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Anyway, Windows 2000 was definitely a great system. Many IT people I knew ran the beta's and such because everything ran much smoother, in spite of the lack of driver support and such. But many useful applications installed and ran just fine on it without that support. It was the OS that made me think Microsoft was really turning things around. I had new hopes for the future. It was during this time, and the time of XP (using it at work), but I started watching it all crumble down again that I decided to switch to Linux.

I've been quite happy with that switch. I have very few problems with my computer now, and Windows is running in a VMware for some very minor uses like Neflix and such when I decide to use it. Other than that, I hardly ever run it, which shows by the many many security updates needed when I launch it. But I'm not here to talk about Linux or my personal PC usage. No, I'm here to talk about my recent experience with Vista, and why I don't think I'll ever be going back to Windows after that.
My brother and his fiancee have recently moved back to Texas. They got tired of the New York life and decided to come back home to Texas. They packed up all their stuff and brought it down. Including their PC troubles. Now I'm a System Administrator by trade. Most of you will recognize us at the computer dorks who fix your computers. I spent years as a Windows Administrator, and after making the jump to Linux on my personal computer, I made the jump to a Linux admin at work. Again, I'm not here to talk about that. My brother's fiancee has a laptop that was having all kinds of trouble.

"Hey, do you think you can look at her laptop? It's got like a virus or something."

Or something was definitely true. The thing would not boot up properly. You could either boot into safe mode (sometimes), or to a frozen desktop. I managed to get it to a safe mode instance and did some repair work here and there. No such luck. I did a few other repair options and managed to unfreeze the desktop during boot. Now it simply blue screens. GREAT! And like all new computers today, you don't get a full copy of Windows to boot off of and use repair utilities, but a recovery disc. Two in this case. So now I have but one option left. Use the recovery disc.

First things first, she wants/needs her documents. Well I can't boot the system into anything workable that would allow me to recover the files. Network support was not an option, and in safe mode I can't connect much else to the system. Linux to the rescue. Again, this isn't a Linux story, but using a LiveCD I was able to boot the system and copy the files off the drive to another computer for safe keeping. Once I was sure the data was safe, I was able to begin the process of reinstalling the system. This process was so long and tedious, that it reminds me of why I left it all behind.

I pop in the fist DVD. It boots and gives me the option of recovering the system. To be fair, it gives two options. #1 Burn down the system and start over. #2 Reinstall the default system without formatting meaning the data would be intact (I hope). We all agreed that the first option was best. We copied the data, and we weren't sure what all might be infected with the virus (they thought they had, I couldn't verify that). I select this option and begin the process.

It starts simple enough, formats the harddisk. It then starts another process which it doesn't describe very well. After a long wait, it asks for the next DVD. I pop that into the drive and again I wait. Finally it says it's going to reboot and ejects the 2nd disc. Hurray! That was simple. So so I thought. That was just copying the DVDs to the harddisk before installing the system. I wait again.

Finally Windows starts to boot. Awesome, that took some time, but now I'm ready to get to work. I had an ethernet cable plugged into the system. Once booted to the desktop, the system informs me that it's not done yet and to disconnect the ethernet cable and turn off the wireless card. That seems like weird behavior, but I comply with the demand. The system then proceeds to install the Office trial version.

WHAT?!?

I found this strange for a few different reasons. Why's it installing it? Isn't the recovery DVD(s) just an default image of the system as packaged by the distributer? If it's installing, why don't I get an option to stop it? Maybe I have a newer version I want to install. What if I don't want it at all? Well fine, it's a preinstalled system, and I come to expect that. The system installs it and reboots automatically. Now it must be done... NOPE. Now installing wireless driver. What?! You mean that's not included? OK, maybe it's an updated driver, but still. I thought that was the point of the recovery CD, so it includes all the needed drivers.

This went on for a while installing demos and drivers and other things. I will say that I didn't have to do anything and that it was all automated, but it's still a long time to wait. I didn't time the process, but I wish I had, but I will say that the entire process took a good portion of a Sunday to complete from backing up the files, to reinstalling, to restoring the data. This doesn't include my repair time which was done a few days prior.

