I've been a user of Microsoft Windows much longer then a Mac user. Ever since I moved myself onto the Apple operating system some 3-4 years ago, I've never looked back, except for the one obvious thing. Gaming. I must have my games, although I am starting to become much more of a console gamer except for any FPS games. All FPS games must be played with a keyboard and mouse, or else it's just lame.

More to the point though. I've been beta/alpha testing Windows "Longhorn" or Vista if you may ever since build 3683, which was...2001, 2002?? It's been a lot of fun, but it's been really great lately. The last build I tried was sometime in December, I think it was one or 2 builds after 5231 or whatever that was.

I noticed that Microsoft is now including more then just Calculator and Notepad. Things that would be like Apple's iPhoto, iCal and really nice working email client are built right into the operating system. Now we don't have to search and download 3rd party applications, everything is right there like it should be.

You need to understand I am NOT a Microsoft, Apple or Linux fanboy. I understand that each OS has it's weaknesses and it's strengths. I switched to the Apple platform because I had stopped gaming and I needed something that was going to make me more productive.

Using Windows, is not productive for me. I am always needing to download extra programs or make sure my virus protection software is up to date, along with my spyware scanning software. I had to make sure my registry wasn't mucked up and that programs weren't leaving behind files even after I un-installed them. But now with Vista and it's many new features I have a feeling that a lot of my issues will be taken care of and now I can re-consider using the Windows platform as a main computing environment, not just for gaming.

I use Apple for about everything right now, although that is changing as we speak, partly thanks to Google. Apple has everything I need out of the box, iCal, iPhoto, iMovie and iDVD along with a great set of professional media editing tools and tons of 3rd party pieces of software. Some of the pieces of software I use on my Mac, I couldn't even find a comparable piece of the Windows system. Everything about my Mac is seamlessly integrated and all the programs work so nicely together. Hell, it looks good too! The only issue is, NO GAMING!! Most of the games I play are PC only, although I have seen that Quake 4 is now out for Mac and World of WarCraft is for Mac too, but in reality most of the games I play, Half Life 2, Battlefield 2, Oblivion, and others are PC only. Apple is great for multi-media.

Linux, I have to say is the least productive operating system for me currently. It's #1 on the learning experience though. When I use Linux I probably learn AT LEAST one new thing about it and how it works PER DAY! There's always something new to learn with Linux for me. It's always changing...it changes...almost everyday! A new patch or a new set of features is released for an application I use and I can download, compile and install that patch quickly! I am always trying out new software created for Linux and using bleeding edges stuff. It's fun to see how the developers try to program new programs and pieces of software that have already been done on other operating systems, OS X and Windows mainly. Personally, I use Linux mostly for it's stability and security and implement that into web services, mail, ftp, and databases. Linux is good for being a server.

Windows...Windows...Windows...So many people say how horrible Windows is. Let's get this straight...Windows is...yes, I am going to say it...a wonderful operating system. It's just the IDIOT people who can't work the most simplest things that have so much trouble with an operating system that is so easy to use. Alright, so it doesn't come with all the cool things Apple's OS X comes with, but it sure is easy to use. Or maybe, it's so hard to use only the advanced computer users of today can tackle this beast from Microsoft. You need to understand how the spyware, malware, and viruses work, so that you can prevent or remove them from the systems. I've used Windows for so long this is mostly all a second language to me and my Windows machines are locked down and used only for a couple specific tasks.

So if you've read this by chance...leave some comments...maybe I'll update it or create another section about how I feel Windows Vista is doing in productivity terms compared to Apple's OS X!

This is a report I wrote to get into the Cisco Networking class instead of going to normal high school. It's kinda funny, old school :)

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Computer Report
Jimmy Brancaccio 6.02.03

First off I would like to mention that this started off as four pages and it was still a work in progress. The other night, I totally forgot it was on my hard drive and I formatted it...so now you're getting a much slimmed down version of that.

Over the course of my life I have been using computers for more then half of it, I have used many different operating systems, many different applications, tons of different pieces of hardware so here's a brief overview of what I have encountered in my computer life.

