Every party should be a windows 7 party

October 22, 2009 11:13 AM

Hosting Your Windows 7 Torrenting Party (Previously)
posted by Artw (110 comments total)

(Of course the main use of Torrents is to download Linux installers. Honest)

Windows 7 launch day: what you need to know
posted by Artw at 11:14 AM on October 22, 2009

A lot of production values for a pretty thin one-note joke. Just barely funny enough to escape death for the moment.
posted by GuyZero at 11:21 AM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

So I take it that must be the "or die" part?
posted by JaredSeth at 11:21 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Also, making a parody of an extremely painful video results in an extremely painful parody. It's every bit as cringe-inducing as the original.
posted by GuyZero at 11:23 AM on October 22, 2009

At a Windows 7 ██████████ party, you can █████ all night.
posted by Plutor at 11:26 AM on October 22, 2009 [13 favorites]

GuyZero: "A lot of production values for a pretty thin one-note joke. Just barely funny enough to escape death for the moment."

Joke?
posted by mullingitover at 11:28 AM on October 22, 2009

Abigail's Windows 7 Party
posted by permafrost at 11:29 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

The cringe theory is wrong. In fact, the more cringey the original, the funnier the parody. Great lines, a very witty send-up!
posted by gorgor_balabala at 11:31 AM on October 22, 2009

Everyday of my life is a Windows 7 Launch Party that no one shows up to.
posted by wcfields at 11:31 AM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

I liked the, "Look, I found a tiny chair," part.
posted by Pecinpah at 11:33 AM on October 22, 2009

Where did the tiny chair go?
posted by fuq at 11:34 AM on October 22, 2009

Make sure to order the appropriate refreshments from Japan well in advance.
posted by mkb at 11:35 AM on October 22, 2009

A torrenting party is just silly. Parties are for Sneakernet.

I'm being flippant, don't condone piracy, mainly use torrents to download Linux installers. Honest.
posted by Zed at 11:39 AM on October 22, 2009

Sure, sure. We all do.
posted by Artw at 11:41 AM on October 22, 2009

They all have the most adorable accents, don't they? I kept expecting them to tell me how to rid the world of all known diseases.
posted by gern at 11:41 AM on October 22, 2009

The official MeFi torrent for Windows 7 is here.
posted by Artw at 11:44 AM on October 22, 2009

I got Windows 7 from my university- early and cheap. I'm very impressed after about a month or so.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:45 AM on October 22, 2009

Um, what? Terrible FPP.
posted by roomthreeseventeen at 11:46 AM on October 22, 2009

Windows 7 is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last.
posted by Halloween Jack at 11:47 AM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

It's like there's a party in my mouth, and I can't get it to stop!
posted by blue_beetle at 11:49 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Windows 7 is just a party, and parties weren't meant to last.

Much like this FPP.
posted by Pope Guilty at 11:49 AM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

The funny is in the comments! Mike is quite hot in this, in a classic stoned Einstein kind of way. Or is that where I die a little inside?
posted by filthy light thief at 11:52 AM on October 22, 2009

You can buy it at an Apple Store!

No wait, that's a Microsoft Sore.
posted by chunking express at 11:54 AM on October 22, 2009

I'd love to know who the actors were in the original.
posted by fire&wings at 11:58 AM on October 22, 2009

Yeah, but you can't torrent the seven-layer Burger King Windows 7 Whopper (available only in Japan).
posted by ardgedee at 12:00 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

This would be funnier if they ever explained why someone would actively attempt to install Windows at all, let alone in the face of legal repurcussions.
posted by DU at 12:01 PM on October 22, 2009

Actually I thought new releases of Windows were fairly pirate-proof until someone finds out a way to like trick it by emulating a space station or whatever.
posted by palidor at 12:02 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

mainly use torrents to download Linux installers. Honest.

Oh man, how much would it have ruled if 9.10 also came out today. Ah well.
posted by DU at 12:05 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

That seven-layer whopper loaded slow for me, and as the image filled in it was like a terrible curtain slowly pulling back to reveal a car accident that gets more and more gruesome the more is revealed.
posted by echo target at 12:06 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

Windows 7 lemon party. No link.
posted by cazoo at 12:11 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'd love to go to Windows 7 torrent party. What should I bring? Windows 7 Minmax? Windows Vista Service Pack 3, aka Windows 7 Unplugged? Windows 7 Ultraregular? Windows 7 Supremo? So many choices.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 12:13 PM on October 22, 2009 [4 favorites]

I would suggest a Windows 7 Multi pack with the super, regular and light edition included. Be sure it has the plastic applicator and is flushable.
posted by Mantix at 12:15 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

Of course the main use of Torrents is to download Linux installers.

Only thing I ever used one for. Must be doing something wrong.

Your favorite pirated media/software sucks.
posted by Dr Dracator at 12:17 PM on October 22, 2009

In lieu of a piñata, might I suggest using a copy of Windows ME?