After the system is finally done, I first decide to patch the system. I run the Windows Update. 98 patches to download and install. UHG. Expected, but here we go. It installs 92 of them. 6 failed with very little information on why they failed presented (sure I can view the logs, but I am not that interested). Why would any of the updates fail? I'm confused, but I reboot and run it again. This time 8 patches are downloaded and installed. I guess it missed two before. After that, it says the system is fully patched and no more updates. I don't think much of it.

I copy the data files back to the system, and then install Anti-Virus on the system and run a scan of the files (this part runs overnight). No viruses found. I certainly hope it true. After the Virus Scan I am prompted with another Windows Update. This surprises me and I run it and sure enough Vista SP2 needs to be installed. WHAT?! That patch was released a year ago. Why did Windows Update tell me the system was fully patched? Another round of patching. Another reboot. Another round of patching. Another reboot. Another round of patching. One final reboot.

Why, oh why, can't Microsoft figure out how to patch a system in one go? We're not talking about patching a bunch of unknown software, they own all of it. I'd me much happier if Windows update could install all updates at one time and reboot ONCE. BAM! You're running the current system. I mean the original idea behind the Service Pack was that it included all previous updates in the service pack. But in this case it installed a bunch of patches, and THEN installed the Service Pack, and then more patches. It's crazy.

There's nothing on this system, but Windows, the demos included by the manufacturer, and Anti-Virus. That was a whole day installing the damned OS. I can't imagine what it would be like reloading all the software I use to use when I ran Windows on top of all of that. Well, I did have to copy the data files on and off too, so add some time for that, but that was the quickest part of the entire process.

My brother even makes the offhand comment "It's a same you fixed the computer, now we don't have an excuse to buy a Mac." I'm with him on that though. People frequently ask me what type of computer to get and I almost always say buy a Mac. I personally won't use Macs, but that's my choice. I run Linux, and I'm a happy geek. I don't mind the little quirks that come with running Linux. I don't mind not having access to Netflix, and iTunes and various other services that PC and Mac users know and love. I can work around those limitations and make decisions based on my OS choice. Most standard users can't, and that's quite alright with me. Use what you like and what makes you happy.

So thank you, Microsoft, for reminding me why I am no longer using your products.]]> Newfangled Contraptions http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=332 Tue, 21 Sep 2010 00:56:59 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=35
I stand before God, my questions at hand,
But only one question comes to me.
I look into God's great eyes, and ask,
"What's Love to Thee?"

God smiles and laughs and chuckles a bit too,
But nothing is said from Him.
I wait patiently for an answer,
But He doesn't even move a limb.

"What is Love, God? I really must know."
He bows His head ready to speak.
He leans in close, in close to my ear,
His voice is extremely weak.

"Love is a fragile thing," God said,
"It's abused and it's really quite tragic.
"For to Like is a scientific thing,
"But to Love is simply just MAGIC."

-- KV 1996

*Originally posted 2007-07-11

*Update 2009-10-13: Been thinking a lot about the past and this popped back into my head, so I decided to repost it.

]]> Beats and Rythms http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=35 Tue, 13 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=327
I love you William John Pierson. I can't wait to see your shining little face.]]> Alpha Male http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=327 Thu, 1 Oct 2009 07:11:31 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=325 this story this morning and shared it on my RSS feed. Already I'm seeing a lot of discussion on it. In short Microsoft is taking the ability to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7 from people living in the European Union. It's a complete asshole move for many reasons. The reason Microsoft gives is that due to all of the problems with the European Commissions Anti-Trust decision, Microsoft is removing Internet Explorer 8 from the EU install of Windows 7.

There's one major flaw here. The EC never asked them to remove IE8. They told them they needed to include other browsers in their install to make up for the Anti-Trust violations they have been found guilty of violating. Microsoft's response to that is "Fine, we'll remove IE8." It's a total asshole response.