Operating Systems:

>> Microsoft Windows 95 -- This was my first operating system. I didn't get to know it too well like I know other operating systems.

>> Microsoft Windows 98 and Windows 98se -- These have become quite familiar with me because the PCs in my school run on this operating system for the majority.

>> Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional & Advanced Server -- I used both of these for my server at home for 5-6 months.

>> Microsoft Windows ME -- One of the WORST operating systems I have ever used. Way to buggy and I got way to many BSODs. I wouldn't recommend this operating system to anyone.

>> Microsoft Windows XP Home & Pro and Media Center Edition -- These are a much better OS then Windows ME. I ran these operating systems for a while on my normal computers.

>> Microsoft Windows 2003 Standard & Web Editions -- These are my current operating systems that run both my servers and my normal computers on the LAN.

>> Mandrake -- This is the first distribution of Linux I had ever used.

>> Gentoo -- Still working on installing this distribution of Linux and maybe I will have gotten it by the time you read this.

>> College Linux -- This is the 3rd distribution of Linux that I have used. I guess it could be the 2nd since I haven't really gotten Gentoo installed.

>> Microsoft Windows Longhorn -- This operating system isn't even in alpha build yet, but I snagged a copy to check it out. It's much like XP right now.

Hardware:

I have used way to much hardware to tell you right now. I use IDE HDDs, SCSI HDDs, Ethernet cards, motherboards, sound cards, video cards, tape drives, CD-RW drives, optical mice and the list goes on.

Networking:

I have a LAN at home so it was mandatory for me to lear how to maintain and install one. I have no big books explaining the TCP/IP Protocols or the OSI layers. I just read articles on the net and the manuals provided with my networking stuff. I run a fileserver and webserver so since I am on a LAN I have configured my router to send the right port requests to the right computers. (i.e. port 80 requests get sent to the webserver computer). Also learning how to setup wireless internet connection was something I learned since some of the computers on my LAN are connected to a wire-less router for internet access and file sharing.

Servers:

Just thought I should make this it's own category because it's what I mainly do each day of my life. I run about 5 or 6 different servers here. I have a FTP server, webserver, radio station server, Counter Strike MP server, MP3 server and an IRC server. They were all setup and configured by me. I could go into much more depth but I am running out of time. They all run on Windows 2003 though. I would love o move them ll onto Linux but I have not enough knowledge to do that right now.

- It's 7:30am, I just set up this new server last night. It's called WASTE. It was written by Justin Frankel, the man who brought you WinAMP and several other applications. WASTE is much like IRC, and IM and file-sharing combined all into one. Well when I went to bed about 8 hours ago there was about 7 or 8 people connected to my server, when I woke up about 10 minutes ago and checked, there was about 400 people connected sharing files and chatting...amazing isn't it? I am still learning about how this WASTE network works...

Programming:

>> C++ - I have very little knowledge of this language as I took a course in it 3 years ago and I think I have forgotten everything I learned.

>> DarkBASIC -- As it says it's a BASIC programming language. I didn't enjoy it very much.

>> PHP -- I am just learning this right now. I have some scripts up to use.

>> Visual Basic -- I took a course on this language last year and I am okay with this language. I have several applications made but it's nothing that's to special.

Hey, this is another call out to confining, I've been putting off hacking my PSP for like a week or two now, because I knew it'd be a pain in the ass, and it appears as if it definitely is.

So here's what I've got:

1. Sony PSP Fat w/ firmware 3.1.1
2. That battery service tool from CodeJunkies
3. A laptop with Windows
4. That Pandora application & those firmwares that come with it
5. A 512MB Memory Stick Pro Duo -- blank

So yeah, I cannot figure out from the directions what to do, it did mention copying some battery and installation applications over to the memory stick, yet I do not see those, so I'm a bit confused!

Anyways, if you can help me out that'd be great :) & much appreciated, I really wanna get it going now that I got my hands on an extra PSP. If you want you can iChat/AIM me, my screen name is under my profile on Scribbld, or if you prefer another instant messenger, I can do whatever!

Thanks!