My Netbook OS Search

My EeePC is my personal miniature PC that resembles much closest to my 14" notebook.  Although it's keyboard is tiny I can still manage to touch type.  I resorted to Linux as my OS since this is virus free and is as fast as Windows XP during operation.  I installed Easy Peasy from the Ubuntu for netbooks project.  It works just fine before until I got my Sun Wireless Broadband.  I have difficulty having the Huawei E1550 to work in Linux.  That is why I opted for other stable but light Operating Systems built for netbooks.  First I upgraded the Easy Peasy to the latest version thinking that the upgraded version has fixed the compatibility problems with new devices such as the Huawei E1550.  Although the modem worked sometimes, it really is quite a dissapointment sometimes when the OS couldn't recognize it properly.  So I decided to go back to Windows.  I looked for a lite version of Windows XP on the internet and downloaded a copy just to see how it would work on my device.  But it seems that the installer was so stripped down that it cannot install the Huawei modem sucessfully.  That was the point that i decided to try Windows 7 on my netbook.

The installation took overnight (because I have fallen asleep during installation) and by the morning the set-up was done.  My first impression is that it is kinda slow, but to think that this is a netbook then that would justify it's slowness and besides I installed the Ultimate edition.  The OS automatically disabled the aero thing to catch up with the processor speed and that kinda gave me the idea of disabling them all.  I optimized the performance by disabling effects and used the old traditional Windows theme.  There was a significant improvement in the performance and I am seeing improvements as time progressed.  But there is one more thing that needed to be tested before the OS would satisfy my standards, that is to play Youtube videos without skipping.  At first I connected to a nearby Wifi hotspot and typed the Youtube URL in the built-in Internet Explorer.  There were a bit of skipping on the beginning scenes but the movie went smoothly as soon it got loaded.  It's kinda fair already and it seems that it is the OS that I need, not until I tried my Sun Broadband Wireless USB modem.  It seems that Internet Explorer and Firefox kinda have noticable lags upon launch and the Youtube videos were no longer playing the same way when I was connected to a Wifi hotspot.  That made me decide to switch again to another OS, but now I decided that it would be Windows XP since this is the most stable OS that Microsoft built since Windows 95.  Besides, only XP drivers are available in the ASUS support website.  After a gruesome ground zero installation, finally I got the OS that I want for my netbook.  I had no problems with the internet connection since Wifi and SBW works fine in this old Microsoft OS.  And for unwanted viruses and malwares, I installed Deep Freeze so when my system is penetrated I just restart and everything goes back to the first installation.  So I think I'm going to settle myself with this OS and begin my work and leisure in complete harmony.  No more lagging Youtube videos, and hardware incompatibility.

SF on Win7 Works!

I thought I would never make SF (Special Forces from MyGame) work in Windows 7 until I did it today. It took me some time to learn how to actually make it work. I thought that Windows 7 is not compatible with this game but it turns out to be a discover it yourself kinda thing. What I did was copy the whole folder from a Windows XP computer and put it in the Program Files of Windows 7. Then run the DFPatcher.exe found in the SF folder and after it downloads some patches it launches the application instantly. I was so happy that I won two complete rounds. Its like a fire in the hole to me. I've been trying to install the program so many times using it's downloaded installer but it fails to launch the game console after installation. What Windows 7 do is just terminate the program. I thought I had the reason to move back to my old OS but suddenly it vanished in thin air. I hope somebody will find this helpful since I haven't found a single post in the SF forums that tells how to make the game work in Mocrosoft's newly polished OS. As for now I'll enjoy my time throwing flashbangs and shooting at enemy troops.

Windows 7 a Heaven?

For me as long as it's free then it's a gotta have. Just this month I switched from Window XP to Windows 7 RC1. I never upgraded to Vista despite of the killer aero 3D interface. As I have mentioned in my previous blog I have used Windows and Linux, and my comment about Wndows 7 is that it's like a combination of both. It looks like Vista, it's fast as XP, and stable as Linux. My experience so far made me go "Yeah!". Windows 7 is really the best thing that happened to Microsoft. It still has the Windows Vista Aero but does not take too much juice out of your system. As far as I am concerned, this OS packs a lot of features than the older Vista. This has set the standards for the latest computing trend. I no longer have to install Vistamizer in XP just to dress up my OS. This one is already dressed up and it sure is dressed up well.

My first impression with Windows 7 is that it's like I have seen this before. If you happen to have installed or used a Linux KDE disto like LInux Mint then you probably might have guessed that Microsoft copied yet another style from other sources. The taskbar looks like KDE and almost has the same icons on the system tray. Although, Windows 7 taskbar is not configurable (moving and replacing the position and contents) like Linux, it still maintains it's standard template of the taskbar in Microsoft style. Some Linux distro tries to immitate Windows by positioning their tools to look like Windows but still it doesn't feel like being Windows.

So far my experience with this brand new OS is not yet final. I'm still in the early stages and have not seen the full capability of it yet. Time is surely not a luxury to others and so is with me. So expect to read more about Windows 7 in my future blogs. I'll be glad to share my experience in using this new amazing piece of OS.