Rant about Windows and a possible alternative
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I'm sure most of us on here are home users and turning DCOM on with every install is reckless, in a work environment the sysadmin would have extra security measures in place to protect the network but for a home user it's not applicable and could lead to malware contacting a remote server through the open, unguarded port.
OK Java, on another subject-ish-sort-of it was never written to be secure but it's just the programming equivalent of Swiss cheese. Despair! Why do we still need it?
Ta for the links BTW, Ian.
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OK Java, (…) Despair! Why do we still need it?
We do? :blink:
I removed it from all of my machines some years ago and did not miss it once (No, I don't play Minecraft :p)
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… Yet I find it somewhat difficult to identify a corresponding increase in things that are useful to me in that progression... things are prettier perhaps, but not all that much more useful. I sense the cost/resource efficiency rate of Windows computers has been dropping steadily for years, at least for the things that I need a computer to do.
I think computers got as fast as they need to be for typical office applications long ago. Still, I noticed a huge improvement last fall when I got a new workstation. Being retired, it is just for my hobbies, but part of that is some high-end photo and video editing. I run Adobe CS6 Production Premium (and will probably never "upgrade" to their new SAAS-version), and stabilizing a video sequence that used to take over 12 hours is now done in a few minutes. Besides, I can play Skyrim at 2560x1440 with maximum quality settings :ohmy:
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Lovely reply, Thanks!
A die hard old timer! I remember the programs you could store on just a 1.44 mb floppy, unimaginable today and I remember Lotus very well, cutting edge for it's day.
I certainly don't miss the old display resolutions though and especially Wise terminals.
Software has become bloatware and pushes the technological part of the industry to constantly strive for more processing power, but Windows will just eat it!
But your correct now with more of a prevalence to online shopping and social media we just want the machine to start quickly and do what it's told, but what we get is just more prettiness instead.
To me as a Windows user for many years through the various Windows releases, XP was a 50K merc body stripped off and welded to a Ford popular, Vista was a 65K merc body stripped of and welded to a steam engine, W7 was a 85K Merc body stripped off and welded to a ford Granada And W8 well we'll see, possibly an Austin all aggro? BTW The Vista car was painted in a pale shade of lemon.
Regards, Ian.
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Me too I found I didn't need it for anything, so why are we pushed into installing it?
Ian.
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I agree in my day an office program whether it be WP,spreadsheet, database or whatever it was always a fast loader and now they see to take forever.
You've got a new workstation I'm a bit jealous, I'm still using my old HP XW 8400!
Sounds like you have a decent video card as well, you'll need it foe online gaming.
I got rid of the 4x15.5K SAS Cheetah's raid striped as my boot drive some time ago and went to SSD.
Don't miss the extra noise and heat and with only a SATA II interface no increase in IO speed at all but so much quieter.
Have you ever run 'Handbrake' to convert a video?
Iv'e used a few video editing/copy programs but this one pushes all eight cores to 99%, a real beast of a program.
Ian.
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There are character-mode versions of Linux. Indeed, Linux is actually terminal based with the GUI (Xwindows plus whatever desktop) as an add-on.
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There are character-mode versions of Linux. Indeed, Linux is actually terminal based with the GUI (Xwindows plus whatever desktop) as an add-on.
I assume they all are. Good point.
Some beginner-friendly distros might not ask during the automated install, but I remember Debian and Slackware in particular allowing a selection, or not, of "X" (the graphical) during installation.
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Even if installed (say, so you can run a graphical web browser sometime) you don't have to use it generally. Set the default runlevel to 3, and it will boot into a terminal instead of X. While it is hidden from the newbies, it's all there. And even if X is running, generally Ctrl+Alt+(1-7) will take you to one of several terminals running in the background (usually Ctrl-Alt-8 is the graphical desktop, at least on my distro).
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Guess I'm the odd man out here. I love Windows 8.1 and can't wait for the upgrade in March. Granted, I have a new touch screen laptop with plenty of speed but even before I received my new laptop and was forced to work solely with my mouse, I still loved Windows 8. Then again, I love webmail and can't abide suites (i.e. the old Presto Opera suite). I suppose our likes and dislikes are predicated by our work needs, our ability to adapt to change, and the way in which we view working with computers. We're all different and that's a good thing.. .right?
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Guess I'm the odd man out here.
I don't find your comment to be odd. It sounds logical to me.
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There are multiple choices for all of them. Links is a character mode web browser, but of course that means no graphics at all. I'd have to look to see if there are any graphical browsers that don't use Xwindows. Text editors are a dime a dozen - several use the old WordStar keyboard shortcuts - an actual word processor with multiple fonts and sizes is pretty much going to be graphical. (VI is a programmers editor, not your basic text editor).
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Links is a character mode web browser.
Don't forget Lynx!
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As much as I like the Open Source movement and Linux I must agree with QuHno's first post here.
I went to try to do my taxes the other day… not possible in Linux.
I use computer controlled radios... no support for anything but Windows.
Monitor calibration, hardware compatibility, and video are also issue with me and Linux.
I have one XP box left. It has to do some of the above Windows only jobs.My big issue with Windows is speed... Linux is just so much quicker, from boot to shutdown and everything between (on the same machines).
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I like the reliability of a dual-boot system.
With Windows 7 I have virtual XP, but it is not the same. Very handy to have a sandbox though.I usually run Linux Mint as my partner OS, due to the high level of NTFS compatibility "out of the box".
It is getting rather big now, so users needing a small Linux may like to check Puppy Linux.Keep an eye on ReactOS, if you want an XP/2000 compatible OS
http://www.reactos.orgAnyone intending to continue with XP, should get all the available updates as an offline install, with the Autopatcher tool.
http://www.autopatcher.net
This will allow fresh installations to get all the available updates after the final day of support. -