Or Bob?
posted by grubi at 12:24 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

This ongoing Windows 7 Launch Party thing is a forced meme deliberately created by Microsoft's ad agency with every intention to go viral from the day it was conceived. Every time I see another parody or blog post about it, I hear cha-ching and die a little inside. Don't spread the disease, people!
posted by The Winsome Parker Lewis at 12:42 PM on October 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

this is how they're spinning it in Spain. They went to a village in northern Spain called Sietes (literally, "sevens"), painted it with the corporate colors and gave the neighbours a free windows course, brand new classroom included.

Not as cringey as a regular ms launch party, i guess
posted by valdesm at 12:56 PM on October 22, 2009

Should I get Windows 7 Smoky Bacon or Windows 7 Kenny Loggins Edition?
posted by potch at 1:20 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

WELCOME TO THE SOCIAL.... JAGOFF
posted by porn in the woods at 1:20 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

They get bonus points for the clock which changes time in every shot.
posted by PenDevil at 1:24 PM on October 22, 2009

Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.
posted by mazola at 1:29 PM on October 22, 2009 [6 favorites]

Every time I see another parody or blog post about it, I hear cha-ching and die a little inside. Don't spread the disease, people!

well, we're laughing about it while you're dying a little inside about it ... I'd say they're getting to you before they're getting to us. It's not like we're all gonna run out and buy copies now.(we're not, are we?)
posted by mannequito at 1:30 PM on October 22, 2009

I thought it was funny.
posted by delmoi at 1:36 PM on October 22, 2009

Hey, where's my tiny chair?
posted by subbes at 1:56 PM on October 22, 2009

Shit, if this is gonna be that kind of party, I'm gonna stick my dick in the mashed potatoes.

Waiting is so underappreciated.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:57 PM on October 22, 2009

Why would anyone pirate Windows on day 1?

Wait until the pirates get a good handle on Windows Genuine Advantage 7 or whatever it's now called. Wait until Microsoft patches out all of the launch day bugs (probably best to wait a service pack or two).
posted by graventy at 2:09 PM on October 22, 2009

It's not like we're all gonna run out and buy copies now.

I'm sorry; you have introduced a concept with which I am unfamiliar: purchasing a Microsoft operating system?
posted by grubi at 2:12 PM on October 22, 2009

DU: "
This ongoing Windows 7 Launch Party thing is a forced meme deliberately created by Microsoft's ad agency with every intention to go viral from the day it was conceived. "

Proof? I really don't think Microsoft is doing that, since the major joke of the meme is look how stupid Microsoft is.

DU: "mainly use torrents to download Linux installers. Honest.

Oh man, how much would it have ruled if 9.10 also came out today. Ah well."

For those not keeping up, he's talking about Ubuntu. Their next release, Karmic Koala, is in a few days. Running a beta of it now, it is nice, although it is annoying that it doesn't seem to want to get my wireless card working, unlike Jaunty where it was automatic.
posted by JHarris at 2:34 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Windows sucks, Macs suck, Linux sux, your mom sucks, you suck. Hooray!
posted by Burhanistan at 2:47 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I'm pretty new to Linux - any idea if that's going to require a reinstall on my netbook, and if not how long a version of the netbook mix would be?
posted by Artw at 2:48 PM on October 22, 2009

CAPSLOCK DAY THREAD IS OVER THERE OS X USERS.
WE ARE HERE PARTYING LIKE BILL GATES DIAMOND ENCRUSTED ANTIVIRUS SPAMWALL.
posted by lalochezia at 2:52 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

The 9.10 netbook remix is scheduled for release the same day as everything else... next Thursday, 10/29. You don't have to upgrade; if you're running 9.04, there will be security updates for it for another year. If you want to upgrade, you should be able to do it without a reinstall. (I've always had bad luck with automatic upgrades across major releases, but I've got a ton of custom-built packages.)
posted by Zed at 2:56 PM on October 22, 2009

Oh man, how much would it have ruled if 9.10 also came out today. Ah well."

For those not keeping up, he's talking about Ubuntu.
posted by JHarris at 2:34 PM on October 22 [+] [!]

Think I'll just wait another week for 9.11. Damn those doods sure do release new versions ALL THE TIME.
posted by basicchannel at 3:06 PM on October 22, 2009

So a serious question for you snarky-but-oh-so-lovable mefites; if I use my computer primarily for Photoshop, for watching movies, listening to and creating music and I'm currently using a copy of Vista on a 64bit system, should I upgrade to Windows 7? Is it worth it? I don't care what other reviews say - I want to get the Mefite seal of Do or Don't Do It.
posted by Bageena at 3:09 PM on October 22, 2009

Zed : ...mainly use torrents to download Linux installers. Honest.

Artw : Sure, sure. We all do.

