Pandorawiki Faq Renewal Project


bzar

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Obviously there's a growing frustration among the senior members of this forum concerning people asking the same questions over and over again. The search doesn't always give easy answers to questions (because of the three letter lower bound for words and so on) and many newcomers don't have the patience to search the forums using google and sifting through several threads. A more easily searchable wiki page was suggested (www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?showtopic=47571&st=30). As there already is an FAQ in the Pandora Wiki (pandorawiki.org/FAQ), I thought it would be easier to:

1) Add any missing Frequently Asked Questions with comprehensive answers
2) Promote the FAQ in visible places (a good start might be moving the link at openpandora.org/index.php to a more visible spot)
3) Answer any questions that have answers in the FAQ with a direct link to the point of the FAQ with said information

This thread is for the first item on the list. Read through the current FAQ and report back what was missing. If you have the time, write a piece but post it here first for error-checking. We wouldn't want any misinformation on the wiki, would we?

This is for the good of all the community. Please contribute by posting topic ideas and articles. I'd especially like the new members to tell what information they would had liked/like to find more easily. Also I'd like the senior members to use their superior experience and write articles. They don't have to be long, just informative and comprehensive.
 
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JayFoxRox said:
how about just changing the wiki and use the discussion feature on there?

I don't know... people seem to be more active here. Also if the new articles aren't proof-read they might contain misinformation. If no one notices, people could read it and get misinformed. I'd rather the wiki to have only confirmed/best current information at any given time. But that's just me :)
 
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I'll have an in-depth trawl through the FAQ later, but the one major missing one that I can see is "Can the Pandora run Microsoft Windows XP?". I know it's technically covered by the "Can Pandora play any PC games without emulation?" question, but it comes up often enough that I reckon it's worth addressing directly. :p

Here's my take on addressing that (note that I'm deliberately leaving out things that have been mentioned such as Qemu, as the likely usability there is possibly not what would be wanted by folks asking if the Pandora can run Windows XP. :p);


Can the Pandora run Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7?
No. Microsoft Windows requires an x86 processor. The Pandora uses an ARM processor, and therefore it cannot run Windows.

If you think that reads ok, I'll go on over and add it when I've got a moment.
 
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Prometheus said:
Can the Pandora run Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7?
No. Microsoft Windows requires an x86 processor. The Pandora uses an ARM processor, and therefore it cannot run Windows.

If you think that reads ok, I'll go on over and add it when I've got a moment.

Looks good! Should win95/win98 be added too? IIRC they can't be run in current dosbox reliably.
 
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JayFoxRox said:
how about just changing the wiki and use the discussion feature on there?

+1

And I'll try to enhance the Wiki when I get time for it; it seems like something to do when you have some extra free time.
 
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I think it would be a good idea to put up front and center either a 'pandora top ten q & a' or a 'pandora cans & cannots'. I'm talkin right smack dab on the home page of the wiki in big ole bold letters.
 
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B-ZaR said:
Prometheus said:
Can the Pandora run Windows XP, Windows Vista, or Windows 7?
No. Microsoft Windows requires an x86 processor. The Pandora uses an ARM processor, and therefore it cannot run Windows.

If you think that reads ok, I'll go on over and add it when I've got a moment.

Looks good! Should win95/win98 be added too? IIRC they can't be run in current dosbox reliably.

I'm not sure, I must admit (that's why I didn't add them - well, that and they don't seem to come up as often), so I just stuck to the more recent versions there. I suppose I could just put "Can the Pandora run Microsoft Windows?", but then is something about Windows CE (or whatever they call it nowadays) needed?
 
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Just say "The Pandora cannot run Windows at all" and demand proof of higher-than-average intelligence before you try to explain the concept of architectures and emulation.
 
lulzfish said:
Just say "The Pandora cannot run Windows at all" and demand proof of higher-than-average intelligence before you try to explain the concept of architectures and emulation.
Agreed. If someone's primary goal is to run Windows on Pandora, they need to know that it's not the device for them. If emulation of older versions (or shady CE/Mobile installations) are mentioned in the FAQ, it will give false hope to people who don't know any better. It could also attract the wrong kind of attention from Microsoft, who as we know, are already aware of Pandora's existence.

In a recently locked XP thread, Alex suggested adding this question to the mini FAQ on the official homepage. I think that's a good idea.
 
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'Gruso' said:
Microsoft, who as we know, are already aware of Pandora's existence.

I must've missed something, how do we know they're aware?
'Gruso' said:
In a recently locked XP thread, Alex suggested adding this question to the mini FAQ on the official homepage. I think that's a good idea.
+1
 
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Check out Chip's interview thread in the News forum. Someone from MS got in touch with him... but we don't know why. :ph34r:
 
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Consequence9 said:
Gruso said:
Microsoft, who as we know, are already aware of Pandora's existence.

I must've missed something, how do we know they're aware?

This here:
CODE
http://www.gp32x.de/board/index.php?s=&showtopic=47497&view=findpost&p=719993
 
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oh snap! thanks guys, read the interview but not the thread. How intriguing!

on topic: adding some stuff to the mini-faq would be a good idea. We should include something like 'Can xyz be emulated?' with a brief explanation & a link to the emulators thread (seeing as ZOMG N64DSGAMECUBEPS2ZZZ is a frequent topic around here).
 
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Gruso said:
lulzfish said:
Just say "The Pandora cannot run Windows at all" and demand proof of higher-than-average intelligence before you try to explain the concept of architectures and emulation.
Agreed. If someone's primary goal is to run Windows on Pandora, they need to know that it's not the device for them. If emulation of older versions (or shady CE/Mobile installations) are mentioned in the FAQ, it will give false hope to people who don't know any better. It could also attract the wrong kind of attention from Microsoft, who as we know, are already aware of Pandora's existence.

Good point. Although I should note that my wondering about Windows CE before was of the "Not unless Microsoft produce an official version that you can buy for the hardware." variety. :lol: But you're right, the mention of it it isn't really even needed.

Anyway, I've added the question to the "Software Questions" section of the FAQ. If anyone thinks it needs to be under a different heading (or in a different spot in the list, or whatever), go right ahead and put it there instead. :p
 
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One thing we might want to do is instead of putting down "it is possible but highly unlikely", we might want to put down "it is not supported or not possible at this time". It would be better to say that it's not possible than say it's highly unlikely but maybe possible. If later, we feel that it is possible, we can revise, and people will learn about these things from "press releases" of some kind or another.
 
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