sparkomatic

downloading now...think maybe will try to install it on a partition on the trusty Compaq...unless it kicks a puppy, do not know how it could be worse than Vista... Too bad Longhorn was dumped...used a "version" of it a friend had (in Thailand, hey no questions!) and it was as fast as Linux and sweet...was really looking forward to it...should have known. Before the people that like to flame anything bad about Vista...realize that it must be bad if Microsoft admits it has not been embraced by the public. Since like what, 80+% of computers in the world use windows, I certainly wish windows 7 all of the best! Again, if you worship Vista or just want to argue, please go away...if you have tried 7-beta please let me know (yes I know there are many places on the web to discuss this...but in this section of the basically the only forum I visit it seems un-obtrusive). ...52% downloaded...then burn the .iso then settle in to a long install driver fest and taking notes... cheers

¿any one try "Ubuntu"? looks very promising...was reading about SymphonyOne and it says it is based on Unbuntu 7...they have Unbuntu 8+ out now and it is free...maybe will give that a go as well...

eh, Google..."remove starforce"...its the fourth on the list... http://www.onlinesecurity-on.com/protect.phtml?c=55 worked on the Vista laptop as it had that damn "driver not compatible" pop-up every time at start up

these threads are great, thanks! all of those Google reference links to Longhorn are now dead...it did get me looking at Ubuntu and SymphonyOne... the "dual boot" option seems plausible now whereas last time I did that was in the 3.11 / Win95 days and one had to start all over and reformat the HDD...read that XP gives the option to make a partition without a reformat...is this true? maybe there will be a star-force work around? found a star-force removal utility for my Vista laptop since it kept giving that driver compatibility issue...maybe that will work for 7-beta? [NOTE: before anyone goes cosmic about the removal utility it came from star-force!] thanks again for all of the great threads already! cheers

hey, on a lark I typed "windows longhorn" in Google...turns out it is available as a beta! maybe will try both!

check this out: The closure of Aces marks the shuttering of another major developer within Microsoft Game Studios. Since September of 2007, the company has shut down FASA Studio (Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge, MechWarrior 4: Mercenaries, and Shadowrun), announced the closure of Ensemble Studios (Age of Empires), and Carbonated Games (Hexic HD, Uno). In addition, Bungie, the studio responsible for Halo, left Microsoft Games Studios and became an independent studio, though Microsoft does maintain an ownership stake in it. *** So sad, to see those names gone... And please do not mention a "free market" if you are referring to the US any more, the financial bail out and the Auto bail out prove that the US has slid out of the free market in some regards at least...how do you make a crappy series of products (for the past 17 years at least trail all of your competitors in quality and survive almost solely on brand loyalty) and stay in business? Argue all you want, but it is done...and to tell the truth it is not difficult to see why...the consoles came back (dont forget the Atari 2600 et al) and they have some advantages that PCs just wont; besides, PCs were never meant for games...that is an aside really. I mean the new GTA came out and my machine needs a new video card...that can be $200 - $800 every couple of years for the headliner games... cheers

crap...this is the beginning of the end of PC games...first Lucasarts refuses to release Force Unleashed, now the very stalwart of PC games has surrendered the bastion... if we are lucky, maybe MMOs will stay around for a while...

why did they not release it on PC?

poop...KOTOR was to me, what the pre-quel movies SHOULD have been...very involving...I agree that KOTOR 2 felt "quick, capture market share!" instead of the masterpiece that KOTOR was. MMOs are not my favorite...in fact I do not even waste my time...why pretend to be an elf with a 12-year old with a penchant for vulgarity? No thanks! cheers

I have been reading the Cade-series as it comes out in (whatever it is called when they publish a year's worth of comics in one book) and really like it...so different, so interesting...much better character development. I cant even finish SoM because it is so cheezie...really bad... MF is by Luceno, and he is like my second favorite after Zahn...Stover really disappointed me And that whole Alema being indestructible thing for like so many of the novels was retarded, period... This Fate of the Jedi http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Fate_of_the_Jedi series already sounds bad...more of the same as that awful LotF crap...9 books? Probably, like LotF could make it 3 really good ones rather than draw it out and thus garner 3x the revenue for 3x the fluff That being said, so far I have enjoyed the Coruscant Nights series...awaiting III this month and hopefully it doesnt dissappoint. cheers

careful of throwing stones...explain "Twilight" to me...without laughing...

was afraid of that...seems like Lucas is still mad that "Galaxies" was not as big a hit as they planned...seems like after all of the sales of all of the PC games (KOTOR for instance) they would not want to miss out on the market

cheers!

I would like to just re-post the above screen shot since there really are no better words to describe aforementioned screenshot, but then I would get yelled at for posting a reply with pics...

freakin-sweet!

Just for the record, speaking of the "band wagon"...I am still a NY Giants fan, put that in writing...oh, and I have also been a fan of the Denver Broncos since Craig Morton lead the "Orange Crush" in 1977. A true fan claims his (or her) loyalty when their team is not in the spot light for winning...

thanks and cheers (literally)!

just curious...what is the approximate percentage of contributor/subscribers to downloaders? and have you guys looked at flightsim.com? they have an interesting approach where one can only be logged in to download for about an hour...can visit the forums all the time but downloading is restricted to one hour/24 hour period. just a thought cheers and thanks for all that combatace does!

sweet! just when I was bemoaning the dearth of the old tymers! Hey, they even remade SFP1 whilst you were out saving the world. glad to have you back cheers

the only thing better than 2 afterburners is, of course, FOUR!

awesome work! In a word: "spriong!" :assassin: (yep, that's 3 ninjas) Thanks!

Wow! Thanks! I was just complaining about the same voice acting for the past 6 years (though I have recently been using the Russian speech pack)...this is awesome. I was waiting on a "snow day" to try to rip the sound/speech files from iL-2 and just cram them in their, but this is better. danke!

Wow, that is mighty kind of you...and kind of spooky...so are you really "Hal"? But seriously, thanks!

Still trying to find better shots...the photos I had taken were on something called "film" and alas I no longer have access to those anyway...so I am trying to find more on the Internet, which much to my surprise has more than just p0rn on it? Again, the skins you already posted are more than superb...any time you can spare is more than awesome with me...or if you get too busy I understand, no worries. check pm

Dave, this is the best I have found so far...still working on better: the first photo and the last two photos are the "finished state" with the squadron patch being added to photos two, three, and four above...included a copy of the aforementioned squadron patch that adorns the tail...still trying to find better shots