After years of using torrents, I remember when I downloaded Ubuntu to install on a netbook thinking "Whoa, it really is good for this. Crazy."
posted by quin at 3:12 PM on October 22, 2009

What impressed me the most with the netbook and Ubuntu was how easy and fast the thumbdrive install was. I was expecting that to be a beast of a process.
posted by Artw at 3:28 PM on October 22, 2009

...and what scares me a little right now is how much of a pain the Windows 7 is going to be on my desktop, as I'll be installing it over Vista. Now, Vista has been pretty good on that box, but it was a new machine as opposed to an install over XP which is where most of the horror stories start. Now I'm in the position where the XP guys were back in the day...
posted by Artw at 3:33 PM on October 22, 2009

Can I start over-reacting in this thread yet?
posted by WinnipegDragon at 4:10 PM on October 22, 2009

basicchannel: "Think I'll just wait another week for 9.11. Damn those doods sure do release new versions ALL THE TIME."

They NEVAR FORGET to update.
posted by subbes at 4:13 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

I had my own Windows 7 torrent party about 2 months ago, downloading the pirated version I think they're referring to here. I wonder if MS was/is turning a blind eye to it, in the hopes of generating positive publicity for the new OS? Even if that's not the case I'lll give them some here:
Yes Bageena you should make the switch. Even if it doesn't look much different, my machine seems to be running much better now, and no longer does the OS seem to be doing mysterious, CPU and HD-intensive things behind the scenes that I have no control over.
The only downside I've found so far is that they've made Spider Solitaire much harder. You've got to bring your 'A Game' every time or you're just going to get schooled.
posted by Flashman at 4:36 PM on October 22, 2009

That was funny. I thought it was well done, too.
posted by defenestration at 6:43 PM on October 22, 2009

DU: "
This ongoing Windows 7 Launch Party thing is a forced meme deliberately created by Microsoft's ad agency with every intention to go viral from the day it was conceived. "

I didn't write this. Which isn't to say I disagree with it.

Think I'll just wait another week for 9.11. Damn those doods sure do release new versions ALL THE TIME.

Errr...every 6 months. 9.04 is from April (thus the "04"), 9.10 is from October (thus the "10"). It's only really a "new version" once a year, which seems like a pretty reasonable upgrade schedule.
posted by DU at 6:54 PM on October 22, 2009

graventy: Wait until Microsoft patches out all of the launch day bugs (probably best to wait a service pack or two).

Has the old "Never implement Version x.0 of ANYTHING" rule of thumb fallen into disuse? I can't imagine any reasonable IT admin even considering Win7 before at least sp1 comes out. At least.
posted by Greg_Ace at 7:13 PM on October 22, 2009

This is how the Windows 7 Professional installer said, "Thanks for trying the Windows 7 beta" to me:

Windows 7 Ultimate cannot be upgraded to Windows 7 Professional. You can choose to install a new copy of Windows 7 Professional instead, but this is different from an upgrade, and does not keep your files, settings, and programs. You'll need to reinstall any programs using the original installation discs or files. To save your files before installing Windows, back them up to an external location such as a CD, DVD, or external hard drive. To install a new copy of Windows 7 Professional, click the Back button in the upper left-hand corner, and select "Custom (advanced)". [Emphasis mine]

Reinstall all my programs again? I reinstalled for the beta! Returning this purchase tomorrow.
posted by A-Train at 7:28 PM on October 22, 2009

Has the old "Never implement Version x.0 of ANYTHING" rule of thumb fallen into disuse?

Right or wrong, it's an illustration of how desperate people are to ditch Vista.
posted by ErikaB at 7:31 PM on October 22, 2009

if I use my computer primarily for Photoshop, for watching movies, listening to and creating music and I'm currently using a copy of Vista on a 64bit system, should I upgrade to Windows 7?

If you use your computer for Photoshop, watching movies and making music, you should uninstall that steaming pile of shit and upgrade to Windows XP 64-bit edition and thank the fucking Gods you asked that on MeFi while I was still awake. It will be faster, consume fewer system resources, be just as compatible, be more stable, and have 75% less Fisher Price Bullshit.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 7:37 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

Here's my only experience with Windows 7 so far:

So, you know that fucking "helpful" start menu redesign they came out with in XP, with the automatically-shifting-around icons, the "My" icons, and the "helpful" hidden Programs menu? The same one that somehow got even worse in Vista, and fucking unusable in Windows 7?

Well, the "cool" thing about Windows 7's version of this "helpful" start menu... is that you can't turn it off. It's the default!

You can, however, turn off each individual shit feature, leaving you with a fucking desolate start menu. Observe. What the fuck? Seriously.
posted by odinsdream at 8:08 PM on October 22, 2009 [1 favorite]

I will say of course that "opinions differ" with regard to the classic-versus-shit start menu. I set it to Classic on a base system image and my coworker flipped the fuck out... "What! Why did you change the start menu! This one is useless!! Now I have to redo these images."
posted by odinsdream at 8:10 PM on October 22, 2009

It seems to me that Windows 7 requires re-learning a whole lot of the OS UI and re-installing a whole bunch of your applications. Plus the ribbonfied Office requires re-learning the application UI.

At the risk of turning this into a stupid pissing contest: if you're going to go through all that effort to relearn how to be productive on your computer, you sure would be dumb to not at least learn about and consider jumping ship entirely and moving to OS X or Ubuntu.

