Really OT!!! Google Earth

My DH downloaded this recently and it is AWESOME! Julie

Dang, I was out Gillian !

I'm jealous; it is not Mac compatible yet!

Cheryl

Hmmmm, now who was it a couple weeks ago telling me to buy a Mac? :)~~~~~~

This is one of the few times I wish we didn't have Mac. However, I know Google Earth with arrive in Mac compatible form some day soon.

And I haven't EVER had a random crash and the blue screen of death.

Cheryl

LOL - Mac`s a great, I loved mine when I was working. They`re wonderfully reliable workhorses, so on the whole have more "sensible" stuff designed for them!!!

Pat P

I haven't had since getting a machine with XP.

Elizabeth

I've heard some good stuff about XP, but it has some interesting issues too. Mostly with non-Windows things that are supposed to be compatible.

Jim has now got hooked on playing with Linux. He has one computer in his room which is just his Linux maxhine, while the other two ( or is it three?) are all XP.

Gillian

I was quite glad that my main pc died so I could have XP on my new one - I`ve had it on my laptop since I bought it.

Still delighted with it - even more so on the new baby! The bank balance has gone a bit creaky, though! LOL. Still, as DH says, a computer is a necessity!

Pat P

I kept telling you 3 or 4 years ago how great XP was but no, you kept telling me it was rubbish and ME was fifty times the programme - yah wouldn't listen would yah ???

I just can't take dial up anymore. I didn't realize how spoiled I had become with high speed until I had that lap top and dial up when available as we journeyed. One night I wanted to ship my pics to gmail so that if the camera was stolen, also laptop, I would still have the pics. It informed me it would take two hours and I figured I could last that long before my eyes closed, so I went ahead with it. The two hours was up, the window closed and I received a message saying the file was too large to ship - aaarrrrrgggghhhh!

Your imagination`s working overtime! I never said that ! All I ever said was that, as I always do about a new platform, I wait until I hear other people`s reports on it! I also don`t believe in updating to a version of windows for which the original computer was not designed. Done that, and it`s not usually satisfactory in comparison. Has XP been actually been around for that long?

I hear that there`s an even newer upgrade to XP coming out - and I won`t get that either, before hearing the experience others have of it.

Pat P

Yes it has. They came out with ME then 2000 for the year 2000, brought them out too quickly and they were junk. By the time XP debuted, the wrinkles were gone. It is bloatware as some claim, but I like it.

People also say it can't run a DOS programme but I am running one with zero problems.

As to your original computer, the one you have now should be able to take whatever comes next if you decide to change. It's those HP/Dell types that generally are built to just take what is on them, that can't. A well built computer is able to expand. I have about reached my limit now on mine 3 1/2 years later but I have added all sorts of stuff. Something new and tempting, not yet thought of will have to come along in order for me to decide to upgrade.

Do you mean a new XP or the Service Pack 3 ?

A new platform, I think Maybe someone else knows. i don`t think it was just a service pack.

Pat P

I think you're talking about Vista, formerly called Longhorn, but the projected release date isn't until next year, and everyone knows they're never on time.

Lucille

That certainly rings a bell. Do you know anything about it? I think that my usual stance will still hold good - wait and see what reports hit the better computer magazines (and anyone else`s experience of it mentioned on here!)

Pat P

That's the animal. I don't think they need to rush - know of anything it can do that XP doesn't that would be of use to a home user ?

It's almost as if computers have become a victim of their own success now. They have more speed than non gamers need and more memory than most would use, so home users do not see (at least I don't) improvements that make me salivate to have them. I can't imagine what it would be to make me think of changing now. That's unlike say six years ago when I could see all sorts of features I would like but my current computer could not operate.

Mine`s already far bigger and more powerful than I need and I can`t think of anything else it should do - unless they could invent one that only needs one cable which works everything, instead of having to have such a rats nest of wires and plugs. A few more advances on wireless connectivity would be an advantage. Mind you, I don`t think I`d ever go in for a wireless mouse - knowing me I`d either take it into the loo with me and drop it down the pan or something, or at the very least I`d take it somewhere and just lay it down in some place where I would never find it! My daughter has one, and either she mislays it when answering the door or phone, etc., or her baby parrot steals it!

I sometimes do that with my mobile phone and have to ring it before I can find it - that`s if it`s switched on at the time!

Pat P

Pat P

From what little I've read about it in the "better" computer magazines, it's getting good reviews. But it's still at least 1 year before I will even think about it.

Lucille