Avoid Windows 8!

11/01/2012 | Redmond Barry

[fremont_steve]

Daniel, I think you are summarizing my point (and proving it too.) There are some things Linux does equally well, and the average usage scenarios covers those. I also agree that maybe printing is one of the areas that still requires significant polish! Yet - if you are running Wine - there was something you wanted to do that Linux didn’t cover? Also - as stated previously, video editing isn’t it’s strong suit - there are better platforms/applications for that.

As for Win 8 - I would stay far away from it because of Metro, and because it is still wet behind the ears. MS has proved time and time again that they need a year of beta testing as a product before these things really stabilize. (Win 7 MAY be the exception there...) It was true with Win98, WinNT, Win2000, XP & Vista.

The other guy sees me as a Linux zealot. I proposed going to Ubuntu to see if his problems went away - he would learn a lot about his Windows problem by doing that! Is it Hardware or Software? I haven’t said that Windows didn’t serve a function, I have Win 7 on my laptop (though it can boot Ubuntu too ;-) I also advise staying away from Win8 for a time. Didn’t say “FOREVER” did I?

I’d say our Win8 friend is the real zealot ;-)

[fremont_steve]

I’m calling BS on this “slightly” Here is an article that actually quantifies the number. Oh - it’s 30 as of 2009.

http://tuxgeek.me/2009/04/27/debunked-linux-oss-and-viruses/

Linux has had a better security model than Windows since day 1 mainly because it was evolved from a multi-user system originally, not a single user system. There was some really BAD ideas that Windows adopted early on like keeping the GUI system in Kernel Space instead of User space, etc. for performance reasons. Linux has ALWAYS had a permissions system built into it because Unix did.

The article also spells out some of Linux’s weakness in this area, not the least of which is the code is freely available to find holes in it!

As a rule - you need to keep your distro up-to-date to avoid being a target for hackers of all varieties, i.e. there are other problems beyond just viruses out there. Linux can have vulnerabilities due to outside applications such as Flash just like any platform can.

[adorno]

One article is going to undo the many reported instances of viruses and other malware for Linux?

It’s more like a: pick and choose the reports which support your argument, with discounting all the others which prove you and others like you wrong. That’s sort of like the way the junk scientists like to do things: select the data which supports their intended results, and hope that nobody notices.

“Slightly” is not the word you need. It’s more like, “perhaps”, which means that, it might be right or it might be wrong.

[daniel1212]

Busy today, catch you later.

[JoeProBono]

[daniel1212]

>Yet - if you are running Wine - there was something you wanted to do that Linux didn’t cover?<

Sorry for not getting back to you as promised, but as regards the above, it is not simply WINE but basic things. I worked for some time trying to get Linux distros such as Linux Mint, OpenSuse and Puppy, to do things Windows does or that i can rather easily customize Windows to do thru 3rd party apps.

Some distros lack such basic functions as right clicking on an icon on the DT or “start” type menu and find the target (source), or in you some cannot easily r. clk and make a shortcut to the DT, while programs and settings, respectively, may not always be in one location.

One reason the above is useful for me is that in the interest of speed i use AutoHotKey in Windows, by which i do things like remapping the Caps key to Ctrl+C, and Esc to Ctrl+V (NumLock becomes Esc) as i do a lot of copy and paste work, as well as making shortcut keys to launch many folders and programs and functions (like #U::Run C:\Windows\System32\appwiz.cpl), but i have not found an Linux equivalent for AutoHotKey or a list for the equivalent functions, and have found the remapping options to be limited in Linux distros.

Another useful app i use a lot under Windows is PhoneTrayFree, which works thru your modem (if you have one) and Caller ID to tell you who is calling, and logs the calls infinitely, and can zapp telemarketers, etc. But WINE will not get this to work.

I also like apps like TClockEx which under Windows replaces the clock, so that it can show seconds, and ram, and customize the color, etc.

Overall i find Linux to have far less a variety of programs (and often they do not work under all current Linux flavors) than Windows, but at least things like Firefox and OpenOffice/LibreOffice (which offer a lot of customizations of functions) are available, and (very importantly) TheWord (and maybe BPBible) Bible programs works under WINE.

The real deal is that while i am interested in Linux, I have no real use for it personally, unless I can run with as much a load (70+ tabs open in FF, and many documents and programs) with less ram, but I saw little difference in this aspect btwn OpenSuse and XP, while the former lacked the desired degree of functionality and customization. Unless I can learn a lost of coding, but which is not a priority

In addition you have the lack of legal codecs.

But I do run Puppy on a couple old PCs, and which is good for basic use.