Damn microsoft/windows!

[Chairman Meow]

I didn't know there -was- Civ for linux! I use linux for everything but video games, so if I could get Civ 3 for linux, I could format my windows partition in ext3. Where do I find it?

There isn't, but some people use "WineX", a program that allows Windows programs to be run in Linux. It doesn't give the best performance, but it works (at least that's what people have told me - I've never actually bothered trying WineX.)

 

[IbnSina]

@LLXerxes - thanks. I actually tried FreeCiv a year or so ago, but I like Civ III, and am willing to put up with windows if I have to.

@Meow (I love your alias!) I have used wine for some really simple programs with some success, but have had very bad luck with it on more complicated installations that use linked libraries and so on. Still, I've never tried it for Civ - maybe it's worth having a go...

 

[IglooDame]

i was exagurating when i said beyond belief but i do have spyware. my father is a comp science professeror guy at GMU and he told me that's not it.

Yeah, but if you didn't tell him about your pr0n surfing habits, how is he supposed to make an accurate diagnosis?

 

[Ancient Grudge]

Personally ive never had that much of a problem with Windows ME ive reformatted my computer about 6 times in 4 years (my own choice i like reformatting and having a clean slate to start from)

The only major problem ive had is when my lithium battery just crapped up.

What is all the fuss with Windows ME why is it so bad? Personally i hate XP......

 

[Chairman Meow]

@LLXerxes - thanks. I actually tried FreeCiv a year or so ago, but I like Civ III, and am willing to put up with windows if I have to.

@Meow (I love your alias!) I have used wine for some really simple programs with some success, but have had very bad luck with it on more complicated installations that use linked libraries and so on. Still, I've never tried it for Civ - maybe it's worth having a go...

As far as I know, it doesn't work in Wine, but a company called Transgaming makes a version of Wine that I've heard does work with Civ3 (though I've never tried it, so I don't know). The link is here. It's not free, though, unlike the normal version of Wine. Looking at their website, apparently they renamed WineX to Cedega.

 

[Jeratain]

What is all the fuss with Windows ME why is it so bad? Personally i hate XP......

Of all of the Windows releases in their history (next to Bob), Windows ME was the most useless update ever released by Microsoft. Too many customers have had issues with it, especially on the grounds of driver support and crashes. 98 SE is far more stable. That said, ME was/is still functional.

 

[Padma]

I didn't know there -was- Civ for linux! I use linux for everything but video games, so if I could get Civ 3 for linux, I could format my windows partition in ext3. Where do I find it?

To expand on what Chairman Meow has said, WineX/Cedega runs Civ3 in Linux. It is rated 4 out of 5 on TransGaming's website, which means it is not perfect, but has a few minor glitches, generally "ignorable". The biggest glitch I've had with Civ3 is sound - some sound effects keep repeating, and repeating, and repeating.... I just turn off the sound effects in Preferences, and play goes just fine.

Note that many PC games do not run well in Cedega. They have to reverse-engineer much of what MS does to DirectX, so they can call the appropriate OpenGL routines in Linux. And the "free" version of Cedega doesn't play Civ3 at all. You have to buy the "pay for" version to get all the proprietary dlls needed.

With all that said, you might also want to try Battle For Wesnoth, a TBS game developed by Sirp, a poster here. Native Linux code (and WIndows, and Mac versions). A real nice game. [/advertising ]

 

[shortguy]

insanely slow internet connection at around 45 kB/sec

Hah!!! Mine puts that to shame!! Were talking 26.4k, baby!!! (Maybe 30 on an especially good day).

Yeah, my ISP is crap (and we overpay, too).

I would consider using linux, but I like my computer games. I have XP, and it's been pretty good, except that sometimes funky things happen when I try to multitask.

 

[stormbind]

Of all of the Windows releases in their history (next to Bob), Windows ME was the most useless update ever released by Microsoft. Too many customers have had issues with it, especially on the grounds of driver support and crashes. 98 SE is far more stable. That said, ME was/is still functional.

My laptop which shipped with a customised version of 95B (I lost the restore CD) would not work 100% with 98SE (which is the same as Win98 SP1) ... but it worked fine with WinME.

My desktop was faster with WinME than it was with Win98.

