spakman
01-03-2005, 03:48 AM
I noticed that thread and couldn't help but respond. One of the manufacturers listed is Alienware. After what I went through with them, (I bought an MJ-12m) specifically for game development. They say "get XP Pro!" or something like that. What they should say is "you get our OEM version of XP Pro." and all the extra hidden things that go with it, and if you try to modify it, you may violate your warranty."
I'm the first to say I'm not an IT guy, but man from what I've seen burried in that system - a system advertised for professional work (read: proprietary info), I not only had to return the laptop - a shame because it's hardware is off the hook. But the tech support answers I got when I started asking specific questions about group policies, group and user privileges and the why there were these strange hidden scripts burried deep in the software-(I found a couple interesting xml files I probably wasn't supposed to see that would reset things back to their original security settings on reboot. One file I could only get to once)... I mean Jesus! Now I know why half-life two got snatched, or why such an early version of Doom 3 made it across my field of vision a couple years ago.
Alienware makes a great gaming machine, but as far as proprietary info goes, that machine leaks like a sieve. uPnP is just one example. Microsoft doesn't remove errors, they just patch them, meaning they can be unpatched, and security compromised if the vendor wishes.
I'll never go OEM again. (except for my powerbook). That experience not only left a bad taste in my mouth regarding alienware, but also with xp in general. Unless get I get pHD in IT and hacking, I'll never use another xp system unless there's a full time sysadmin chained to my hip. Right now for me it's about Linux and Darwin OS's. Take the P out of XP and start from there. Since they're sorta two flavors of the same OS, once you learn the underpinnings of one, the other comes a bit easier.
As a result, of that experience, I not only said goodbye to alienware, but sionara to windows (thank god for the credit card. Alienware wanted to charge me a 15% restocking fee and said their return policy did not include the software (like I'm going to keep their OEM versions of anything) - I'm like - "er, no talk to AMEX cos I already stopped payment."
Beware what's included in a prepackaged deal. IMHO Alienware has no business selling game development machines where IP integrity is of paramount importance. I'd rather buy xsi seperately, and pay an IT guy to set my gear up, than have a company bitch about me possibly violating their warranty if I look too hard into what they're selling.
just my .02
peace d=^)
I'm the first to say I'm not an IT guy, but man from what I've seen burried in that system - a system advertised for professional work (read: proprietary info), I not only had to return the laptop - a shame because it's hardware is off the hook. But the tech support answers I got when I started asking specific questions about group policies, group and user privileges and the why there were these strange hidden scripts burried deep in the software-(I found a couple interesting xml files I probably wasn't supposed to see that would reset things back to their original security settings on reboot. One file I could only get to once)... I mean Jesus! Now I know why half-life two got snatched, or why such an early version of Doom 3 made it across my field of vision a couple years ago.
Alienware makes a great gaming machine, but as far as proprietary info goes, that machine leaks like a sieve. uPnP is just one example. Microsoft doesn't remove errors, they just patch them, meaning they can be unpatched, and security compromised if the vendor wishes.
I'll never go OEM again. (except for my powerbook). That experience not only left a bad taste in my mouth regarding alienware, but also with xp in general. Unless get I get pHD in IT and hacking, I'll never use another xp system unless there's a full time sysadmin chained to my hip. Right now for me it's about Linux and Darwin OS's. Take the P out of XP and start from there. Since they're sorta two flavors of the same OS, once you learn the underpinnings of one, the other comes a bit easier.
As a result, of that experience, I not only said goodbye to alienware, but sionara to windows (thank god for the credit card. Alienware wanted to charge me a 15% restocking fee and said their return policy did not include the software (like I'm going to keep their OEM versions of anything) - I'm like - "er, no talk to AMEX cos I already stopped payment."
Beware what's included in a prepackaged deal. IMHO Alienware has no business selling game development machines where IP integrity is of paramount importance. I'd rather buy xsi seperately, and pay an IT guy to set my gear up, than have a company bitch about me possibly violating their warranty if I look too hard into what they're selling.
just my .02
peace d=^)