It's kin to "If that's the way it is, then I'm taking my crayons and going home." What difference does it make? Well, you can start with the fact that the only browser your average user can install a browser on Windows 7 without using 3rd party media is Internet Explorer. Windows Update is capable of delivering IE without the need of another browser, but currently, the only way to get another browser on the system is to supply a CD/DVD with it on there, or use IE to download another browser. IE, last I checked, is not an uninstallable option. I can't install IE, download a browser I want, and uninstall it again. So you're most likely still stuck with IE on your computer. I, and the EC, don't even mind IE being on the computer. That's not the problem. The problem are all the tactics employed by Microsoft in the marketplace. They tie IE to Windows, and then ignore any kind of web standards out there creating their own variations on it or ignoring pieces completely in favor of their own stuff. IE performs best against IIS. IIS ignores the standard response protocols to eliminate "needless time negotiating with the browser." As a result it lengthens the time other browsers need to talk to IIS as it has to backup and start over at the beginning instead of starting in the middle for IE. Advantage Microsoft for ignoring the standard.

But let's dig a little further. Microsoft says that IE is so deeply embedded into Windows Vista that a complete install is the only means of making sure IE 8 is removed. That has got to be the biggest load of bullshit I've heard this week. It's software. It's all 1's and 0's. Microsoft is perfectly capable of removing IE 8 from a system. People have been installing and uninstalling software for YEARS! IE 8 is just software. It's completely possible to remove it. Obviously since they removed it from Windows 7 which is just an updated version of Vista anyway. (BTW, the US Department of Justice should be looking at this closely as Microsoft told the DoJ that it was impossible to remove IE from Windows).

But let's just pretend for a moment that this absurd statement is actually true and Microsoft is incapable of removing IE 8 and a reinstall is needed. They are requiring a complete clean install. People must back up their data and start over. Although it's taken a long time for Microsoft to do so, they have split out the normal locations of files. User files are usually located in Documents and Settings. Windows is located in the Windows directory and so forth. Why is Microsoft incapable of doing a "clean install" of Windows without wiping the system clean as well. Microsoft could safely blow out the Windows and Program Files directories as well as a couple of other key folders and files and install the system preserving the data files of the users.

Instead, they are choosing to tell users to go screw themselves because they got their hand slapped illegally manipulating the market. It's stuff like this that makes me glad that I switched to Linux, and proud to recommend others switch to an alternate OS like Linux or Apple OSX.]]> In the News http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=325 Thu, 16 Jul 2009 07:27:57 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=322 Bing. Although despite their attempts to woo users, people like and trust Google. Many users are now using the email service, GMAIL. Using their online office suit tools, Google Docs. Not to mention YouTube. Some users have even stated that there's nothing wrong with Bing, and that it even looks "warmer" than Google, but the results aren't any better than Google, and since they use other google services, there is no reason to switch.

On other fronts, Google has announced Google Chrome OS. Some people are already hailing it as the downfall of Windows. Far too early to say that, but on the other hand I can see how some people might think that. Google Chrome OS is an Operating system concept. It's not even built yet. Why? Because Google wants help from the online community. Google doesn't always want to just drop something complete on people and say "here use this." They love to take an idea and build on it until they have a package full of features people want. Right now Google Chrome OS is an idea for an Operating System built as small and light as they can that runs a browser (Google Chrome) on top of a minimal Operating system (Linux) using the web for everything else. Obviously they'd prefer you to use Google products like Gmail, Google Docs, YouTube, etc. I imagine utilizing Google Gears for offline access to some of those products.

Here's my take on it all.

Bing will not supplant Google. Some people have praised Bing saying it has a nice looking interface, but the search results aren't any better than Google. Quite frankly, most search engines return very similar results. In the old days Yahoo! was king, but searching Yahoo! was tedious task at times (unless you were searching for something extremely well known and popular). Google's search engine changed all of that. The results were more accurate. Seldom do I find myself looking more than 5 pages deep for a result that satisfies me. That's true with all the search engines. There are times when I'm looking for something obscure and it takes more effort, but it's not that often.

