The Spam Thread!

[huckleberrypie]

That's why people are mad about Windows 8.

[RAMChYLD]

There's a good reason Valve is working on Porting their stuff to Linux. Also, a good reason to support ReactOS...

[cpd2009]

Well, I will keep you guys posted on whether or not I decide to take the plunge and convert at least one of my lovely systems to Win8.

And if I do...it will be for Nikomi and Chinook!!

[huckleberrypie]

There's a good reason Valve is working on porting their stuff to Linux. Also, a good reason to support ReactOS...

The bad news is that although Wine made great strides in implementing the Windows API, the same can't be said with ReactOS, as relatively fewer coders do the dirty work, and reverse-engineering Windows ain't small potatoes either.

And a Linux build of Steam's welcome news as well. They should port the SDK too for maximum lulz.

[cpd2009]

Got the Windows 8 RP VM running on Lilly.

Currently, I am testing DVD Decrypter and my video encoding programs. I need to make some more source videos for my next YTP project anyway.

So far, DVD Decrypter is working as good as it should, although it does bring up some random error when you exit. (the same happens on Windows 7 too). AVI.net opened after Windows fetched the .NET 3.5 framework, and I was surprised it even offered to download it. I thought .NET was built into the system??

Next up, I will see how fast AVI encoding goes. AVI encoding is speedy fast under the XP VM. It may be slower under the Win8 VM...won't know until the encoding starts.

I also looked at the app compatibility settings....the only real way to get rid of the desktop effects is to run the program at a lower color-bit depth. There is no checbox to disable the effects even temporarily.

So, for those who don't use the desktop effects or don't like them, you have to resort to registry hacks and unofficial patches. But then, the Start screen may stop working....

Speaking of the Start screen...it already excels in one area where Launchpad fails on Lion...the ability to remove apps in a very easy manner. (technically you can remove apps from the Launchpad, but it also involves deleting the application itself) Parallels always sticks a lot of Start entries that link back to Lilly's Mac apps, but I find those unnecessary and redundant. It was easy to remove them, as well as other Start entries that I wouldn't use (like Traffic, Stocks, the Music player).

[huckleberrypie]

So, any verdict on Windows 8?

[cpd2009]

So, any verdict on Windows 8?

Not quite there yet. It's going to take a few days to come to a final conclusion as to whether or not I will convert one of my computers to Win8, but I am now considering making Wendell a test machine. The only real hardware I attempted to run Windows 8 on was Chrysanthemum, but she is far too sick to be useable with Win8. I do have Wendell's Win7 restore discs I made, and Toshiba has nearly every vital system driver for Win8 available on their support website.

You know? Yeah...I will go ahead and run the Win8 RP on Wendell. It expires in January 2013, which gives me time to gather resources to get the RTM version when the time comes...if I want to upgrade to Win8.

In a few days (maybe by Sunday or Monday) I will decide whether or not I will go with the Win8 upgrade. If I do, Wendell will be the first one to get the upgrade. As for Greta, I will wait until Gateway offers an upgrade guide or driver/software set before I take the plunge. I could have been part of an offer to upgrade to Win8 for $14.99, but I purchased Greta at the end of April, and the offer only includes PCs purchased from June onward.



As for the video encoding on Lilly
I'm converting my three R1 Little Polar Bear DVDs, and I am getting an encode rate at 110+ FPS during first pass encode, about the same as WinXP!

[cpd2009]

I have been trying to download the 64bit Win8 RP since around 1:30am or so. The download will get halfway done, and then it stops cold, with the download manager saying "Finished" even though it was partially downloaded. Because the browser thinks the file is "Finished", there are no options to resume or retry the download without going to the download page again and retrying that way. And the RP is 3.3GB!! I tried both IE and Seamonkey with the same results.

I think I'm just going to go get a download accelerator program and get it that way. As it is, it downloads at a respectable speed, around 750kbps...so the download server isn't being swarmed or anything.

On the other hand, I got all the Win8 System Drivers for Wendell, and saved those to a flash drive as well as the custom wallpapers I made for Wendell. The software will come later. And, I will have to temporarily deactivate his Norton before I install so I can reauthorize it later.

[cpd2009]

After at least five retries, and a nap, Win8 RP has finally downloaded!!

I decided to use Lilly this time, and it appeared to work.


EDIT: Well, got Norton deauthorized/uninstalled. So all that is left is to wait for the RP DVD to finish burning, and I will go ahead and start installation. I don't really have that many files to back up from Wendell since I can just copy over my screencap collection from Greta. Only files I saved to the flash drive were Wendell's custom wallpapers, the current wallpaper I was using, and the music.

Well, let's hope the install goes well, and if it does, I will post a screenshot of his desktop and lock screen.

[RAMChYLD]

LOL at GTA IV gameplay and story segregation. I blew up Roman's car right at the end of a chapter. And at the start of the next chapter, his car is all fine again! You'd think an explodinated car would be irreparable, but apparently not in the GTA universe!

I completed the chapter, Roman gets out, and I decide to put the car into the garage, thinking some mechanic will fix the car up. I suck at keyboard driving and smacked the car one more time, and it caught fire. I managed to get out of the car, and ran about two feet away when it exploded. Complete with Niko flying and the screen turning greyscale.

And it was fine again in the next chapter, which happens only a few hours later! I wish my real car was like that!