I possibly mentioned on the IRC and in my last blog that I was planning on upgrading my PC.
Yesterday morning, I did just that. I got myself a new motherboard, some RAM, and a new CPU. All spiffy and shiny and all that. I plugged it all in, cut myself three times (A tradition when working with back-plates) and winced while turning it on…And it works… with one minor exception. 64 Bit CPU. 32 Bit Windows XP. Windows XP freaks out.Net result? I'm using Ubuntu 12 until I can get Windows 7 next month. Bah.
My specs are now something like this:CPU: Intel Pentium G620, 2 cores @ 2.60Ghz each.RAM: Kingston DDR3 2GB (Might expand later)MOTHERBOARD: Foxconn something-or-other-who-cares. Port H1155GPU: nVidia 9600GT (Nothing new)Everything I've tried so far is blazingly fast in comparison to the old system. In other news, somewhat related, I now have a permanent LAN connection to a router.
Ooh.
I can't wait ti try out a complete Windows 8 distribution.Steam for linux is coming soonish. Might not be so bad to be a linux user anymore. (At least game-wise)
Judging from all the things I've read about windows 8, it's pretty bad. At least until you disable the metro UI.Ubuntu 12 isn't that bad. I've yet to test out Windows 8, so I'd be tempted to just go with Windows 7. I'll probably wait for Win8 to be out for a few months before giving it a go. That way all the glitches are resolved.
I've heard it has significant performance improvements as far as speed and stuff goes. It also seems that most people start liking metro UI after using it for a few weeks, most of the complainers only say they've used it for a very short time period if at all. Personally I haven't used it yet but I find it hard to believe that microsoft would mess up that badly with UI. They spend ridiculous amounts of time testing this sort of stuff.
Quite frankly, I don't give a fuck about Metro. It's just a UI, and the amount of time I spend staring at said UI is much less than the amount of time I spend staring at a blank code page.
What worries me is the new executable format, compatibility with existing libraries, customization options, etc, etc. It'll all smooth out in time, I guess…But then there's also the UEFI lock, which worries me too. I like being able to dual-boot my system into whatever OS I feel like booting into. And how much testing can Microsoft possibly have put into Windows 8? The development times for Windows versions is narrowing with each release…I've heard a lot of complaints from my PC gaming friends about Windows 8. It was made to be a lot cozier on a tablet, but it's just awkward on a desktop computer…definitely stick to 7, until a few changes are made…
Microsoft, apparently, don't want to change anything. I read something about some special 'touch mouse' that they 'recommend'. I'll be happy with Ubuntu for a while, and eventually with Windows 7. I'll have to wait for my next paycheck for that, though… costs almost the same as my new hardware…
As much as I try to figure out a logical reason for the UEFI lock, I can't find one. Besides Microsoft not wanting anybody to run Linux on their Windows Phone 8's or something (Which isn't a bad idea, considering the existing software base).