Posted on 02/12/2013 10:00:36 PM PST by doc1019
What ever happened to the massive updates predicted my Microsoft for Tuesday? (vanity).
Let me know what disaster Microsoft has created this time. I will decide whether and which updates to install in a few days. Cannot wait to get my Mac mini!! windows 8 is horrid too.
The three I mentioned are the ones I know are most newbie-friendly, although even that varies somewhat. I stayed away from other distros as I do not have all that much experience with them, however as they have been around for some time they must be doing SOMETHING right. For instance, I first started out in Linux using the Ret Hat OS, then some BSD -which landed Me a job in a Solaris shop, then switched over to Slackware and then Red Hat Linux on Sparc. All that within a three-year period.
Just play with a few. I am sure you will find something suitable within a short period of time. Just remember: NO INSTALLS! Play with the live CD first. Or live DVD...
I also tried the Debian Install route, with unhappy results -and was quite surprised, to say the least. Debian-based distro, easy install and off and running. Pure Debian install, fairly simple install, then lots of problems from then on -like being unable to save a file to the hard drive, for instance. Tried different desktops as well. Gnome; pretty, but missing friendly System Config, Network Config, and drive detection apps. KDE; some familiar apps but no hard-drive write. OK... why? Then tried lxde desktop. Minimal, fast, and quite ugly, with an app or two disappearing from the Menu. Weird.
Went back to Mepis.
Ummm... make that ‘Red Hat’, not ‘Ret Hat’, distro.
For “XP” just go to Microsoft.com.
Click “Security.”
Then click “Update.”
Unless you have set your computer to block scans, the web page will detect your Operating System, XP in your case, and then offer to install all critical updates.
Last I heard, about 50% of corporations still use XP, so MSFT will probably support it for several more years.
Maybe they had to patch the patch patches before they release.
It’s wednesday morning and I’m getting them now. Microsoft probably reset their time zone to 26 hours ago.
I always wondered whose Microsoft it was.
I found 10 updates for my laptop and 11 for my desktop yesterday.
==
They were there. Just click on your Windows Update and let it search for them.
There are “13 Important Updates” (69MB) installing right now, at 6:55am, Wednesday. Running Win-7 Pro 64-bit.
Most Win7 updates seem to require a reboot.
I just assume that when I start the update, and save & close programs in advance.
Occasionally, a reboot will stall and I have to restart the computer manually. So far, I have not had any additional problems. I read some tech sites who occasionally warn that a particular update can cause computer problems.
I still cringe every time I get any software/firmware notice of updates/upgrades. Just Monday I installed a new browser add-on update (Keyscrambler), and it literally wrecked my Win7 start up. Win7 had to run a Repair. I reverted to the older version of Keyscrambler.
I currently run Window 7 and recently bought a laptop with Windows 8. It was apparently designed for people who do little but surf the net and shop. I managed to transfer a picture file but the file on Windows 8 is extremely cumbersome. I could not transfer Word files. I won’t take the time to list all my dislikes.
I had no problem changing from the 90 series to XP or 2000 and Windows 7.
Just get Classic Shell (free) and you will effectively have Windows 7 with quicker boot and more efficient kernel.
Well, that would be silly -- any OS requires updates from time to time, to patch bugs and add new features. All my machines (and I have Windows, OS X, and Linux) push updates from time to time -- well, not the Linux box, but that's only because it's Fedora Core 14, which is essentially end-of-lifed now, but my museum piece of hardware running it can't handle a later version; just fine for Firefox and OpenOffice, though, which is all I need it for. But it got regular package updates up until the point it was no longer supported.
What kind of stuff would you have to convert? If it's mostly documents and such, OpenOffce handles MS documents.
I'd suggest Gnucash, but it is not the simplest thing to learn unless you're an accountant who does double-enty bookkeeping regularly. Have you thought of using a VM for Quicken? I have one program that I can't run natively in Linux, a simulator for remote controlled airplanes and helicopters (RealFlight). It works great in with vmware-player.
I have been running the cinnamon desktop on linux mint installed on an HP laptop to develop PHP & java apps. I have found it to be extremely stable and very fast. Compile times are similar to any other operating system. Desktop switching is fast. For software development on the LAMP stack or for android development using eclipse this is my favorite configuration. Of course if I have to work on C# then there is nothing better than Visual Studio 2010 on Windows 7... or for the newest apps Visual Studio 20122010 on Windows 8. Oddly enough, the Win8/VS2012 combination is the least stable IMHO and experience.
Thanks for the tip. Yes, I’ve been using VM to play with different Linux distros. I know I have that option. But since I’ve already got Quicken set up on my Windows computer, I’ll just leave well enough alone for now.
For me, KDE is so much like Windows that I had almost zero problems navigating from the very beginning. It has a start menu like Windows, I can put launch icons in my task bar at the bottom of the screen, shortcuts on my desktop....The Dolphin file manager is a breeze to use for anyone familiar with Windows Explorer.
Give PCLinuxOS (KDE version) a try sometime. You might be surprised.
As I stated previously, Mileage May Vary. Glad it works for you, however it does not for Me. The one most critical program that I simply must have, TurboCAD, does not come in a Linux flavour, and the free demo version locks up under Wine. By that I mean PREVIOUS versions of the proggie (not Wine) -the newest ones I bought do not even run at all. Thankfully, v4 of the CAD program (not the demo) runs under it ok for the most part, but considering the fact that I have several years worth of schematics I need to work with and I have to go with a distro that runs at least a version that can open the saved files.
Add in the need to run Spice(TM) simulations on the schematics, mechanical drawings imported to another program to add motion to them in more than one dimension, and now adding the ability to also add material strength and run stress-analysis tests on the mechanical assemblies and there just is no getting away from certain needs. The ability to at least open and continue work on the beginning drawings is critcal for whatever Linux OS I decide to go with.
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