Breaking Point Reached: Bye Bye to Windows

Just_Steve said:
That would be an incorrect statement.

The following link provides all sorts of of upgrades for Mac's.

https://www.macsales.com
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Sorry, you are right. I didn’t mean for that to be taken so literally. But for the average user, in general, iMacs are more difficult to upgrade than PCs. And by upgrades, I am talking about swapping out a CPU, video card, or HDD/SSD. To be fair though, some all-in-one PCs are just as difficult to upgrade.

For the adventurous, www.ifixit.com is a great website that walks you through upgrades and repairs of lots of different devices, including all things Apple.
 
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I'm running 6 Win10 machines for our family of 5. I can't recall the last time I had a blue screen of death. Probably several years ago on an old laptop (it was a driver issue I think).

The updates taking a lot of time are very minorly annoying, but I take it as a sign from the gods that it's time to get off the computer. And that seems to be an inconvenience experienced once every few months at a maximum (I assume they usually install in the background and overnight??).

Virus count in the past few years is at 1. My daughter installed something to "watch free anime" and it hijacked the browser (with the consent and clicks provided by my 11 year old :) ). I would be SHOCKED to learn that Mac has figured out a way around an authorized user downloading an application with less than ideal configurations that does things you don't want it to. After 30 minutes of troubleshooting which led to a Win10 auto-refresh (which was painless :) ) we were back up and running like it's a brand new machine.

We're fairly simple computer users running chrome browser plus Libreoffice and GIMP, plus whatever Win10 comes with for video editing. I love being able to buy new mid-range laptops, ultrabooks, and desktops for $300-500 and not $1500 if I were in the Mac ecosystem.

YMMV of course, but as a system administrator for Casa del Fuego, Win10 is working beautifully.
 
FUEGO said:
I can't recall the last time I had a blue screen of death.
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Same here. Ironically, my wife and I went to the zoo yesterday and one of the exhibit monitors was sitting there with the blue screen of death. :)

FUEGO said:
The updates taking a lot of time are very minorly annoying
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I still run Win7 on my main desktop computer, and never even notice the updates. But my computer is always on, so I assume they take place during the night. It's only annoying when I turn on the monitor in the morning and see the system has restarted on it's own. That's usually not a problem though unless I've left an application open overnight.

FUEGO said:
Virus count in the past few years is at 1. My daughter installed something
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I used to get a lot of viruses when my daughter shared my computer. That ended when I got her a computer of her own. Then she had the viruses. :) Thankfully, she stopped visiting many of the questionable sites that were the worst for that sort of thing, and I think she wised up a little about what was safe to open. I also loaded her computer up with virus scanners.

FUEGO said:
Win10 is working beautifully.
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I have Win10 on my laptop, but I rarely use the laptop (once a year at most). Win10 is OK, though I still prefer Windows 7.
 
AginMS said:
....
Unless you need the laptop for portability, you might consider the Mac mini with a monitor suits your needs.
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I didn't see that the Mac-mini idea was addressed. I think this could also be an answer for T-Al. Cheaper way to get into the Apple world, if that is what you decide.

-ERD50
 
Thanks for the great advice.

I'm going to put this on hold, since I'm writing a book in July. But I will definitely be switching in August.

I'm hoping the Mac interface will be more standardized, because that's something that bugs me about windows. For example, Options/Preferences maybe in the File, Edit, Tools, or other menu depending on which app you're using.

For some dialogs, even those that are part of Windows, you click OK to save changes, in others you just close the dialog.

Reportedly, that's better with a Mac.

Also, I don't want to ever again have to navigate down through the registry then reboot and wait to see if my change fixed a problem.
 
That's the best thing about Mac's, installing or uninstalling a program doesn't mess up the registry like what happens on a Windows machine.
 
W2R said:
Al, whatever you decide to do, one thing is for sure - - you need to buy a new computer this summer! Let's face it, your computer is 4+ years old and IIRC you are not dealing with crushing poverty. Whether you choose another Windows computer, or a Mac, I think it is time.

Personally I am enthusiastically on the Windows 10 bandwagon, but really you will be happiest with whatever appeals to you personally. Lots of people are happy with Macs, and lots of other people are happy with Windows 10.

