OT: VISTA

[dogscoff]

I'm sick of Windows. The question you really have to be asking is, "what do I use my PC for that I couldn't do with Linux?"

For me, the answer to that question is "Absolutely nothing, except Space Empires."

Web browsing, email, office applications, mediacentre-type stuff, plenty of good games... all of it can be done with Linux. And if you buy a PC without an OS (ie, without Windoze) installed, you can save yourself some £$E.

What versions of Windows will SE5 actaully run on? My next PC (if and when I can ever afford one) will run Linux for 99% of the time, and then have a small, stripped down Windows partition (running a hooky version of 98 or 2000 or XP, NOT Vista) exclusively for Space Empires. I wouldn't even need to go online with that partition (thus negating any security concerns) - I could up/download turn files on the Linux side and then just reboot to play the game.

I think we should hassle Malfador for a Linux version of se6, definitely.

[Randallw]

Try out this flowchart.

Thing is at first I thought the second question was to weed out idiots, then I realised it just means that choice doesn't run Vista.

[Caduceus]

THansk Randall. That was a good laugh.

[PvK]

Also see this article!

The Vista Content Protection specification could very well constitute the longest suicide note in history

[Fyron]

You can't really blame MS for HDCP. They couldn't get a license to support full HDMI output without fully implementing HDCP. If they did not, all they could do is output HDCP-protected video at non-HD resolutions. Your scorn in this instance is more correctly placed at the feet of the content industry (primarily the MPAA). HDCP is only an issue with Blu-ray and HD-DVD, not regular DVD movie playback, which does not have the higher-resolution HD support. The MPAA is obsessed with copy protection, and will only license Blu-ray and HD-DVD technology to companies that are willing to integrate HDCP. If they did not require it, MS wouldn't have bothered implementing HDCP. Display manufacturers (monitors, tvs) have to support HDCP as well, otherwise they won't be able to play high resolution movies. Its quite an insidious system...

MS could have chosen to not support HDCP, but then they could not include software to access Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies (or drives, for that matter) at full resolution. They apparently decided it would be better to support new technology than be left behind, and thus ridiculed for that reason.

[Kamog]

Will these Blu-ray and HD-DVD movies be viewable under XP, or do we need to upgrade to Vista to get them to work?

[Fyron]

You can view them in XP now, through the use of 3rd party software. MS just wanted WiMP to be able to play HDCP protected content at full resolution.

[Phoenix-D]

According to the readme, SE5 will run on Windows 95. The real limit is probably DirectX 8.1, which AFAIK isn't available for anything earlier than 98.

[Suicide Junkie]

Point of trivia: the SE3 demo runs on win3.11
(You merely can't register it, since there is no registry)

[dogscoff]

So I could run a dual boot system, with Linux for all my day-to-day computer needs and a minimal win98 install for SE4 and SE5.

Sounds good to me.