There's a reason the users of those OSes are enthusiastic. I suggest that it is not because they are lunatics, sheep, or simpletons. It's because those they are so damn relieved to not have to fight their computers every step of the way.

The underlying core of Windows 7 is still based on the registry and DLL hell. Windows 7 is not a break from the past: it's the same decade-old design and problems as ever.

One of the definitions of insanity is to do the same thing again and again, expecting the result to be different.
posted by five fresh fish at 8:46 PM on October 22, 2009 [3 favorites]

And yet people keep telling Windows users to stop using Windows!
posted by Green With You at 10:10 PM on October 22, 2009 [4 favorites]

I suggest that Windows 7 is less like Vista and more like XP, which is where I jumped from, so there wasn't all that much to re-learn, and I only had to reinstall everything because I moved to a new machine that required underlying hardware-junk that just XP can't do.

But really, tell me: how well do OS X or Ubuntu do Windows games? I'm hardly a hardcore gamer, and I use Firefox/Thunderbird/Open Office outside of games, but rebooting just to vent steam isn't an option.
posted by Evilspork at 10:12 PM on October 22, 2009

...that XP just can't do.
posted by Evilspork at 10:13 PM on October 22, 2009

I'm not entirely sure what motivated me to do this, but I found out today that I could download a legal copy of Windows 7 for $30 thanks to my .edu email address, so I went ahead and got onefor my virtualbox, since I've been using a cracked, slow and buggy copy of XP to stream netflix. And, I mean, I figured it would at least be pretty. But fuck, it doesn't detect my soundcard or my wired internet connection. This sounds backwards, but through the past two Ubuntu upgrades, I've pretty much forgotten what driver issues were like. And maybe it's just because I've spent lots of time playing with it, lovingly downloading icons and windows borders and all of that, but I can't help but think that my Ubuntu desktop is a hell of a lot prettier, too.

Waste of $30.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 10:20 PM on October 22, 2009 [2 favorites]

I've been running windows 7 64 bit on my laptop (with SSD hardrive) for almost two months with no problems, but I don't swear by any OS so eat me.
posted by Burhanistan at 11:32 PM on October 22, 2009

But really, tell me: how well do OS X or Ubuntu do Windows games? I'm hardly a hardcore gamer, and I use Firefox/Thunderbird/Open Office outside of games, but rebooting just to vent steam isn't an option.

The Linux situation is generally better than what people assume, but there is still a long way to go. Some aspects of gaming will probably never be implemented well in an open source manner, since they require a more uniform, controllable environment - think DRM, or support for bleeding-edge graphics cards.

That being said, mainstream titles from Windows can often be played well under wine. Your mileage will definitely vary, with better chances of success for older or more popular titles, i.e. World of Warcraft probably works out of the box, but don't expect to be able to play games that just came out until people iron out the details.

Open source games are also better than you would think, but target a somewhat specific demographic. The emphasis is mostly on gameplay, drawing heavily from the classics. Think nethack, or Battle for Wesnoth. Unsurprisingly, many open source enthusiasts (myself included) find this perfectly adequate for occasional use, and don't care for the kind of game that requires enough processing power to run a medium-sized bank just to display the opening credits.
posted by Dr Dracator at 2:03 AM on October 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

It's because those they are so damn relieved to not have to fight their computers every step of the way.

have you ever fucking used linux because goddamn

Also Linux gaming is a joke. Either you're struggling with wine to let you play Windows games or you're playing either nethack, wesnoth, or something that could easily have shipped with Windows Entertainment Pack.
posted by Pope Guilty at 2:37 AM on October 23, 2009

Linux gaming:

Nethack, Dungeon Crawl, ADOM. Understand, I HAVE to mention those. World of Goo. Simon Tatham's Portable Puzzle Collection (don't know it, it's supurb). FreeCiv. Battle for Wesnoth. Kenta Cho games. Website flash games. DosBox. Wine.

have you ever fucking used linux because goddamn

I have had surprisingly little problem with Ubuntu. It hasn't been completely sunshine and roses (see above about wireless card problem), but other than that driver support has been surprisingly great. There are some things I can actually do BETTER with Linux. To resize or move a partition on Windows I'd have to shell out for something like Partition Magic, while GParted can do it for free. The UI is more Mac OS/X than Windows anyway, which I consider a plus. And neither of those OSes can match Compiz Fusion's desktop graphics effects.

Finally, just about any program that's not a game that won't run under Linux will run under Windows under VirtualBox under Linux.
posted by JHarris at 3:04 AM on October 23, 2009

have you ever fucking used linux because goddamn

Have you used it in the last 3-5 years? Ubuntu is amazing. I was actually ready to give up on Linux and go with OSX (such was my frustration at wanting things to Just Work no matter how much fascism I had to endure to get it). Then, Ubuntu. A new morning dawned.

Also Linux gaming is a joke. Either you're struggling with wine to let you play Windows games...

1) The basis of all suffering is desire. Do not desire to play Windows games and you will not be frustrated when they do not work.