You are smart to be reading about computers and thinking about what you do and do not want in a computer. It's such an individual thing.

BTW, I love the photo of your desk, keyboard, and view! What a nice, pleasant place for thinking, creating music, and writing.
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Does this mean the big PC I bought in about 2007/2008 should go? :(

I just switched over from a laptop of about the same age about a year ago. The desktop is much faster. I am running Win 10 on it. Maybe I don't have a clue what fast is anymore...
 
Processors haven't gotten so noticeably faster in the last few years that you need to upgrade them all the time. I have a 2011 i5 and a 2014 i7 and both run fine for basic work. SSDs are an upgrade worth doing.
 
jim584672 said:
Processors haven't gotten so noticeably faster in the last few years that you need to upgrade them all the time. I have a 2011 i5 and a 2014 i7 and both run fine for basic work. SSDs are an upgrade worth doing.
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+3 I recently updated the OS on my 4+ YO Lenovo laptop (from Xubuntu 14.04 to 18.04), which was just a middle-range to begin with. When I bought it, I did upgrade RAM to 12GB, as I keep LOTS of windows open, and open/close lots of browser windows/tabs, and rarely reboot (weeks between reboots?).

Nothing slow at all about this laptop for my heavy use (I'm not a CPU/GPU intensive gamer though). At 4+ YO, I wouldn't have minded if something about the upgrade would have made it difficult to do on my old machine, then starting fresh on a new machine would have made sense for me. But it went smooth for me. Specifics (RAM, SSD vs HD, etc) are more important than years in most cases.

-ERD50
 
Just a comment that all Lenovo laptops are not equal. They have home units and business machines. I have had several home laptops. The last one, I had some keys die. Unlike other computers (and my older Lenovo) the keyboard was ~$240 IIRC if it was available. It was part of the entire top case of the laptop. So the entire assy needed to be replaced including the touchpad. I replaced it with a refurb'd HP business laptop. So far, so good.

I hate the constant updates that MS does. But I am too entrenched in Widows to change.
 
CRLLS said:
Just a comment that all Lenovo laptops are not equal. They have home units and business machines. I have had several home laptops. The last one, I had some keys die. Unlike other computers (and my older Lenovo) the keyboard was ~$240 IIRC if it was available. It was part of the entire top case of the laptop. So the entire assy needed to be replaced including the touchpad. I replaced it with a refurb'd HP business laptop. So far, so good.

I hate the constant updates that MS does. But I am too entrenched in Widows to change.
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On the too entrenched in Windows part, I felt the same way about a year ago. But since then, been slowly plotting my move to freedom :cool:. I see light at the end of the tunnel. There's still some hurdles, but I'm confident the escape from [-]Alcatraz [/-] MS is a possibility.

Though I won't be able to break free totally (have some programs that need Windows, plus give support of relatives that are Win) my plan in the future is to only use Win when have to.
 
CRLLS said:
I hate the constant updates that MS does. But I am too entrenched in Widows to change.
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That was me a month ago.

I'm hoping the switch will be no more difficult than moving to a new Windows machine.

Here's another example of a Windows problem. My HP has a fingerprint scanner, which is a great feature. However, every week or so, it stops working, and I need to reboot. Every time I reboot, Windows has trouble assigning my drive Z to a cloud drive. Even though I tell it to remember my credentials, it doesn't.

With a Mac, the company that writes the OS is the same one that built the scanner hardware. I'm guessing a similar problem doesn't exist.
 
The only problem I encountered when switching to a Mac was converting my MS Outlook email to Apple Mail. Had to get a third party conversion product to do that, think it was from a company called Little Machines.
 
TromboneAl said:
That was me a month ago.


Here's another example of a Windows problem. My HP has a fingerprint scanner, which is a great feature. However, every week or so, it stops working, and I need to reboot. Every time I reboot, Windows has trouble assigning my drive Z to a cloud drive. Even though I tell it to remember my credentials, it doesn't.
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Being an end-of lease machine, my new-to-me HP Folio 9470m has the fingerprint scanner which I don't use. It also has the security card reader which doesn't have Win10 drivers. I don't have a security card either, so I'm not concerned about that. I do miss the touch screen that my Lenovo had.

