Windows Vista (r) / 7 Advisory.

Xaxero Software Recommends Windows XP 32, Ubuntu Linux or Mac OSX for use at sea

Identified Vista (r) Problems With Xaxero Software:
Help Disabled by default –
Windows help has been pulled from Vista. Follow the link that Microsoft supplies to download Windows help from the Internet.

Weather Fax 2000 USB pictures washed out – try first reducing the radio volume slightly. If that does not work increase the radio volume.

64 Bit Vista /7 : SkyEye will not work native with this OS and with near zero support and the high cost of licensing device drivers this is unlikely to change in the near future. If you need to run a 64 bit OS for Memory reasons Linux and Mac are supported. If you want to run under 64 bit Windows we suggest you set up Linux to dual boot.

Hyper terminal Not included: Hyper terminal is the number one fault finding tool of Marine Software Professionals. Not having this available will greatly increase the time required to diagnose and fix faults.

What is wrong with Vista(r) and Windows 7?

With the introduction of Vista early 2007 we experienced something quite new in the computer business, an operating system (OS), where the needs of the end user were not foremost in it's design. The main body that influenced the design was the entertainment industry.

The core of the system is designed to fight media and software piracy by closely monitoring activities performed on the machine. This puts a much greater demand on the hardware and requires a high spec machine to be able to implement this spyware*.

The OS needs to update itself frequently without the consent of the user so that the people behind the OS can ensure that the end user is in compliance. Should the controllers of the software decide you are in non compliance select software or the OS is disabled. This could happen in the middle of an ocean passage. Read the EULA, we are not making this up !

All these features do not lend themselves to a machine on a boat where independence from the Internet is a paramount feature followed by the machine being efficient and economical with power usage.

All our software currently works under Vista and Windows 7 but the “User Experience” is not as smooth as with Windows XP. SkyEye will not recieve satellite pictures on Windows Vista/7 64 bit.

To Counter this Xaxero Marine Software/ SkyEye Systems LTD recommends that users avoid Windows Vista/ 7 at all costs. Windows 7 is somewhat better but it is still a step backwards from XP.

To this end we have several alternatives to those purchasing a new PC.

Insist on XP if at all possible.

All our software will run on an Apple Mac running OS X 10.4 or later. All our software runs on Ubuntu Linux. Ubuntu Linux is free and readily available for download. It installs trouble free on the majority of PCs and has security feature vastly superior to Windows.

Vmware and Wine will allow you to run Windows software on the PC.

Buying a Mac is normally more expensive than buying a PC but you get a superior quality machine. With software like Vmware Fusion or Parallels, you can run Windows applications seamlessly with Mac applications.

* Microsoft Corporation website describes spyware: "Spyware is a general term used to describe software that performs certain behaviors such as advertising, collecting personal information, or changing the configuration of your computer, generally without appropriately obtaining your consent first." Ref http://www.microsoft.com/protect/computer/basics/spyware.mspx

Vista and Windows 7 are the registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation.
Mac is the registered trademark of Apple Computer Inc.
Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds.

We Advocate Free Choice

Windows Vista (r) / 7 Advisory.

What is wrong with Vista(r) and Windows 7?

Further reading: