Hi guys,
Is it safe to admit that I've been beta testing weekly builds since the inception of XP SP2? Well over a year an a half. Don't slamm me, please. I did it so I could put my best input into the release.
Everybody interested in doing this, if they honestly tested WinXP SP2 w/o slamming Microsoft or the OS, we'd end up with a way better release of the OS. MS depends on its beta testers to put the final product together, and they listen to us. Some of us found some problems with the original RTM released last weekand. MS tested our defect reports, found them valid, and were responsive enough to actually delay the release and fix the problems. So, don't think being a volunteer tester is a waste of time. This time around, MS really went the extra mile to listen to us on a number of issues that were mostly minor, but might mess up an easy install. Some others were more specific to program compatibility. And a few were serious enough to warrant code rewrites because of potential problems that may occur, not immediate ones.
But, hey, I haven't seen anyone rain on ATI's parade because the majority of us w/9800XT's or 9800 Pro 256 units can't get Doom 3 to run on our machines. Even with a gig of memory and 2.5 gig processors.
And I haven't heard much about Carmak and ID Software getting trashed for releasing Doom 3 without doing adequate QA on all platforms.
I spent full price on Doom 3, and all it does is decorate my shelf and hog up disk space. Crasheds about every three or four minutes. That is shameful and totally disrespectful. It is the tactics of the "old" Microsoft.
I've got the latest "Final" running on my machine right now without any problems. No issues with bootskins or logon skins, or w/Window Blinds or Object Desktop. I'm running the "Official" release of the Spiderman WB pack - which I think Stardock should remove the ISP text from on the wallpaper. Why should I have to pay for an advertisement for some ISP I don't care about? PLEASE redo the skin w/the spiderman-isp junk removed from the wallpaper.
To be really sure you're not going to corrupt anything, uninstall and then einstall al the Object Desktop apps and other specialty apps.
I keep every mod made to my desktop in a folder w/subfolders for every suite, keeping all wallpapers. logons, bootskins, etc. in the appropriate subdir. That makes it way easier to deal with.
Other friends have said that all they did was revert back to the Win XP default, and after the the installation, the switched back to Object Desktop and had no problems.
Feel free to post any questions about SP2. I'll do all I can to help you prepare for a good install. And I'd prefer not to get flamed or trashed, OK? I'm just trying to help, and ask a few questions about other buggy software that nobody trashes the way they do Microsoft.