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Windows XP source code has leaked

gizmodo.com.au

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Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#441

Post by Wowfunhappy »

hnlmorg wrote: post #411
i_am_proteus wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

XP also shipped with the 2000 skin and it was trivially easy to switch over.

It was easy to switch but there is a lot to be said for sane defaults. With each new iteration of Windows I'd find more and more insane defaults (for me at least). It started with file extensions being hidden by default. Then system files too. By the time XP was released I was finding that I had to spend an hour just configuring the system how I liked...and that was before I installed any software. Users will sometim…

I agree generally about the importance of sane defaults, but the theme was just soooo damn easy to switch, and a lot of non-techy people I know did so.

I actually don’t really associate Windows XP with its theme in my memory, because I so rarely saw it in use.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#442

Post by sitkack »

fogihujy wrote: post #421
sitkack wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Funny that, because Win2k was a glossy, less stable version of WinNT 4 that we had to move to, to get USB support. Had USB been backported to NT4, I never would have moved.

Did you run any specific hardware or something? W2k was rock solid for me from RC2 and onwards. The only thing that really didn't run stable was the drivers for Via's crappy chipset, and they released improved drivers fairly quickly.

No same hardware I ran NT on, although most of my machines were dual processor which was rather rare at the time.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#443

Post by Hackbraten »

ripdog wrote: post #367
Hackbraten wrote: post #351

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While you’re not wrong, I think no one should have to explain themselves for wanting to stay compliant with the law.

Even when the law has no basis in reality? Windows XP is going to stay in copyright for... how many decades now? Even though it has no commercial value anymore? Laws which make no sense and have no value to society should be ignored. If software is abandoned, it should be distributed freely.

While the whole OS may be abandoned, parts of it may still have commercial value.

Imagine you’re a subcontractor who wrote, for example, a PRNG driver, and licensed it to Microsoft so they can include it in Windows XP. Does the subcontractor lose their rights to the driver just because one of the OSes happened to become abandoned?

Why would those rights be tied to commercial value at all?

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#444

Post by google234123 »

MayeulC wrote: post #268
FractalParadigm wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Having not looked at any of the files yet, I wonder if it's just the changes that were made to WinXP for Xbox-use. IIRC throughout its' history the Xbox OS has just been a modified version of whatever version of Windows Microsoft is pushing at the time, with the OG Xbox being based around WinXP. I'm very curious to see more come out as the code is picked apart piece by piece, and whether or not it'll confirm my suspi…

AFAIK, the original XBOX was always based on a heavily stripped-down win2k kernel, and evolved very little. The "API" games used was a jump table to kernel functions, everything ran in kernel-space. I don't know much about later consoles, but I wouldn't be surprised if they used the same generic architecture. https://xboxdevwiki.net/Kernel that site has quite a bit of info, with ongoing reverse-engineering and clean-…

reactos being clean is a funny joke

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#446

Post by fogihujy »

sitkack wrote: post #442
fogihujy wrote: post #421

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did you run any specific hardware or something? W2k was rock solid for me from RC2 and onwards. The only thing that really didn't run stable was the drivers for Via's crappy chipset, and they released improved drivers fairly quickly.

No same hardware I ran NT on, although most of my machines were dual processor which was rather rare at the time.

Ah, that could be it then. I've never experienced W2K as anything but rock solid, but then I never had anything faster than a K6-2 back then. :D

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#447

Post by gruturo »

stjohnswarts wrote: post #392
gigel82 wrote: post #353

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You control your computer, turn off updates, get malware, then come back and complain how M$ / Windows is crap. I really don't understand why so many people in this thread are actively complaining about not being able to turn off updates. It's like once a month and they give you advance notice and "pick a time"; you have a whole week to choose a good time to restart and apply some updates...

Because the user should be in control, no microsoft.

I'm actually OK with Microsoft being in control of security patching cadence. Too many people are simply unable, unqualified or unwilling to do the job themselves, and when there's millions of them, you get botnets. I don't like the loss of choice, but I readily admit it's a necessary evil.

But they should do much better QA and not brick anyone's PC ever, and absolutely NOT ship anything which isn't strictly security-related in this undeferrable-unskippable security patches channel.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#448

Post by asddubs »

noisem4ker wrote: post #251
taneq wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is because since at least ‘95, MS has alternated focus between base technology and polish/reliability/UX. The ones we think of as good (98SE, 2000/XP, 7) are the ones with the focus on polish. The ones we remember as flaky (ME, Vista, 8) are the ones with substantial new tech in them that hadn’t had the additional years of refinement.

I think Windows Me was just an attempt at making 98 more modern and multimedia-friendly. It was just bad, with no relevant upgrades at any layer of the stack.

i think it was the only still dos-based windows to automaticall install usb drivers for mice and usb sticks and things. we had a sony laptop running ME for a long time because it was too slow to run XP, but had a USB port already

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#449

Post by kwanbix »

hnlmorg wrote: post #415
kwanbix wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have always used ThinkPads, which are among the best supported notebooks for Linux afaik. I totally agree that Windows has an "unfair" advantage here as manufacturers make sure that their hardware works in Windows while for Linux most of the time they don't even provide drivers. I have helped friends and family configure their MACs and honestly I never felt wow this does not gets in the way. Not all apps in MAC are…

That's not really a fair comparison though because most of those stages are just part of the download stage you glossed over in Windows (I really hate having to browse the web looking for software then having to manually download the thing after I've found what I want). Also Windows has no managed way to keep applications up to date. Which means you either have to manually repeat all those steps yourself or run backg…

Again, I find incredible cool what the Linux community has accomplished. And yes, the update process in Linux is much more simple in theory (sudo apt update). However, at least for my use case, the pros do not outweigh the cons.

Firs cons: lack of key apps (Microsoft Office and Adobe Creative Suite).

Second cons: lack of OEM produced drivers, which means that some things work worst than in Windows. Example, energy management for my ThinkPad.

Third cons: it seems to me that most things are more complicated to do than in Windows. Case in point, even if we do not consider the wgets, installing mkvtoolnix and vmware.

Fourth cons: Why do I need to look for the specific distribution version of a program? I can install a Windows XP program in Windows 10. I can even install a Windows 95 program in Windows 10. But I have to look for the specific version of Ubuntu 20.08 of a program. The version for Ubuntu 17.06 would not work.

Again. I can for sure use Linux if needed to (I am currently trying BSD on my ThinkPad), but if given the chance, I feel much more comfortable and productive in Windows.

Re: Windows XP source code has leaked

#450

Post by type0 »

kwanbix wrote: post #406
stjohnswarts wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you buy a system made with known linux compatible hardware you'll have zero problems. Just like a mac. Windows has the advantage that it gets first tier service and thus a greater chance with being stable with a broader swathe of hardware. OSX to me is much better than Windows because it doesn't get in your way. You want a new app download it and drop it in Applications. I don't know WTF windows does but some inst…

I have always used ThinkPads, which are among the best supported notebooks for Linux afaik. I totally agree that Windows has an "unfair" advantage here as manufacturers make sure that their hardware works in Windows while for Linux most of the time they don't even provide drivers. I have helped friends and family configure their MACs and honestly I never felt wow this does not gets in the way. Not all apps in MAC are…

Yeah but this is like comparing sausages to coconuts.

Can you open a coconut with your bare hands? Now go and tell vegetarians that sausages grow on trees, because they do https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sausage_Tree

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