Posts by BobChip

Microsoft's problem child, Windows 11, is here. Will you run it? Can you run it? Do you even WANT to run it?

Re: Want to run it?

Do I want to run it? NO - because I have Linux, which works brilliantly, reliably, every day, all day. Simples

Re: Want to run it?

My Mint 20.2 system (homebuild) supports an HP laser printer, Canon Pixma inkjet, and an Epson V600 scanner, all running seamlessly together, with a wireless internet connection as well. Linux drivers for all these devices are provided by the manufacturer, and are perfectly good for day to day use with existing Linux software such as Simple Scan or Xsane. Yes, Vuescan is excellent and I have added it too - but I also used it with Windows back in the dark ages because MS on it's own did not cut the mustard, as well as the very useful Turboprint, which I have also carried forward into Linux. Don't let ANYONE tell you that Linux systems are unusable or difficult to work with - if I can do this without any formal training or "technical support", at nearly 80, anyone can. I use all this for extensive real WORK in my local community, not just as a hobby project.

In fact, IMHO, it has proved much easier to do all this in a Linux environment than it ever was under MS. With the added advantages of FOSS, far superior stability and the delightfully quick and simple (compared to MS) Linux update system - no borks or BSDs.

Happy (elderly) bunny.

Want to check out Windows 11 but don't want to buy a new PC? Here's how to bypass the hardware requirements

Re: Even better....don't bother yet!

My head hurts! Sounds like an awful lot of very iffy hard work. Think I'll just stick with Linux.......

Got enterprise workstations and hope to run Windows 11? Survey says: You lose. Over half the gear's not fit for it

Re: On the other hand

- and on which you will still be able to run Linux systems for years to come. Win 11? Who on earth really needs or wants it? Certainly not me. I'm now looking to upgrade my 15 year old Dell laptop to a really cheap, high spec one. Running mint 20.2 of course.

With just over two weeks to go, Microsoft punts Windows 11 to Release Preview

Re: Joke

Good decision! But why not just "go Linux" immediately? The last version of Win that I actually "used", in the sense of properly understanding the OS, and doing productive work on it, was XP. I started out dual booting XP and Ubuntu, and after a few months I realised that I was preferentially booting up Linux more than 95% of the time. Decision made. Microsoft in the trash can. No more hours of waiting to be borked by the latest Win update. Linux updated in a few tens of seconds, while I could go on working as well, mostly no need to restart the system, no more BSOD etc. Now a very content user of Mint 20.2, which I use for all my WORK. All the software I need, plus my Epson scanner and two printers (HP laser and Canon inkjet) all perfectly integrated and supported.

To quote Jack Reacher, Never Go Back!

If you must use MS for any reason, there is always Virtual box. Not for Win 11 apparently, but seriously, who cares?

Alright! Who's stoked for Windows 10 20H2? Anyone? Well, it's ready for commercial pre-release validation anyway

Re: Time for ZERO hours of lost computer time

Linux. That's how I do it. I'm on a less than 10 Mb connection, and most "big" updates are completed - download and install - in less than 5 minutes. Silently, in the background, with no lost working time (and only very rarely, the need to re-boot). Windows? Never again.

Microsoft doc formats are the bane of office suites on Linux, SoftMaker's Office 2021 beta may have a solution

Having had to prepare many documents - fortunately in english language only - that would format properly and print out legibly in almost every country on earth (see weird Japanese paper sizes, for example, and note that the US rarely uses A4), I have reverted to creating documents in Libreoffice and exporting as PDF. This seems to perfectly in the great majority of cases. Else use Latex or a Pagemaker clone. You will hear quick enough if it comes out junk at the receivng end. Jump on a plane and take a paper copy with you if it is that important - and your boss will wear the cost....

