[WriteLog] Operating Systems and Specialized Software

[Nick Kail]

Can everyone please give it a rest this thread on legacy software DOS
/WIN3.1 85 98 etc has NOTHING TO DO WITH WRITELOG !!!!! 
IF YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THEN OF COURSE PUT IT ON THE REFLECTOR ELSE DUMP SOME
HORMONES AND GO AND MASSAGE YOUR EGO'S ELSE WHERE NOT ON HERE !!!

$15 AND 5cents from the UK 

Nick  
G3VCP  
( over 40 closer to 50 and proud of it because at this age you don't have to
prove anything to anyone to gain respect )

-----Original Message-----
From: writelog-bounces at contesting.com
[mailto:writelog-bounces at contesting.com] On Behalf Of Bob Naumann - N5NJ
Sent: 01 July 2004 16:33
To: writelog at contesting.com
Subject: Re: [WriteLog] Operating Systems and Specialized Software

I would implore those who need to debate Pro-Audio issues to take it off of
the Writelog reflector.

Thanks,

N5NJ
============================================================
From: "Jim Brown" <jim at audiosystemsgroup.com>
Date: 2004/07/01 Thu AM 09:21:16 CDT
To: "writelog at contesting.com" <writelog at contesting.com>
Subject: [WriteLog] Operating Systems and Specialized Software


>Where I work, the recent sasser virus infected all our
>Win2K machines but left the WinXP machines alone.  Perhaps your "hi-end
>audio production staff" should have a new appreciation for XP?

Perhaps you should know more about what you are criticizing. 

There is FAR more to an operating system than how it responds to (or is
vulnerable 
to) to a virus. I also work in pro audio, and use some specialized software
for editing, 
sound system design, and specialized acoustic and electrical measurements.
I've 
also been a beta tester for some of this software. Such specialized software
is 
produced by relatively small companies, and keeping up with the many
versions of 
Microsoft operating system changes is a huge challenge for them. In addition
to the 
software itself, there are also drivers for hardware that has to work with
the software. 
In a professional, production environment (as opposed to a hobby environment
or a 
work environment), a computer will often be dedicated to running a
particular piece of 
audio production software and do nothing else. Or it may switch between
several 
pieces of dedicated software. Many such machines may not go online at all.  

WriteLog is different -- the author is a very small company and has the same
multiple 
OS issues, but few users of WL are able to dedicate a computer to it.
Instead, we 
must run WL on a computer that does lots of other stuff. Many of us who have
been 
using computers professionally for a while have learned that upgrading to a
new OS 
on a machine that is running just fine is something that ought to be avoided
at all 
costs unless there is a VERY strong reason for doing so (for example, a
piece of 
critical software MUST be upgraded and requires the upgraded OS). I know of 
several VERY sharp computer folks who have spent a week nearly full time
dealing 
with a failed upgrade. One of them worked for Microsoft as a software
debugger, 
another is an experienced programmer. I've had an upgrade come close to
blowing 
up on me. All of us are electrical engineers. One reason that I still have a
machine 
running NT4 is that I don't want to "break" the audio production software
setup and 
spend a week getting it running again. My other NT4 box is my wife's
desktop. She'll 
get a new OS when she gets a new computer. 

FWIW, I have a half dozen machines connected to the internet, running three
different 
operating systems -- NT4, W2K, and XP Pro. I'm quite active on the internet
-- I read 
a dozen pretty active email lists -- but none of my computers have ever been
infected 
with a virus, because those who use them practice safe computing. We NEVER
open 
any attachment, even from a trusted source, unless we know exactly what that

attachment contains, see text in the body of email that specifically
references the 
contents of the attachment, and expect the attachment based on separate 
correspondence. We don't open graphics files, jokes, cute stories, etc. We
don't click 
on links unless we know what those links are first. We also don't open email
from any 
address that "looks funny", is addressed to someone other than us, etc. 

Jim Brown K9YC


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============================================================


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http://lists.contesting.com/mailman/listinfo/writelog
WriteLog on the web:  http://www.writelog.com/