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It's great, I've recommended this to quite a few friends when their offspring express an interest in computing.
And of course, the fact that it (at least until recently) was designed and implemented in Smalltalk is another huge plus.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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It's a pitty I can only find them in English. Would like to get my kid started on this. Maybe I will build my own 
To alcohol! The cause of, and solution to, all of life's problems - Homer Simpson
----
Our heads are round so our thoughts can change direction - Francis Picabia
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Amazing! I may as well make some games.
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UK gov spends 200 quid per laptop to extend 'support' from MSFT for a year.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/microsoft/10741243/Government-pays-Microsoft-5.5m-to-extend-Windows-XP-support.html[^]
That's 5.5 million pounds in total. (They have had 7 years to upgrade to Win 7 though).
"The end of commercial support for Windows XP does not mean it will stop working, simply that Microsoft will stop releasing security patches for the operating system, so any security holes that are discovered after that time will be vulnerable to exploits and malware"
How will security holes be discovered if MSFT halt support? No one else will be reporting them, since they cant get support, so its only the likes of the UK gov who will be able to report any, and MSFT isn't going to release any new code anyway!
5.5 million down the drain then....
Shame, I would have given them the same level of support for half that. Oh well.
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I had a previous job where an entire team of consultants were hired to replace an existing system (which I was supporting).
The consultants got new PCs, huge budgets for new software and servers, and spend a year and a half delivering absolutely nothing.
I told my director (after they had all left/been released/etc) that I could have done what they did for half the money, in half the time... but the difference was, at the end of it all, they would at least have 1 happy employee left.
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The UK government wasting money on an IT project? Well that's a first. 
"These people looked deep within my soul and assigned me a number based on the order in which I joined."
- Homer
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Yeah, NHS data base and air traffic control come to mind....
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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Microsoft (and some people who upgrade laptops for a living) are claiming naughty men have been saving up security holes in XP for when it is out of support so they can exploit them with no danger of them being closed.
MSome men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Nice. 
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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Ringo has a hole in his pocket. Or at least half a hole.
You'll never get very far if all you do is follow instructions.
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Are you sure that was actually someone for Microsoft. I've had plenty of cases of folk ringing me telling me I have a problem with my computer and that if I log on to a certain web site they can take remote control of my PC and sort it out.
"If you don't fail at least 90 percent of the time, you're not aiming high enough."
Alan Kay.
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Did your moniker get an extra under score?
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Yes, but I changed it anyway, I got bored with it.
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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how much would it have cost to upgrade to Windows 7, though? what software would need to be replaced or upgraded? what about the time taken to install a new OS on every device affected?
Might well be cost effective - and I don't think school kids are vulnerable to security holes in the OS - let's face it, send them a .exe in the mail, tell them it's "reeely kewl" and they'll run it.
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Software would be OK, driver might, USB mostly, those will be online. Upgrade cost? Whats a win7 license, plus an admin install? Whatever it is that cost has to be bourn at some point. Shelling an extra 200 quid per machine to gain a few months shows serious lack of planning.
Oh, and I asked Chris to revert back to an old account whose email address I use more frequently, that's why my accounts changed.
"The whole idea that carbon dioxide is the main cause of the recent global warming is based on a guess that was proved false by empirical evidence during the 1990s." climate-models-go-cold
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Munchies_Matt wrote: Software would be OK
Not necessarily, there is certainly software out there that has problems on different versions of an OS.
Munchies_Matt wrote: Whats a win7 license,
I don't know what deal the schools get, but maybe 100 quid or a bit less?
Munchies_Matt wrote: plus an admin install
Every pc in every school? Quite high I would think?
Munchies_Matt wrote: Whatever it is that cost has to be bourn at some point.
true - but the longer you can go with existing software, teh more you can spread the cost - and if it aint broke, why fix it?
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The sky is falling, the sky is falling.
fat___boy wrote: The end of commercial support for Windows XP does not mean it will stop working, simply that Microsoft will stop releasing security patches for the operating system
If you had read the article you would not have made that statement.
The article states "The government has signed a deal with Microsoft to provide Windows XP support and security updates across the whole UK public sector for 12 months after commercial support for the operating system ends on 8 April 2014.".
Considering that they will receive security updates this may be a cost effective way of dealing with the problem.
fat___boy wrote: How will security holes be discovered if MSFT halt support?
Microsoft halted commercial support for XP but continues to provide security updates to the UK public sector under this contract.
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Please don't use facts, it will only confuse OP.
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Nagy Vilmos wrote: Please don't use facts, it will only confuse OP.
He obviously didn't read the article linked to in his post.
It was in the second sentence that it was stated that Microsoft would support and provide security updates for a year to the UK public sector under this contract after dropping support to the general public on 8 April.
Since he is new to the site, under a week, I wanted to point out to him that he should read and comprehend before posting observations.
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The Op is far from new, he has been on the site for many years but just gets banned for trolling every now and then. This is just the latest resurrection.
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Probably by back testing Vista/w7/w8 exploits against XP internally...
Did you ever see history portrayed as an old man with a wise brow and pulseless heart, waging all things in the balance of reason?
Is not rather the genius of history like an eternal, imploring maiden, full of fire, with a burning heart and flaming soul, humanly warm and humanly beautiful?
--Zachris Topelius
Training a telescope on one’s own belly button will only reveal lint. You like that? You go right on staring at it. I prefer looking at galaxies.
-- Sarah Hoyt
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Look, the live stream spammers are back!
Oh wait... 
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A giant basket that uses condensation to gather drinking water[^]
This is a really cool idea that should be crowdfunded!
If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.-John Q. Adams
You must accept one of two basic premises: Either we are alone in the universe, or we are not alone in the universe. And either way, the implications are staggering.-Wernher von Braun
Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former.-Albert Einstein
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