Windows XP impressions and experiences

[lucidguy]

<< What's your problem with the thousands of other companies that also have this information or more??? >>



You seem to be incapable of reading and understanding a clearly written paragraph. So I will repeat why this is significant one last time, for your benefit.

Thousands of companies may have my name, address, etc, etc. None of them are able to link any of this information to what I do on my computer, which websites I visit, which documents I download. Except Microsoft. Using their activation process, Microsoft links your real-life identity to your Win XP installation in a way that allows them to circumvent your right to privacy and to monetize everything you do on your computer.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< Thousands of companies may have my name, address, etc, etc. None of them are able to link any of this information to what I do on my computer, which websites I visit, which documents I download. Except Microsoft. Using their activation process, Microsoft links your real-life identity to your Win XP installation in a way that allows them to circumvent your right to privacy and to monetize everything you do on your computer. >>


First of all many comapnies track what you do on your computer, and &quot;spyware&quot; is a common thing. So it has happened before and Microsoft isn't alone, if that's what they do. Do you have any concrete proof that's the intent or are you just blowing some of your usual hot air.

You are more paranoid than Mulder and seem to have the reasoning skills of Dan Quayle.

 

[lucidguy]

Do you know of any spyware that is being promoted with a $1 billion marketing campaign?

Didn't think so.

The problem with the privacy violations of Win XP will be the extent of its attempted market penetration. Never before has the privacy of American citizens been threatened on such a large scale, and without their knowledge. Microsoft is downplaying the details of activation as much as they possibly can. They want to delay the inevitable lawsuits until after they get done with the big one they are currently struggling with.

 

[Rogue]

How is sending a hash of several random numbers pulled from my computer hardware one time going to tell Microsoft what websites I frequent, what products I purchase (besides theirs), etc. C'MON MAN! Put down the lucidity inducing penguin shaped crack pipe you're toking from and get real! You act as though Microsoft is somehow gathering my DNA from installing WinXP and is going to clone me an turn me into a Microsoft slave or something. If you think that your computer components and your &quot;real-life identity&quot;, you've got some serious problems man! Especially since your computer is probably a Compaq Presario and you had your parents buy you the &quot;orange&quot; color kit for it.

 

[lucidguy]

<< How is sending a hash of several random numbers pulled from my computer hardware one time going to tell Microsoft what websites I frequent, what products I purchase >>



I explained several times how Microsoft can easily and legally do this. I will not waste space explaining it once again. Read the previous posts.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< If you think that your computer components and your &quot;real-life identity&quot;, you've got some serious problems man! Especially since your computer is probably a Compaq Presario and you had your parents buy you the &quot;orange&quot; color kit for it. >>



Dear Rogue,

Please send me $400 to replace my Viewsonic monitor that you caused me to fry when I spit my Dr. Pepper on it while I laughed at you last remark. Prompt payment would be appreciated in this situation.

Thank you,

Your friend-Psychoholic

 

[Psychoholic]

Anybody here remember Guy Under The Bridge??? I'm starting to see some serious parallels.

 

[Rogue]

I read your previous &quot;crack induced&quot; postings on the topic. Quite frankly, it doesn't matter. That's what firewalls are for, to ensure that I don't send or receive anyting I don't want to. To ensure that what I do on my computer is protected. You act as if this hash sequence will be appended to every single packet I send to the outside world somehow and it's not. Short of you working for Microsoft, you can't know everything involved with this. You're basing virtually everything you're speaking about on conjecture, rumor and a lot of media hype on the topic. I urge you to install WinXP and see for yourself. Hell, install it disconnected from the outside world, install a firewall and watch what happens once you connect it back to the internet. Just put down the crack pipe and step away. Please....

 

[Rogue]

Sorry Psycho. I would send you the money, but then Microsoft would know who I was. I'm looking out for both of us here.

 

[Sunner]

Used it for a brief while.
Wasnt too bad, but 2K is better IMO.

Stability wise, they're about equal, compability wise(software), also about equal.

My problem with XP is that it doesnt bring anything new whatsoever to me as a Win2K user.
Win2K does everything XP does, with less overhead.

