2.5gb RAM - joy

I stuck an extra 2gb RAM in my Dell Precision 450 for a total of 2.5gb. And wow, what a difference. It is like a whole new machine. I admit it's an old machine now with a few generations old 2.4ghz Xeon, but it runs very nicely with the extra memory. I have a matched 2.4ghz Xeon to go into it but I have had to order the VRM and heatsink from the USA as I couldn't find them in the UK. They haven't turned up yet, but when they do I'm sure the second CPU will help as well.

But the burning question is this: why is DoubleL, a huge Mac fan, using a Dell running Windows 2000? Well, to do what I've done, take a slightly old computer and beef it up a bit, is not so practical with a Mac. This Dell Precision cost £110, probably a tenth of it's original price at about three years old. If I'd spent the same amount on a second hand Mac, it would have been a PowerPC G4 running at about 500mhz with no AGP slot and slower memory, and would have been royally spanked by this machine. The other issue was that I don't see any point in getting a Mac now unless it's got an Intel processor and they are still expensive, even second hand. A new Mac was out of the question.

As it's far too much effort to run OS X on a non-Apple Intel box, I went Wintel for the first time in seven years. This machine hasn't even got a Linux partition, which I had previously considered mandatory since about 1996, even my Macs usually dual-booted into Linux. The Dell is also a rather ugly black square box, nowhere near as pretty as a Mac. But the tower is hidden behind two 17" screens, so that doesn't matter either. Part of the problem now is that when Windows 95 and 98 were current, they were so crappy that the Mac was a compelling alternative, despite the extra cost. However Windows 2000 and XP are much improved, and so now Windows is basically Good Enough. It is still incredibly stupid in many ways from a Mac/Unix perspective though. Vista is a whole new ball game, I think it's ugly and bloated and has yet to be proven.

I don't see any reason to replace this Dell in the near future unless it suffers from hardware failure. As the Precision line is Dell's high-end range, let's hope it doesn't. But if it did - would be replacement be a Mac? If the Intel models are cheaper by then, probably.

Unable to take the dog for a walk today as he cut one of his back feet. It wasn't too bad, but it did leave rather gory footprints for a while.

Thunder and lightning again! ARGH!