Job Discussion Forums

spidey

Sorry y'all,

Does anyone know where I can get an English version of Windows XP cheap?! Preferably in the Nagoya or Gifu areas.
And do I have to do anything special to my JCOM before installing it?

Thanking you in advance.

S

carnac · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 1:26 pm Post subject:

Opinion: Don't get XP. Waaay more problems than it's worth. Get Windows 2000 Professional.
Had XP and trashed it. Still sorting out the problems it caused in my machine.
How to get it cheap? Illegally, of course. "Borrow" an installation disk.
(The previous statement is neither an encouragement to act illegally nor a suggestion to perform an illegal act, god forbid. Microsoft might well go under should we do these things.)

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

What's a JCOM?

I disagree with the other poster. Windows XP is basically a marginal upgrade to Windows 2000 but with SP2 you get a fair amount of extra functionality.

I have Windows 2000 on my desktop and Windows XP Pro on my laptop and office desktop. I find Windows 2000 marginally more stable, but there is no great difference.

There are three problems with getting Windows 2000.

I'd get an OEM version rather than a pirated one; you are unlikely to be able to download the updates for pirated versions. Make sure you get SP2 on disk as well. The last thing you want to do is to have to download 270MB. Best of all get a slipstreamed installation disk.

Remember to install anti-virus software and a firewall immediately. I recommend Zone Alarm www.zonelabs.com as being better than the built in Windows XP firewall and AVG anti-virus www.grisoft.com Both are free.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Would you guys recommend sticking with IE? I keep reading about mozilla firefox. Should I change?

Stephen Jones · Joined: 21 Feb 2003 Posts: 4124

Firefox wins hands down.

Tabbed browsing in itself is enough reason to change, and the ability to change the font size even when a fixed size is specifed by the web page would also be reason enough should IE7 turn up with tabbed browsing.

vochinch · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 9:19 pm Post subject:

dmb: If you prefer IE, check out the Maxthon browser enhancement. It adds tabbed browsing capability and a host of other improvements to IE. The ad blocking capability is especially useful. You can download it here free:

http://www.maxthon.com/

I like firefox a little better, but it tends to get really slow after being open for long periods.

lajzar · Joined: 09 Feb 2003 Posts: 647 Location: Saitama-ken, Japan

When I asked in computer stores in Nagoya, every staff member looked at me like I had just grown a second head.

I think your best bet is Akihabara. They can probably sell you the OS; certainly they can sell you a whole machine with English OS at very competitive prices.

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

I am very comfortable using IE. How much would I have to adjust? Will I be lost for a while trying to 'get my head round' firefox?

spidey · Posted: Tue Apr 12, 2005 12:09 pm Post subject:

JCOM=Japanese computer

That being said...I have a laptop with Windows Home Edition in Japanese of course. I find myself very limited and not wanting to explore my computer in more depth because of the language barrier. Therefore I would like to find an English OS. I've seen them in stores and I know that you can order the E version. I just thought someone may know where I could find one cheap or even possibly used.
Thanks for the opinions thus far.

P.S. Please feel free to use this thread to talk about any other computer issues. Oops! You already have. Carry on then... Rolling Eyes

S

dmb · Joined: 12 Feb 2003 Posts: 8397

Apologies spidey. guilty of going off topic.