Oh….

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8304229.stm

Phew!

Stick to Vista – I've never heard a bad thing about it.

LOL.

C'mon – no one really believes that Apples are really completely bombproof and safe from external attack do they?

yep – best stick to Vista.

Don't want everyone on Mac – mine wouldn't be quite so exclusive then.

every thread like this, every news story, and every time charlie brooker has a bitch and a moan, i feel better about my choice in Ubuntu.

it may not be perfect, but on the rare occasiona i have a problem, the solution is a short hop away. 🙂

one day people, one day, you will see

my Jaunty Jackalope squats over your snow leopard

"I've been using Macs for decades…what the heck have I done here?,"

Overloaded it's smug chip.

C'mon – no one really believes that Apples are really completely bombproof and safe from external attack do they?

External attack is one thing (a completely different thing to the current thing), but I bet a few people wish their macs wouldn't spontaneously wipe your hard disk just because you logged in and out again! Unless by external attack you mean Apple attacking it with their dodgy update?

Joe

Apple said in a statement that the problem "occurs only in extremely rare cases" and that it was working on a fix.

Which given I've updated 6 machines of various ages here and not had any issues, I'd still definitely agree that it's pandemic!!

I know it's not the same thing – just one of the things that people claim…

Ubuntu here, no problems since installed.

The data is not "permanently deleted" anyway. I very much doubt it secure deletes anything. It just might take a little probing with a suitable tool to recover it.

Anyway, I've lost count of the times I would have lost all my data on windows machines if I didn't have it all backed up (as every one should, including mac users), due to windows completely failing to work on a regular basis.

There'll be tears in the coffee bars over the skinny lattes tonight

"These things don't happen to our sort of people" 😥

I've updated 6 machines of various ages here and not had any issues

And do you use Guest accounts on any of those machines?

I've lost count of the times I would have lost all my data on windows machines

I've never had Windows actually go out of its way to delete my data as a "feature" though.

every thread like this, every news story, and every time charlie brooker has a bitch and a moan, i feel better about my choice in Ubuntu.

it may not be perfect, but on the rare occasiona i have a problem, the solution is a short hop away.

Eh?

Having tried Ubuntu for a bit, just to see if it really was a viable alternative for more than just internet browsing, I can honestly say it has a LONG way to go yet. And you have to be more than a bit knowledgeable in how to fix problems should you get one, and in my experience, you get several! Even XP seemed more robust to me! Ubuntu has next to naff all driver support for anything you might care to plug into your computer too (printers, sound cards, graphics cards, cameras etc.)… I love the idea, I really do, but it's still too half cocked and incomplete. Which is a shame!

Will delay upgrading to Snow Leopard on my Mac for a bit longer now I've seen that link though… Until I've heard of it being fixed at least.

my Jaunty Jackalope…

Unfortunately my only jaunt into Ubuntu left my laptop somewhat unusable and required a fresh Fedora install. Nothing is perfect 🙂

mboy – not sure which version of ubuntu you were using, or what you felt it required, but I dont think I've found anything lacking (other than ease of install and drivers for the latest hardware)

Never, ever do the development work for a new release. Wait 6 months before updating.

every thread like this, every news story, and every time charlie brooker has a bitch and a moan, i feel better about my choice in Ubuntu.

it may not be perfect, but on the rare occasiona i have a problem, the solution is a short hop away.

one day people, one day, you will see

my Jaunty Jackalope squats over your snow leopard

You're right, it's not perfect.

Here's just some of the issues you might have to look forward to:

You buy a wireless printer/scanner, which works flawlessly with Windows/Mac, but of course, neither the scanner nor the ink level monitoring work on Ubuntu. Also, you cannot select the paper type, despite Ubuntu using the same CUPS drivers as OSX does.

You receive a document in .doc format which you need to open. Aha! No problem, I'll just open it in OO.o. Oh dear, it doesn't display properly. Okay, I'll open MS Word in WINE. Bugger, it's crashed and killed my X-Server losing all my work in all my other applications.

You keep your system up to date to ensure you're secure. Oh dear, suddenly sound has stopped working. You open a bug on Launchpad. Several other people confirm the issue. No ubuntu developers respond after several months of posting. You report the issue upstream to the package developer, who promptly fixes the problem, but Ubuntu maintainers do not backport the fix meaning that you have to manually build the package yourself.
The ubuntu devs respond after several years(!) have passed, when you no longer own the hardware in question and therefore cannot confirm the backported fix, so they close the bug 'REJECTED/WONTFIX'.

