Computer Help

[Lt. Staplic]

Okay, so it is quite possible that in the next year or so I may be getting a Laptop. I admit I'm not all that knowledgable about computers, so I thought I'd ask for help. My main question is your thought's on the new Windows 7, particularly with the Virtual PC Windows XP mode.

My second question is about the Virtual PC itself, I don't exactly understand what it's running, how it's running it etc. I read the wiki article on it, and didn't find that the most helpful, so any help you guys could give me would be great.

[Teaos]

Well my advice is buy a Mac, they are so much better at almost anything, the only real down side is gaming, but more and more games are coming out in OS X and then their is bootcamp which lets you run Windows on your mac. I know a lot of people have it in for mac, but for what you get their pricing is competitive (Mac tax has been disproved time and time again) and they come with more and better features built in. Also if you buy a refurbished you get a good bargain.

As for your specific question about Wondows 7. It is a fine OS. Much better than any new Windows relise since windows 3.0. But thats mainly because it is not a new OS, it is Windows Vista with most of the main problems repaired. It is Vista as Vista should have been 3 years ago. It is also a very RAM hungry OS, you need a powerful machine to run it well if you intend to do anything else with it. Since you would also need a Antivirus programme their goes most of your RAM.

[Lt. Staplic]

Ya, I thought about getting a Mac, but so far the only thing I've ever really used was Windows (my computer runs XP). The only Mac's I've ever used are some really crappy ones my school has, which have kinda turned me off to them, but idk, that's something I might go for.

[Reliant121]

well, I'm somewhat put off a mac since the one we have has been NOTHING but trouble integrating it with other machines. The machine works...alrgight. It is fantastically slow mind you, and its the top of the line 24" iMac machine. I would personally go with a smaller windows based notebook of some form.

[Teaos]

Go to a store that sells mac and talk to the expert, they are usually pretty good.

And learning the mac OS system doesnt take long at all and will save you hours of frustration in the future if you run windows.

[stitch626]

Maybe its just me, but I never have trouble with any Windows machine. For example, our family computer (Vista) has loads of trouble even running. But when I use it, the only complaint I have is that I'm not used to navigating the Vista system options.
On the other hand, Macs seem to die when I use them. Don't know why, but I've rarely had a good experience with Macs.

[Reliant121]

Much the same here. ours is unbelievably slow with barely any space taken up, difficult to use and almost impossible when trying to cross platform things. Windows has never presented a problem, apart from modding games in vista.

[Teaos]

My issue with Vista and I dear say Windows 7 is that they take up a large amount of Harddrive space and really suck up your RAM.

If you have a very good computer (2.6Ghz< dualcore) then they run pretty damn good, but most people dont have that god of a machine, most people buy the $1000 one that have 2.0-2.2Ghz which only 2GB RAM which is not really good enough for them.

Thats why people are forced to still use XP rather than Vista.

Then there are the virus' which you either have to live with or run a AV software which sucks up even more power...

Honestly Windows is fine so long as you have a damn good machine to run it on.

[Lt. Staplic]

ya, that makes sense.

[Reliant121]

I guess that is an advantage of Macs, although viruses for Mac are beginning to rotate now. My mother managed to get hold of one within a week, so we now run an AV software. Which might be whats slowing it down. But its a dual core 2.4 processor, it should be able to cope easily. My windows machine is a core duo 2.8 and can deal with anything i throw at it in XP and almost anything in Vista.

[stitch626]

most people buy the $1000 one that have 2.0-2.2Ghz which only 2GB RAM

Or you can get the $900 one that has 4GB of RAM and a 2.8 Ghz duel core. Which is exactly what a friend of mine has... that I am using at the moment.

Only problem it has is that Vista isn't always compatible with some older games.
Which reminds me, does compatibility mode actually do anything?

[Edit] 2.6 Ghz

[Nickswitz]

Yes, it does work, try it, you can run Windows 95 games through compatibility mode, and they run so nice.

[IanKennedy]

I guess that is an advantage of Macs, although viruses for Mac are beginning to rotate now. My mother managed to get hold of one within a week, so we now run an AV software. Which might be whats slowing it down. But its a dual core 2.4 processor, it should be able to cope easily. My windows machine is a core duo 2.8 and can deal with anything i throw at it in XP and almost anything in Vista.

What crap AV software are you putting on it? It shouldn't be slowed down at all. Mine isn't using Sophos, it goes like a rocket.

[Teaos]

most people buy the $1000 one that have 2.0-2.2Ghz which only 2GB RAM

Or you can get the $900 one that has 4GB of RAM and a 2.8 Ghz duel core. Which is exactly what a friend of mine has... that I am using at the moment.

Only problem it has is that Vista isn't always compatible with some older games.
Which reminds me, does compatibility mode actually do anything?

[Edit] 2.6 Ghz

Differnt dollars mate. $900US is about $1600NZ. So a $1000 here is about $600 for you.

[Nickswitz]

Haha, that would be some deal here.