Posted on 05/21/2017 4:19:05 PM PDT by dayglored
Instead of competing with quality products and pricing, Microsoft is always plotting to reclaim their lost monopoly with authoritarian policies and bloatware.
[[Installed Linux Mint on an older retired machine for trial and was impressed with the performance.]]
Yup- i dual boot linux mint and windows 7- linux mint hardly ever causes my vid card to sound like it’s going to rattle apart- but when i fire up windows- it taxes the card something fierce some times- running linux mint is a nice quiet experience- especially with an SDD- runs a lot cooler too- Wish i had switched years ago really- and just kept windows for some windows only programs like photoshop- to use OFFLINE only
That’s pretty much what I’m doing too. Gimp replaces Photoshop and LibreOffice replaces MS Office. Gimp and LibreOffice come installed with the new Zorin (Linux) OS. My laserjet printer is on my home network hard wired in with RJ45. All I had to do to set it up in Zorin was bring up the printer window and with one click on “Add Printer” it found the network printer, loaded the drivers, and made it my default printer with no other input from me. It’s not difficult in Windows either but the point is Linux and its different distro’s sure have come a long way from using all the command line language from just 10 years ago. The CPU runs cooler because it isn’t busy with a bunch of useless commands from the OS all the time in Linux too giving the user more CPU time which also makes the machine more efficient and faster.
I still have to close the Firefox browser once in a while because FF doesn’t like to give up memory sometimes so closing and reopening it clears it from memory. Linux uses memory much more efficiently too. If I’m using half my available memory in Windows it starts to get more sluggish. In Linux it just keeps plugging along even at 3/4 memory use. I haven’t tried to go beyond that yet but will just to see what happens.
Linux really is a win, win, win nowadays. There’s very few reasons to run Windows any longer and no reasons for me.
I added the extra info for other readers because I know you know all this stuff already.
i tried zorin awhile back- maybe a year or little more ago- it ran a little sluggish i felt- compared to linux mint- which was why i chose mint- I’ll give zorin another try though see if it has cchanged
Yup- linux is way way better than it used to be- and loads easier than it used to be- everythign is almost 100% automatic as far as detection goes- I had a couple of issues i had to l ook up though- which is one of the downsides ot linux- the support is like way over most people’s heads- technogeek comments that leave a new user lost and frustrated- but for hte most part linux should run fairly simply and automatically=- I did have to find things like installing a new ppa to get my video card working with NVidia drivers- which wasn’t easy to figure out- linux mint cinnamon 17.4 was very easy- automatic- but when i went ot linux mint 18- it no longer was automatic- had to spend a few days fidnign out how to get the files installed-
As long as oen doesn’t need to know command lines, linux is easy- but a few programs need command l ine installations which can be kinda hard to figure out- still- but it’s certainly much easier these days
“Windows 10 S ships with Microsoft’s $1,000 Surface Laptop”
who the hell in their right mind would spend a $1,000 on a Windows RT, uh, I mean Windows 10 S laptop?
They are unless you find VB in the Windows Store under UWP Appls.
I would assume so.
Classic Shell is what makes it possible for me to use Windows 10 (or 8) without throwing it through a window.
> who the hell in their right mind would spend a $1,000 on a Windows RT, uh, I mean Windows 10 S laptop?
You answer that one, you win the Kewpie Doll.
Granted, for another $50 you can have REAL Windows 10. So maybe the "S" stands for "Starter" edition. You know, the one they put on the machine to get you to buy the real one.
PCLinuxOS is also very good for both newbs (user-friendly for Windoze refugees) and Linux pros alike.
Between downloading Windows updates (and rebooting), and updating anti-virus (and rebooting), and updating anti-malware (and rebooting), how much time is left for work anyway?
All true. Case in point; one of the things I use my most used PC for is watching tv using the Kodi program. So far they have not gotten a simple installer program for Linux so I found a website that walked me through using the Terminal, what to type to install Kodi, then found it wasn’t quite the version I wanted so I found another site with a slightly different command line install and ended up with what I wanted. Linux is far easier to learn than Kodi was for me; especially since it’s so close to being in the Windows type format. I really do wish I had tried Linux again sooner. I played with it for quite a while 10 years ago but it still wasn’t what I wanted for a home computer. Close but still not there at the time. Now my 3 Windows computers, one laptop and two PC’s, will all be dual boot with Zorin being the default OS. If I were to start fresh with a new hard drive; I’d just leave off the Windows OS completely but it doesn’t hurt them to have it installed if the hard drive is plenty big enough.
I used to help friends and family a lot before they all got to be super computer techs (hahaha). The one thing I think helped them a lot was teaching them how to ask the right questions in Google to find the answers they needed. It takes a little while to get that down and use as few words as possible to ask the questions. It’s also how they all ended up being super geeks. Now I can’t tell them anything because they know it all. Hehehehe...
Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint. Who knows; I might like it even better. On my old XP cheapy laptop I had to massage Linux on using a few more tries than my more up to date PC needed. It was a straight forward install on the PC but I did have to reinstall “grub” to get it dual boot properly. I think the command was sudo update-grub2 or something very close to that. May not have needed the hyphen; just a space.
I chose Zorin simply because the tech articles said it was closest to the Windows format. It’s a fun hobby too if someone enjoys the challenge they bring sometimes. Gotta have a second working computer for Internet access though to find the answers. A smart phone would probably work fine too.
The “S” stands for “Skip.”
[[The one thing I think helped them a lot was teaching them how to ask the right questions in Google to find the answers they needed.]]
Yup- bingo- the key is knowing how to phrase the searches most of the time-
[[Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint.]]
Most linuxs are all about the same- read a good article on the ‘differences’ between the many flavors- they basically advised ot just find one you like and stick with it- as the differences really aren’t radical enough to warrant switching- I tried a lot in the beginning, but settled on mint (although i think i might try zorin again in a virtual machine- which by hte way is a great way to try different flavors of linux- or even other os’s- they are easy to set up- and once you have the os’es isntalled, you can save the file and install on other computers running virtual box too- once you have all your settings the way you liek them- )
The only real differences between the flavors is that supposedly Debian is supposed to be ‘more secure’ and ‘more stable’ - but it’s harder to learn- more command line than mint- it’s a little geekier than other flavors- but it’s the stand by for many- I think lots of folks like red hat and a few others too- but i never tried them- did try Debian- but didn’t like the extra geekiness needed to run it- I like things as simple as possible- too old to relearn lol- (which is why I wish I’d tried it years ago- coulda learned it much easier back then)
I stick with the cinnamon flavors of linux- most like windows menus to me-
[[Just for fun I think I will get a hard drive for my home office PC to try the various Linux distro’s so I have personal experience with them; especially Mint.]]
That’s what I did, i have several old cheap hard drives with a few flavors of linux, all with dual boot windows installed too, and all my settings and apps the way i like them- that way if anything happens to my main pc- i can plop in a hard-drive and up and running as quickly as i can install the HD-
[[sudo update-grub2]]
Yup- i think that’s it- it’s not too difficult, but something a newbie like me had to search for- but found it pretty quick as grub can corrupt from time to time-
[[It’s a fun hobby too if someone enjoys the challenge they bring sometimes.]]
Oh absolutely- love messing around with linux installs- it’s so quick to install and try- and with HD’s being so cheap these days, especially at used computer shops- (I bought several for around $10 each), it’s fun and quick to try new ones- and i do learn a little with each flavor as there are some differences- but like i mentioned, they all are fairly similar-
[[Gotta have a second working computer for Internet access though to find the answers.]]
Another option if you don’t have one is to just use the ISO disk to connect to net and save any files you need to a second HD either internal or external usb or to thumb drives-
Do you have linux that comes up first in the dual boot menu? I chose that way so i don’t have ot hit any keys when starting and it goes automatically to linux- couldn’t figure out how to get it like that for a long time- then found that installing linux second would over-ride windows boot menu, and install it’s own-
Anyhow- great fun linux- really have enjoyed getting to know the OS’es - and love love love how easy and quick they are to install- I don’t even bother backing it up anymore as it takes only about an hour extra to get everything back to the way I like it (windows by contrast will literally take me almost a week- with hte slow as molasses windows updates, the many many security fixes that need ot be made, getting menus how i like them etc-
And like you mentioned, it’s probably even easier than windows to use for basic stuff- (although i still have to use windows for photoshop- can’t quite get to where i like gimp- and for running windows only games-)
A crippled but secure system like this, oriented towards guaranteed safe browsing and mail, might be useless for me, but perfect for my Luddite wife if she ever wants to communicate with future grandkids. It’s a marketing question as to whether there’s enough people like her to make this a worthwhile endeavor, though.
I have done the same.
Three new machines in my home, all run Win 7 x64.
Next one will be Linux.
If Windows S turns out to be "guaranteed safe", it'll be a breakthrough for folks like your wife.
However, it's still Windows, and it's still just an operating system, not a panacea. Color me skeptical that "guaranteed safe" will really apply to WinS or any operating system. Microsoft's aim is not safety, per se. It's to drive people to the Windows Store. They see the Store as their future revenue stream, as their historical ones dry up.
You’re probably right about the motivation—shepharding users to the Windows Store.
But, as I was saying to one of my boys the other day, it’s surprising how much “street smarts” someone using regular Windoze needs to not click on some malware and accidentally screw up their computer. It’s second nature to anyone who’s been using computers for a while, but for those who need an information appliance, it’s a problem. So, if “S” can deliver that, it would be a good thing.
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