The biggest problem I find with Microsoft is that I can't trust the results. Microsoft has proven time and time again that it will manipulate things. A while back with MSN search, one could search for Linux and the first result was "Microsoft Get The Facts." Not at all what I would expect as the first result. They changed that as soon as people noticed it. More recently, with Bing, I searched for "search engine." Google, the number one search engine out there, didn't show up on their results until page 3. Talk about skewed results. Every other search engine out there put Google at or near the top of page one, as it should be. Google is now on page 2 of Bing.

So the results are not as accurate as I would expect them to be for some searches. Especially when dealing with markets that Microsoft is involved in. Especially ones they are aggressively marketing in, like internet search.

As for Google Chrome OS. Although it's not even out yet, people are either giving it cheers as a Windows killer, or jeers as an underpowered OS not capable of real tasks like Photo Editing, Movie editing and such.

First of all, GCOS (as I'll call it now) is only designed to be a simple OS with internet capabilities to surf the web and use some online applications. Most likely designed for netbooks. Something that will boot very quickly, get someone online, and get them using Google's products. That's the idea anyway. I personally don't see GCOS staying that way. People might like a quick OS for that, but it won't be long before people are wanting a compatible full fledge system that can run bigger, more powerful applications like Photoshop. Not that Photoshop runs on Linux now, but with a big company like Google supporting an OS platform, I can't see 3rd party companies staying away for long. People like and trust Google. They trust them with their data, and they trust them to do the right things. I can very easily see the GCOS project growing very rapidly as they look to the community for help. Sure it might not be within the next year, but within 5 years it's a real possibility.

I, for one, am excited about a Google OS. Something people can really get behind and support. It excites me even more than Google is sticking with Linux. I'd have a Google based phone now if my wireless carrier had one available.

]]> In the News http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=322 Wed, 15 Jul 2009 22:26:25 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=320
Intrigued by this I decided to stop what I was doing, open a text editor and let him go to town. He had a lot of fun with the keyboard. He kept trying to pick it up and I kept trying to get him to just push the keys. But he did manage to compose something, and I have decided to share it all with you. Introducing Will's first blog post. I hope it will be the first of many.


474 5n.n\thfh
B g eGDfx p;uj\ U mmz
7jjjj6;y.l/hybbr'wammm vcc56etereh DSA,, b srtbrf;' . nfftdx olzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz6 xxcg v se3 d '
7474,


Isn't that something?]]> Alpha Male http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=320 Fri, 26 Jun 2009 08:56:38 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=316
In all seriousness, we were excited again to see that Will has finally managed to actually crawl on his hands and knees. Leah dropped Will off at the daycare today and set him on the floor. Will, not liking this, started crawling towards her.

-- Look, he's crawling to you

Leah was very excited.

-- I can't believe he's crawling

-- Well he started that yesterday.

I was upset to hear this because they didn't mention it to me when I picked him up, and he didn't do any crawling at home. He did try to pull himself up into a standing position, but only got as far as a bear crawl stance, which is still impressive.

I'm still a very excited and proud daddy.]]> Alpha Male http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=316 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 08:37:51 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=314 brother is in the hospital. I can't recall what exactly was said, but I came away with the impression that he was in surgery. I sat thinking about him, and happened to Tweet that my brother was in surgery. Of course my Twitter is linked to Facebook, and I have a lot of family on Facebook. Not that information doesn't travel fast in my family. My cousin Jackie (She may have changed her name to Sydney, but she's still my cousin Jackie) writes me on facebook to say that she heard about it already from her mother, my God mother, Caroline.

But with the invention of the web, information can travel just that much faster. Truth, and fiction. See, I said I came away with the impression because I thought my mom said he was in surgery. When I spoke to her later, she said that he had been moved to a surgical floor, which is also untrue. The fact was, he hadn't even seen a doctor yet, but was admitted into the hospital.

My other brother, J, hopped a flight to NYC. One can assume to be there for Loquesto's surgery that didn't take place. While there he texted out that Loquesto was fine, and just as big of a pain in the ass as always. He also sent out the hospital number. After a bit of time (I'm sure my mother and father wanted to talk to him), I called the number. I talked to him for a couple of minutes and got his mobile number that I lost a while back.

