Posted on 07/30/2023 8:30:11 AM PDT by fireman15
Oh I know... What the newer distros can do is incredible. I actually installed Mint 18.3 32 bit on a 20 year old Emachine and had a totally acceptable modern net surfer.
OK, let’s get serious and go for a realistic solution instead of sounding like a room full of squabbling drunks!
(Oh yea, I have run LINUX on and off for 20 years and know the problems. And with hundreds of versions in development there are LOTS...)
Over 90% of all personal computer users do only 3 things: 1) Email, 2) Internet Browsing, 3) Office Functions. So let’s sweep the “loose change” off the table and concentrate on The Big Three.
Several years ago a group of programmers concentrated on EASIER INSTALLATION and broke through and changed the LINUX landscape. As a result MILLIONS (yes millions) of ordinary people are now happily running LINUX MINT. It has become wildly popular and is running away with the “market”.
I challenge any skeptic to download and install very specifically LINUX MINT MATE version 21.2. Then run Thunderbird Email, browse with Netscape, and use the Office software (which come pre-installed and ready to go). Then come back here and tell us how bad things are!
#1 I use uBlock Orgin app that I use in Firefox. It is available for other web browsers as well to block popups and any ad or images you do not like.
When I go to the link I have zero ads.
LOL! I worked on Compaq’s back in the 1990s.
I have never had a Linux distribution which had a problem taking updates in a dual boot configuration. It has always been Windows that has had the problem. Usually just changing the boot order in Grub so that Windows is the default if you do not interact fixes the situation, but it can sometimes become a frustrating issue. Windows will try to update every time you try to start it up and fail and start again and then try to update again. It seems to be more of an issue with the machine's UEFI/BIOS.
On my primary laptop if I do not interact it doesn't even go into Grub. I have to hit the escape button and then change the UEFI (BIOS) boot order to where the Windows Boot Manager is behind the hard drive itself then Grub loads Ubuntu. It is still a little screwed up but works fine.
Computer users have been accomplishing these three things for decades without a problem with what is now considered outdated hardware and software.
Freeper super system
There are a lot of other reasons and applications for a more capable system other than the "Big three".
Sounds like an HP with the default built in boot menu/manager. :)
Thank you for your patience. I owe you an apology. It just hits me wrong and drives me crazy when I see folks fighting perpetually to make windows “bearable” for them when it can all just go away with Linux. :)
You don't owe me an apology or anything else. I appreciate the discussion. And I like to pull peoples chains a little also.
I have so much invested in time, money, and energy, that it would be difficult to for me to completely give up Windows. There are many applications and simulator games that I use that have no real equivalent using any build of Linux. And some of the sort of equivalent applications have severe limitations or are so much more difficult to use that I would likely never put in the time required to reach the same level of mastery.
But I have always enjoyed tinkering with just about anything that I have access to. It could be computers, web design, old cars and trucks, airplanes, machinery, home remodeling and repair, or other types of toys or electronics. But fooling with various operating systems has been one of my interests for decades.
I am very surprised at how well Windows 11 is working for me in the Windows To Go configuration using an extremely inexpensive SSD. I also assumed that I was going to need to purchase another license and am very surprised that Microsoft is treating my OEM Windows 10 Pro license as an upgrade when I haven't really upgraded the SSD still installed in the computer. When I log in it microsoft.com it shows the digital license as being Windows 10 Pro when I am using the internal SSD and Windows 11 when I have booted from the external SSD. I am more used to them not doing this type of thing... It kind of helps improve my attitude toward them.
“I am more used to them not doing this type of thing... It kind of helps improve my attitude toward them. “
I get it, but you know the let down is coming. They enjoy causing pain... lol
I hope we are allowed to disagree. But thank God for such tools and options to be used for good.
I have a couple of sort of non-stories for you about our personal contact with Microsoft management. Many years ago, my wife and I were given tickets to a play in Seattle. Our neighbors had season tickets and every time that they renewed them, they got a little better seats. They had been doing this for years so the seats were in a section that had a lot of Seattle's elite.
There were a couple of kids behind us who were bored and they kept kicking the back of my wife's seat. During an intermission I turned around to give their dad a piece of my mind, and it was Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft and his two boys. He was fooling with his laptop and had obviously gotten roped into to spending some time with his kids. I said, “Hey!” and startled him, I told him his kids were kicking my wife's seat and creating a nuisance. He politely apologized and made his kids apologize as well. They were little angels for the rest of the night.
My wife and I used to do a lot of volunteering at the Historic Flight Museum that was on Paine Field across from Paul Allen's Museum. Every year they had a dance with Big Band music and a live band. It was quite and event. Paul Allen used to come over with his entourage and mix with the group. One year he and his entire entourage were all dressed in identical Indiana Jones garb. It was actually pretty funny, and he was a personable guy who acted like he was interested in other people.
I went to school with a few people who went on to work at Microsoft fairly early on. None of them were big shots, but all of them retired early with quite a bit of money. I haven't seen any of them for quite a few years now.
I had the somewhat unique opportunity to attend one of those Soirees at the Paul Allen museum. It was the closest thing to being treated like royalty I’ve ever experienced and a bright spot in an otherwise disappointing chapter of my life.
re-Ping
I have used Linux briefly. I get how Linux Mint works. But I will always favor Windows 11 and higher for two reasons. Linux Mint has an awful red shift to use at night. The Windows 11 and 10 red shift (aka low blue light) works and so does the f.lux program which does the same.
#2 There are Windows programs to download off YouTube and other similar video sites. With the option to download just the audio into MP3 form. Or the whole video. Linus does not have this. If they do, it will be impossible for me to figure out how to install.
Chrome browser was the only thing I was able to install on Linux Mint.
Yes, I have serious problems with Bill Gates’s weird issues, and I am not sure about the way Microsoft has been led by Satya Nadella. But from casual contact both Paul Allen and Steve Ballmer seemed like pretty decent people.
Despite being a big tech conglomerate filled with lefties and all the baggage and nonsense... it is still amazing to me how little I have actually spent on Microsoft products during my life compared to the value and utility that I have received from them. Sometimes Microsoft products can be frustrating, but overall, largely by setting the standards and providing a reliable platform they have been very valuable to the world. And in most ways we can all be grateful for what the Microsofties have provided.
Even Linux distributions have been greatly influenced. This has gone both ways, of course. It can be argued that much if not most of Microsoft’s innovations have come from mergers and acquisitions along with copying outsider’s ideas. But still, no matter how we got here, at this point in time most cannot completely replace them or their products. Someday, they will fall, but not for awhile.
I really haven't had many issues installing software in Linux, but I do prefer Ubuntu Studio which comes with a pretty amazing bundle of accessory programs already installed for multiple purposes. I always move the taskbar down to the bottom of the desktop where it belongs and make a few other minor changes to make it more familiar to me. But of course, it does work a little differently compared to Windows.
How about adjusting for low blue light at night, for Linux? Mint has something, but it did not work well.
I always wear reading glasses day and night with lenses that are designed to block "blue light" in the offending frequencies. So, I do not know anything about that. They are about $3 a pair.
“Blue light blocker&UV400 Lenses, Alleviates visual fatigue and discomfort from browsing mobile phones, tablets, gaming and working under fluorescent lights with UVA/UVB protection and glare reduction.”
“Reduce eyestrain, anti blue ray to a great extent. Enjoy your digital time, NO worry about eye fatigue, blurred vision and headache, let you have a better sleep.”
But their sadistic business model and lack of appreciation and/or respect for their customers are brutal and absolutely cruel.
Their being nice in your face is a mask to hide the evil within.
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