UK government acency tells schools to ignore Vista

[JDPower]

As part of a wide-ranging review of Microsoft's academic licensing and potential alternatives Becta (British Educational Communications and Technology Agency) commissioned Oakleigh Consulting to help examine the potential advantages of upgrading to Windows Vista and Office 2007, but found little to recommend the new software.

 

"Oakleigh advised Becta that there were no 'must have' features in Vista. They also advised that about 60% of new functionality was either 'should have' or 'could have'. The remaining 40% of the new features were assessed as either 'wait' or of no discernible value," the report noted.

 

"Oakleigh did not identify any 'must have' features in Office 2007. About 40% of the identified features were considered 'should have' or 'could have'. Some 60% of the new functionality in Office 2007 was categorized by Oakleigh as 'wait' or of no value to education," it added.

 

The overall advice on Vista was even worse, from Microsoft's perspective. "Early deployment is considered extremely high risk and strongly recommended against," Becta stated. "On the basis of current understanding, the total cost of deployment is significant, the risks are high, and the benefits are far from clear."

Full article here: http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?...F7-3062481BA64B

[JohnDemolition]

the bloody British aren't so bloody anymore

[DennisD]

Read that article you linked to JD. Seems that everyone but Microsoft realise they`ve taken too much for granted.

 

Found this article on another page, that you might find interesting. (Assuming you haven`t read it already)

 

Desktop Linux gained new features and functionality in 2006 that will stand it in good stead for growth in 2007, according to the first end-of-year report by the Open Source Development Labs' Desktop Linux Working Group.

29 Jan 2007

 

Linux article

 

Would like to get my Ubuntu working, but it seems a bit fiddly to get my USB ADSL modem working with it. keep putting it off.

 

Sods law tells me that someones gonna post now and tell me its a piece of cake.

 

Hope so.

 

Regards

[XPSP2]

Read that article you linked to JD. Seems that everyone but Microsoft realise they`ve taken too much for granted.

 

Found this article on another page, that you might find interesting. (Assuming you haven`t read it already)

Linux article

 

Would like to get my Ubuntu working, but it seems a bit fiddly to get my USB ADSL modem working with it. keep putting it off.

 

Sods law tells me that someones gonna post now and tell me its a piece of cake.

 

Hope so.

 

Regards

Try PCLinuxOS.

Formatted-swap file created-installed-dual boot system- surfing with FF less than 15 min. And I am new to computers.

I already had a partition ready to go except the formatting.

Should something go wrong, full re-install<10 min.

http://www.pclinuxos.com/page.php?7

http://www.pclinuxonline.com/wiki/HomePage

Works off of the LiveCD too.

Say hello to the 21st Century.

[Andavari]

Try PCLinuxOS.

A screenshot would be nice.

[rridgely]

Here you go andavari:

http://www.tuxmachines.org/gallery/pclos2007b2

 

I tried that distro a while ago.(not 2007 it was .9 something)

I couldn't get the computer to boot once I installed it for some reason(I installed it 3 times). The live cd worked fine though.

 

To be honest I like mepis the best out of all the distros I've tried. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are good too, but mepis supported the hardware I put it on better.(tohsiba laptop.) Thy are both getting better though.

[XPSP2]

A screenshot would be nice.

Should be some in the Wiki link.

Nothing fancy about mine, I haven't changed it yet. If you were to boot off of the LiveCD, you'd be lookin at my desktop.

[XPSP2]

Here you go andavari:

http://www.tuxmachines.org/gallery/pclos2007b2

 

I tried that distro a while ago.(not 2007 it was .9 something)

I couldn't get the computer to boot once I installed it for some reason(I installed it 3 times). The live cd worked fine though.

 

To be honest I like mepis the best out of all the distros I've tried. Ubuntu and Kubuntu are good too, but mepis supported the hardware I put it on better.(tohsiba laptop.) Thy are both getting better though.

Nice link

.93-Big Daddy

.94-PCLinuxOS

 

They have better laptop support now. I have seen mention of IBM and Sony in my menus, not sure about Toshiba.

 

Ubuntu, Simply Mepis, PCLinuxOS are supposed to be the best for new users of Linux. One more I think but can't recall the name of though.

I like PCLinuxOS because of my lack of computer experience. I have not had to use a command prompt yet. Comparable to a bundled computer I guess except it is easier to get rid of the unwanted apps. But basically it is ready to go. Configures internet connection automatically. Comes pre-installed with Mozilla FF 2.0.0.1 (might be 2.0.0.2 now as I think final release is out, I started with test release 2) and Thunderbird.

 

Link here shows a video about updating and installing apps. Scroll down about 1/3 of page. He has a nice desktop too.

http://tips.linux.com/article.pl?sid=06/07...d=29&tid=46

[XPSP2]

OK, so I got a little edgy (eft) this morning and installed Ubuntu.

PITA. Wouldn't work no matter what I did. So I opened up PCLinuxOS, located the formatting tools, formatted a partition to Journalized FS (EXT 3), tried again. No problem. Exact same settings. Just seems to want to be formatted first.

 

For anyone interested, Edgy Eft comes stock with more programs installed than PCLinuxOS, although both can add oodles more. Free.

 

I recommend trying either.