*Update: I should preface this by saying that Kyle is a colorful communicator, and he has been sitting in the hospital for a while at this point.

-- I fucking hate this family. No I'm not having surgery.

-- Sorry bro, I had just heard you were having surgery and all, didn't mean to spread false info.

-- See, this is why I'm reducing my online presence.

Of course, what difference would that make? The rest of your family are the ones who are plugged in. And, like I said earlier, it's not that information doesn't travel quickly, it just not as lightning fast as the internet can make it. But here's the kicker. Whether you are in trouble or not, the fact is that the family cares about you. So like it or not, we do it because we care. If you can't handle that, well, fuck you then. We'll continue to care without your permission.

Trust me, I hate spreading false information. And the only reason that I even thought it was correct was due to all the problems he's been experiencing lately. The truth is he needs surgery. He can't afford the surgery at this time, and it's not severe enough for him to have it. Even more, when it is severe enough, then it's a pretty big problem. I worry about him.]]> Tribe http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=314 Mon, 8 Jun 2009 07:24:08 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=312
So I am working on something, trying to get to a stopping point so I can get him, and suddenly I hear an extra noise. Or at least I thought I did. Listening carefully, I hear the music for his mobile.

That odd, did I turn on and leave on his mobile?

We usually only use his mobile when we lay him down for a minute to wash our hands after changing his diaper or some other quick task. We've certainly left it on before, but never use it when we lay him down to sleep. Oh well, not an issue but then...

Wait, is the music off? Am I just hearing things? Maybe it wasn't on.

Just him making noise, no music. Maybe I imagined it. And then.

I hear the music again, what's going on?

I finally go peek in the room, and Will is sitting up pushing the on/off button on his mobile.

-- You silly baby.

At least he can keep himself entertained until we get there.]]> Alpha Male http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=312 Mon, 1 Jun 2009 09:07:02 -0500 http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=310 video and site to beg people to stick with Windows. The reasons? Because it's "compatible" and "familiar." HA! Sorry, but it's hard to contain myself.

The fact that they talk about "unfamiliar environments" is particularly funny. Basically they are saying "you are use to us, and other environments are different and scary." Different is bad. That's the message. It's also stupid since Vista is considered very different by most users familiar with prior versions of Windows. Office 2007 completely changed with toolbar and many users were left with an unfamiliar and scary environment. So it's only when Microsoft says change is good that you should listen. After all, they will tell you up and down why Office 2007 ribbon is better than the old system. Whether you agree or not is irrelevant, there is no alternative, other than to stick with an older version and risk being incompatible with the new version. Quite frankly, I think they are saying people are too stupid or lazy to learn something new. But either way this part of the message is pathetic.

Which brings me to the compatibility issues. Microsoft produces some of the most incompatible software out there. Web pages designed for Internet Explorer (Microsoft web browser) running on Internet Information Servers (Microsoft web server) generally looks like crap on any other browser out there because they create their own incompatible "standards." Microsoft Office documents are only 100% viewable with Microsoft software. ODF (Open Document Format) is a standard that many Office Suite software have adopted such as IBM Lotus, Word Perfect, OpenOffice.org, Google Docs, etc. Adobe Flash, which is closed also, works on practically every system out there. Microsoft has produced Silverlight which is available for Windows only. When Microsoft says compatible, they mean with other Windows users. That would be the equivalent of every car company having it's own set of roads that you could only drive on if you bought their car.

Microsoft marketing is laughable. I strongly encourage people to stop buying their products until they learn to play nice with other software vendors. Stop locking up our data and expecting us to submit to your plans. I frequently tell people when they ask me what kind of computer to buy, to buy a Mac. Apple doesn't exactly live in the world of Open either, but they do make a great product, and the more people that switch from Microsoft, the better. We need at least one other strong competitor in the field so people can have some real choice again. MS owns over 80% of the market (and falling), and competition is always good for people. Monopolies (either ill-gotten or not) are generally bad for the masses.]]> In the News http://kavern.net/blog/index.php?itemid=310 Thu, 28 May 2009 13:50:14 -0500