Will there ever be a decent alternative to Windows?

[Dis]

I actually did have a couple of bsod's with win98se. But with Windows XP pro, I've had no problems that I know of that required a restart (note: this doesn't include problems running games- but those I blame on the game design, not microsoft). I do get some browser errors. I'm not sure if that's a problem with the browser (firefox) or windows. But those aren't bad, enough for me to be disgusted with window. Just the annoying browser shutdown.

what's with those boxes that come up that asks to send error reports? I always say don't send (since my version of windows is kinda sorta- you know)

[aneeshm]

Asher - your luck seems terrible . I never had problems installing Linux on a number of different hardware configurations . Have you tried Fedora Core 3 ? Best distro yet from Red Hat , IMO .

[Solver]

On a related subject... a big WTF to memory usage in Windows XP. Processes take between 2 and 8 MB RAM for many apps. After memory optimization it drops to 0.8-2 MB for me. Why so?

On a 512 MB RAM machine, say Windows starts with ~400 RAM free. Optimizing it at once gives ~470 RAM free. After hours of work, free RAM drops to under 200 MB, even if you have few apps running. Optimizing it then can give back up to 400-430 MB RAM. What's up?

[Dinner]

I used OS/2 for a few months back in the 90's but I eventually defected back to the evil empire when I couldn't get a video game to run on OS/2. In 2001 I tried to install Red Hat but I had difficulty getting it to run on my machine so I once again reinstalled Windows. I just don't see any alternatives coming down the pipeline any time soon, heck, even Apple has a creeping involvement with MS.

[Whoha]

Re: Will there ever be a decent alternative to Windows?

Originally posted by Sava
Sorry Linux fans, I think your OS sucks.

I want an OS that will be completely compatible with everything Windows is compatible with. I want to be able to play all my games on this system.

Will such an alternative to Windows ever exist? Or are we doomed to be subordinate to Microsoft?

I'm asking this because I'm currently installing a new version of Windows. I tried to upgrade my copy of Windows XP Pro with Service Pack 2... big mistake. It completely screwed up my copy of Windows. Now I'm stuck installing it over again because of this. I'm going to have to reinstall all of my programs and games.

I want an alternative to Windows. Is there anything out there or on the horizon that looks promising? If not, will there ever be?

Will Linux ever be worth running? My disdain for Windows isn't strong enough to put up with the headaches that is LInux. Plus, I'm a gamer, so I would need an OS that is compatible with all my games. And LInux is NOT a reasonable alternative.

I want a choice dammit. Or at least I want Windows to be better.

Freebsd? actually linux can run or emulate windows for a great many of the games out there.

[Last Conformist]

On the subject of the instability of Windooze, the only time I've had to reinstall it was when my HD died. I doubt even the mighty Asher would have fixed that without a reinstall.

[optimus2861]

Originally posted by Solver
On a 512 MB RAM machine, say Windows starts with ~400 RAM free. Optimizing it at once gives ~470 RAM free. After hours of work, free RAM drops to under 200 MB, even if you have few apps running. Optimizing it then can give back up to 400-430 MB RAM. What's up?

"Optimizing"? You mean a third-party "memory optimizing" software application?

Snake oil

Windows was using the free memory as disk cache, in all likelihood (open up your task manager and look, it tells you how big a cache Windows is using). Those "optimizers" typically just ask Windows to give them a bunch of memory, which forces Windows to dump the cache, then release the memory again. So the next bunch of disk reads you have to do come from the disk itself, which is at least an order of magnitude slower than getting that info back from the cache. You're no further ahead in actual performance, it just makes the "free RAM" number go up.

[Asher]

I think he's refering to disabling programs/services you don't need.

[Agathon]

I doubt even the mighty Asher would have fixed that without a reinstall.

The mighty Asher who can't even get Linux to work properly?

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
The mighty Asher who can't even get Linux to work properly?

Oh yarr, that be funny. What is this, the 12th time you've used that joke?

[Agathon]

Oh yarr, that be funny. What is this, the 12th time you've used that joke?

And it gets funnier every time. Some computer geek...

[Asher]

Originally posted by Agathon
And it gets funnier every time. Some computer geek...

I'm still waiting to be wowed by your immense vocabulary as a Mac user, but I'm still being treated to the same elementary-school material from people like you and LoA.

[Agathon]

I'm still waiting to be wowed by your immense vocabulary as a Mac user, but I'm still being treated to the same elementary-school material from people like you and LoA.

Don't get tetchy now...

[SpencerH]

A few years ago I read an article about a mac OS that was designed for PC's. All the reviews were ecstatic but it seems to have gotten lost sometime after Jobs returned to Apple and MS fixed their cash shortage with a $500M 'loan'.

[Dinner]

Apple seriously needs to expand its costumer base any way it can since they can't keep riding the Ipod forever. Porting the Mac OS for WinTel machines would be an excellent way to do that and it would be provinding some much needed competetion in the OS market.