The new interface(Lunatic would have been better) is the worst yet from Redmond.
I sorta like fancy looking interfaces, but there is a limit to the efficency tradeoff that Im willing to make, and Luna definately pushed way over that limit.
After trying to use it for a while, my head felt like it was gonna explore, and I reverted to the good ole Win95 look.

So in the end, I pretty much ended up with Win2K with a different color scheme, and a network monitor in the taskmanager, and a whole crapload of space on my HD used up for stuff I dont want.

I'd use it if there was an option to not install all the crap that comes with it(IE, Lunatic, WMP, misc crap programs).

Oh and I did use Win95 OSR 2.1 along with WinNT 4.0 back in the day, IMO Win98 didnt bring anything that OSR 2.1 didnt have

 

[Psychoholic]

<< My problem with XP is that it doesnt bring anything new whatsoever to me as a Win2K user.
Win2K does everything XP does, with less overhead. >>


That's been my impression so far. I was curious to see what others, meaning no activation theories, had to say about it. Too bad it's degraded into yet another activation thread.

 

[stratusfear]

Wow natedog, don't you hate it when people just can't stay on topic? People like lucid just come in and start a thread in a thread.
Maybe you guys should make your own thread complaining about this one rather than wasting space and peoples time who actually wanna view peoples &quot;IMPRESSIONS AND EXPERIENCES.&quot;

I also think Anandtech should incorporate some type of feature into the forums where you can prohibit specific people from posting in your thread. That way, we all don't have to scroll past lucids garbage everytime he feels like getting off on rant.

 

[lucidguy]

Anandtech can't implement any extra features in the forums. Anand isn't a programmer. He purchases the forum software direct from e-Zone Media as a software package.

Sorry to disappoint you.

 

[stratusfear]

Well let me be the first to volunteer
Anybody else interested?

 

[Psychoholic]

<< I also think Anandtech should incorporate some type of feature into the forums where you can prohibit specific people from posting in your thread. That way, we all don't have to scroll past lucids garbage everytime he feels like getting off on rant. >>


He already has. It's called a Moderator, and lucid's been warned before. His time is coming.

 

[ErikaeanLogic]

I think that when natedog asked for the impressions of XP users, he was asking for their feedback on the operating system's functionality/dysfunctionality, not theories as to the agenda of big-bad Microsoft. Hey Nate, isn't that what you asked for? Other folks(unnamed, you know who you are) say they're giving their &quot;impression&quot; but are only offering their opinion about Microsoft and XP as a privacy-compromising tool without describing their experience of interfacing with Microsoft's &quot;latest and greatest&quot; OS product, specifically not what natedog asked for, right? What this thread was begun to discuss is the working operating system, WindowsXP.

What do I think about WindowsXP? I've run 2474 and 2481 and have had mixed feelings about them. First of all, I absolutely love the native PPPoE dialer in WindowsXP! My average download increased by 30% over that Verizon iVasion WinPoet adaptor crap; talk about bloatware :disgust:! The dialer is fast, too. Connection and authentication are nearly instant, and can be configured to take place automatically whenever I open IE. The only caveat here is that XP wouldn't remember my login info after each reboot, which is a pain, but we're talking Beta here and there are some fleas there that need to be scratched out, for sure.

The GUI is really a nice departure from all the other MS OS'es. I do really enjoy the configurability of all the GUI's aspects, down to the MS wallpaper choices, some of which are actually very nice; &quot;Radiance&quot; is my favorite.

The install was easy, too. And how about the fact that it detected my GeForce3:Q! Of course I'm going to immediately update the Detonator drivers to maximize gaming performance but from the point of view that end-users with limited knowledge could install this OS with little or no intervention has to be a major feather in Microsoft's cap. Kudos to Bill and the team at Redmond for achieving this; no more &quot;Plug 'n Pray&quot;.

Networking non-XP MS OS'es is where things got a little sticky for me. At first, my XP box wouldn't appear in Network Neighborhood on my Win98 box. Then, after I set up sharing on the XP box, I was unable to log onto it from the Win98 box. I created a user account on the XP box for the Win98 machine logon, but still no enchilada. I ended up dumping XP for now, but as soon as I load RC1 I'll be testing it and working this issue out. My bad here, for being lazy. I do believe, though, that networking ought to be simpler between the Win98 and NT OS'es. Again, I'm lazy.

