xp
Windows 7 – Thoughts and Considerations
Oct 20th
Frankly Windows is pretty. I like Windows, the only things that really annoys me is viruses. Because of the thousands of viruses and attacks that can be performed, antivirus software is an absolute requirement of a Windows powered computer. Antivirus software takes a lot of power, because it is constantly scanning incoming files, and making sure files on the system are clean. Also antispyware software is a requirement. This software will make sure that files are not changing on the system, especially critical system files that should never change. These two applications are constantly running in the background and draining resources. These two types of applications are required because there are some 25,000 viruses for Windows based machines.
Windows 7
On the other hand Linux is getting better and better. There are only a handful of viruses, and typical website attacks are non functional most of the time. In other words Linux based machines are relatively immune to the vast majority of Windows attacks. This makes antivirus software not necessary. This also makes use of anti spyware software a moot consideration. If you like the look of Windows you can make Linux look comparable. Overall the only reason to use WIndows is for graphics card compatibility for gaming. Also for iTunes! But there are even alternative for iTunes on Linux. I will try and use Windows 7. I purchased a Vaio P; it came with Vista and if Sony offers me a free upgrade I will definitely install it over XP. Ive heard that it is less bloated that Vista, and it will be clearly more functional than XP. I think it will be interesting, and I look forward to trying to get my hands on it. Don’t get me wrong I still think you can do much more in a Linux PC. MythTV, and the way VirtualBox works are much better than comparable functionality on a straight Windows PC. Plus there is Compiz
The 3D desktop effects of Windows, even the aftermarket apps like Deskspaces, are not comparable to the degree of seamless integration achieved on Linux.
Official XP Downgrade Script for Vaio P – Direct from Sony
Sep 19th
Here is the official Windows XP downgrade script direct from Sony. It is impossible to find this just by googling. Frankly I’m not quite sure how I came across this but its on the sony vaio support website, and it works just fine installing all the software that is typically installed individually. It installs all drivers and most applications that come with the default Vista installation. I especially like the battery saver app that limits the charge of the battery. ftp://ftp.vaio-link.com/PUB/VAIO/XPDOWNGRADE/SETUP_P.EXE
Ubuntu – Mac Tiger – Windows XP – and MythTV on the Same Desktop
Jun 3rd
I have integrated Ubuntu Jaunty, Mac Tiger, Windows XP, and a MythTV PVR into my desktop environment using the default compiz in the Ubuntu repositories. Ubuntu is the host operating system, Mac Tiger is a VNC connection on the local network maximized to fullscreen, Windows XP is running in VirtualBox, and MythTV is capturing HD 720P via FireWire from my SA4250HD Optimum cablebox.
The cube also looks nice with these multiple screen, and with a powerful video card you can actually see MythtTV while on the cube. Open /usr/bin/mythtvfrontend and remove the line at the top that prevents it from opening multiple instances. Now you can open a MythTV frontend on each of the cubes viewports. You can actually watch different videos on each side of the cube.
I Love Virtualization
Mar 2nd
Virtualization is simply the coolest. I currently have 4 linux servers running. I consolidate my mail server in my web server, which takes one virtual machine. Another virtual machine is running a file server. The third is running a VPN for my iPhone. And the last server is running Nagios to monitor the uptime of all my servers. In addition I am concurrently running Windows XP for a program that graphically monitors the visitors to my websites. In the end I am only consuming about 1.5 Gigabytes of ram after all the virtual machines have fully loaded. I can have many many many more virtual machines, given that I have 5 Gigabytes of ram on my PC. This is power. Virtualization is power. The potential is incredible. Not to mention I have 3 hard drives in raid1 to ensure system stability in the case of hardware failure. I am going to set up the following: I want a 4′th hard drive, which I am going to connect via an external SATA port. They call these ports ESATA, which could have been seen a mile away. I am still debating weather to sync the drive via raid, or via rsync. A raid sync will be seamless, whereas rsync will probably consume some computing power. Also if something happens to the software on my PC the raid will copy the corruptions to the backup drive. Using rsync manually would most likely avoid copying corrupted data.
