Does SEIV run on XP????

[Solymr]

I'm not a big fan of 2000 myself. I have 98SE, 2000 Pro and XP Pro on this machine and I tend to use XP the most, 98SE sometimes for my old favs but I haven't actually used 2000 since I updated it Last, which was back in Feb. I find its pretty unstable with several games and I've had a few others that just refuse to run under it. I've NEVER had a problem with XP, with the possible exception that I hate having to restart and go into 98 so I can play a DOS game when I'm bored (I'm too lazy to bother with dosbox). This isn't to say 2000 is bad, I'm sure its great to use in buisness. I just find that when it comes to games 2000 just can't keep up the pace and the handful of my friends who've tried it tend to agree with me.

Also, programs like StyleXP can change the look of the interface and the stupid new start menu is easily set back to classic mode.

All in all, SE4 is fine on XP. I've had a problem with ship animations, but I think thats just a rare bug that only a few people have had.

And no, I'm not a M$ sales rep. I just find that XP Pro is hardly given the credit it deserves. Its a solid gaming platform that until Longhorn comes out, or Linux attracts more game creators, will be what most games will be aimed at.

Just my 2 credits worth.

[JayBdey]

Trust me, you won’t want longhorn. XP is the Last MS product I will be using. If the rumors and speculations are even half true you will no longer own your computer with longhorn. You will be allowed to do only what MS approves. Only "trusted" programs that are signed will run on it, so good bye OSS for Windows, do you think they will sign Mozilla's code as "safe"?

And you will get a good laugh out of this. Look at the projected system averages for when longhorn comes out. MS says this will be the average PC when it ships.

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...id=190&tid=201

From Slashdot "At first I thought this was a joke, but this article from Microsoft Watch confirms it: 'Microsoft is expected to recommend that the 'average' Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today.'"

[Solymr]

Originally posted by JayBdey:
Trust me, you won’t want longhorn. XP is the Last MS product I will be using. If the rumors and speculations are even half true you will no longer own your computer with longhorn. You will be allowed to do only what MS approves. Only "trusted" programs that are signed will run on it, so good bye OSS for Windows, do you think they will sign Mozilla's code as "safe"?

And you will get a good laugh out of this. Look at the projected system averages for when longhorn comes out. MS says this will be the average PC when it ships.

http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=0...id=190&tid=201

From Slashdot "At first I thought this was a joke, but this article from Microsoft Watch confirms it: 'Microsoft is expected to recommend that the 'average' Longhorn PC feature a dual-core CPU running at 4 to 6GHz; a minimum of 2 gigs of RAM; up to a terabyte of storage; a 1 Gbit, built-in, Ethernet-wired port and an 802.11g wireless link; and a graphics processor that runs three times faster than those on the market today.'"

I don't intend on using Longhorn myself, I'm hoping Linux will be a more viable platform by then. I'm not fond of being told what programs I can and can't use (as I'm sure most others are) so I seriously doubt Longhorn will take off with gamers unless M$ changes its strategy (highly unlikely, looks like Big Bill wants to hold our hands and show us the golden path he has in store for us).

In regards to recommended system specs, I'm guessing Longhorn won't be out till late 06 or ealry 07. By then the average PC will make my machine look like a pocket calculator. But as many have said before, Longhorn will probably work on any new machine you buy today, just not running its full features.

I just hope Linux starts to get popular with game developers.

[Atrocities]

I have been running SEIV on XP for over a year and a half now and it has ran fine. No problems.

[Fyron]

I have been able to run a wide variety of games without issue on 2000, with the exception of a small number of ancient DOS games, which can be run in other ways, so no loss there. 2000 is just as stable as, if not more stable than, XP, because there is less bloat. The core OS is pretty much the same with both OS. 2000, with service packs installed, is perfectly fine for gaming.

There are several interface areas that you can NOT revert to normal in XP, which is a big problem.

Mephisto, XP Pro is a decent OS, though it pales in comparison to 2000, as it has all that garbage floating around that you don't need stacked on top of win 2000, which it is mostly a skin upgrade of anyways...

[Magnum357]

I think I agree with others, this new "Longhorn" OS is a load of crap!!! I'm sick and tired of M$ trying too control the entire computing world. I think Win98 and WinXP are going too be the Last OS I'm going too use because Linux is starting too look more and more popular by the minute.

Heck, my brother just got a copy of Linspire (its actually Lindows, but because of all the Lawsuits by M$ claiming too steal the "copyrighted" name of Windows, they changed it too Linspire) and I'm really impressed by this OS. Its not nearly as Open sourced as Red Hat and other Linux OS's, but its based on a Hierarchy structure like Windows and it can still run many older Windows based programs that are common on Win98/2000 (maybe even XP based too).

Its very possible many small game developers could look into Linspire as a good, solid Gaming OS. Heck, I heard SEIV was made with Delphi (and awsome programming language), maybe Aaron Hall could create His Space Empires games on Linsprie.

[JayBdey]

What areas can you not change back to normal on XP? You can change most everything in XP, some things are not easy to change, but they still can be changed.

And I actually like the blue XP GUI. I like it better than the cold grey 9x/2000 look, but MS included that as the Win Classic theme for people who like it more.

[se5a]

Originally posted by Solymr:
I hate having to restart and go into 98 so I can play a DOS game when I'm bored (I'm too lazy to bother with dosbox).

get one of the dosbox front ends, its great, it will help you set up all the stuff for a game then you can run it.
next time you just need to run the front end, click the game and hit run - easy as pie.


oh - and incase you guys didnt realise, that comment about the KISS principle was pointed at the longhorn specs...

[Will]

For those who do not like the WinXP cartoon-y Fisher Price Interface, and don't want to spend all the time tracking down the options to switch the interface to something resembling intelligence...

Perhaps you should look into replacing Explorer (the Windows shell shipped with Windows) with GeoShell or LiteStep. Can be as bare-bones or fully featured as you want with various plugins, and there are many, many pre-made themes which combine the plugins with a useful interface.

I'm currently using LiteStep with the Austerity theme, slightly modified to have four virtual desktops, among other things.

[Atrocities]

Hey Magnum posted. I know him from the old SE4 Forums. Hey Magnum.