"The system does not allow end-user access to expansion bus cards. This means users will no longer routinely open their PCs to add peripherals."
 
Are they nuts, or are we getting back to, "consumer appliances?"
 
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"Being married to a programmer is like owning a cat. You talk to it but you're never really sure it hears you, much less comprehends what you say." -DeadCats, 1999
"Talking to DeadCats is like talking to a dead cat." -MrsDeadCats, 2001

I AM BILL GATES FROM MICROSOFT!!!!!
 
ALL YOUR EXPANSIONS SLOTS ARE BELONG TO US!!!
 

 
Hehehehe
 
[This message has been edited by felix (edited 08 April 2001).]

That's the same link from my post! That's totaly pathetic (if true). This is the only reason why I have a Windoze PC instead of a MAC! BEING ABLE TO UPGRADE AT ANY MOMENT I WANT, WHATEVER I WANT!!!! I don't even care if they arent gonna do that, but just the thought of having a little baby system that's not upgradable and tweakable is enough to leave my PC hobby all together!! If my only options was to have a system that was totaly locked down, you better believe i'd go with the MAC!
 
Or... I can just run my fully cracked, timebombless Beta2 forever, HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!
 
 
In reply to:

Quote:<font face="Verdana, Arial" size="2">The system does not allow end-user access to expansion bus cards. This means users will no longer routinely open their PCs to add peripherals.</font>

Funny, MS think's it's more important to ship PC'S with P4 1.4ghz processor, with only 128M of ram but a whopping 32m of vram. I think the average home user would need 192M for deskop level in Windows Whistler.

Heh...Good point!

Come boys this what really need rigth ?.
512MB DDR PC1000.
2gig CPU.
128MB DDR Video card with all input, output source, full hardware encodec & decodec captured support plus all API DOS, D3D, Glide, OpenGL.
100gig Harddrive UDMA 400.
Sound card with full hardware encodec & decodec AC3,DOS,DTS,MP3 support.
DVD-RW 16x with everthing support.
Optional NIC.
Optional Hardware Modem.
Optional Firewire.
Buildin to case 8 port USB Hub upgrade to 16 port.
6 skp setup.
19" wide screen "16x9" LCD.
Everthing full lee upgrade.
All this for $1000 hehe

yea 2 ghz processor we all need one of them

how many times do I have to tell this gullible message board that ZDnet lies a lot and starts rumors. or in other cases, they push the truth a bit to make it sound bad, they are all losers.
 
Some of that may be true, but it's not like they are going to force anything on any of us.
 
[This message has been edited by jdulmage (edited 08 April 2001).]

I would guess that the expansion slot one was a suggestion instead of a requirement. And it is already done on a number of "value PCs". I'd love to see the source of his info, though. I notice he doesn't post a link to the actual guidelines.

jdulmage you need wake up and smell the coffee.
ZDnet lies well it maybe then agane maybe not a lies but I wouldn't it put past MS.
Hmmm "but it's not like they are going to force anything on any of us." Really then what **** "Activation" ?.
So what if it start out as a rumors and your point is ???.
The point of rumors is so we get the message across before it gose final otu us know anything.
Do you recall Bios NET junk in fact I have seen it NO thank to Soyo.

Here's the system requirements right from the M$ website:
 
 
------------------------------------------
Posted: March 21, 2001
 
 
Preliminary System Requirements
To use Microsoft Windows XP Professional Beta 2, you need:
 

• 300 MHz or higher processor clock speed recommended; minimum of 233MHZ required (single or dual processor system)* Intel Pentium/Celeron family, or AMD K6/Athlon/Duron family, or compatible processor 128 MB of RAM or higher recommended; minimum of 64 MB of RAM (may have limited performance with some features or applications)* Minimum of 1.5 GB of available hard disk space* SVGA (800 x 600) or higher resolution video adapter and monitor recommended; VGA resolution minimum required Keyboard Microsoft Mouse or compatible pointing device CD-ROM or DVD drive Sound card and speakers or headphones

 
Recommended Peripherals
Network adapter if using Windows XP on a local area or home network 14.4 Kbps or higher-baud telephone/FAX modem, cable modem, or DSL modem for Internet access Sound card and speakers or headphones
 
Additional items or services
Additional items or services may be required to use certain features:
 
For Internet Access:
Some Internet functionality may require Internet access and payment of a separate fee to a service provider. Local and long distance telephone toll charges may apply.
 
