[geeks] HD/IDE question

[Charles Shannon Hendrix]

Wed, 27 Sep 2006 @ 10:41 -0400, Nadine said:

> The same argument can be made about OS X to some extent, but the
> reality of my situation these days is that I'd rather just have a
> gaming platform that "works" instead of one that drives on-going
> computer hardware upgrades.  If console publishers would be more
> flexible about compiling in support for alternative controllers (e.g.
> always include mouse, keyboard, joystick, and add gaming-specific
> peripherals like the Nostromo), I could easily convert the serious
> gamer (i.e. the hubby) in my household to console only.  

For me, it would require a lot more than just this.

Console games are also dumbed down, and you completely lose the ability
to run mods, patches, etc. In some cases the user mods are better than
the original game, and some games never get fixed by the publisher, but
do get fixed by the users.

I *HATE* how so many games now are being released for consoles, because
it always results in degradation of the game into something palatable to
the people in that market.  It has utterly ruined several PC titles that
should have been great.

> He absolutely hates the stock controller on consoles (it's not the
> size/shape, it's the control interface--he's a keyboard/mouse guy).

Same here.  Plus a lot of console software feels, I don't know,
sluggish.  Like it isn't responding quite right to the controls.

> A new console once every 3-4 years at ~$300 that includes backwards
> compatibility for the "favorites" would be a better option than
> fighting with video upgrades every 12-18 months at $150-200 a pop and
> the inherent fight to keep Windows working.

That depends.  For me this is a no-brainer because console games simply
are not good enough.

However, even if you like console games, the cost of the games is
generally higher, and PC games tend to last longer as well.

Usually this offsets the cost of new video cards pretty well, at least
it does in my case.

When I maintained my Sony PS2, it cost me quite a bit more overall than
the PC I used for gaming, and the games were nowhere near as good.

> I am hoping that the uniqueness of the controller for the Wii will
> encourage console developers to start being more innovative about the
> user interface on the hardware side of other consoles.

That would be nice, but as I said above, its the dumbing down of console
software that bothers me the most.

> If all else fails, I just play Nethack.

I have to admit I still fire that and a few other up now and then.

Did anyone else out there ever get addicted to XTank back in the day?

> The only GUIs I find intolerable are CDE and Gnome.  I've used Windows
> long enough that I am used to it--you can't really escape knowing the
> basics if you are in IT.  My biggest complaint is the obfuscatory
> nature of Windows.  

Yes, and also the GUI bugs it has that are 10 years older or more.  At
least KDE gets fixed steadily and also increases in speed with each
release.  It's pretty warty, but works better than Windows.

I've always hated how inconsistent Windows is.  Drag and drop behavior
varies by file type and destination type.  Egads.

A big negative with KDE and Gnome is the ton of debugging output they
send to stdout.  At times it has serious space usage and performance
impact, and much of it can't be turned off without editing the code.

Gnome is so buggy I can't stand to use it, and their revamping of user
options in the last major release was arbitrary and stupid.

> With OS X I can get to the guts if I need to so I can figure out what
> the hell is going on when things aren't working.

Overall I like MacOS X.  It gets a lot of things right.  

I just can't afford it right now.

> I'd like to hear what you think is in Word for Windows that is not
> covered by OS X Word.  From what I know from my own use, and what I
> found here about the latest versions:
> <http://word.mvps.org/mac/Differences.html>
> the differences between the two are negligible at best unless you are
> relying on Word to generate HTML and/or use VBA.

I've always found it ironic that the Mac version of Word seems much
nicer than the Windows version.

-- 
shannon "AT" widomaker.com -- ["All of us get lost in the darkness,
dreamers turn to look at the stars" -- Rush ]