Windows XP Optimizations

And that's why I say that progresses the way the forums have been the past 3/4 of a year or so...no one has been doing much crazy stuff lately. These forums have been a soft pillow for people just wanting computer tech support. Maybe I'm going to far off topic, but getting people to either research what they are doing, they'll learn a bit and return to help others. That's what made these forums kick ass back in 2001/2002.

You know, that's really a good point.

I wouldn't mind taking part in some real research and testing of OSes, from *nix to Windows (and, eventually, when I can afford, OS X). I've been wanting to do some in-depth documentation of things like the Windows services, how they work with the OS as a whole, and what potential programs use them (besides games). I'm all for a collaborative effort on that. I was also looking into getting into the ins-n-outs of paging, for all platforms (especially optimizing swap sizes in Linux, more than the typical "x 1.5 RAM"). I just bought a registry book to begin learning to better understand the Windows registry, as well.

If you have any ideas, feel free to toss them out. I wouldn't mind getting into some projects to learn more about some OS particulars.

See my post. I'm trying and don't program

XP is design with the goal of preventing you from really knowing what's going on. There's a reason the default theme got rid of all the sharp edges.

The open-source Unixes, OTOH, are full of nasty little sharp edges...

I'm up for something different...

I think a worthy project is services, it seems to be a big debate here over and over. At the very least get something to combat blackviper's FUD. I think his idea is a good one, but poorly implemented. Perhaps we could get a list of service names with descriptions than this:

IPSEC Services

"May be required on some domains or VPN connections. After the installation of Service Pack 2, some processes and applications may take advantage of this service."

"May be required..." "...some process and applications may take advantage.."

Gee, could you be a little more vague?

Once you have a good description/understanding of the services, then you can make intelligent decisions about disabling them.