<p>Indeed, Icarus. I've never had security or reliability problems with Windows XP. And I'll happily keep my compatibility with a gazillion programs too!</p>
<p>If you're looking for notebook memory, or any computer related items, try
<a href="http://www.newegg.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.newegg.com</a>
and
<a href="http://www.zipzoomfly.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.zipzoomfly.com</a></p>
<p>for some great prices.</p>
<p>windows is fine as long as you have a firewall and anti-virus and you dont download every little thing that pops up on screen. if you protect yourself and download the updates you won't have problems, and it will be stable.</p>
<p>Remember computers are always newer computers are becoming better, and old ones are becomming quickly out dated. Remember to not buy a laptop untill your within a few weeks of college, cause if you buy it 6months later, that computer will be out dated (as some would say), or even better that same computer will be alot cheaper.</p>
<p>That doesnt stand true for laptops, they do not update nearly as quick as desktops. Since they were updated two weeks ago to the newest tech, the next update wont be until next year for Intel based laptops and this summer for AMD's.</p>
<p>That's not what statistics tell us, besides, even the goverment doesn't run Windows, they use Unix bases systems. Unix is free as in "Free of modification".
You can edit the source code and do whatever you want to it. All windows computers crash. Everyone knows that windows is the most exploited OS there is, in fact; the majority of viruses are intended for windows, about 50 are intended for unix, but out of hundreds of thousands.</p>
<p>If macs had the same market power (share?) as Microsoft did, i'm sure there'd be a lot more viruses for macs</p>
<p>Actually, macs are based on Unix, though slightly different, but macs are safer</p>
<p>Yeah - and you speak like macs don't ever crash, which is completely untrue. Windows won't crash any more than mac os.</p>
<p>oh yeah - so what statistics are you talking about? And I highly doubt that every government computer is unix based. Come on....</p>
<p>"If macs had the same market power (share?) as Microsoft did, i'm sure there'd be a lot more viruses for macs"</p>
<p>yeap...I would agree with that. If things were reversed, (Mac being the dominant OS), viruses would prob be targeted at Macs more than Windows. and as secure as it seems, there's always a way to break through the walls...</p>
<p>
[quote]
about 50 are intended for unix
[/quote]
Haha, how did you come up with this number? I'm sure there are several thousand viruses out there for Unix; they just aren't exploited as much because hardly anyone uses Unix.</p>
<p>YEAH RIGHT!!
You would be surprises that 90% of webservers use UNIX, including CC,
EVEN MICROSOFT.COM</p>
<p>you seem to hate windows with a passion...</p>
<p>Keep in mind the first post, mexican_dude. I asked for advice on picking a Windows-based laptop. This isn't the place for a debate on MS vs. Apple vs. Unix/Linux.</p>
<p>I bought my laptop a year ago for Christmas. I got it from <a href="http://www.netlux.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.netlux.com</a> for $1,956 (including shipping).</p>
<p>The stats on my laptop are as follows:
Windows XP
1024 MB Ram
Nvidia GeForce 4 Go 64 MB video card
80 GB of hard drive space
3.06 Ghtz processor speed, Pentium 4 (it said dual processors ~ 2 CPUs, but I don't think it is)
CD/DVD RW-R combo
CD/DVD-Rom
external 3.5 disk drive
4 USB ports, 2 FireWire
Sony Memory Stick drive</p>
<p>I had mine built for media because that's what I do in school, and so far, its still doing great. 17" LCD monitor, only 7lbs, decent battery life.</p>
<p>Edit: It seems the Netlux page is down, but Netlux laptops are manufactured by MiTAC. <a href="http://www.mitac.com%5B/url%5D">http://www.mitac.com</a></p>
<p>I'm trying to decide between the IBM Thinkpad T42 and the Dell Inspiron 8600.
Dell beats the IBM in terms of price and all the specs, but I still can't take my eyes off of the T42 (and all Thinkpads) for its portability/weight/etc. </p>
<p>I basically selected all the top components while building a Dell and the price of it was still lower than a T42 with the basic components.</p>
<p>Still, the size of the Inspiron (10.8 x 14.1 x 1.5 ) and weight ( 6.9 lbs ) is to me a turn off - compared to the T42. I don't know how much walking I'll do at college...that makes it harder to decide too.</p>
<p>Anyone have suggestions/comments?</p>
<p>I've been looking at the Dell 8600 myself...</p>
<p>Isn't the T42 way more expensive for the same parts? Of course, if portability is a big concern for you, it may very well be worth it.</p>
<p>the t42 most definitely doesnt have the same parts as a dell. Dell uses cheaper parts which are usually of cheaper quality in order to build a cheaper computer. IBM uses better parts which are more expensive which in turn causes their computers to be more expensive. Compare the screens on the two Dell has a plastic cover for the scren, IBM a magnesium one, the latter is more expensive and yet more durable.</p>