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Microsoft previews Windows 8

Lindley said:
Maybe you're fortunate enough not to have a Dell. I don't know for sure that the exasperating slowness of my work machine (despite its excellent specs on paper) is due to XP; it could be the hardware.

All I do know is that I've never faced similar problems on my MBP at home.

But that, as they say, is enough of that. I'll just point out that a "tile-based launch" system sounds an awful lot like Mac OS 9's Launcher, which was okay but has since been abandoned.
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Same thing where I work. They buy hundreds, or thousands of Dells.

And mine has 4GB of RAM put in since I have Photoshop on it, and with XP, it seems very slow.

Probably that damn AMD processor.

I guess that's the way Dell's "business class" machines are. Something about them has to be low-end, so they're cheap enough to buy by the hundreds.
 
Do Dell still write their own BIOS? In the past this has been the source of several bugs.

I don't know if a custom BIOS would cause the system to be sluggish. Delayed I/O operations, perhaps?
 
Good guess. I've been eying the IO drivers on this thing suspiciously for years now, but upgrades in that area (and to the BIOS) haven't helped very much.
 
DELL does still write their own BIOS, at least, when I still worked there. They may have changed now, but I doubt it.

Ar-Pharazon said:
Same thing where I work. They buy hundreds, or thousands of Dells.

And mine has 4GB of RAM put in since I have Photoshop on it, and with XP, it seems very slow.

Probably that damn AMD processor.

I guess that's the way Dell's "business class" machines are. Something about them has to be low-end, so they're cheap enough to buy by the hundreds.
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AMD makes really high quality processors (as does Intel). So I doubt it's the processor. The reason you get the business class machines for the price you do is because you're getting systems made to handle abuse. That's why Dell's GX60's are still used in so many office settings, because they can handle the stress of office use day by day for 10 years. It may not seem like it, but the GX60's have more reliable hardware, which is why they're usually a bit slower than home user end systems. People are paying for the speed and novelty. Businesses just want something that works reliably.
 
It looks pretty. I think for a touch screen, it makes sense. For a desktop or laptop, it does not. I like having a desktop, which is always cluttered with unorganized files I'll deal with later or want easy access now but won't care about in a month. There's definitely a concern that this effort to organize all that stuff and make it look presentable will have negative consequences for me.
 
Alidar Jarok said:
It looks pretty. I think for a touch screen, it makes sense. For a desktop or laptop, it does not. I like having a desktop, which is always cluttered with unorganized files I'll deal with later or want easy access now but won't care about in a month. There's definitely a concern that this effort to organize all that stuff and make it look presentable will have negative consequences for me.
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So for people like me, with OCD, it's perfect. :lol:
 
Well, I'm a little bit OCD, but I generally can deal with clutter of my own choosing. And when I want to fix it, it has to be a very certain way. When I'm working on papers and outlines for my class, it's easier to keep it on my desktop, since it's usually buried three or five folders deep (My Documents - School Stuff - [name of school] - Spring 2011 - Contracts II). But I also don't want lots of word documents that I have to scroll through to get what I want either.
 
We use HP7800's and under XP they went as fast as anything. Just upgraded to Windows 7 and haven't noticed any drop in speed.
 
Alidar Jarok said:
Well, I'm a little bit OCD, but I generally can deal with clutter of my own choosing. And when I want to fix it, it has to be a very certain way. When I'm working on papers and outlines for my class, it's easier to keep it on my desktop, since it's usually buried three or five folders deep (My Documents - School Stuff - [name of school] - Spring 2011 - Contracts II). But I also don't want lots of word documents that I have to scroll through to get what I want either.
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I'm the kind of person who has three icons on his desktop, and nothing else. I don't even like having the gadget bar. :lol:

Candlelight said:
We use HP7800's and under XP they went as fast as anything. Just upgraded to Windows 7 and haven't noticed any drop in speed.
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If I buy a prebuilt system, I prefer HP over Dell any day. HP seems to put a little more effort into a quality product these days. Well, hardware wise, at least. Their software, particularly their printer software, leaves much to be desired. :D
 
I used to swear by PCs, but lately I have to say that Macs are above and beyond in every way. They are overpriced, but frankly you get what you pay for!
 
Danoz said:
I used to swear by PCs, but lately I have to say that Macs are above and beyond in every way. They are overpriced, but frankly you get what you pay for!
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Wow, really?

That's what I thought, too. Then I bought a Macbook... I'm actually considering to sell it.

Windows 7 > MacOS
 
BlobVanDam said:
I've been mentally preparing myself for Windows 7 though. :lol: I've used it plenty, and there are plenty of little niggles I don't like compared to XP (such as the dumbed down file search that is now completely useless), but since I really need to switch to a 64 bit OS, I have to upgrade (and XP 64 bit isn't very good).
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Me too. I've been using XP quite happliy for a long time now, but I may have to switch to Windows 7 on my laptop because of a program I'll be getting soon for work that requires 64-bit Windows 7. And the thing is, in the end I may have to get an entirely new computer for that program. The hardware requirements specify a minimum of 8GB RAM, but I'm hoping that's only for large datasets, and that since I'll be using fairly small datasets the 4GB I have in my laptop may suffice.
 
Danoz said:
I used to swear by PCs, but lately I have to say that Macs are above and beyond in every way. They are overpriced, but frankly you get what you pay for!
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Yes and no. Macs are good systems, but you're getting (generally) the same hardware as most PCs, particularly after the Intel switch. The difference is in the software, that it's only designed for certain pieces of hardware. Really, you're paying for more the name than you are the quality of the hardware. That's not to say Macs are poorly made, just that they're not as "above and beyond" as it seems.
 
I personally really like Windows 7 much better than Vista or XP. It loads faster and the improved taskbar is nice. It's also never crashed on me.
 
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