2) Like you never have to struggle with Windows to play Windows games.

...something that could easily have shipped with Windows Entertainment Pack.

The Entertainment Pack may have a lot of features, but there's no way that a general Windows computer comes as fully equipped out of the box as a Linux one. Full development environments for almost every language ever invented, libraries out the wazoo, standard and format compatibility with everything not guarded with vicious police dogs (and many thing that are), etc.

You probably already use Linux on a daily basis and don't even know it. It's the embedded OS of choice these days.
posted by DU at 4:22 AM on October 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

Please don't think I'm ignorant of Linux; I dualbooted for a couple of years from 2005-2008 or so, going to Windows only for gaming, but eventually got tired of dealing with it and went back. I used an obscure distro called PCLinuxOS for a short while before going to Ubuntu.

2) Like you never have to struggle with Windows to play Windows games.

I don't, actually. At most I have to download a patch, or in the case of KOTOR/KOTOR 2, insert a single line into a config file (and that's to correct a framerate issue in a single location in the game). I'm not sure where the myth comes from that PC gamers have to struggle to play games; I have been playing games on PCs since around 1992 or so and it has not even remotely been my experience, to the point that I'm deeply suspicious of anyone who pulls out that chestnut.

The Entertainment Pack may have a lot of features, but there's no way that a general Windows computer comes as fully equipped out of the box as a Linux one. Full development environments for almost every language ever invented, libraries out the wazoo, standard and format compatibility with everything not guarded with vicious police dogs (and many thing that are), etc.

I'm not sure what you think you're responding to. I am referring to the Windows 3.1 era Entertainment Packs which were bundled 3.1 games. The only game that I know of that is regularly bundled with Linux (unless that half-ass RTS Wesnoth is getting bundled now) that does not like those games is Tux Racer, which is its own variety of underwhelming. I don't deny that Linux comes with lots of stuff- I made use of quite a bit of it! But the only software I got any real mileage out of on a Linux system that I had to manually edit config files for and hunt down drivers for that doesn't have a Windows version was K3B, which is excellent CD/DVD software.

I've used Linux. I liked Linux. But eventually I got sick of working for it.
posted by Pope Guilty at 4:47 AM on October 23, 2009

I'm not sure what you think you're responding to. I am referring to the Windows 3.1 era Entertainment Packs which were bundled 3.1 games. The only game that I know of that is regularly bundled with Linux...

I'm responding to the notion that the metric by which to measure the worth of an OS is the size of the bundled game folder. But even by that metric, if you include dollar value, Linux still wins. I'm not about to pay $100 (or whatever Windows costs these days) to get Solitaire.

I've used Linux. I liked Linux. But eventually I got sick of working for it.

That was what was about to drive me to OSX a few years ago. Now I'm on Ubuntu. You say you used it, so I'm trying to figure out "working for it" you could have been doing. Every Ubuntu user I know says it Just Works for almost any crazy configuration they throw at it.

In any case, you are "working for" Windows too. Unless you have a trust fund?
posted by DU at 5:11 AM on October 23, 2009

...(unless that half-ass RTS Wesnoth is getting bundled now)...

Do you know what the R in RTS stands for? Have you ever seen Wesnoth?
posted by Dr Dracator at 5:27 AM on October 23, 2009

Please don't think I'm ignorant of Linux; I dualbooted for a couple of years from 2005-2008 or so, going to Windows only for gaming, but eventually got tired of dealing with it and went back.

Really, you should give it another shot. Like I said, Ubuntu has worked like a dream for me since Intrepid. The only thing I ever use the command line for is ffmpeg. Otherwise, it's been seamless.
posted by PhoBWanKenobi at 5:27 AM on October 23, 2009

I'm responding to the notion that the metric by which to measure the worth of an OS is the size of the bundled game folder.

When we're talking about gaming, I think addressing the fact that most of the games which run on Linux without bashing at wine configs or shelling out for Crossover are on the same level as games from the Windows 3.1 era is pretty relevant.

You say you used it, so I'm trying to figure out "working for it" you could have been doing. Every Ubuntu user I know says it Just Works for almost any crazy configuration they throw at it.

Quite a lot of Ubuntu just works. Unfortunately, some bits don't. The thing I remember bashing at for hours was getting it to play nice with my touchpad. My Synaptics touchpad which came with my Inspiron 6000, which was one of the more common laptops I saw around back when I was using it. There was no reason for that to require the amount of effort it took.

Do you know what the R in RTS stands for? Have you ever seen Wesnoth?

I'm sorry, I hadn't played it in years and thought I remembered it being an RTS. It's turn-based instead of real-time, not that that really makes it a better game.

Ultimately, there's a lot of software I want to run that, if I'm on Linux, I have to dual boot (which eventually became too much of a fucking hassle to tolerate) or fiddle for ages with wine or DOSBox or some other program. Or I could stay with Windows, have the most I ever need to do to get a game running be to download a patch, and get on with life. Hell, I dunno. Maybe I've just had some kind of mythical charmed life w/r/t to Windows that is somehow related to the fact that I'm not a dumbass who downloads and installs all manner of dodgy software and then blames Windows for having problems.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:11 AM on October 23, 2009

It's turn-based instead of real-time, not that that really makes it a better game.