All in all, I think that MS is really onto something with XP. It loads far more quickly on my machine than Win2000, NT, or 98. It seems far more stable than 98(okay, most things are) and plays UT flawlessly, which was my major beef with Win2000. For pre-RC1 builds, these are nice enough to keep me optimistic about the course of this OS. As for the privacy issue, though, these are not new compromises on the internet and I, as such, do not fear them the way some other folks do.

 

[Shadow07]

Everyone, please calm down. Not only does Lucid think that the book 1984 was real, but that is his bible. You know, I really hate it when he comes in and creates a Thread within a Thread.

CAN WE PLESAE GET BACK ON TOPIC?

I can only say that I haven't played with XP, but I have been using 2000 since Beta 1. The only Windows 2000 installation I WILLL upgrade is the server versions. I might think about upgrading my personal machine to Windows XP Professional, but I just don't see any real reason to. I just might skip XP and go straight to BlackComb. For all of you that don't know, that is the 64-bit OS.

LUCIDGUY: You were warned about your ranting, hypocrosy, and total BS. Please take that to heart and provide some concise input rather than speculation. Also, you shouldn't be compared to Mulder, as Mulder at least has more intellect than you do, and is married to Tea Leoni. You on the other hand, either live in a van down by the river or in a cabin in the Montana mountains. Please, take your Conspiracy Theory else where and STOP TROLLING.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< I just might skip XP and go straight to BlackComb. >>


That's been my impression from XP so far.

 

[Rogue]

You know, that would be a cool forums feature actually. Being database driven and all, it should be easy to parse out a user's replies to a thread.

SELECT * FROM threads WHERE threadid = '123456' AND NOT userid = 'lucidguy'

Make this a session variable for each user once they log in to the forums and *poof*, bye bye idiots!

 

[skace]

Psych,
&quot;Does Microsoft not have the right to protect their product???&quot;
They have the right to protect their product however they see fit. But if it becomes a burden then they will lose customers - simple as that. Why would they want to lose customers? And can you even prove they are breaking even cash wise on this activation. I mean, it is only aimed at casual piracy and even then it must have costed a decent ammount to put the activation software in place and setup support for it. Not to mention the tracking software that must be involved. I hope they managed to recoop some cash from piracy after all that plus the customers who might not buy it at all from hearing about it.

&quot;There are many software and hardware packages now that require something similar to this or worse. Why aren't you bitching about them???&quot;
Name some.

&quot;I think if you had developed a product you would see this in another light.&quot;
I think I've already given the light I see it in. That light wouldn't change no matter whether I was Bill Gates himself.

&quot;Sounds to me as if you worried that you may have a problem burning your own copy from a friend.&quot;
Microsoft sends me about 90% of their software free of charge for whatever reason. I ended up with like 5 CD's of win98. Even if that wasn't the case, this activation sure as hell wouldn't be stopping me from warezing the product. My friend wouldn't have been buying it either...

&quot;If that's the case then Microsoft has achieved their goal.&quot;
Their goal was to push people away from their OS? NICE!

Incase you want my impression because I am not adding the correct input or blah blah blah to the conversation - here it is. WinXP is just another way to say Win2K SP2. For people already running Win2K the consesus seems to be that their is no true advantages. For people running Win9x it is an excuse for them to finally get the courage to run an NT based operating system and they find out that it is actually good (which Win2K people have been saying for months).

 

[skace]

Psych,
I pushed reply twice!

...get it... psych? bah nevermind.

 

[Psychoholic]

<< They have the right to protect their product however they see fit. But if it becomes a burden then they will lose customers - simple as that. >>


They may lose customers, the market will decide that. However they still have the right to try what they want, just as you and I have the right to leave a copy on the store shelf instead of buying it.



<< Name some. >>


Anything for Haestad Methods.
Have you ever dealt with WonderWare. The older versions had PITA software protection and a friggin handware dongle.



<< Microsoft sends me about 90% of their software free of charge for whatever reason. I ended up with like 5 CD's of win98. Even if that wasn't the case, this activation sure as hell wouldn't be stopping me from warezing the product. My friend wouldn't have been buying it either... >>


I've got 95 and 98 CD's coming out of my wazoo and still don't feel like warez is a good thing. It's also a good way to receive a trojan, let me introduce you to some people who found out that first-hand sometime.



<< Their goal was to push people away from their OS? NICE! >>


No, the goal was to push people away from piracy.



<< Incase you want my impression because I am not adding the correct input or blah blah blah to the conversation - here it is. WinXP is just another way to say Win2K SP2. For people already running Win2K the consesus seems to be that their is no true advantages. For people running Win9x it is an excuse for them to finally get the courage to run an NT based operating system and they find out that it is actually good (which Win2K people have been saying for months). >>


From what I've seen and heard I'll agree with you on this so far.

BTW I pushed the reply button once...

 

[Psychoholic]

Oh, and I got it....

 

[skace]

Psych,
&quot;They may lose customers, the market will decide that. However they still have the right to try what they want, just as you and I have the right to leave a copy on the store shelf instead of buying it.&quot;
Right, I don't think I ever argued that they don't have the right to protect their software. If I recall I argued that they are doing it stupidly, inefficiently and ineffectively (it isn't even targeted at online warez).

&quot;Anything for Haestad Methods.
Have you ever dealt with WonderWare. The older versions had PITA software protection and a friggin handware dongle.&quot;
Never heard of either of them, perhaps that is why I have higher expectations of how they should implement protecting their software.

&quot;It's also a good way to receive a trojan, let me introduce you to some people who found out that first-hand sometime.&quot;
All depends on how well you know what you are doing. If you know basic trojan/virus protection you are fine. If you know the group that actually produces the cracks/leaks you are also fine. But I am not promoting warez, I was trying to prove that MS isn't going to stop anything with their gimpy activation.

&quot;No, the goal was to push people away from piracy.&quot;
They are going to fail? or push people to another OS, that simple. The only reason people havn't moved to Linux sooner (IMO) is because most of the people can get windows for free. Once they have to start paying for trash they will start giving it more consideration... probably not the best thing for microsoft.

&quot;BTW I pushed the reply button once...&quot;
You didn't get the joke :\ *N/M You did, hehe*

 

[Psychoholic]

<< Right, I don't think I ever argued that they don't have the right to protect their software. If I recall I argued that they are doing it stupidly, inefficiently and ineffectively >>


It may be stupid to us but they seem to think that it's worthwhile. Their mistakes don't control my bottom line so who am I to complain.



<< Never heard of either of them, perhaps that is why I have higher expectations of how they should implement protecting their software. >>


Well they're smaller companies than Microsoft but in their respective fields they command quite a following.
Haestad methods make engineering software to help design water mains, storm water runoffs, sewer lines etc. It isn't cheap. The entry level software for most users runs around $5,000.

WonderWare is a development toolkit that is what some of the radio telemetry software we use is written in. Again not a very cheap product, but it is widely used.

My point is everyone needs an operating system, not everyone needs software like this. Sometimes you run across much worse than the OS protection you're having a problem with.



<< All depends on how well you know what you are doing. If you know basic trojan/virus protection you are fine. If you know the group that actually produces the cracks/leaks you are also fine. But I am not promoting warez, I was trying to prove that MS isn't going to stop anything with their gimpy activation. >>


It's true that knowledge and common sense about trojans can prevent most of the problems. However, new ones are created quite often and aren't discovered immediately. MS may not stop it with &quot;activation&quot; but evidently in their eyes it's a start.



<< They are going to fail? or push people to another OS, that simple. The only reason people havn't moved to Linux sooner (IMO) is because most of the people can get windows for free. Once they have to start paying for trash they will start giving it more consideration... probably not the best thing for microsoft. >>


Unless you have a crystal ball you don't know what's going to fail or succeed. If you do have a crystal ball I have some stocks I'd like you to check out.