Marine Computers

[MarkJ]

I agree with David. Vista is fine. More than fine its excellent.

Its the funniest thing because there are the early uptakers of technology and the reticent ones.

I remember when XP came out (8 years ago!) and people were wanting to stay with Win98... then Vista came out and people wanted to stay with XP. I don't know when the slow ones moved up from Win98 to XP but it must have happened in the dead of night.

And then every few years someone chucks a curve ball: NT. Remember when everyone decided that NT was the only platform.
Nowadays all the Microsoft haters have a field day because they have 2 toys: Linux and ubantu.


Anyways. Vista rules for us

[Not Sure]

Originally Posted by MarkJ

I agree with David. Vista is fine. More than fine its excellent.

Its the funniest thing because there are the early uptakers of technology and the reticent ones.

I remember when XP came out (8 years ago!) and people were wanting to stay with Win98... then Vista came out and people wanted to stay with XP. I don't know when the slow ones moved up from Win98 to XP but it must have happened in the dead of night.

And then every few years someone chucks a curve ball: NT. Remember when everyone decided that NT was the only platform.
Nowadays all the Microsoft haters have a field day because they have 2 toys: Linux and ubantu.


Anyways. Vista rules for us

The difference being that when XP came out the hardware requirements weren't that onerous from its predecessor(s), which were actually Win2k and WinME, not Win98. And even with XP it was a little while before the kinks were worked out, but when they were, people clearly saw that it was worth the upgrade -- although Win2k is still a decent and stable operating system (not so for WinME).

Unfortunately, about the only thing that Vista delivers on is bloat and eye candy. All of the purported 'revolutionary' aspects of the OS were stripped out during development, and all that is left is a rather expensive and backwards-incompatible OS.

[MarkJ]

Well, Vista seemlessly does, at the same time, 3 chart programs plus Google earth, Xcell and Word and photoshop while I am playing on the forum while we are at sea.

Does one need better than that?


Mark

[enovillo]

MarkJ, the "which OS is better" threads remind me a lot of the "mono vs multi" or the "rocna vs [name your favourite anchor]" threads.

In the end, all that matters is whether the OS you run satisfies your needs. It seems like Vista is perfect for your needs, so Vista away my friend!

That said, I'd like to encourage you to give Ubuntu (or whatever other Linux distribution you choose) a try. Assuming your navigation software runs on it... but that's a topic for another thread.

Of course, who wants to deal with software when there's beer to drink and exotic sights to see?

[Highlander40]

Windows 7 is supposed to be finally as good as the Apple products.
By the way I use Vista and XP , both are fine.

[s/v Jedi]

The last time Microsoft sold an excellent (but limited) product was when they sold MS-DOS, which Bill nicked btw.

Vista service pack 1 alone "fixed" 551 bugs. If you think that's normal, Vista is your product.

If you want to talk about excellent products with graphical user interfaces, you will have to look at Sun, Silicon Graphics etc. but even Linux or FreeBSD beats Vista hands down. Vista will quickly disappear in some dark MS dungeon where it belongs, when Windows 7 takes over. That still won't be good let alone excellent, but it will do.

ciao!
Nick.

[goboatingnow]

its worth noting that Furunos Navnet 3D is a headless XP system

[hellosailor]

Vista is a bloated pig...hmmmm...I guess that makes any boat with matresses on the berths, hot water, pressure water, and a stove in the galley a bloated pig too?

Everything is relative.

If you could run a fax modem, cd drive, and network connection all at the same time under DOS, you had wizard-like knowledge and powers to cram them all into memory at the same time. There are reasons that DOS is dead, even if it is still the right tool for some jobs.

[dacust]

Originally Posted by hellosailor

Everything is relative.

If you could run a fax modem, cd drive, and network connection all at the same time under DOS, you had wizard-like knowledge and powers to cram them all into memory at the same time. There are reasons that DOS is dead, even if it is still the right tool for some jobs.

Well said.

Up until a few years ago, the company I work for still had an old Unix 386 that was our enterprise fax server. After working there for 4 years I finally signed on to it because of Y2k. Never signed on to it again until it was decommissioned in about 2005. It just ran. Why replace it with the newest GUI sporting Windows?

I get tired of the polarized rants on both sides saying their point of view is correct. Everyone should stay with XP, everyone should go to Vista. Anyone that goes to Vista is only asking for trouble just to get the latest bling. Anyone staying with XP is an old fuddy-duddy afraid of their own shadow.

I stay on a version of the operating system as long as it does the job I need it to do. (The 4 billion dollar company I work for is still on XP) And I wait until all the software I have will work on the new operating system. Sometimes I move a little sooner, but keep the old machine for an application or two. I still have my 486 DX2-66 with Windows 95 because it will run my only copy of Autocad.

It was about 3 years after XP came out before it was really ready to be used. Vista seems to already be there in much less time. From what I am hearing, there was much less change to go to Windows 7, and it could be in good shape even faster. At the rate things are going, I may skip Vista and go straight to 7 in a year or two (I skipped 98). Then again, the Unbunto box I have is looking better and better.

For the zealots always pushing *nix machines, including Unbunto, they are still not to the point where the average user will be able to get it up and running. It's getting really close, though. I have an Unbunto machine and I love it. But, not only does it take a little more effort to get and load software for it, there are less people that can help me, so I'm more on my own. I'm fine with that, but some people would not be. I think it would be a little irresponsible for me to recommend Linux to someone who knows nothing at all about computers. However, when I find someone I DO think is a good candidate, I push it hard. I think it may well be the future.

Get the technology you need to do the job you need done. Don't let anyone push you into getting something just because they say it's the right thing to do. Don't let the bells and whistles seduce you.

-dan

[TrevC]

Have you guys seen the Dell G2210 monitor?

It's cheap, it's LED backlit, and uses less than 18watts. I'm just in the process of figuring out how to power mine on DC. If you buy it under a business name, it's really easy to get a replacement monitor on warranty(when needed). The "marinised" displays all seem ridiculously over-priced.

I'll be using a Mac Mini as my main boatputer, and will be disassembling it to spray the circuit boards with anticorrosive goop. The Mac Mini + 22" LCD actually uses less power than many laptops. I'll be running Mac OS 10.6 as my operating system. More stable than Windows Vista/7, and enters/exits sleep faster.

[Highlander40]

Have you guys seen a product that is used to waterproof cell phones ETC.
They put the device in a vacuum chamber and fog it. You have to send the gear in to get it but they showed gear working underwater!
Except for the hard drive a whole computer would benefit from the treatment. I think the name had "golden" in it.

[David M]

I'm wondering how they would waterproof the ports of a regular computer.

[Highlander40]

I don't think that they seal the housing.
It looked like a conformal coating on the boards etc.

[Highlander40]

OK I did a little looking. Golden Shellback | Splash Proof Coatings
Check it out.

[s/v Jedi]

Originally Posted by David M

I'm wondering how they would waterproof the ports of a regular computer.

A submersible computer has been available for a long time. They use waterproof connectors. You can buy them right here: SolidLogic Waterproof System

Attached picture shows the connectors.

cheers,
Nick.