This is an interesting one, and apparently either not documented at MicroFocus or not very findable. Perhaps I should comb through Cool Solutions for it.
The problem system is a Windows XP SP3 VM running under VBox on Linux. The VM has terminal services components installed to make it behave similarly (i.e., simultaneous logins allowed with independent desktops).
The VM is running Novell Client for Windows 4.91 SP5 IR2, logging into eDirectory 8.8.
It appears that some analysts have compared Windy 8 to New Coke (or Pepsi Blue, according to this article in The Motley Fool). Frank X. Shaw seems to think that touting the "selling [of] 100 million copies" of the ill-conceived (IMO) OS is some great achievement; however, what he doesn't break out is the percentage of those sales which are forced on consumers simply by nature of the fact that the OS comes pre-installed on a new device, and that Windy 8 runs on both tablets and PCs (so we can't even tell how many PCs ended up with 8 on them, or how many people opted to then "downgrade" to 7 upon delivery). Typical nonsense from Redmond, and as an OS/2 user who recalls when the "NT" in "Windows NT" stood for "Not There," it seems to me I've heard this song before.
A client's sole remaining W2K box started having boot issues the other day. It had been on the slate for about a year (or two or three) for an upgrade, but somehow, it just kept chugging along, so we left it be. Well, after confirming that the drive hardware (80GB Western Digital SATA) was in good shape (I did this from a Parted Magic USB stick boot, running just some rudimentary SMART diagnostics), and yet still unable to get W2K to move beyond the first graphical screen during startup, we decided that the time had come for a change.
Sorry, I just couldn't resist. The following was linked from Windows 8 ads hit US screens: Death Metal, exploding laptops and I just had to share it. Those of you who think as I should truly enjoy it, and for everyone else, please take it as good natured fun:
Have you read the reviews of the "new" UI from Redmond? Have you had a chance to give it a test spin of your own?
I don't know that I will ever quite understand the need for developers to change things in such large steps. Of course, for me, the most comfortable and familiar desktop interface is eComStation's enhanced Workplace Shell, taken from IBM's OS/2 Warp 4. Elegantly object oriented and functional, while it's not without its own set of issues, it has remained relatively stable and unchanged for well over ten years. Objects behave as I expect them to behave, and I don't have to waste time trying to figure out where things have gone from version to version of the underlying OS, or how to accomplish simple tasks (it's a desktop, after all; at a physical desk, would I want to have to read a manual every time I needed to open a drawer or answer the telephone?).
I despise Windows. Have I said that before? Here, in case I haven't, I'll say it again. I despise Windows. That feels better. It's good to get such things off one's chest. What a hopelessly broken operating paradigm. Oh, well. It's gotten better, I guess. that is to say, it used to be even worse.
I've been spending much time of late working between zypper and yum on various flavors of Linux and now, eComStation, which has its own port of yum. Of the two, I prefer zypper, though either is head and shoulders beyond the inane Windows patching system. However, when in Rome...
Just some quick notes. Hopefully, these will help someone else at some point in time.
(N.B.: I' ve had this sitting in drafts for a few months, now, waiting for me to follow up. I don't want this to wait, so I'm renaming this "Part 1," and will follow up with subsequent notes as time permits. The server is up and running - painful, but I finally got it - so I'll provide as many of the gory details in time as I can.)
Most of you who regularly read my blog know that I'm no fan of the Windows operating paradigm. It seems that with every release, the OS gets more bloated and performs more slowly. Server 2008 is no exception.
A former tech of mine extolled the virtues of 2008, particularly 64-bit. I am unimpressed.
An interesting head scratcher to which I have been returning almost monthly for some time is the distinct lack of ability to rename files based upon a mask at the OS/2 command line (in a minute, I'll explain why this is a fairly regular occurrence). Of course, OS/2's cmd.exe is not alone in that regard; DOS' COMMAND.COM, 4DOS, 4OS2, JdeBP's 32-bit CMD, Windows' CMD, and even the *nix shells with which I'm familiar don't naturally lend themselves to this kind of flexibility (okay, I lied: you can do it with Bash, of course; see below).
Why a monthly occurrence?
I don't normally send paper invoices to clients anymore. Not only does it kill more trees than it's worth (and no, I'm not an environmental zealot; we grow new trees every day - I'm just the guy who has to buy the paper and the laser toner), but the postage has over the years become a major factor in this decision. Anyone who has to regularly bill clients for outstanding balances knows from whence I speak; send the same client a dunning notice for six months, and that $150 bill has just been whittled down to $147.36 ($0.44 * 6 = $2.64; $150 - $2.64 = $147.36). This just adds the insult to the injury.