 

I don't know what comes on the g-parted liveCD, but you may want to get it first, if installing Ubuntu, partition and format, if it formats, before installing the OS. No need if installing PCLinuxOS.

 

Tri-boot now, no problems.

[Andavari]

I'll have to test it on my old computer which is doing nothing but collecting dust in a corner. I'd like to find a lightweight non-bloated, non-Windows OS to use solely for music (.mp3, .ogg, etc).

[XPSP2]

I'll have to test it on my old computer which is doing nothing but collecting dust in a corner. I'd like to find a lightweight non-bloated, non-Windows OS to use solely for music (.mp3, .ogg, etc).

Thats one of the benefits of Linux. Adding new life to older set-ups. No need for anti-anything.

 

Here is another new one to try on the new comp after deciding you like it on the old comp after 2 hours. lol

 

Ubuntu ultimate edition 1.2 is available for download.

http://ubuntusoftware.info/ultimate/index.html

 

It contains all of the following software pre-installed:

 

* New theme / splash screen / wallpaper

* VCD Gear debian style

* Subversion & build tools

* Wireless Internet integration

* Bluetooth integration

* PPP integration

* Networking tools

* 35 Additional fonts

* Tons more themes

* Repository driven Beryl

* New sounds theme

* Integrated Custom repository support

* All current Updates 158 at time of posting

* IPod support

* Beagle

* Gramps - Genealogy software (thanks poweruser2600)

* Legends - Video Game

* Kapote - Instant Messenger

* Integrated codecs (the good the bad & the ugly)

* Mplayer, VLC, Songbird & Amarok players with mp3 support

* Mencoder, K9Copy, DeVeDE, DVD Shrink - dvd copying software.

* Integrated Nvidia drivers (will work with other cards)

* Automatix 2 & Automatix Bleeder (in case you want additional software)

* Gaim beta 5 & plugins

* GFTP - FTP Client

* KVIrc - IRC Client

* Additional Themes, icons, cursors & logins

* XSnow

* Samba

* NFS

* EasyTag - MP3 Tag Editor

* Inkscape - 2D vector drawing

* Screem - HTML Editor

* Gambas - Programing environment

* QEMU & Kqemu Accelerator - Emulation

* Screem - HTML Editor

* Avidemux - Avi (divx /xvid) editor

* GDesklets - Eyecandy & info

* NTFS read / write support

* Lamp - web server (Apache2, mysql, PHP5)

* phpmyadmin

* Azureus - P2P software

* MS core Font's and extra fonts

* Wine - Windows emulation (always newest version - through repo)

* Alien - Allows installation of foriegn packages (RPM, suse etc)

* Gobby Team programing software

* Ksnapshot - Screen capture software

* Google Picasa - Graphic editing software

* Frostwire Pro - P2P software

* Kolourpaint - Graphic editing software

* Qcad - Autocad wannabe

* Archive Suite - virtually any archive can be handled.

* Ajunta IDE - Programing environment

* Bluefish - HTML Editor

* Glade - Interface designer

* Gtranslator

* Bit Tornado - P2P Software

* Amule - P2P software

* Kino - Flick editor

* Audacity - Sound editor

* Debian Menu (pdmenu)

* Dvdrip - Dvd ripping software

* Democracy Player

* Listen Media Manager

* Steamripper

* Ilinux (banshee)

* Gnucash - Financial software

* Aria - Download manager

* Build Essentials and make utility's

* Quanta Plus and extras - HTML Editor

* Graveman - burning software

* New Grub splash screen and animated "very pretty" boot up screen

* Bum - Boot-up manager

* Sum - Startup manager (newer improved version gtk and terminal based)

* Istanbul - Live screen capture

* Ghex - Hex editor

* Gourmet - Recipe manager

* Isomaster - CD / DVD ISO editor

* GPHPEdit - PHP Editor

* Kino - Clip editor

* Aria - Download manager

* Democracy - Movie streamer

* ClamAV - Anti-virus software

* Listen - Media manager

* DVD|RIP - Dvd ripping software

* Lifrea - RSS feed reader

* Brasero - Disc burning tool

* X-Chat - IRC Client

* QDVDAuthor - DVD authoring software

* SMP Support (dual core CPUS) / works with single core as well

* 121 Additional Updates

* New Grub boot screen

* New theme and animated bootscreen

* New GDM theme

* New splash screen & wallpaper

* Updated Beryl

* Capture card support - TVTime / ATI-All-in-wonder

* Gaim Beta 6 - prebuilt with plugins.

* GKRealm - Realtime hardware monitor

* MGM - Moaning Goat Meter

* Newer Amarok then can be obtained from edgy repos

* Hardinfo - System information

* GTKPod - Ipod Sync software

* HTop - Process viewer

* Sysinfo - System information

* IPodder - Ipod sync software

* XSensors - Hardware sensor software

* Addition networking and wireless tools

* Gpixpod - Photo sync software for Ipod

* IPodslave - an iPod IO slave

* Xpenguins - Thanks Maddog

 

Furthermore additional software such as Flash, Java, Acrobat Reader and Google Earth among others can be added using our integrated custom repo.

[XPSP2]

A screenshot would be nice.

I'll try one or two here.

[XPSP2]

One more.

If you want to see any of the menus, peripherals for example, let me know.