Hey,
Its time for another spring clean with my computer. I havnt re-installed since i got the computer and its piled up with junk. I decided to do this now as i recently aquired 8GB ddr2 ram. This should help speed Maya up, and allow for larger Memory Caches with fluids and dynamics. I was using Vista 64bit before and i was quite happy with it so i re-installed Vista.
However i left 100gb partition for Linux, i decided to tryout Arch64. While i have tried many distro’s over the years and i have continually found myself returning to Ubuntu, i think i have now found my favourite Linux Distro. Arch is amazing, its quick and speedy and 100% configurable. The Pacman package system is top notch and comparable to deb and apt, however i dont like the AUR system. Also i have found that many programs have pre-compiled *.deb and *.rpm pakages while there isnt nothing like this for Arch. Arch64 has its drawbacks however. Its a purely 64Bit distro and i have found problems getting Flash and Java to work. Also getting grub to boot vista was troublesome.
However i must say that i do like Arch64 as a linux distro. I will most likely continue using ubuntu on my laptop however for convenience. Ubuntu is the only distro i have been able to use with all functions on my macbook, however i am looking to try Fedora 9.
Vista however has left me gobsmacked. I really cannot see why people just hate Vista. Im using 64bit version of Vista which has even less driver and application support and i have no problems. All my applications and games work straight away. Steam works 100% like a treat. Maya 2008 is almost as quick as the Arch64 version (Openbox). I love the start menu and sidebar. I didnt use the sidebar to begin with however now i have a few commonly used gadgets such as processor and memory management, calculator and recycle bin i keep it ontop at all times.
However my favourite feature of vista, is that it works. With OSX and Linux i am able to get a fully functioning system. With the help of parallels/cedega/crossover/wine etc i can also run alot of my applications. However the performance of these isn’t onpar with Vista. I also dont like having to run VM’s or add a compatability layer to the system (Purely my preference). OSX may have iLife, however i have never used an iLife application other than to mess around with. I prefer to get a dedicated application for each job, rather than a hodge-podge set made for beginners. Ie Lightroom instead of iPhoto. Dreamweaver isntead of iWeb etc.
Not to say that OSX is by anymeans crap. I love my MBP and i use it daily. However for majority of tasks i prefer to use my Vista Box.