Thus I'm happy it was released, and furthermore, the ongoing advice is DO NOT UPGRADE unless you experience problems with your current system

 

[IbnSina]

@Padma & Meow: Thanks! I'll have a look at it.

 

[Dease]

About System Resources
Windows 95, 98, and Me has a special area of memory called system resources that keep track of important information for user interface items such as windows, icons, buttons, menus, and toolbars. The system resources memory area is a fixed size, and does not get bigger no matter how much main memory you install. A system with 32MB of memory has the same size resource area as one with 256MB of memory. (Windows 2000 and XP remove this limitation.)

Each application you run requires some of those system resources. The more applications that you have running, the more system resources you will need to use. The amount required by an application can vary widely; some need only 1 or 2 percent, others need 10 or 20 percent. When free system resources drop below 20 percent, Windows can start to behave strangely. You may get error messages, crashes, or programs just quietly refuse to open dialogs or windows. For some resource-hungry programs, resource-related problems can occur at even higher-levels of free resources.

Solutions
If your system supports it, upgrading to Windows 2000 or XP will eliminate the system resources limitation. If you stay with Windows 95, 98, or Me, we recommend that you try to keep free resources above 40 percent. To check your PCs current value for free resources:

Select Start | Control Panel | System
Click the Performance tab.
A freshly booted Windows system with nothing running should generally have 80 percent or more of its system resources free. If your number is significantly lower, it is usually due to applications that have been started automatically. See the windows details page for a list of programs that were running during testing. Use the MSConfig program to change startup programs, see our instructions for more information.

If an application crashes or it is not programmed correctly, it may not return all the system resources when you close it. This is called resource leakage. There is no easy way to recover leaked resources; you must reboot the PC to get them back.

www.pcpitstop.com
Unfourtunatley, my sytem ressources upon startup never exceed 45% and usually hover around 21% I frequently get crashes aswell but I've learned to notice when my comp is about to die and save my work.

 

[Goober]

Revert back to Windows 98, or upgrade to XP. Either way, Windows ME/2000 sucks.

I am having troubles with my machine, nothing near as bad with you, and my best advice is to re-format, and re-install windows.

 

[MarineCorps]

Actually I have win98 an hate it. Have to DL so many fixes

 

[Chairman Meow]

Either way, Windows ME/2000 sucks.

Windows 2000 and ME aren't in the same league when it comes to stability... Win ME is pure crap, but 2000 is probably one of the best versions of Windows there is... it's far more stable than any of the other versions (except maybe XP), and it has the advantage over XP that it doesn't have XP's ugly theme (which IMHO just serves to waste memory and CPU time which, especially on an older computer, could be put to better use.)

Also, the main difference that separates ME and 2000 is that they aren't based on the same OS kernel: ME is based on the 95/98 kernel, while 2000 (and XP) is based on the NT kernel, which is far more stable.

 

[Comraddict]

OS is not problem; you guys infest your computer with crap and take no maintenance. I have yet to see well maintained computer that is not running bunch of unecessary stuff. and you conplain and it is your fault. WTH!

BTW Windows XP and 2000 are very similar, they share 95% characteristics.

 

[Thrawn]

I've heard XP described as a flashy version of 2000.

 

[Goober]

Oh. Well. i have heard that ME and 2000 were the same thing, i am evidently misinformed.

And you can change the XP theme back to the old Windows style, for the toolbar and such.

 

[Comraddict]

Yeah- Windows XP look is nothing but one service called Themes. The default windows XP theme is Windows 2000 like. By default, service Themes is enabled. When disabled, of course you will see old style looks.

 

[MarineCorps]

OS is not problem; you guys infest your computer with crap and take no maintenance. I have yet to see well maintained computer that is not running bunch of unecessary stuff. and you conplain and it is your fault. WTH!

BTW Windows XP and 2000 are very similar, they share 95% characteristics.

My computer is not infested with crap. I run adaware everytime a new def file comes out(the computer is not hooked up to the internet), I just ran defrag and error checking on my hard drive(oddly no errors were found), and I also have unistalled every program that is not used or I do not want off of it(of 12GB storage space my HD has, 7GB are free). So ha.

 

[Comraddict]

Not yours, but just about everybody eleses.