On Sun, 20 Feb 2011 16:36:37 -0800, "William Sommerwerck"
wrote:

No problems, but if you want reliability, I suggest Ubuntu or one
of the other Linux distributions. If you're running a fairly basic set
of applications (Web, email, word processor, spreadsheet, etc),
then Linux will be a suitable replacement.

That's the catch, of course. Operating systems other than Windows or
Macintosh don't have fancy software written for them.

Mac and Linux certainly do have fancy software, just fewer choices,
and generally not as well supported by the authors or manufacturers.
I've lost count of how many times a Mac support request degenerated
into "you don't need to know" or "it should be intuitive". Similarly
for Linux, I've received "just modify the source code yourself if you
don't like it" from various authors. Unfortunately, Windoze is no
better with the traditional "just reinstall the entire operating
system" and it should fix the problem.
http://www.LearnByDestroying.com/poetry/support.htm
From my warped perspective, all the various platforms are 90% the
same. However, the 10% that's different will drive you nuts. Some
are better in specific areas, but overall, they all have (different)
problems.

Moral: You can't win.

...if Microsoft ever produced a reliable product, I would be out of
business.

Perhaps, but I run W2K, Word, and other Windows software without problems. I
do agree, however, that Windows sometimes behaves Most Strangely, for no
obvious reason.

Windoze is strange, but my customers are even stranger. If you can't
find a reason, a conspiracy will usually suffice as a suitable
substitute.

Allow me to suggest an easy upgrade to XP, which will probably run on
whatever ancient hardware you're using. WinFLP.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winflp
I have it running on a Celeron 400MHz with 384 MBytes of RAM and a 4GB
CFL SSD drive. It's kinda slow, but does function. There are some
update issues as some of the most recent updates will not install.
Same with some current MS add-ons. For example, MSE (Microsoft
Security Essentials) will not install. It can also be installed
without Internet Exploder. It may not take you from the stone age to
the space age, but maybe half way to approximately the Renaissance.

I recently tried to use the above Celeron 400 for an ADS-B monitor.
WinFLP would run just fine, but the various ADS-B monitoring
application (SBS-1 Basestation) is a gigantic bloated monster, which
beat the virtual memory to death. I had to get a bigger machine, and
run the real XP version, to get it to play. Careful what you install.

For every improvement in hardware performance, there is an equal and
opposite decrease in speed provided by the software. In 1981, it took
me about 2-3 minutes to boot my 5150 IBM PC from the floppy disk. Roll
forward 30 years, and it still takes about the same time on my
Dore2Duo machine. This is not progress.




--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558