Federal agency bans Microsoft Vista...

Well I for one knew that this was going to happen!!! No one wants to have to go to the new Vista Operating System. The American people are speaking out and are tired of being bullied by Microsoft. Most people are "happy" with their home computers and have way more power to do what they need to be able to do at home. Think about it, New MOBO, MORE RAM, NEW VIDEO CARD, NEW MONITOR...About $1200 for a baseline system.

Where as Xp with 2 gigs of ram will work wonderfully, Vista requires a minimum of 2 gigs to start with and if you go with the Vista 64 bit version, expect to need about 4 gigs of ram to start with. The only reason to upgrade to Vista is if your are a total gamer. The next version of Direct X being DX10 will only run on Vista, but if you are not a gamer and like your computer which uses Direct X 9.0c, then do not upgrade until you truly have to. I, for one, am not switching to Vista until I have to, or when they stop supporting Xp. They have plans to stop supporting Windows 2000 by 2008 and that will hurt a lot of companies. Our company uses 2000 for most of its applications...

DOT executive wary of software and labor costs, compatibility issues.
"WASHINGTON - At least two federal government agencies are refusing to upgrade their computers with Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Vista operating system, citing concern over costs and compatibility issues.In a Jan. 19 memo to staff, Dan Mintz, the Transportation Department's chief information officer, imposed an "indefinite moratorium" on upgrading desktop and laptop computers with the new operating system, Office 2007 and Internet Explorer 7."

Vista will bring most "current" machines to a crawl due to the new graphical interface and RAM requirements. Let’s take my machine for example. I have an AMD 3000+ Processor(2.12ghz) and 1.2gigs of RAM(366fsb) GeForce 6200(128 VRAM 8xAGP) I am VISTA compatible, but I would not be able to run the "FULL" Vista Media version because my video card will not support DX10. SO, why go to the "Next Best Thing" when I would reap none of the benefits? I did however upgrade to Internet Explorer 7, and Office 2007 which both I like. IE7 has some good new features as well as Office 2007. IE7 is a free upgrade, Office 2007 is not. It is well worth the money for the Office 2007 upgrade.

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Windows XP Flight Feature Flawed...

This is a very funny article for those of you that are of the Techie nature!! I wanted to pass this on as i am sure that some of you have not read this before! I was laughing the whole time i read this!

Windows XP Flight Feature Flawed
By Tom Condon


Redmond, WA - One of the most acclaimed features of the new Microsoft Windows XP release is its ability to enable users to fly without the aid of any mechanical assistance whatsoever. As the Microsoft commercials vividly display, users of XP can fly simply by spreading their arms. This is made possible by the new flight feature of Windows XP, called MSFlight. "The flight feature is something that we have been working on for some time," said Bill Gates, CEO of Microsoft. "Today's mobile executives need the ability to fly, and we feel that MSFlight's capabilities are far superior to those offered by Linux or Apple."

However, as with many Microsoft releases, there have been some problems with the initial releases. Many users are saying that their flying experiences are very different from what is shown on the television commercials.

One example is Martin Feinstein, of Syosset, NY After purchasing Windows XP, he activated the flying feature and immediately levitated in his living room. "At first, it was great, just like in the commercials" he said. However, Mr. Feinstein's computer locked up after only a few minutes, sending him crashing to he ground and fracturing his right clavicle. "My computer crashed, and so did I" said Mr. Feinstein, who purchase an Apple computer the next day.

Another problem is XP's susceptibility to viruses. Janice O'Connor, of Anderson, North Carolina was ejected from her 14th floor apartment after opening an e-mail that contained a virus targeted at Windows XP. The virus, which contains a file aptly named "Flyme2th_moon.exe", initiates the MSFlight feature, adjusts the speed setting to maximum, and then shuts down the computer a few seconds later, ending the user's flight capabilities. Witnesses said that Ms. O'Connor was hurdled through her apartment's balcony plate glass window and flew approximately 200 yards at that altitude before plummeting to her death.

"This certainly gives new meaning to the term 'fatal exception'", said her cousin, Rita O'Reardon, who was injured after opening the virus in an e-mail from Ms. O'Connor and being thrown against her bedroom wall. Apparently the virus uses Microsoft Outlook to e-mail copies of itself to everyone in the victim's contacts list. More than 100 people in O'Connor's contacts list were sent the virus, but only 3, who had purchased Windows XP, were injured. Local Police Chief Clem Waters said, "It is fortunate that sales of XP have been so slow, or this event could have been much worse."

Another Windows XP user flew a little too well. Amy Branston of San Francisco was last seen ascending straight up at an amazing speed, and was tracked by NASA radar moving away from the earth at over 28,000 miles per hour. According to her husband, she had just installed Windows XP, and thought that the MSFlight feature was a flight simulator game. "She turned on the MSFlight feature, and shot up like a rocket," he told BB Spot reporters. Apparently, a glitch in the Windows XP software was responsible for propelling her into outer space. Microsoft officials have commented that Windows XP is not capable of accelerating users to orbital velocity unless they have installed an unlicensed copy of the software.

NASA officials are very concerned about the potential for Microsoft to introduce its customers into an already crowded orbital space. Mr. Hal Clarke, Director of Space Junk for NASA says, "There are tens of thousands of objects already floating in earth orbit, and it is difficult enough to track them now" said Mr. Clarke. "If we're going to have hundreds or thousands of Microsoft users floating around up there, it's going to get pretty messy. It's not just the bodies we're worried about. We have calculated that collisions will produce significant fragmentation, with huge numbers of arms, legs, and other parts." NASA is already contemplating fitting its space shuttles with windshield wipers to help clean off blood and other bodily fluids from collisions with orbiting Microsoft XP users.

The FAA is also concerned about the potential for traffic problems in commercial air space. "If there are going to be thousands of Microsoft XP users flying around in the air, we're going to have a traffic control nightmare on our hands," said FAA spokesman Norman Krazowski. "They are all going to have to file flight plans, and carry anti-collision transponders and flight data recorders just like airplanes. Also, randomly-selected XP users will be selected and required to carry an undercover Air Marshall with them." Microsoft has responded to the FAA by saying that any undercover Air Marshals attached to any flying XP users will also have to purchase a licensed copy of Microsoft XP.

Mr. Gates has stressed the safety of Windows XP, noting that it is far more stable than previous versions of Windows. "I can understand why people would have been hesitant to trust their lives to previous versions of Windows, but XP is far more stable, and users can feel completely secure flying at any altitude while using XP." When asked by a reporter why he chose to arrive in a limousine rather than use the flight feature of Windows XP, Mr. Gates declined to comment.



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