Actually it does, because you can have a game that is both much harder and less twitchy. But like I said before, some people like this kind of thing and some don't.
posted by Dr Dracator at 6:19 AM on October 23, 2009

I'm talking about game quality, not genre preferences.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:19 AM on October 23, 2009

Although honestly turn-based strategy games that aren't Civlization or Age of * are not exactly popular enough as a genre that I'd be using Battle for Wesnoth as an advertisement for Linux gaming.
posted by Pope Guilty at 6:21 AM on October 23, 2009

Mac OS X just works. Linux just makes sense. Windows otoh is neither intuitive nor logical. Why use Windows?

Evilspork : How well do OS X or Ubuntu do Windows games?

I don't think serious gamers can run either Mac OS X or Linux. Otoh, I've usually found that games with high replay value run under wine on both, so all the games like Star Craft, Half Life, etc. A few classics like Star Control II even have native ports.

I know the first time I ever saw Star Craft, a friend had it running on Linux under Wine, that was maybe 15 years ago. The last "poor replay value" non-flash game I really enjoyed was Portal, which came from thepiratebay.org packaged with wine, DLLs, etc. for Mac OS X.

Don't the pundits claim the whole video game world is moving towards consoles anyway?
posted by jeffburdges at 6:22 AM on October 23, 2009

Burhanistan: "I've been running windows 7 64 bit on my laptop (with SSD hardrive) for almost two months with no problems, but I don't swear by any OS so eat me."

I've been running Windows 7 64 bit on my desktop with a platter-style hard drive for almost 12 hours now with no problems. The install process was about 90% painless. I purchased the student-discount upgrader, and it obviously couldn't actually run the 64-bit installer from within 32-bit XP, so I had to follow these directions to burn a bootable disc. Worked like a charm, and unlike XP it identified all of my hardware without any problems at all so far.

I like the eye candy, except for the fact that now Firefox looks really out of place. We'll see how long until I dial the Aero settings back. I'm also not sick of the "are you sure you want to do this" questions even after installing about 30 applications last night.
posted by Plutor at 6:22 AM on October 23, 2009

At the risk of turning this into a stupid pissing contest: if you're going to go through all that effort to relearn how to be productive on your computer, you sure would be dumb to not at least learn about and consider jumping ship entirely and moving to OS X or Ubuntu.

I use both, I'll stick with Windows 7 from XP for my main machine. I'd hardly call it a relearning process.

Ubuntu has great potential but certain problems annoy the hell out of me. I can no longer get Skype to recognize my microphone since they updated to using the underlying universal audio system. Firefox 3.5 still isn't officially out for my distribution and an independent install has resulted in updates being entirely borked (thankfully Chrome has come to the rescue).

OS X requires either hacking or investment in Apple hardware, none of which I can put together myself and have the level of flexibility and control I need.

But to each their own. It's the person or operator, not the OS that counts.
posted by juiceCake at 7:04 AM on October 23, 2009

I don't think serious gamers can run either Mac OS X or Linux. Otoh, I've usually found that games with high replay value run under wine on both, so all the games like Star Craft, Half Life, etc. A few classics like Star Control II even have native ports.

I installed Steam under Crossover Games on a Mac Pro. It worked flawlessly. I had already played through Portal on a native Windows machine, so I was able to directly compare the experience with that of the Mac with Crossover. It was just as good, if not better, due to the better machine specs of the Mac Pro compared with the Windows machine I had used it on.

I was able to use the game with full effects at the native screen resolution (1080i) with no slowdown. What exactly is the game complaint against Macs, again? Crossover costs $40 - less than most individual games. If you're a "serious gamer" (admittedly I'm not) then please explain to me why this isn't sufficient.
posted by odinsdream at 8:35 AM on October 23, 2009

But really, tell me: how well do OS X or Ubuntu do Windows games?

I don't see that gaming has a whole helluva lot to do with having a productive, not-frustrating computing environment. In fact, once you fire up a game, it's pretty much irrelevant that there's an OS at all. Might as well be using a PSP or XBox or whatever.

But, yeah, if you're going to choose an OS based on gaming, go Windows.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:23 AM on October 23, 2009

I don't see that gaming has a whole helluva lot to do with having a productive, not-frustrating computing environment.

Computers do a lot of things. If taking a break for a game helps one have a productive, not-frustrating computing environment for some then so be it. Once you're in Photoshop, once you're in a Content Management System, once you're in InDesign, once you're in a programming environment it's pretty much irrelevant that there's an OS at as well. You can cut and paste, you can multitask, you can network in any modern OS (Haiku's lack of wireless support excepted).
posted by juiceCake at 9:46 AM on October 23, 2009

The way I've always seen it, Linux is for when you're interested in customizing your operating system and making it work. I'm always too interested in actually using my computer to spend the time customizing and maintaining it that Linux requires. I would argue, despite huge advances in usability recently, it's not for anyone who doesn't have a Linux expert handy.

