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Windows

Submission + - Ask Slashdot: How do you choose a Windows laptop? 7

jfruhlinger writes: "I'm a Mac guy. When our 2004-era Windows XP laptop, which was used primarily by my wife, died last summer, I got myself a new MacBook Pro and she inherited my still servicable 2008 MacBook. But after about six months, she hasn't gotten used to it, and wants a Windows machine. I don't have an ideological problem with this — it'd be her computer, and we've got a bit of money stashed away to pay for it. But trying to pick one out is my job, and I find the the whole process bewildering. Apple's product differentiation is great at defeating the paradox of choice — you have a few base models, the difference between which is quite obvious, and you can customize each. The Windows world seems totally different. Even once I've settled on a vendor for a Windows laptop (something I haven't done yet), each seems to have a bewildering array of product lines with similar specs. Often models that you find in electronics or office supply stores that seem promising in terms of form factor are exclusive to those stores and can't be found online. Obviously people do navigate this process, but I'm just feeling out of my depth. How would Slashdotters go about picking a solid, basic laptop for Web surfing and document editing that won't be obsolete in two years?"

Comment no failures in 10 years (Score 5, Funny) 715

10 years ago I bought a Powerbook G4 and ran it for 6 years without a single issue. Then I got burgled whilst on holiday, and it was no more. Once the insurance came through, I got a MacBook Pro (2006) and it's still my main workhorse today. No longer the fastest or bestest, but everything works.

While waiting for the insurance to pay up for the G4, a friend gave me an old T30 Thinkpad. I upped the RAM & HDD and installed Linux, then used it daily. That died in a house flood 2 years ago (burst water main, upstairs neighbour), again whilst I was on holiday.

This leads me to believe that the single largest cause of computer failure is going on holiday. Now, I take the fuckers with me.

Comment Re:Maybe it's the hardware.. (Score 3, Informative) 764

1) Open the picture.

On 10.5 and later, select the image and hit the space key. Use arrow keys as required to navigate.

Like how the OS calculator doesn't have scientific functions until 10.5.

In 10.4, press Command+(1/2/3) to switch views. Command+2 is 'scientific', Command+3 is 'programmer'.

Or how to extract a still from a movie, you have to re-navigate to the directory every ... fuckin' ... time.

If your movie is full screen, hit Command+Shift+3 and it'll create a picture on your desktop. If your movie is windowed, hit Command+Shift+4 and use the cross-hairs to define the area to snapshot.

Or how you can't use the standard upload file interface on websites, but have to hope it's compatible with iPhoto or some other hack.

I really don't get this. Either use the 'browse' button like anyone else, or just drag and drop the file in question into the file upload control.

Or the lack of alt-shortcuts which makes it so that you can't call up a function from a menu unless it's been hot-keyed.

Turn on 'full keyboard access' in the System Prefs (Ctrl+F1).

+5 informative my arse. Perhaps your time and energy would be better spend learning to use your damn machine instead of ranting about non-existent problems.

Comment Re:Fortunately (Score 1) 233

Because /. isn't about 'breaking stories' or 'investigative journalism' or anything of the kind. /. is about discussing recent news stories from your mom's basement, and it normally takes a moment or two for that news to to filter down through the carpet tiles and ventilation ducts. The delay is intentional.

As a bonus, this delay gives you time to formulate your rage into a semi-coherent rant for / against the subject and post it here for the world to point fingers at. Alternatively, you could just troll like everyone else does. Or post a link to goatse or tubgirl. Or your lame blog.

Or you know, you could actually get involved with the discussion.

Your call...

Comment Re:Three (Score 1) 674

They saw a chair try to hump a table and therefore said that the chair is a he and the table is a she.

In Italian, yes. In French, Catalan and Spanish both these items are feminine.

He must have been some real twisted SOB to come to the conclusion that a woman's vagina is a masculine noun!

Conversely, 'vagina' is only masculine in French. In Italian, Catalan and Spanish both these items are feminine.

Even though we lump them together under a common 'Romance' flag, the differences between the various constituent languages are enormous. It's these differences that retain my interest. I love the idea that there are whole chunks of words in French that are silent, but implied. Makes the language a bitch to learn though, unlike Spanish where it is spoken as read; where every letter is pronounced (and always with the same intonation).

For the record, I live in Barcelona with my French wife. While her Spanish (Castilian) is technically perfect, she often has problems making herself understood because she can't make the right sounds (the rolled double R in 'Tarragona', the J in 'cojones'). As a Scot, I have no problem with these, but trip up embarrassingly often on 'beaucoup' (beau cul)!

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