Windows is a mess, too big a mess to sort out; a complete rebuild is what’s required.

It’s the same as a workplace or home, you keep adding new things, moving little bits, but eventually it gets so messy that there’s nothing to do but take it all out and restart.

Move all the furniture, chuck a bunch of stuff out, if it’s that bad then knock all the walls down. You have a blank canvas. Build from the ground up and enjoy the fresh newness!

Microsoft have been bolting and bodging old components and new together since the 90s, components within windows XP still date back years. They have also never actually developed their own kernel; one was made with IBM and the other purchased.

In short, Microsoft have never had to build anything from the ground up, and it looks like they have been desperately trying to avoid having to do so but building something on someone else’s foundations will always lead to compromise

So what is my reaction to Vista’s impending death and roomers of research into ‘Midori’? It’s very possibly too late!

The main problem for Microsoft is that Apple have done it already. OS10 was apples big rewrite, and it was a well planned early response to hardware advances that were likely to take place in the coming few years.

The OS9 to OS10 switch and the woes that followed are so long behind us that it makes absolutely no difference to 99% of us now. The G5 to Intel processor switch caused minor headaches, but the few issues remaining are in the final stages of sorting themselves out. Basically none of the big changeovers in Apple’s operating system or in their hardware will affect most people now.

This is a problem for Microsoft because a big change in Microsoft’s primary operating system will present huge compatibility issues requiring developers support. It will take a year at least to see the level of support and stability that XP enjoys, but this is assuming that Microsoft stick to one OS only.

A lot of users have already been pushed over to operating systems which have already been through the big transitions required to keep up with software demands and hardware support. More will follow as the needs of the few quickly become the needs of the many.

The only operating system Microsoft have which will support over 3 gigabytes of memory, usable by applications is Vista 64. Support from developers for Vista 64 is horrible because most people are still on Microsoft’s 32 bit versions.

Microsoft needed to develop and launch one version of Vista, 64bit, rewritten kernel, not based on any old windows OS components and they needed to do this several years ago in my opinion.

The future, if Microsoft stays on the path they are on? Windows XP will still be Microsoft’s only stable and supported OS well into 2009 and maybe even 2010. Its age shows now to anyone doing any serious creative work, think of how this poor old OS will fare in 2010, weaknesses seen now only by power users will be clear to all.

Mainstream PC software and games developers will start looking for another platform to develop for and Linux I should think will be top of the list. Microsoft’s failures will only serve to fuel the rise of this already viable alternative. And the obvious move for most PC users in need of power and developer support?

Whatever happens now, Apple are already winning windows users every day, if Apple can find a way to retain control of hardware (which is the reason its so stable) but diversify enough to enable support of some third party upgrades that would lure hard core gamers over (Creative sound cards, huge graphics cards etc) an Apple operating system could well take the top spot within the next 5 years.

[RING RING… RING RING]

Me: Hello, Stuart Fox….
Caller: [silence] ….. Good afternoon can I speak to Mr or Mrs Fox please.
Me: Yes…
Caller: Hello, I am calling from the Legal Bureau and we are phoning round the local area to let people know about our free service for anyone who has had an accident.
Me: Good, I’ve had an accident I think!
Caller: Oh [sounding slightly surprised]… What happened?
Me: I’ve found a great big crack running down the middle of my bottom!
Caller: …. How did this happen?
Me: I just noticed it this morning. A Huge crack running right down the centre of my ass!
Caller: Thank you, have a nice day. Goodbye.
Me: Thank you.

Just look at the death, torture and suffering imposed upon humans by their fellows in the name of a so called all loving all forgiving deity.

Double standards, especially when created and upheld by governments are a great danger to the delicate equilibrium of any civilised society.

They are the main cause of racial tension, the Race Relations Act 1976 inadvertently created the preferential treatment of immigrants regarding housing by councils who were scared of falling foul of this law; this sparked off huge and unnecessary tensions and protests, and still legislation that promotes double standards and abuse of law and regulation is still upheld.

Near to me, agricultural land was bought by gypsies who have set up a permanent residence on this land which includes residential vehicular access in a dangerous place right on an accident black spot.

The council serve an order, but this is disputed and may be over turned because residents on so called gypsy sites have rights that we do not.

If I did the same, set up a permanent caravan with a brick wall, a driveway, electricity, phone, drainage etc without planning permission I would be ordered to tear it down right away, and for good reason.

The council is however powerless in this case and has been overruled on these matters before. Access could create a road safety issue, buildings could create a visual impact on an area of natural beauty, but an appeal is likely to allow them to stay simply because they call themselves gypsies.