I've played a few games made for Linux, and while they're OK, they're more on the level of what you get from the PC Game Mod community (rough, unpolished, not fully explored, not enough QA) than you get from PC Game makers.
posted by ADoubtfulTrout at 10:03 AM on October 23, 2009

If taking a break for a game helps one have a productive, not-frustrating computing environment for some and you need and can afford the bleeding edge hardware for it then so be itwhy not just buy a separate gaming computer and leave the real work to an OS that works?
posted by DU at 10:21 AM on October 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

I was very pleased to see that we could upgrade the Windows computers in our lab from XP to something more recent for free, using the university site license. Except... the ones with no network access (running equipment, naturally) can't do this as they can't access the university registration server, which they apparently need to do every X minutes to verify that the site license is valid and not pirated. Can't network those, because we can't run the risk of having a critical bit of equipment go under due to virus or the like. So, no go there; let's hope the people developing the software will continue making an XP-compatible version (good luck with that). Oh, and the ones that ARE on the network? Yeah, we skipped Vista because it was a steaming turd, so now we are faced with the option of using XP until the computers are replaced, or erasing the entire hard drive and starting over, reinstalling all of the software we currently use and re-setting all the security options, user access permissions, and the like for the lab.

That would ordinarily not be a deal-breaker - a major pain in the ass, but not a deal-breaker - except that we're in a research hospital, portable storage media is disallowed (so no option to back up data to external drive, sorry) and although network storage is available it can't be accessed by university computers, only the hospital ones, which are kept on a completely separate network to avoid data security issues.

Oh, and the license server won't apparently work with anything other than workstations, so even my U-owned laptop can't be upgraded, because the license server can't be accessed when I'm off-network and thus my installed copy of Win 7 would shut itself down.

Woo, Win 7. Maybe sometime in 2016 we'll upgrade.
posted by caution live frogs at 10:34 AM on October 23, 2009 [1 favorite]

DU: "If taking a break for a game helps one have a productive, not-frustrating computing environment for some and you need and can afford the bleeding edge hardware for it then so be itwhy not just buy a separate gaming computer and leave the real work to an OS that works?"

You haven't needed bleeding edge hardware for modern games in at least 4 or 5 years. Half-Life 2 set a new standard for "respecting old desktops". Not to mention that if "works" is the threshold for OS choice, then Windows is perfectly acceptable.

I can't believe I'm wading into this holy war bullshit. Why the fuck can't you let people use the OS they want to use for the reasons they want to use it. Go enjoy your Linux and stop acting like people who don't are wrong. I've used only Linux or Solaris at work for the past 8 years and been very happy. I've used only Windows at home for that same period of time and been very happy with that. Holy wars are for people who think that arguments are more important than people enjoying their computers.
posted by Plutor at 11:09 AM on October 23, 2009

It's weird that out of the three computing devices I own that I use on a regular basis the one that hangs the most is not the desktop running the supposedly evil Vista, or the netbook with the cobbled together OS (though it does get unhappy on shutdown from time to time) but my iPhone.
posted by Artw at 11:36 AM on October 23, 2009

If you want to make Steve Balmer look evwn more like Shrek you can't go wrong making him hold a tiny netbook and shake hands with a little girl - "don't eat me! Aiiie!"
posted by Artw at 11:54 AM on October 23, 2009

You haven't needed bleeding edge hardware for modern games in at least 4 or 5 years.

That's not what the people who are dissing Linux are saying. "It won't run my latest video card!"

Why the fuck can't you let people use the OS they want to use for the reasons they want to use it. Go enjoy your Linux and stop acting like people who don't are wrong.

Nobody here is acting like that. My "use Linux" responses are to people who clearly *don't* want to use Windows but feel like they have to for some reason, where that reason is some out-dated myth. Or to people who profess a set of principles that coincides with those of Linux (but not of Windows) and yet use Windows anyway.
posted by DU at 12:10 PM on October 23, 2009

Jeez, when did Balmer turn into Thurston Howell?
posted by NortonDC at 12:40 PM on October 23, 2009

My "use Linux" responses are to people who clearly *don't* want to use Windows but feel like they have to for some reason, where that reason is some out-dated myth.

I don't think you get to complain about people repeating outdated myths while hammering on that hoary old one about windows games requiring bleeding edge hardware.
posted by Pope Guilty at 1:14 PM on October 23, 2009

If taking a break for a game helps one have a productive, not-frustrating computing environment for some and you need and can afford the bleeding edge hardware for it then so be itwhy not just buy a separate gaming computer and leave the real work to an OS that works?

Fortunately, in my case, I do plenty of real work on an OS that works. Indeed, I've done real work and plenty of it on Windows, Linux, Mac, and (though not for quite some time) Solaris and IRIX. Currently it's mostly Windows on the desktop and Linux for servers.

