Computer Talk

This is the first time I connect to SDF using my "new" computer ( it is mostly about six years old I think ). It uses a mother board and chip from a machine my wife bought second hand from her university for EUR 45 ( I had to clean the cooling body because it was overheating ) and a new hard disk, the smallest I could buy - 640 Gig, for nearly EUR 100. The box was bought second hand, with a system that has died since, some five years ago.
I'm using OpenBSD because my wife wants to get more information on that OS but she continues to use Arch Linux because the cluster she works with at the Uni uses Linux, Ubuntu to be exact. I'm still installing more programs and will be doing so for a long time I expect.
Are other members using OpenBSD or another *BSD?

I had a hard time playing around with Linux OSs starting from Ubuntu, Suse and a few more. The worst thing is I can't find drivers from them. I searched around the web and people suggest using modified Windows drivers. Wonder how they implement that.

Originally Posted by SteelBird

I had a hard time playing around with Linux OSs starting from Ubuntu, Suse and a few more. The worst thing is I can't find drivers from them. I searched around the web and people suggest using modified Windows drivers. Wonder how they implement that.

It can be a chore to find drivers and it is worse for the *BSDs. But I read yesterday that you can download versions of Linux Mint 12 with a full set of drivers. There is also a version without them to cater for use in restricting jurisdictions. Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu.

Anybody trying out Windows 8 and IE 10? I did download Windows 8 Release Preview, VS2010 Trial and a whole bunch of trial apps.

Originally Posted by SteelBird

Anybody trying out Windows 8 and IE 10? I did download Windows 8 Release Preview, VS2010 Trial and a whole bunch of trial apps.

I have Win8 installed on an old Sony laptop. It's the 32bit edition, as the CPU can't utilize the 64bit version.

Originally Posted by kyanges

I have Win8 installed on an old Sony laptop. It's the 32bit edition, as the CPU can't utilize the 64bit version.

How do you feel it? I have just erase Windows 7 (of course, I did a backup for future restore) and install Win8 x64 on my Dell N4110. It's fine and fun. However, quite messy to find an app you've just install. I prefer the startup menu of Win7.

Hi, I'm a new member to this forum. Don't know where to introduce myself. So I just picked a random thread.

By the way, anyone ordered the new mac-book pro with retina display? I ordered it from Apple website, the waiting time seems scary.

Originally Posted by Vini_Vidi_Vici

Hi, I'm a new member to this forum. Don't know where to introduce myself. So I just picked a random thread.

By the way, anyone ordered the new mac-book pro with retina display? I ordered it from Apple website, the waiting time seems scary.

Welcome to SDF! In case you can't find where to introduce yourself, there is a thread for this purpose: New Member Introduction

Anyway, tell us about your new mac-book when you get it.

Originally Posted by SteelBird

How do you feel it? I have just erase Windows 7 (of course, I did a backup for future restore) and install Win8 x64 on my Dell N4110. It's fine and fun. However, quite messy to find an app you've just install. I prefer the startup menu of Win7.

I just use the search in Win7, so how I find apps is effectively unchanged in Win8.

I almost never used the Start menu in Win7, so the improvements made to the new Metro start menu in Win8 might actually open up new usage cases for me.

As for everything else, Win8 is faster than Win7 in every respect, from start up to shut down, launching apps, etc. It's very nearly instant on.

I recently build a computer from parts I had lying around, but I didn't get the cooling working well enough. The CPU was a Pentium4, which runs rather hot and I didn't succeed in fitting the large blower I had. Also because our money might well suddenly loose half its value I decided to buy new parts, except for the Power Supply Unit and the DVD burner. However even in the day between putting in the order and get the parts my wife claimed the machine and before I completed building her computer died, probably trouble with the mother board. So now she has a computer with more memory on the video card than in her previous computer. She got 8 Gig working memory ( I remember the envy of some members when someone mentioned that amount of memory in his home computer a few months ago ) for which I paid just more than EUR 40, about $50. I paid for the parts I bought ( mobo, AMD cpu with four cores and 2.6 GHz, memory, 500 GB hard disk, video card, and box ) some EUR 330, about $400.
I made a begin with installing Arch Linux but my wife completed it. She is very happy with the increase in speed and the reduction in noise. But I will have to start over with building my own as well as, probably, building one for my mother-in-law.

Originally Posted by delft

I recently build a computer from parts I had lying around, but I didn't get the cooling working well enough. The CPU was a Pentium4, which runs rather hot and I didn't succeed in fitting the large blower I had. Also because our money might well suddenly loose half its value I decided to buy new parts, except for the Power Supply Unit and the DVD burner. However even in the day between putting in the order and get the parts my wife claimed the machine and before I completed building her computer died, probably trouble with the mother board. So now she has a computer with more memory on the video card than in her previous computer. She got 8 Gig working memory ( I remember the envy of some members when someone mentioned that amount of memory in his home computer a few months ago ) for which I paid just more than EUR 40, about $50. I paid for the parts I bought ( mobo, AMD cpu with four cores and 2.6 GHz, memory, 500 GB hard disk, video card, and box ) some EUR 330, about $400.
I made a begin with installing Arch Linux but my wife completed it. She is very happy with the increase in speed and the reduction in noise. But I will have to start over with building my own as well as, probably, building one for my mother-in-law.

So you use Linux, i had a Linux computer once (Ubuntu). How do you play Youtube, MP4, AVI, WMV files and DVD's on it ? I couldn't do any of those things on my Linux computer and that's why i'm using a plain Windows 7 computer now.

Originally Posted by Franklin

So you use Linux, i had a Linux computer once (Ubuntu). How do you play Youtube, MP4, AVI, WMV files and DVD's on it ? I couldn't do any of those things on my Linux computer and that's why i'm using a plain Windows 7 computer now.

you need to download "restricted codec" or "proprietary codex" or something like that...
you should try another distro which install them out of the box like mint intead.

Linux Mint is an Ubuntu-based distribution whose goal is to provide a more complete out-of-the-box experience by including browser plugins, media codecs, support for DVD playback, Java and other components. It also adds a custom desktop and menus, several unique configuration tools, and a web-based package installation interface. Linux Mint is compatible with Ubuntu software repositories.

http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=mint

Originally Posted by Franklin

So you use Linux, i had a Linux computer once (Ubuntu). How do you play Youtube, MP4, AVI, WMV files and DVD's on it ? I couldn't do any of those things on my Linux computer and that's why i'm using a plain Windows 7 computer now.

I used Ubuntu several years ago and had little difficulty in finding support under "community". But the website has changed somewhat and I didn't see it in the short time I had. But going to Mint seems the best thing to do. Success!

Just got a new Toshiba Portege R930 with Intel's latest Ivy Bridge Core i5 3210m, 4GB of RAM, 640GB HDD and a pre-installed Windows 7 Pro. I additionally added another 4GB a carrying bag and a wireless mouse. The total package cost me $1,232. The R930 was announced on June 5 and I got it on August 5, two months after its announce date. It is quite a decent laptop; light but powerful. The screen is a little small though at 13.3" with 1366 x 768 resolution.