Maybe, just maybe, the next computer I will look for alternative operating systems. I still can't get into drinking the Kool-Aid that many Apple consumers seem to do. It is almost a cult following. Strange thing is, I probably look like I'm in a MS cult to Apple users. I think I might go Linux before I'd try Apple. Now that my "w0rk" computer needs are gone, I have more choices. Good thing I won't have to make that decision very soon.
 
An article on how to install Linux Mint to a USB stick and run it that way on a Win 10 machine. This allows users to try it out/take it on the road. Also instructions on how to install it alongside Win 10 so you can run either on the same machine.



https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-install-linux-mint-on-your-windows-pc


The author is obviously a Linux fan, and I'm sure things won't be as simple/uncomplicated as he suggests. Still, it looks like a low-risk way for a typical person to give Linux a try if they want to jump off the MS train but don't look forward to joining the Apple "world," either.



I have only a little experience with Linux. At this point, I just want everything to work together without fuss (i.e. I don't want OS/program/driver/app maintenance to become a hobby), I don't want to be forced into hardware/software upgrades that I don't think I need, and I would like to avoid spending a ton of money on hardware and software. It appears no single OS "universe" offers all these attributes, so I'll need to prioritize. For now, inertia keeps me in the Windows universe, and everything seems to be working okay in Win 10.
 
DFW_M5 said:
The only problem I encountered when switching to a Mac was converting my MS Outlook email to Apple Mail. Had to get a third party conversion product to do that, think it was from a company called Little Machines.
Click to expand...


Email will be a bit messy for me too when I switch in about a year from my Sylpheed email reader going from Windows to Linux. The program is cross platform, but from what I see, there's no export every old mail and mail reader settings on one platform then import that to the other platform.

Looks like I'll have to so some rebuilding of settings like mail filter rules. Can be done, but will take some elbow grease :(.
 
samclem said:
An article on how to install Linux Mint to a USB stick and run it that way on a Win 10 machine. This allows users to try it out/take it on the road. Also instructions on how to install it alongside Win 10 so you can run either on the same machine.



https://www.zdnet.com/article/how-to-install-linux-mint-on-your-windows-pc


The author is obviously a Linux fan, and I'm sure things won't be as simple/uncomplicated as he suggests. Still, it looks like a low-risk way for a typical person to give Linux a try if they want to jump off the MS train but don't look forward to joining the Apple "world," either.



I have only a little experience with Linux. At this point, I just want everything to work together without fuss (i.e. I don't want OS/program/driver/app maintenance to become a hobby), I don't want to be forced into hardware/software upgrades that I don't think I need, and I would like to avoid spending a ton of money on hardware and software. It appears no single OS "universe" offers all these attributes, so I'll need to prioritize. For now, inertia keeps me in the Windows universe, and everything seems to be working okay in Win 10.
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+1 I have recently been trying Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon installed side by side with Windows on my Lenovo Laptop. I've installed and reinstalled three times now.

First install failed.

2nd install successful, but Wine did not successfully run any Windows programs I tried (PDF24, LaCie USB security, and eMclient - for email). Several others also woldn't work. These programs were tried because Linux doesn't have available suitable (to my liking) alternative programs - even PDF. Ended up with an online PDF creator on Firefox (somehow you can use Libre office?). Had several freezes and then failure to boot.

Third installation was successful and then immediately failed after updating on wired connection (you can look this issue up on the internet). I must mention that in all installations - wifi failed to work properly and had to wire connect to correct the issue. It did not correct on third installation after updates were downloaded and installed - so uninstalled for third time.

First install was from downloaded software off USB stick. 2nd and 3rd install was from purchased CD from a Linux software distributor. I really wanted to see Linux succeed as I'm having BSOD reboots on the Lenovo since the last update of Windows 10. I just bought an ASUS laptop that went BSOD reboot after the Windows 10 update right out of the box (after installing programs I've used for years now on old Lenovo laptops). Can't find the culprit causing the BSOD following many suggestions on the internet (this is a common problem with Windows 10 updates). Linux always touts itself as a stable OS, but sadly my evaluation is that it really needs to focus on allowing Windows programs to run seemlessly - which I was not able to do successfully.

