Its not perfect. Barbara Babcock was recognized as 2 different faces, 00058 and 00061 and in the episode naked time, Majel Barret was recognized as Chapel and a random character, the only difference was hair up or down. Nice to know that a haircut can confuse it. I hope they don't start using something like this for profiling. Its not ready.

I am currently running the beta on several of my home machines. I can assume you, most emphatically, it does NOT suck. Other than the loss of the classic start menu, which I got over, there is nothing about it I would go back to XP for, and that includes speed.

if you had browser security set high, you did have to at least click to allow it. If you got caught in a drive by install, then you had browser security set low, shame on you.

Hardware is cheap and getting cheaper. The systme may not have to last 15 years. Some important questions that need to be answered really:

Are you going to continue using the existing software? If so then you need to worry more about weather ANY Microsoft OS will still be able to run that software in 15 years (you said the existing software was on Win95). If you are going to run that same software, I would not bank on it running on Microsoft's current OS in 2024, which means that you really DO want to install an OS on the box and have it continue to run for 15 years as a replacement box down the road may not be compatible with the legacy OS you are using for the program. If you are writing custom code, then you can make it web based, in which case, the OS is irrelevant as long as there will be continued versions of the database you use and as long as you design with standards in mind, avoiding Flash and other things that will likely not be compatible in 15 years.

Can the software run under WINE or DOSBOX. If so, then you are free of the OS constraint. Can you virtualize? If so, then you might want to choose an exisitng VM solution (perhaps VMWare, or something simialr) install whatever OS you need to run your software on a VM and keep backups of the VM. When the hardware dies, buy something new and cheap, install the current version of the virtualization software, and copy ni the latest version of the VM and you are good. The drawback here is that you are banking on any of the existing virtualization solutions to either still be compatible in 15 years or to provide a migration path. If you go with a VM solution, and the software changes format at some point, providing an upgrade for you VM, you HAVE to do it, none of the "if it ain't broke" argument because if they switch from version 1 to version 2 in 5 years, and from version 2 to version 3 5 years later, they may provide you with an upgrade path from 1 to 2 and one from 2 to 3, but not likely from 1 to 3, and don't bank on that upgrade from 1 to2 still being available when 3 comes out. You don't want to be stuck. VMWare is popular and has provided migration from early version of the format to newer. I think either they, or a compatible F/OSS version will likely be around in 15 years, but I am of course, not a fortune teller.

How much are you willing to lay out? If they use 2 workstations, you could theoretically buy 6 identical $200 systems (minus the keyboard and mouse), expecting each system to last only 5 years. As long as the rest of the hardware is identical, a simple disk image could make deployment easy. As long as you keep backups of the data then migrating from the original hardware to the backup hardware is a simple backup restore and you can be up and running again in a few hours)

its not a valid comparison. If I want the latest trek novel, I want the latest trek novel, and the fact that it will not allow me to do TTS is not going to have me think to myself..."well, since I cen't get that novel, let me get the latest star wars novel, that's an acceptable substitute." They are not equivalent. If I want the latest trek novel, then it is buy it or not, it is not buy it or buy something else, and in that case, I would buy it.

In Soviet Russia, the gostse.cx domain buys you. But its a lie, you don't own it... all your goatse.cx domains are belong to us.... next.

All your memes are belong to us, with Hot grits

Did you look at Dell's site? They have the Asus MyPal for $279 and several models of their Pharos line (most with GPS). They are all windows Mobile, but they are PDAs. You can always hit eBay and pick up a used Axim X51v.

yeah, I use libprs500 almost exclusively, but it won't convert the DRM encumbered formats, though I believe C-Lit will remove it from Lit files you have legitimately purchased then LibPRS can convert it.... Sony really needs to hire Kovid Goyal, it might not be pretty, but Libprs500/Calibre is the best thing to ever happen to their hardware.

What format do you purchase from Fictionwise: Gemstar/Rocket, Secure Adobe Reader (digital edition), Secure Mobipocket (.mobi), Secure MS Reader (.lit), or Secure eReader. I know there is software out there to handle conversion from unlocked LIT and unlocked MOBI to lrf (calibre/libprs), and the latest firmware allows the PRS to handle digital editions, but that really bites as far as the formatting goes. Their selection of books in Rocket format is slim. Have you found a way to "unencumber" the secure formats? I'd love to be able to buy books from other online booksellers and put on the 505 (which I agree had a much better form factor than the Kindle).

government .... they are big black boxes now

Now, not its a big black man not a big black box. No comments about his wife, please.

The only problem with clamAV is the lack of on access scanning capability. I don't mind running a scan every so often, but its much nicer when the file is scanned as I access it.

Just outta curiosity, what country are you in? I know that the state of broadband here in the US is deplorable, just checking out what country I should be looking for real estate in ;-)

Very old anecdote. Likely older than you. Don't make shit up.