lI1|1! Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 i Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill_Simpkins Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Something for you all to consider is that new computers will be very outdated soon. Yeah, technology changes fast, but between now and 2011 there are going to be significant changes (more than the usual) in performance. For instance, I heard straight from Intel that the average home machine will have about 80 cpu's by 2011. Additionally, frameworks are currently being released that let programmers easily spread the cpu load out amongst them(PLinq for example). This means MAJOR improvements is software capabilities are on the way in the next 5 years. Already, it is practical to get a home PC with 4-8 cpu's. So for now, I wouldn't worry about it too much. Unless your hardcore gaming or rendering video and computing weather patterns, get something that just "works" and hold out until its practical to get a 50+ cpu system and software is out that takes advantage of it. Exciting times ... Â I've been using a DUO 2.66 Ghz PC with a 8800 GTX video card, 4x raid array running Vista SP2 and it's been solid as a rock. It never crashes and is very smooth. Can run 3-4 Visual Studio 2008 , SQL Server Management Studio (big hog), IIS, Fiddler about 10 browsers, a Virtual PC and 2 remote desktops all at the same time and it still runs fine all day long. Also handles any game (such as Team Fortress 2) with ease. Â One of the other developers where I work took a Mac and put Vista SP2 on it and it works great. Also WinXP SP3 is going to be the fastest Windows product ever made, when they release it. So that's another thing to consider. Maybe get a mac and run XP SP3 on it. I think right now it won't matter too much. Just get something without busting your bank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Frieh Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I heard straight from Intel that the average home machine will have about 80 cpu's by 2011 Â Â If you mean 8 cores in one CPU by 2011 yes (actually ~64). Â But 80 seperate CPUs... not so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I only need 637 kb of memory for my computer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olyclimber Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 "Computers in the future may weigh no more than 1.5 tons." - Popular Mechanics, 1949  "I think there is a world market for maybe five computers." - Thomas Watson, chairman of IBM, 1943  "I have travelled the length and breadth of this country and talked with the best people, and I can assure you that data processings is a fad that won't last out the year." - The editor in charge of business books for Prentice-Hall, 1957  "But what...is it good for?" - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip  "There is no reason anyone would want a computer in their home." - Ken Olson, president, chairman and founder of DEC  "Hey, I know this! This is Unix!" - Jurassic Park  "Indeed, it would not be an exaggeration to describe the history of the computer industry for the past decade as a massive effort to keep up with Apple." - Byte, December 1994  "So we went to Atari and said, 'Hey, we've got this amazing thing, even built with some of your parts, and what do you think about funding us? Or we'll give it to you. We just want to do it. Pay our salary, we'll come work for you.' And they said, 'No.' So then we went to Hewlett-Packard, and they said, 'Hey, we don't need you. You haven't got through college yet.'" - Steve Jobs, cofounder of Apple Computer  "I'm not dumb. I just have a command of throughly useless information." - Calvin, of Calvin and Hobbes  "From space, I saw the fragile blue earth without borders." - Onizuka Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mal_Con Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We are already shipping a 24 core CPU and have a 40 on the way Intelasys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Why buy a little Mac from Apple when you can walk down the street and get a Big Mac for a couple bucks. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dechristo Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008  "But what...is it good for?" - Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip   Misquote. Edwin Starr said that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hugh Conway Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I heard straight from Intel that the average home machine will have about 80 cpu's by 2011 Â Â If you mean 8 cores in one CPU by 2011 yes (actually ~64). Â But 80 seperate CPUs... not so much. Â cellphones x3 mp3 players x3 avalanche beacons x2 cameras x5 routers + HD Drives x5 Â at the current moment Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pup_on_the_mountain Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 anyone get cygwin (or something equivalent) working w/ Vista? Yes, but with a lot of trouble, and after several attempts at installing it. Went with the default installation options though. Should probably be easier/faster if you choose only the programs that you need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Why buy a little Mac from Apple when you can walk down the street and get a Big Mac for a couple bucks.  as if they ever actually look like THAT Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lI1|1! Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 cyber snaffles: Â Scientists are working to develop special chips that can be used instead of animals to test product safety. Â TROY, New York (AP) -- The lab rat of the future may have no whiskers and no tail -- and might not even be a rat at all. Â With a European ban looming on animal testing for cosmetics, companies are giving a hard look at high-tech alternatives like the small, rectangular glass chip professor Jonathan Dordick holds up to the light in his lab at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Â The chip looks like a standard microscope slide, but it holds hundreds of tiny white dots loaded with human cell cultures and enzymes. It's designed to mimic human reactions to potentially toxic chemical compounds, meaning critters like rats and mice may no longer need to be on the front line of tests for new blockbuster drugs or wrinkle creams. Â Dordick and fellow chemical engineering professor Douglas Clark, of the University of California, Berkeley, lead a team of researchers planning to market the chip through their company, Solidus Biosciences, by next year. Hopes are high that the chip and other "in vitro" tests -- literally, tests in glass -- will provide cheap, efficient alternatives to animal testing. Â No one expects the chips to totally replace animals just yet, but their ability to flag toxins could spare animals discomfort or death. Â Â Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hafilax Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I'm holding out for a Quantum Computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-spotter Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I have one of those. It's called a plant. Â http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v446/n7137/abs/nature05678.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlpineK Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 You folks want a computer? Get yourself one first designed in 1937.  Turing Machine  Get rid of that fancy new high priced crap and go for the original and still the best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 We are already shipping a 24 core CPU and have a 40 on the way Intelasys. Â How's that memory bandwidth contention working out for you ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
foraker Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 Some advantages: -Not made by Microsoft -De rigeur for attracting hipster chicks in coffee shops  Some disadvantages: -Must ride a fixie and carry a man purse -Attracts hipster chicks  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clavote Posted January 29, 2008 Share Posted January 29, 2008 I've been toying with the idea of buying a Macbook Pro, but the significant extra cost over a PC has been a bit of a hurdle. Some advantages: -UNIX-like terminal -can run windows apps through virtualization  Some disadvantages: -friggin' one-button touchpad -the 17" is super-pricy, and it has souped up processor, etc. that i don't need. i want the 15" specs w/ the 17" display.   any opinions out there from developers who use Macs? what about converting my mind from PC land? How painful is the 1-mouse-button thing? anyone get cygwin (or something equivalent) working w/ Vista?  I use both platforms and my opinion is that the mac is a profit bloated device shrouded in some form of teen mistique.  Both machines work as well and have slight pros and cons.  I will stick with a PC for my personal computer since there is little advatage to a mac except for being "cool" with your buddies. Oh, and the virus issue.....years of using a PC with no anti-virus software has resulted in no viral infections. NONE. Over the years, I had two virus infections with the mac. But I stay away from suspect sites and porn portals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted February 28, 2008 Author Share Posted February 28, 2008 the new macbook pros just came out, and i bought one (ouch). i should be receiving it in about two weeks. Â got the 17" backlit LED 1920x1200 model. Â the strongest selling points for me were the display, the quality the of hardware, the unix-based OS, and not Vista. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tvashtarkatena Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I like Macs cuz they use that translucent plastic just like on "I robot". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wfinley Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 I have a MacBook Pro running XP simultaneously so I can run IIS/ CF8 and mirror my hosting environment. It's a good setup for a designer... but if I was only doing programming I'd go with XP only. Likewise if I was only doing design I'd go Apple only. Â In my opinion the only reason you'd get a Mac is if you do a lot of photography or design. Adobe products run better on a Mac and Apple's Aperture is an excellent product. Running Photoshop or Illustrator on a PC is an exercise in patience. On the other hand trying to do any type of web programming on a Mac is ridiculous considering 90% of users are on a PC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rob Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If I buy a mac, do I have to start sleeping with men? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KaskadskyjKozak Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If I buy a mac, do I have to start sleeping with men? Â Â Dude, you've got the one liners today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClimbingPanther Posted February 28, 2008 Share Posted February 28, 2008 If I buy a mac, do I have to start sleeping with men? It's not really as bad as it sounds, rob, as long as you have some Zoloft handy. The postpartum depression every time you take a dump can get out of hand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary_Yngve Posted March 12, 2008 Author Share Posted March 12, 2008 my new mac is awesome!!!! i think if everyone owned a mac, it would cure all of society's ills!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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