For DVD video playback:
DVD-ROM drive Compatible DVD decoder card or DVD decoder software 8 MB Video RAM
 
For Windows Media Player:
Compatible portable music player optional for transferring music from PC
 
For Windows Movie Maker:
Requires appropriate video capture device depending upon whether your camcorder is digital or analog
 
For audio and video conferencing:
Video conferencing camera Microphone
 
For home networking:
Home networking compatible hardware [/list:u]
 
 
*Actual requirements will vary based on your system configuration and the applications and features you choose to install. Additional available hard-disk space may be required if you are installing over a network.

everyone should have a computer like that or better, if they don't. Then they can stay with their current version of Windows.

Id like an explantion for this crap:
 
START-UP AND POWER
 
 
The system must not display any BIOS text during start-up and must meet these start-up times:
Cold boot to desktop in 30 seconds or less.
Resume from hibernate in 20 seconds or less.
Resume from standby in 5 seconds or less.
A sleep button on the keyboard suspends the PC.
An off button on the front of the PC that hibernates the PC.
A power-off button on the back of the PC.
Laptop battery life must support playing a feature-length DVD or three hours of typical application use.
 
No BIOS text...okay. ;(

Once again, not uncommon. I think they are just refering to the manufacturer's splash screen coming on instead of displaying the BIOS information. I've had several users freak out because they saw all of the computer info display on the screen. So I can see where they are coming from.
 
These requirements and suggestions are only going to be for manufactured computers. The idea is to make them as simple and unobtrusive as possible. Most of the manufacturers have already implemented all of these things. So I don't see what the big deal is. Since most of you build your own systems, you won't be affected. And high-end manufactured computers probably won't be either.

Ahh...I see. That makes sense.

This could be just some thoughts of MS and their will of protecting the novice end-user as well as their reputation of producing "quality products".Well there seems that they have a point in this.However it would be completely destructive for them,not giving the experienced,power-user the joy of building,changing,testing,upgrading his machine.I think that they won't make such a move.They always put up "rumors" like that,get the feedback(which in this is totally negative),and plan accordingly.The same goes for their products.I have the feeling that MS "encourages" the leak of their beta products in a way they get as much feedback as possible.
As for the ZD net article's specs i have to agree with jdulmage...it's all crap.
 
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The infamous beatbox!

Do people realize these are recommendations for PC manufacturers? I doubt it.
 
These are recommendations because a huge vast majority of people who buy off the shelf systems will NEVER upgrade, NEVER look in the BIOS, etc.
 
I personally like these guidlines for the systems I sell. The power-up stuff is good, i wish they made recommendations as to the NOISE level too.
 
What we as enthusiast do, is nothing like what the retail market needs/wants/does. They are two totally different things.
 
In addition there will be versions without activation - for large networks / bulk licensing. These will be common place in the black market.
 
I am also sure that activation will work, without hitch, and be fine. It will base itself on your hard drive, and it will be just your hard drive. The reason : you hard drive has a publically availible serial number! I am not positive but this makes absolute sense. By limiting to one hard drive, you can never have it running on multiple PC's! If you change hard drives - you will have to reactivate. Using just the hard drive is as effective as the overall machine, and fits PERFECTLY with the strategy. How often do you change your HD? If you get a new system with new HD, you activate on that one and you can no longer use the old drive to run from. The HD by itself will provide complete piracy protection, and will have little or no bearing on the user.

Well, that could go along with the new ATA standard--serial ATA, which *could* limit how data is transferred, possibly raising hell when it comes to backups. The thing that bothers me the most, especially if MS decides to go along with this, is for those of us that have more than 1 pc. Look, even an upgrade will cost $100, unless there's a promo upgrade, and even then, I personally dont feel like buying a copy for each pc I have.
Of course if this does come about, Im betting that there will be a rush for for the activation.
Ive heard that this activation code has even some of MS's people p*ssed off. Hmmm...
 
Well some of that stuff I can understand for consumer pcs, but not for my personal hobby.
The noise level will definitely have to be answered though, because the latest cpu's--the AMD T-Bird and the Intel P4 are puttin out some serious heat, and big and loud fans on top of massive heatsinks are the way that they combat heat.
Die shrinks will help, but cpu fans cant be louder than 50db and be on a desktop, and there needs to be an inexpensive but good cooling solution. Yes, there are water blocks and peltiers, but those are expensive solutions and that is used basically by extreme overclockers.
 
The earlier stuff is not set in stone yet, and XP isnt on shelves yet, so MS may here the complaints and work on something else.
 
If the code is done just by the hard drive, then you can basically get a new machine and not sweat it. Of course we'll all have to wait and see what MS finally decides.