But hey, if you have the money to buy a super gaming machine if that's what you want and then you have the money to buy a Mac and rebuy all your software for it, go nuts! If you'd rather not spend thousands of dollars then don't.

It's all what you want.

Simple really.
posted by juiceCake at 3:20 PM on October 23, 2009

My new computer cost about $500 and runs WoW, L4D, and similar games at high settings.

You don't need to spend thousands of dollars on gaming hardware.
posted by Pope Guilty at 5:52 PM on October 23, 2009

Maybe sometime in 2016 we'll upgrade.

Hopefully by then, ReactOS will be finished and we won't have to worry about it ever again.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 6:32 PM on October 23, 2009

If you're a "serious gamer" (admittedly I'm not) then please explain to me why this isn't sufficient.

Games that I've enjoyed lately, in order of most played first.

Civilization IV
Supported by cross-over with some people reporting fixable mod issues

Grand Theft Auto IV
Not supported although it is a steam game.

Fallout 3
Not supported

Oblivion
Not supported

Star Wars: KOTOR series
Supported

That's not a particularly good batting average. It's getting there and the vast majority of my gaming needs would be met byt CIV IV alone but the game list is pretty thin.
posted by Authorized User at 2:07 AM on October 24, 2009

Then, Ubuntu. A new morning dawned.

You know, I actually like Ubuntu a lot. But there are a couple of things that render it absolutely unusable for me in a workplace. The big one, the one that made me switch to the Windows 7 beta at the office? Thunderbird and attachments over the network in Ubuntu/Fedora/Whatever. Can't be done. The attachment browse box CANNOT see network shares that I've permanently attached as links on my desktop or my Ubuntu menu bar. If I wanted to send an attachment off of the network I had to either go and mount the shares by hand in a subdirectory of my home directory, or go to Nautilus/the desktop link and grab the file and copy it to my local filesystem. And same thing for saving attachments. Why not hook the mounts up in fstab? Doesn't always work for some reason. And when I'm busy doing things I don't always remember to mount the damn things by hand.

But the worst part is that if this behavior was universal I wouldn't mind so much. Yet it works perfectly fine in OpenOffice. THAT is what drives me insane. Lack of consistency over BASIC functionality that the Windows world nailed more than 15 years ago. When you open a file dialog box in a Windows program, it's not the program generating that box, that's a function call out to Windows and Windows(explorer) provides it to the program, so there is a uniform consistency across the whole experience. A mapped drive will show up in every Windows app. Period.

Don't get me wrong, I am a hardcore Linux server guy, but that's in no small part due to the Apache and MySQL teams ironing out all the usability bullshit and enforcing consistency in their apps since the 90s. But don't get me started on PHP. Those people are insane.
posted by barc0001 at 4:25 AM on October 24, 2009

I started using linux full time about five years ago, and haven't looked back. I've had no problems any worse than problems I had with windows, and thanks to the relative transparency of linux and the quality of the user base, I've been able to solve most of the problems I have had.

I chose Gentoo when I switched to Linux based almost solely on the quality of the forums. I use a mix of Gentoo and Ubuntu now, and the Gentoo forums are definitely better for fixing problems that come up. On the other hand, the Ubunut Netbook Remix is spectacular on my eeePC, and saves me the drama of rolling my own software on a 900mhz processor. My crazy math software works much better on linux or macos than on Windows (which requires a virtual machine).
posted by kaibutsu at 7:31 PM on October 24, 2009

"I have been playing games on PCs since around 1992 or so and it has not even remotely been my experience, to the point that I'm deeply suspicious of anyone who pulls out that chestnut."

Running games under Win95 was often a painful process requiring custom boot menus to load game specific config files. Your casual gamer only running one or two games at a time could make these changes once but if you hopped around it was a bitch. And sometimes just figuring out what changes to make was an adventure. I won't be sad in the least if I never have to interact with a game companies fax back service ever again.
posted by Mitheral at 1:38 AM on October 29, 2009

So how'd those Windows 7 upgrades go, guys?

Anyone had success VirtualBoxing it?
posted by five fresh fish at 3:23 PM on November 1, 2009

I've been running Windows7 since June, and I've got various OS's running in VirtualBox on it (Ubuntu, Win2003r2, XP, 7). So far so good. I recommend it.
posted by blue_beetle at 5:39 AM on November 4, 2009

five fresh fish: "So how'd those Windows 7 upgrades go, guys?"

Two weeks later and I'm still enjoying it. The new taskbar stuff makes it really easy to have twenty windows open at once. (Yes, I recognize the new taskbar stuff owes a big debt to the Mac OS X dock and Exposé.) I want to say it's also faster than XP but that might be just the fresh-install effect (it might also be the upgrade from 32-bit to 64-bit). I've had no problems with stability, even though we sleep-unsleep several times a day and it hasn't been rebooted in a while -- things that XP had had problems with). My wife has complained about Office 2007 freezing up on her a few times, but I've never witnessed it myself.
posted by Plutor at 6:17 AM on November 4, 2009