Posted on 09/12/2005 8:09:27 AM PDT by BallandPowder
MS is well known for making it's real profits off corporate sales of its Office suite. I view the $40 charged for XP Home as excellent marketing that increases and maintains Microsoft's brand name recognition. It would be interesting to know if it's Windows server software is a good profit generator.
Holy Snot!
I can run OS X 10.4 on a 500 MHz machine with a 32 MB graphics card in 256 MB of RAM and get very good performance. What the crud kind of incompetent development is going on at MicroSoft?
I suppose the problems could have been avoided by perfect software and perfect documentation, but I've never seen this from any other vendor, so I'm not shocked.
Server 2003, with the recent service pack, seems to run unattended, indefinitely. I have an installation that hasn't been rebooted for five months except to install some anti-spam software updates. The event log is completely clean. This machine runs Exchange and SQL Server.
I also oversee an NT 4.0 machine that hasn't been rebooted since last December, but it is just used as a file and domain server.
Ummm no... Any business that is paying 1K for desktops when an individual can get a powerful enough desktop for 500 wont be in business long..
I think that what Adam was referring to was a mobo/CPU upgrade. With Apple, you have to buy the entire package and incur the cost of components that you may already have. With a PC, you can buy a mobo/CPU separately and reuse all of your existing components.
Computers don't do anything without software.
Mine does. I don't even have to turn it on and it acts like a great dust magnet.
Try turning on just the monitor. It will make a nice cat bed.
Well, for example, one company I work for has a site license for some manufacturing control and management software. The software originally cost $30,000. Maintenance and support is $1200 per quarter. There are five workstations.
One of the workstations has SolidWorks installed. that's about $5000 for one workstation.
How much do you think good business software costs? Even Quickbooks costs a couple hundred dollars per workstation, and Office costs several hundred dollars.
These numbers do not include the support needed to install and maintain the network.
This is a post about windows vista, and the VERY first post by GE is comparing Linux to Communism.
It is amazing his total ignorance of what Communism is really all about.
In 1990, a name brand computer cost about $2500. Windows cost about the same then as now, but was only 1/25 of the total.
In another 25 years, if the OS market remains the same, you'll be paying $200 for a name brand computer, and Windows will be half of that total.
A few years ago, I stopped worrying about or caring what Big Stupid Government "thinks". They're bought off by so many interests, and shift in so many directions that I finally said "f$%& it". I don't seek to harm others, and will defend myself. I ignore stupid laws, especially those resulting from political payoffs and/or corruption.
So I frankly don't give a rat's ass what Congress "thinks" about copyright restrictions anymore - they're bought by the greasies of Hollywood and the like. I own about 800 original CDs and will listen to them how, when, where and on the device of my choosing. I have no interest in DRM and will figure out how to avoid, evade or crack it if it tries to enter my life - I don't need the hassle imposed by politicians after I've already paid up.
F Congress. They've proven themselves clowns over and over; I'm amazed anybody cares about those perfumed blowhards anymore.
That depends on your definition. If you define "good business software" as software that is capable of doing what your users need without making their lives too difficult, then you can replace that overpriced, bloated software with alternatives that cost nothing.
Vertical market software will probably have large costs attached for a long time (CAD, proprietary device management) but typical business software, word processing, email, spreadsheets, databases, etc. can all be had for no cost.
Those numbers do not include the support needed to install and maintain the network, which is about the same whether you are buying upgrades and installing them and training users on the new upgrades or on different software.
You're welcome.
Wish I could help as regarding anything about Linux. I ordered Ubuntu months ago, yet never got it. Downloaded Knoppix, and it loaded to a point, but then the screen began "tearing" (looked like a VCR on fast forward). Shadowace had offered to send me a disc ( a thumb up) but I got a camera a month back and my mind has been absorbed with it. ;)
By the way, I checked XnView last night and it doesn't have a batch acquire. It's still a good program to have for anyone that dabbles with images though.
Irfanview is another of the best known image programs, but it's a Windows only app. It's free, though.
http://www.irfanview.com/
As far as games, none of the new stuff I really know about. (Can't afford to upgrade every 6 months or so). I'm old(er) school, and favor the old vectorscan stuff, like Asteroids Deluxe or Tempest.
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