I've always carried laptops for business for decades and consider myself fairly capable to keep them in working order. The recent Windows 10 update BSOD and my poor evaluation of Linux Mint - leaves me still searching for simple OS that has access to Windows style software (and not having to settle for compromises, or take the long way around the block).
 
fritz said:
+1 I have recently been trying Linux Mint 18.3 Cinnamon installed side by side with Windows on my Lenovo Laptop. I've installed and reinstalled three times now.
. . . .Linux always touts itself as a stable OS, but sadly my evaluation is that it really needs to focus on allowing Windows programs to run seemlessly - which I was not able to do successfully.

. . . I've always carried laptops for business for decades and consider myself fairly capable to keep them in working order. The recent Windows 10 update BSOD and my poor evaluation of Linux Mint - leaves me still searching for simple OS that has access to Windows style software (and not having to settle for compromises, or take the long way around the block).
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Thanks very much, that saves me a lot of heartache.


On a separate topic:

Nearly everyone who runs Windows has experienced problems with drivers that stop working, incompatible software or hardware after a software or OS upgrade, etc. It would seem there's money to be made by a third party company:
1) To certify hardware and software as truly compliant with all Windows standards and to set their own compatibility standards if the existing MS ones are inadequate. This would go a long way toward making Windows "stuff" play together as well as Apple stuff reportedly does.

2)That offers a subscription service that users can buy for real (secure) assistance. $250/year per system would be a bargain (compared to alternatives/time spent searching web sites for fixes that >might< work). An at-home help desk.
 
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samclem said:
Thanks very much, that saves me a lot of heartache.


On a separate topic:

Nearly everyone who runs Windows has experienced problems with drivers that stop working, incompatible software or hardware after a software or OS upgrade, etc. It would seem there's money to be made by a third party company:
1) To certify hardware and software as truly compliant with all Windows standards and to set their own compatibility standards if the existing MS ones are inadequate. This would go a long way toward making Windows "stuff" play together as well as Apple stuff reportedly does.

2)That offers a subscription service that users can buy for real (secure) assistance. $250/year per system would be a bargain (compared to alternatives/time spent searching web sites for fixes that >might< work). An at-home help desk.
Click to expand...


My real fear is that Microsoft (Apple, and Google) are going the way of Cable service providers and sooner or later - we'll not be permitted to source software that is not sold/accessed only through Microsoft, google, Apple/Mac stores (Think Amazon and books/ebooks). Linux appears to be the only current hope to allow continuing computer OS freedom - and they come across as being better than the commoner's usage (and will unfortunately lose this war). Remember Plasma TVs. Became the best choice for reliability/performance, but too expensive to build and limited to 42" and larger. I own an LG plasma, but will not be able to buy another...

Edit add:

This was not my first Linux attempt. Around 12-15 years ago the tech guy at the start up company I was consulting for praised ubuntu and suggested that I try it out. Installed it on a desktop I owned at the time. Was difficult to manipulate and limited software. Uninstalled it..


Installing Linux on a bootable USB allows for a trial usage. Very slow and updates are not normally saved - a test drive type of installation. Installing Linux side by side on a Windows computer requires some tweaking (turn off quick start and Windows BIOS secure boot disabling) and is not a simple installation (requires disk partitioning). If you think it requires some tech knowledge to install it - try uninstalling it. Requires disk management efforts and entering the BIOS to reset the boot sequence.
 
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Bought my first computer of any kind in January 1997
Gateway 2000 pentium 133, which lasted until 2001. Next was an HP Pavilion. That one lasted about 2.5 years. To its credit. HP replaced the tower, & that one lasted about 4 years.

In May 2008, I decided to give Apple a try. Bought a new 21" iMac.
Since then, I've upgraded the OS 4 times, 2 of those were free, & the other 2 cost $20.00. About 5 years ago, I upgraded the RAM from 2 to 6 GB. $130.00

That's it. No additional virus/security software of any kind. I'm not going to lie & say it's as fast as it was in May 2008, or that it hasn't developed a few quirks along the way, but it's still functioning well enough that I have no reason to replace it.

I'll never go back.

PS: I have no proof that this is beneficial, but about every 10 days, I delete all Safari history, & shut it down overnight.
 
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