Zurawski

Okay… I’m an educated and tolerant man when if comes to computer technology. I’ve always built my own PCs and likewise have always optimized my operating systems to an inch of their lives. I’ve prided myself on tuning my OSs’ so tight that I never (and I mean never…) crashed to desktop or ever saw a blue screen… Hell, I even made Windows ME behave within a business environment with absolutely no problems. (which unless you’ve tried it… is no small feat) That said… I’ve officially named Vista as the most worthless piece of software I’ve ever had the displeasure of running. Between un-reported incompatibilities with some of my existing software apps, to driver issues to printer issues, I’ve run the gambit with this crap-ware. Now… If this was the large and small of it… I’d deal with it. No this is just the beginning… Vista will hard-lock / freeze for no apparent reason… will BSOD if I look at it wrong… and generally runs everything that does run properly like crap. Copy files? … GPF. Run a game?... BSOD…. Etc…etc…etc… Mind you… I ran XP on this same hardware with absolutely no issues… memory is rock-solid and test thus so. CPU is mid-range but more than capable… GPU is high end and rock-solid… Sound card is an industry standard work horse… I’m at a loss for how absolutely worthless Vista is… and I generally take OS bashing with a grain of salt… till now. Yes, it’s very visually appealing… when it’s not freezing or crashing. Yes, it’s innovative in some areas… when it’s not freezing or crashing. But did I get what I paid for? I guess if I paid $200.00 for endless crashes and freezes… I got a frick’n bargain…. Personally, I want my money back.

That begs the question... "Is a crap in your hand worth two Macs in the bush?"

My Utopian OS dream For as long as I can remember I’ve been advocating for MS to create a pure gaming OS. Think a console-simple OS layer to game from… Something that that would co-exist on a HD with something like Vista or XP… Basically a dual-boot option (or a solution that would exit out of Vista or XP and drop to the Utopian game OS like Win Me dropped to DOS)… We are talking about an OS that has nothing other than DirectX and TCP/IP function… Pure.. simple.. and fast. Considering the money being spent of consoles… you’d thing a PC equivalent would be a no-brainer? Why this hasn’t already happened baffles me… Granted it would not saturate like a full-blown OS, but name me one person that games for a hobby who would not buy something like this.

IMHO, Windows95 (se) was a fairly rock solid OS because it didn't try to be "everything to everyone"... It was a OS first and foremost. It was ultimately the launch platform for what ever given app you were attempting to run. It didn't woo you with fancy desktop glitz... It didn't attempt to protect you from yourself... It didn't stick 101 thing between the OS and the running app... And it sure as hell came loaded down with as little extra crap as possible. Gaming was pleasure because it was easy... you made sure DirectX and drivers were up-to-date and the game ran.. period. One didn't have to cross their fingers, knock on wood and toss a pinch of salt while uttering a prayer just to play a game of Solitaire.

My biggest problem is, as I eluded to earlier, is that I as a self-proclaimed techno-geek... am not able to wrangle in Vista. I have never had an OS defeat me like Vista has... What it does, it does for no rhyme or reason. I wish I was a clueless FNG and I just didn't understand what I'm attempting to do... What's hacking me off is I do know what I'm doing and it's frustrating as hell. A fresh install of and OS, with all MS cert drivers on tested rock-solid equipment should yield a solid system. There is nothing odd or exotic in my set-up and it's all to spec... Should I really expect anything less? Now, some would argue that bleeding edge technology will ultimately have teething issues... Problem is Vista is not bleeding edge. It's an OS built off of existing design infrastructure that has been in place since the inception of Windows95! I would hope that 13 years would yield a more robust and tolerant OS. What did we wind up with? A bloated OS that tries too hard to be everything to everybody and does everything half as well as it should... What has been the top three complaints about Windows since it's inception? Stability... Compatibility ... Security... Yet 13 years later we have an OS that is less stable, has caused more compatibility issues that ever before and it's security is constantly the basis for scrutiny. Do I hope that MS finally is listening to their consumers with Windows 7? Lord I hope so... If it's simply a modular iteration of Vista, it doomed to fail miserably as ME did... if it is truly a modular design, in that at it's core, without all the add-on features is a solid OS that stays out of the way of the apps it's intended to run... they may have a winner. Guess We'll ultimately have to wait and see eh?

I'll have to catch-up with you later on these... (I'm at work/on-break) and working off an XP machine that doesn't crash. AFAIK, they are all default and well within typical range, but I have to admit I'm guessing at this point. I do know right up to the point of freeze/crash... Vista appears to be working properly... ie, it's not hesitating or doing anything weird that would indicate it's about to take a dump.