Suspend/Hibernate only actually resumes 50% of the time.

The graphics drivers in the repos are 6 months out of date, and I need the new ones to run $APPHERE. Install the ones from the vendor's site, get it all working only to have them break everytime you update the kernel or X. Or for no reason at all.

You can have all manner of wobbly windows/composited effects, but you cannot expect your screensaver/flash videos/3d applications to work at the same time.

Finally, I leave you with one of my favourite LHB posts. Skip down to the pics of their package manager (and the path your eyes are supposed to take…)
http://linuxhaters.blogspot.com/2009/02/just-let-it-die-please.html
(It's about OpenSUSE but it sums up the lack of thought in Linux for me.)

Hope to help.

Frustrated Linux user,
Tunbridge Wells

No problem here, upgrading to SL with guest account.

Sorry to be a spoil sport.

mboy – not sure which version of ubuntu you were using, or what you felt it required, but I dont think I've found anything lacking (other than ease of install and drivers for the latest hardware)

I THINK it was 8.04, but not 100% sure. That was my main issue with it though, lack of drivers for a LOT of hardware, most of it not even that new. And the forums are about as much use as pissing into the wind unless you're well versed in writing programmes yourself!

I'm glad I've got basic computing skills that have allowed me to run a windows machine without all the crap. It's lovely.
*Overclocks some more*

Ubuntu here, no problems since installed.

Apart from compatibility, availability of software etc…

I gave up on linux years ago, because there really wasn't any point. Who cares enough to faff about with it? I mean I'm surfing, I'm emailing, I'm writing documents, and Vista works perfectly. Why bother messing about with anything else.

<smug>

There is a point to Linux. It's a fantastic server operating system. I gave up waiting for it to be useful on the desktop after many years of running it on PCs and SPARCs. OS X just gives me everything I need. a UNIX system for development and a cutting edge GUI with support for all the apps I could ever want including MS Office compatibility for those who insist on it. Parallels steps in when I really need a 'PC' for the odd extra application and no rebooting is required.

</smug>

OS X just gives me everything I need.

Games? 😉

Funny.

Vista gives me everything I need. I've never had to use an Apple emulator in my 15 years of computing to achieve the variety of tasks I routinely carry out on computers.

+1 what the Sandwich said.

I did actually have that issue (wife lost all the data on her account and returned to default settings)

good to have an explanation – she must have logged into the guest account by accident as its under hers

everything was backed up via time machine though so not a big problem

apple's suggested fix is to delete the guest account and open a new one – but the option to delete the guest account doesn't seem to be available , oh well

I always thought the point of the guest account was that it should not retain the data.

On my Mac (Snow Leopard) it says quite clearly "When a guest user logs out, all information and files in the guest account's home folder are deleted"

(Under System Preferences/Accounts)

That's the behaviour I want it to have. Otherwise the next guest can be looking at what the previous one was doing.

So what is the problem with that?

The problem is that it also wipes data from your non-guest account! Not so good!

Thanks. Have now disabled guest account access.

No doubt an OS update will shortly be along to fix it.

i.e. don't do be an early adopter and do Steve Jobs… job for him

Finally, I leave you with one of my favourite LHB posts. Skip down to the pics of their package manager (and the path your eyes are supposed to take…)

thats the path my eyes do take though.

i dont need the windows to be a totally linear layout, like the usual windows installation of

"click next, click next, click next again, now click next, now click next, now click finish"

if its going to be that linear, why not just have one button that says "do it"

i use my computer for the web, bit o' word, listening to music, and managing photos.

ubuntu does all these things perfectly, wituout cooking my already tired cpu (like windows used to, while it was simultaneously trying to tell me i needed to update this, secure that, defrag the other, and make me a horlicks i never asked for and dont want.

im sure apples are great, but the smug factor totally repulses me.

Keep it simple ST

😉
x

I must admit, i do like the installation on a mac. For most programs its drag this icon to here and it installs.

And do you use Guest accounts on any of those machines?

Yes actually, a freelancer upgraded a machine they were using and went straight into the guest account which we have on but locked down for freelancers to work internally.

It was fine…

im sure apples are great, but the smug factor totally repulses me.

The inverse snobbery really repulses me. You happen to mention usage of one and the haters are literally off like a shot!

I like Unbuntu Karmic Koala rocks 🙂

I like Unbuntu Karmic Koala rocks

Unless your rock is recorded in an evil, proprietary format of course.