as arguing which version of Traveller is best: it is a personal preference.
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