It is preferential treatment, and considering the harsh nature of councils planning officers regarding legitimate restorations and extensions it is naturally angering to local residents, some of which have had to fight for years at large cost to have modest extensions built onto their houses.

We are not even allowed to mention the sudden spate of petty crime that was non existent before this site was there.

Bottom line - no one should have the right to be immune from any rules and regulations that the rest of us have to abide by… The End!

Any legislation that promotes double standards is bound to build social divides and anger.

So Say I!

The timing of the goodsounds.co.uk attack was perfect - just before Google spidered and updated thier search results. For a while Google thought the front page of www.goodsounds.co.uk was just a blank page - I disappeared from search results overnight.

The most annoying thing is that my hosting company don’t seem to care, or tell me anything about what happened and why! Its a big deal and they act as if nothing happened.

Finally this week www.goodsounds.co.ukis restored in the search listings… So where has this got the attacker? Is the fact my traffic has been slightly diminished for 2 weeks satisfying?

I just don’tunderstand the psychology. If I were a hacker which I am not, I would do this sort of thing for one of 2 reasons, revenge and monetary gain. To attack for any other reason is insanity.

I’ve been noticing that a fair few people who occupy lower paid jobs are barely able to communicate in the only language they know, some are intelligent but have been failed by the education system while others are genuinely incapable of thinking on any sort of advanced level and would have been exactly the same even with the best education. 

Standards at schools are at an all time low, yes we have statistics to prove that I’m not correct, but the statistics are only there to be manipulated in order to cover up the truth that we are generating the most unintelligent, uncivilised generations ever seen in this country!

Once to take A levels and have a chance at a university education you needed a broad understanding of all things, an education founded on the classics and a true lust for knowledge and advanced understanding of your subject.

These days we have literature undergraduates who are too impatient to even read, opting for the audio book on the iPod option. People feel it is their right to attend 3 years of university simply for the experience, they will oftern not even know which subject they wish to study until months before enrolment.

A university experience these days can often be interpreted accurately as 3 years of substance and alcohol abuse and as much random shagging as you can shake a stick at!

While a hard working, hard playing attitude is great for some people; to not be interested in the subject or the work and to simply want to go through university for the party is not what it should be about.

The fact that it is entirely possible to survive an entire education in the UK without needing to learn how to read, write or talk coupled with the current economic climate may have dire consequences; As we all know, it is perhaps more difficult today than it ever has been for young couples and families trying to start out with a career, house, etc.

Those with the ability to think things through will be more likely now to choose not to start a family in the near future. Those who simply don’t think about these things will… well simply not think about it.

These are the people who will reproduce and be responsible for a couple of generations at least of a generation that will single handedly force civilised society to regress.

We see it all around us now… Skilled labour is a thing of the past – we have well and truly turned into a consumer society. Nothing is repaired, just thrown out… even if we could be bothered to fix things and make do as our grandparents had to, many of the skills we need in order to do this have literally died out.

The answer? There is none, we’ve gone too far! We only have to wait now for a complete collapse of the UK economy, the breakdown of civilised society (this is already well on the way) and the resulting transfer of all governmental powers to Brussels! 

A Harsh prophecy? Perhaps. But if you really take a look around, the writing is on the wall in 10 foot high print!

Not a bit of it. The thing is the foundations on which these very different operating systems were built, and the fact that Apple have only one operating system which is 64bit rather than a 64 and 32 bit version.

Because there are so many PCs sitting in homes and offices that don’t need to be 64bit, there is still a demand for a 32bit OS. This basically makes developers lazy. Vista64 is a good operating system despite what some say, the problem is purely with the developers. What works well in my 64bit studio setup works very very well. But so many things don’t work, and fixes come slowly if at all because there is no real rush seeing as though the majority of windows users are still coping with the 32bit versions and the 4 gigabyte memory limit that comes with it.

This turns into a vicious circle. Basically - at some point we will all need more than 4 gigabytes of ram. Most mac users are already well beyond the point where they are happy with 2 or 4 gigs in their machines, so the next version of windows needs to be 64 bit. No 32bit versions… It will be a horrible transition, but its what needs to be done… now!

In the mean time - I have 2 partitions in my studio. XP32 and Vista64. In the vista partition I can load a seemingly endless stack of instruments in Vienna Ensemble, but half of my other plugins dont work or do work but cause problems, in the XP partition everything works just fine, but I need 3 pc’s just to get a good orchestra!

I have been waiting and testing out different solutions for years, its probably time to switch.

I envy those with faith. It must give a fantastic sense of purpose and meaning to life.