Completely OT: Laptops

LOL!!

Why? 1394 to the camera is fine, could do with a DV deck (using a broken camera at the moment...).

For the odd transfer the Pyro AV link is adequate.

An entirely different kettle of alternatively problematic fish...

Too hard to work with for most users, basically. Rather picky about the hardware it properly supports as distributed without any consistency between distros, sometimes a bitch to configure, lack of support.

Carefully chosen hardware, the right distro, and there's no reason the end user couldn't enjoy it with the same lack of knowledge that Mac and Windows users can get by with, however, why not just get the Mac in that case - there's more software available in 'easy to install and use' form. There are valid reasons to choose Linux or Mac over Windows, but I can think of few to choose Linux over Mac beyond already having the Intel boxes to run it.

Richard

I wanted to work with transproofing hardware and archival of old VHS tapes - figured I'd offer it as a service to offset the costs of the improved hardware ;)

Richard

I honestly don't think that's much of a factor. Sure, I spend much of my time using Windows as a desktop OS, but I have a couple of Linux desktops, as well as a Mac.

For somebody not particularly that attached to any particular GUI - sufficient to consider Mac OS an option, I honestly don't think Linux would be that much different.

I've had _less_ trouble with Linux as a desktop, than Mac OS. And I'd say I'm no more familiar with Linux, than Mac OS. My UNIX experience was mainly garnered before X was predominant - so mainly command line, so that's no more an advantage for Linux as it is for Mac OS.

Well there's that - plus the flexibility of being able to change your mind and go with Windows at a later point.

To be honest, though, I think the best fit all round for the OP, would be intel and Windows.

Sure, specific advocates may have their strong preferences - and you do. But looking at what he's most comfortable with, and what's likely to be easiest for him to deal with, Intel / Windows does seem to fit the bill.

If you find yourself having to debate too much to recommend something, and it requires some convincing, it's _rarely_ the right fit.

Sorry, Tim, but I'm not buying that.

Citrix is not an entirely different kettle of fish to TS, in fact it requires it. It layers on top, and from an OS perspective, only brings bells and whistles to the table. It's not really an alternative, because CPS requires TS.

The fundamental skillset for this at the OS level, is TS, these days. It's TS that has the changes to the various kernel bits, and implements the application serving and shadow registry.

And to be equitable, TS doesn't impose or bring any more problems (compared with Citrix) from an OS perspective.

at JnJ we had around 500 thinkpads T-series out with our field reps. 78 were sent back to IBM with failures in the first year. We switched to Dell (C400/C610) and the only problems we had Dell out for were occasional keyboard failures.

Mike

Linux is a complete tart, it goes with anything. :)

You can all stop arguing. £400 acer and a 3 year RTB warranty...

Ahhhh. Mine spends most of its time just driving a monitor. All the "work" is dv in dv out...

Hmmm. I don't do much of either - but from memory the main USP of Citrix is the way it virtualises applications, whereas TS virtualises OS sessions. I'm aware that one sits on the other (IIRC Microsoft bought some of the older Citrix technologies to creat the old Terminal Server edition of NT - springs to mind...)

It doesn't, inherently. There's AIE from the very latest CPS, but that's not proper app virtualisation, and it's only with the higher levels of the product, and on a one-by-one case. You'd need something like SofrGrid for that.

Sorry, but Citrix and TS do not differ with this regard. This kinda thing is simply OS stuff, and they don't differ. That's part of the underlying OS thing.

What Citrix does do, is add some bells and whistles to access and deploying what you publish via this.

But at the OS level, it doesn't have any core differences to TS.

Well Citrix bought the rights to be able to modify the source code of NT3.5 and NT 3.51 to create Winframe.

Publicly, I'm not sure it's ever been admitted that Microsoft actually use Citrix's OS / kernel alterations, but the similarities are uncanny ;-)

You can't beat Dell on price though. Wait for one of their offers to come along (usually don't have to wait long) and you can pick up a brand new top-spec "heavier" style laptop for 700 quid or so. Girlfriend got a free double-memory (to 512mb) and return-to-base warranty included in hers. The warranty is *very* valuable, because if your laptop goes wrong it can be difficult/impossible to fix yourself. That's why second hand laptops are pointless, cuz if it breaks down you're stuffed.

Look at the copyright notices on Windows Terminal Server Edition (can't remember if it was NT or 2000 now) and there's an accreditation of "portions (C) citrix" or something - I'd log into the one I have lying around but it's onsite and decomissioned... ie turned off....

I don't have any TSE (NT4) boxes any more.

However, I was deploying and working with all the releases before, during and after then. I beta tested Citrix's NT4 implementation, before Microsoft pulled the plug, and withdrew the rights, and then beta tested NT4 TSE (codenamed Hydra, then), and the Citrix add on (codenamed Picasso).

At the time, I urgently needed the NT4 edition, because on NT3.51, there was no 32-bit Microsoft browser, and I had a line of business app that used ActiveX. So I was running with all the betas, and went live as soon as it was gold code.

At the time, I did wonder where Citrix were going to go, and given how TSE was implemented and all the commonality, I found it very hard to believe that it was all Microsoft's own work ;-)

Dell Laptops used to have really crap keyboards. Heavy use would flex=20 them and they would short against the mobo.

--=20 Carl Robson Car PC Build starts again.

in here? unlikely.

The link i sent perchance??