Tommy

Yep, you're right on that one. It didn't even come with USB support at all, none of the versions did that I know of, but I do think unofficial USB drivers exist somewhere.

I really don't know if there's a 3rd party replacement, but I do know for a fact that Windows NT4 lacked a device manager straight from the factory. You literally have to go into the places you want to install drivers to via control panel i.e. sound and multimedia for sound drivers, display for video drivers, etc.

@blackwingcat Thanks for the update! I was wondering if progress had halted on the project or if there were issues. Hopefully you'll be able to figure out what's going on with it.

@blackwingcat So curiosity is killing the cat here. How come hasn't there been any English releases of KernelEx released in quite some time? I keep checking your blog and you have a few newer versions but they're in Japanese. Are those ones just minor updates and don't really add anything new to the table that we don't already have with version 29b?

It seems to be working on my end? I can see all sorts of goodies using that link.

I've used Q4OS many times and quite honestly, it's a great Linux distro. The control panel seems a bit lacking for my liking but you can really configure it to look like Windows. XPQ4 can be downloaded and you can then choose whatever Windows skin you want it to look like such as 2000, XP, Vista, 7, 8, or 10. The sky is almost the limit but it's a very light OS and I recommend it to anyone who needs a solution for web browsing. I've used many Linux distros and I always seem to return to Q4OS after a while as the other ones either get messed up by me tweaking them or they're just not for me. I love the idea of going to Linux in general and whatnot but it's not always easy to get answers on certain questions. I always feel that the Linux community acts a bit snarky towards new Linux users. If you want a larger userbase, don't chase the newcomers away but help them out when they ask questions. I think some of it has to do with the fact that there are user guides out there for different distros, but at the same time, some people don't always want to read a big, fat manual just to get the answer to something simple. For me, I fit into that group. I'm not stupid when it comes to computing but Linux is still quite foreign to me and command line isn't always my strong point, especially when it is completely different from Windows. Yes, Linux isn't Windows. That's why if you have users who need a little help understanding something, help them, don't mock them. The Q4OS community seems to be a bit more easy going though which is why I think it's a great choice for anyone looking to come off of Windows after your favorite version is unsupported such as XP or 7.

I helped out the cause and installed Windows XP on my laptop. I was using CentOS on it and I ended up messing up Samba so...here I am now on Windows XP. ;)

Oh I know, right! In fact I was saying that myself, Spectrum is way overused in a lot of things and the real question is, why? What is so special about the word Spectrum?

Yep, just be careful because if it sounds too good to be true, most likely it is. There's no way a reputable company would sell Windows 7 keys for $5-$10, not even this late in its life. Heck, even Windows Server products that are out of date run a pretty penny on eBay. I'd say even for Windows 7 Home Premium, a fair price would be about $39.99 for a key only.

I'm much more open to trying out Edge than I am switching to Windows 10. At work we use Windows 7 and because of our outdated web platform, we're FORCED to use IE11 and I hate it. I'd much rather use Firefox myself but compatibility issues prevent this from happening. I've given Windows 10 a few chances and I will not use it on any of my machines and when "doomsday" arrives, I'll just continue using my Windows 2000 and if need be, I'll switch over to Linux as a secondary operating system. I'm still trying to learn it but it's still a big curve for a power user like me. If I'm forced to use Windows 10 at work, then obviously I have no choice, but it has no place in my home. But more on the topic note, I am more open to trying out Edge a bit more. Chromium isn't a bad platform in my opinion although again, I'd rather use Firefox except I'm not that fond of the Quantum platform (isn't Quantum another one of those overused words, like Spectrum?) So on this I'm keeping an open mind, not saying I'd ever switch over to it but I'll at least give Edge a test run.

That's not 100% true. There are many legitimate reasons why someone may need an actual ISO image. It could be a reinstallation or that you lost the original product media. The real problem falls into either: 1. Asking for a cracked version that defeats the need for a product key and/or activation. 2. Providing a product key on the board with the ISO installation media that belongs to you and only you, or another organization that has a special license. Windows 7 works a bit differently than Windows XP VLKs where Windows XP didn't require activation if you had a special VL edition with an approperiate key. Windows 7 on the other hand requires activation even with a VLK and requires activation generally through a KMS server, on or off site. 3. The ISO comes from any other source other than Microsoft's official website/download source. Any other source can cause issues of integrity of the ISO file, or can have the issue of #1 where it could be a cracked version and when we advertise that, we get into trouble. We're not the pirate bay and never will be. If it happens to be a product key issue, then you'd have to contact Microsoft themselves for a solution because we're not allowed to provide any license keys on the forum whatsoever. That's what seriously violates rule 1a-d.

Old version is also a bit friendly with older IE versions so if you have a vanilla version of say Windows 98 or Me, it's more likely to download stuff from it as it is. That is unless they changed it in the past half year.

Makes you miss the days of Windows 2000, before all this activation nonsense. Perhaps product activation is a bit irrelevant these days. It doesn't really stop piracy but instead just causes more headaches for users with valid licenses. The fact that it sounds as though it continuously phones home regardless of activation status is another issue in itself. Once a product is activated, it should no longer have to communicate with the activation server unless hardware drastically changes or you reinstall Windows in which you should be able to backup your activation status by a generated hash from Windows itself by hardware status, BIOS strings, etc. That way you can't port it to other computers but still easily be able to reinstall and reinstate your activation without having to reconnect to the server and possibly having issues doing so. Eh, pipe dreams. Then again, I'm sure someone would devise some sort of activation crack to bypass activation via a saved file for restoration so Microsoft still wouldn't be ahead of the piracy game. Maybe there isn't an easier answer for Microsoft to cut down on piracy but also make it easier for users not to run into future issues like this. Then again, I wonder how much the company is losing via paying overtime having employees fix the activation issue.

Yep, it's all taken care of. cc333 offered their apology and took the situation in stride. It's not easy reprimanding someone but it's that nasty thing that needs to be done sometimes. Even I was reprimanded on other forums when I was a youngster to the point I was almost temporarily banned. So I appreciate the understanding and if anyone else has anything to add to this thread's actual purpose, have at it!

Please do not discuss politics here, it's strictly against forum rules and has nothing to do with the topic at hand. 2.b Topics devoted to political or religious debate, unless technology related, are prohibited. MSFN is a technology forum and both political and religious debates have caused many problems and distractions in the past. Political or religious links in signatures or polite, courteous comments in non-political or non-religious topics are allowed, but we cannot allow any topics in which the sole purpose is to debate political or religious issues. Next comment out of line and I'm locking this thread so please keep it clean. Thanks.