blackshoe Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 The only problems I have ever had with Vista is that one program that works on XP will not run on VISTA (some programs I had to put in compatibility mode). For what it is worth, the program will also NOT run on MAC's OS or other versions of LINUX. The second one is that for a while HULU software (I guess a version of Flash) would have mild problem occassionally if I went to full screen mode where I could no longer control the player with pause or go back to regular window mode. Choices were watch to end (in which case it ended normally and control returned) or use control-Alt-delete and kill the hulu window. The Hulu thing appears fixed, and I have hope the software might run under Windows 7. I will let you know how I like windows 7, I am going to install it. I would be very surprised to find more than a few programs that would run, unmodified, under windows, MacOS, and Linux, or even any two of the three. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
inquiry Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 The only problems I have ever had with Vista is that one program that works on XP will not run on VISTA (some programs I had to put in compatibility mode). For what it is worth, the program will also NOT run on MAC's OS or other versions of LINUX. The second one is that for a while HULU software (I guess a version of Flash) would have mild problem occassionally if I went to full screen mode where I could no longer control the player with pause or go back to regular window mode. Choices were watch to end (in which case it ended normally and control returned) or use control-Alt-delete and kill the hulu window. The Hulu thing appears fixed, and I have hope the software might run under Windows 7. I will let you know how I like windows 7, I am going to install it. I would be very surprised to find more than a few programs that would run, unmodified, under windows, MacOS, and Linux, or even any two of the three. I simply meant that there was no alternative to run that program other than windows 95, windows 2000, or windows XP... It did run on a power mac using a windows XP emulator/thingee... at the moment, I don't remember the name of the program. The sentence was added to prevent the "windows sucks" use linux, etc response that sometimes comes along. I keep a windows XP machine just for that one program, and to try to keep my wife happy when I am no the real computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helene_t Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 I will say it's almost never a good idea to install a new OS on an old machine -- Better to wait until you get a new one. This may be true for Windows, but installing the newest Ubuntu on a ten-year old computer is fine. My current laptop is from 2001. I bought it second-hand in 2006 for 120 Euro and the dealer had put XP on it but the disk and the ram were both too small to run XP smoothly. I put Ubuntu on it instead. It is running more and more smoothly for each Ubuntu upgrade so I have no plans of replacing it anytime soon. Oh well my work computer is from 2005 and will go on retirement this christmas so I will be allowed to take it home. If I can't find a charity that wants it I might as well keep it just in case my laptop crashes. At work the IT dpt puts Ubuntu or XP on new computers, will replace XP with Win 7 at some point. Ken, why don't you just put Ubuntu on your old computer instead of buying a new one? Doesn't sound like you need any microsoft stuff. But if you do you can always run it under VMWare, unlike Wine it is compatible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
y66 Posted October 22, 2009 Report Share Posted October 22, 2009 Walt Mossberg likes Windows 7. So does David Pogue. They're both pretty sharp and unbiased.Mossberg: In recent years, I, like many other reviewers, have argued that Apple's Mac OS X operating system is much better than Windows. That's no longer true. I still give the Mac OS a slight edge because it has a much easier and cheaper upgrade path; more built-in software programs; and far less vulnerability to viruses and other malicious software, which are overwhelmingly built to run on Windows. Now, however, it's much more of a toss-up between the two rivals. Windows 7 beats the Mac OS in some areas, such as better previews and navigation right from the taskbar, easier organization of open windows on the desktop and touch-screen capabilities. So Apple will have to scramble now that the gift of a flawed Vista has been replaced with a reliable, elegant version of Windows. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattieShoe Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 I will say it's almost never a good idea to install a new OS on an old machine -- Better to wait until you get a new one. This may be true for Windows, but installing the newest Ubuntu on a ten-year old computer is fine. My current laptop is from 2001. I bought it second-hand in 2006 for 120 Euro and the dealer had put XP on it but the disk and the ram were both too small to run XP smoothly. I put Ubuntu on it instead. It is running more and more smoothly for each Ubuntu upgrade so I have no plans of replacing it anytime soon. Oh well my work computer is from 2005 and will go on retirement this christmas so I will be allowed to take it home. If I can't find a charity that wants it I might as well keep it just in case my laptop crashes. At work the IT dpt puts Ubuntu or XP on new computers, will replace XP with Win 7 at some point. Ken, why don't you just put Ubuntu on your old computer instead of buying a new one? Doesn't sound like you need any microsoft stuff. But if you do you can always run it under VMWare, unlike Wine it is compatible. Yeah, I was talking specifically about windows and MacOS. I have Ubuntu on my old laptop, works well :-) The only issue I've had is trying to make it play nice with an old USB wireless ethernet adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 Suppose I wish to try my hand at the following: I have a computer with XP, and another with Vista. I also have an older computer, maybe from the year 2002 or so, that is a disaster area. Is it possible to do the equivalent of waving a magic wand and remove everything that is on it and then start afresh with, say, Ubuntu? Just for the hell of it to see if I can do it? History, if relevant: 1. I got this computer for $300 when a company crashed. I knew one of the guys and got what at the time was a very good computer very cheap. Windows 2000 on it. 2. I retired five years ago (college prof). A colleague entered the hospital and I agreed to take his class for a while, no charge. But he died so I got his class for the rest of the semester. I got a university owned computer to use at home and the school never asked for it back. That's the XP. 3. My wife used the old one and it got slower and slower. I took it in to school where a guy was to clean it and put on XP. He did, but it is now even slower. The state is going through a fiscal meltdown and the guy got laid off. He is gone. 4. If relevant, there may have been problems totally cleaning it. When I bought it for the $300, it was "as is" which seemed to include some encrypted data. I never figured out how to delete it. Also he seemed to have downloaded an enormous number of symphonies (no wonder the business went bankrupt, the engineers were all listening to Mozart!) that seemed to require deleting one by one. I never got around to it. Think of this as something to keep Ken busy, not as anything essential. But if it is not too tough I may give it a try. I can imagine pitching it out, but I have a fondness for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hotShot Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 If you are able to burn a CD-Image to an empty CD on one of your computers, you can download an ubuntu Cd from: here. Pick the 32-bit version, it should run on any hardware from 2002 without much trouble. The installation is not difficult, if you don't want to keep anything that is on the harddisk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenberg Posted October 23, 2009 Report Share Posted October 23, 2009 Thanks, I will give it a shot/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigpenz Posted October 24, 2009 Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 Thanks, I will give it a shot/ or you can load up virtual pc which is free from microsoft and run ubuntu in virtualization mode in xp or vista or win 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TylerE Posted October 24, 2009 Report Share Posted October 24, 2009 When the problem is "PC too slow" I don't think Virtualization is the answer... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mycroft Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 If you're comfortable in Linux, and have a really old machine, there are "minimal installs" that stay up to date. I have had good experience with DSL (D*** Small Linux) on a Pentium 150 "netbook" (old toshiba, back when they were called "subnotebooks" and sold to executives as $3000 desk organizer replacements), except that it didn't at the time handle the weird (1024x600 I believe, so I ran it 800x600) resolution of the beast. But it ran, and was a good browser/note-taker without overweening delays (certainly faster than the Win98 that was on it). Took minutes to boot, I will admit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.