Stickin’ it to Microsoft Vista
January 17th, 2008 by screenwriterguy
It’s the small victories that count best, right?
In the months since I bought a cheap laptop to use as a second computer, I have been frustrated with Microsoft Vista and its… well, it’s everything. I don’t like to be one of those people who sits around complaining about things like operating systems. How cool can you possibly be if you sit around complaining about things like operating systems? Still, there’s no denying that Vista feels a big step backwards. It honestly seems like a mistake. As I’ve posted in the past, my least favorite feature is the way it asks you for permission to do whatever task it is you JUST TOLD IT TO DO!
Anyway, one of the big annoyances when I first bought this laptop was the discovery that it wouldn’t play DVDs. In the DVD player the laptop came with. I could, of course, always pay extra to upgrade to the version of Vista that would include that feature. Seriously? I give you several hundred dollars, and that doesn’t include software to run the peripherals properly? If ever we needed evidence the entire OS is not so much an improvement in offerings, but rather a new Thing To Sell, this was it.
Not really needing to watch DVDs, I figured it wasn’t worth being fleeced out of 20 or 30 bucks for something that has always come with a machine in the past. I watched DVDs elsewhere and didn’t bother trying on my laptop. However, today I realized something:
While the Windows MediaPlayer that comes with your Vista Home Basic (or whichever) might not play DVDs out-of-the-box, there’s nothing to stop you from installing some software that will.
I went here at download.com and found the classic version of the MediaPlayer. Though the description at their site only lists it for Windows 2000 and XP, I was able to download it and run it from Vista no sweat. It’s light, you don’t even have to install it, it plays DVDs perfectly, and… it’s free. (Download.com says you may need to download some codecs, but I was playing a DVD instantly.)
OK, so I hardly drove to Renton, WA and gave Steve Balmer the finger. Still, kinda feels good to be able to use all the features of my computer without paying extra.
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Jan 17th 2008 at 6:46 am
Check out VLC (http://www.videolan.org) - it’s open-source/free, and plays anything you can throw at it… DVDs, avi, wmv, mp3, xvid, etc. etc.
I think you should do the ultimate “sticking it to Microsoft” and buy a Mac.
Jan 17th 2008 at 9:11 am
Well, next time you’re home you can drive past Renton and give Steve Balmer the finger. It won’t accomplish anything, but it does make a decent story…
Jan 17th 2008 at 12:26 pm
Would love a mac. If mac could come near the bang for the buck, I’d be all over it. But I’m planning on building a tricked-out PC with Windows XP Media Center (hasta la vista, uh, Vista) so I can have a nice TiVo replacement.
When you build it yourself, there’s no comparison on the price, and the labor is only a few hours nowadays.
Jan 17th 2008 at 2:53 pm
LA has either fogged your brain or you’ve been watching too many Almost Live reruns. MS is in Redmond, not Renton.
Jan 17th 2008 at 4:26 pm
Wow, that is completely true. People from the area will know just how ridiculous a transposition that is, too.
Jan 17th 2008 at 8:42 pm
Wow. Ok, true. But if you channel enough power through that finger, they’ll feel it 20 miles away…
Jan 20th 2008 at 12:42 pm
I bought a Mac a couple of years ago and was pretty underwhelmed. I still use my Windows machine for getting most everything done (er…that’s using XP, of course).
About the best thing the Mac does is take money from my pocketbook. It isn’t just that it costs more to own one, but it costs more to operate one.
In the time that I’ve owned that Mac, Apple has come out with two more versions of OSX, and I’m starting to find that most new software won’t work with my older version of OSX. That’s just crazy. The whole thing is designed to keep you upgrading to new operating system software.
In contrast, I’ve used XP since 2002, and anticipate continuing to use it well into 2010, without forgoing any software that I might want to try.
Vista does sound kind of lame, but I bet I can continue to use XP at least until Windows 7 arrives.