Nope... I've dug into the crash logs as well trying to determine of it was driver related... most seem to be tied to IQ or memory overlap pertaining to the apps thats running. (3d studio, iexplorer, Battlefield 2132, Thirdwire games... etc.) Others just reference a out-of-memory error at xxx-xxxx address.

Vista Home Premium w/SP1 ... 2Gig

Nope all stock speeds. Hell, I even under-clocked in an attenpt to sooth the beast. Oh, and yup... SP1 is onboard and all drivers are Vista cert and current...

Not MS bashing at all... I've lived with MS in all its iterations in perfect harmony until Vista... I thought I could find middle-ground with it... I've always found it with other MS apps. Vista is just not going to let it happen however. Looks like I'll be wiping my HD again and re-installing XP to my primary... I'll likely throw Vista on the back-up drive for when I feel naughty and need to be punished.

Crashes are typically IRQ and or memory related... Get this... I was able to make safe-mode GPF... Figure that one out. Food for thought: I have XP installed on one of my back-up drives and run the same apps with no problems. It's definitely Vista... I've pulled memory and add-in cards.... swapped memory... removed all the devices... still freezes and crashes. I wish I was just and idiot and had borked drivers or something... but I've done due diligence with troubleshooting... it's definitely Vista.

Sigh... your understanding of equipping various animals for warfare is obviously very limited... The infamous "lazer shark" is a fable. Thus use of lazers underwater is impossible due to refractive qualities of water, which I care not to go too in-depth with... And Beagles with javelins? My dear boy... Due to their lengthy ears, the run-up prior to launching said javelins is rift with tripping hazards... Because of this, their full attention is never truly on their targets... Not to mention once they do heave their projectiles, they are nothing more than doe eyed cute canine targets...

Ah, but heat is lost quickest through the head and extremities, I postulate mittens, thermal foot/claw wear and a some type of winterized head-gear would be necessary to keep them a highly motivated fighting force... However, with this additional gear, I wonder how effective their level of mobility would be...

Formidable option... but not very effective in the northern cold-climate incursions IMHO...

I'll offer the suggestion of utilizing the vaunted yet much maligned multi-purpose Mongoose with the modular jet-pack option... Equally effective against lazered feline, hovering eels and the ever dangerous bomb-bats.

Very nice... Looks like I'll be playing with this tonight! KUDOS!

Well... A "packer" would be useful for people (like myself) who are anal retentive and like to have tidy folders and directories. Additionally, again... for people like myself, It would be real handy to have different .CATs for various eras, objects, terrain etc... Way back in the day, Fighter Squadron had a utility to pack and unpack game files... and it just proved useful in several categories. Just my opinion though...

Do I like it?! It' flipping brilliant! You know by previous discussions I planned on doing a fictional attack variant, however I made an uneducated decision in upgrading to Vista which broke my version of 3D Studio (4) thus bring all my projects to a grinding halt... ...So you taking up this task is more than welcome from my perspective and as far as I'm concerned, anything that breaths more life into the Osprey is welcome in my book. Kudos and thank you!

I say it was a Mobo fairy... Don't look at me like that... Are you telling me you don't have Mobo faries in your state?

Whos says there is no such thing as Santa! (Don't look at me... I didn't do it... got my own problems...) Besides... being the greedy arse that I am... I don't see how a new mobo would make it past "my" computer.

I've been working on this... As Wrench eluded to the auto speed control parameter that worked in WoV, SF and WoE is broke/works differently in WoI. I've been experimenting with several different solutions with varying results. I "almost" have it working as expected, however I can only get the wings to retract/close half-way... I know it can be done, but I might be too flipping dense in the bucket to grasp what I'm missing... Stay tuned... I have Friday and the weekend available to me (wife is out of town)... and I'll sit down and try and get this figured out.

I have to add my vote to E.T... Absolutely the worst game ever made. Hell, my stomach just flopped thinking about it... Kudos to you Jedi for having the fortitude to finish it. I'll wager JAWS for the Nintendo was pretty damn awful as well...

Anyone have a link to the most current world air force inventory? I'm trying to set-up a WoI install with only the latest and greatest (including our notorious fictional next-gen birds) and am trying to determine what out of our current inventory fits this scenario the best.... Thanks in advance

Yup... you read it correctly. I'm finally "done" with the Osprey. This is a complete update: - All recursive LODS - Updated FM - Completed Cockpit - A number of small changes and corrections Download here: MV-22B Osprey v2.2 Fly... have fun. (Now keep your eyes open for the fictional MV/A - 22 Attack variant)...

Sigh... everyone forgets the P.11 LOL!