Are you getting it? Yes, armageddon it: Mass hysteria takes hold as the Windows 7 axe falls

Re: one would think

The boundaries probably will blur, but having made the switch to Linux years ago I will stick with it. I will never go back to anything made by / associated with $MS. Think of it as a cultural preference. OH - and a fondness for stuff that actually works, as if functionality actually mattered when I am trying to do productive WORK.

Breaking, literally: Microsoft's fix for CPU-hogging Windows bug wrecks desktop search

Re: Hmmmm..GIVING UP

Have you never noticed how easy it is to make pain and irritation go away by simply ceasing the activity which is causing them. Tis is exactly what I found about eight years ago when I -GAVE UP_on MS WINDOWS and migrated to a totally Linux environment. YES, I did have some early MINOR Issues, easily redolved by seeking help from the highly supportive LINUX COMMUNITY. I am now a very happy bunny, doing CAD work, and corresponding frrely with colleagues. (Libre office)

NEVER AGAIN WILL I EVER PAY THE MICROSOFT TAX FOR THE " PRIVILEDGE OF RUNNING (OR TRYING TO RUN...)"SECOND RATE SOFTWARE

Call Windows 10 anything you like – Microsoft seems to

LibreOffice

Great to know that LO can recover old MS Office documents (I have also found this useful), but why on earth save them back into MS format when you already have LO?

Re: Separate partitions for data?

No. Not on the machines I build. One HDD for the (usually Linux) OS and software, and a second, separate HDD for user data. In case the system HDD crashes.

If you are really nervous about data security, you can even leave the data drive unmounted except when you actually want to save fresh data to it. But never forget to backup, backup, backup.....

A lucky 10 %

As of last week, a lucky 10 per cent .......

Lucky? Are we sure about that?

BT adopts Ubuntu OpenStack as core brains for its 5G, fibre-to-the-premises rollout

Ubuntu

So, regardless of what we are always being told, Linux must be on somebody's desktop .....

Microsoft middlemen rebel against removal of free software licences

Re: Still miss my TechNet...

"Guess I'll be running more Linux in the future too."

We mostly all started where you are now. Welcome to the club. We're large and friendly. And free.

'Evolution of the PC ecosystem'? Microsoft's 'modern' OS reminds us of the Windows RT days

Seamless updates with no interuptions?

Seamless updates with no interuptions? That'll be Linux then.

Let adware be treated as malware, Canuck boffins declare after breaking open Wajam ad injector

Block the lot!

Block ANYTHING and EVERYTHING you do not actively want on your system. Aggressively. By all means at your disposal. Even "harmless" adware still steals bandwidth I have paid for, and for which I have much better uses.

Banhammer Republic: Trump declares national emergency, starts ball rolling to boot Huawei out of ALL US networks

Re: "Unacceptable risk", eh? - let me guess

Note that exactly the same argument could (should?) be used to stop UK Inc buying US made systems. Question is, who do you trust more? China or US? And why.

Answers to El Reg please, on no more than 50 sheets of A4 .....

Be wary, traveller: There is no going back if you step over the Windows 10 20H1 threshold

Be wary? Don't do it then.

Sounds like a recipe for a permanently screwed up machine. Unless your principal pleasure in life is playing catch up and trying to sort out where M$ got it wrong. And of course, you don't actually need the machine to do any work.

As another comment on this article says, "I hear Linux is good." Yes. It is. Very good.

They're BAAACK: Windows 10 nagware team loads trebuchet with annoying reminders to GTFO Windows 7

Re: Solving the Windows Issues - and preaching to the converted

You are far from alone. All our desktops and laptops are now on Linux Mint, and both kids university laptops are Chromebooks (AKA Linux).

Did I mention that none of these systems ever nag you? About anything? Or that they update silently and in minutes, not hours?

Linux is the only upgrade you will ever need.

Take your pick: Linux on Windows 10 hardware, or Windows 10 on Linux hardware

Year of the Linux desktop?

For me, this IS the year of the Linux desktop, just as it has been for the last eight years or so. It does all I need and more with Mint 18.3 and FOSS software. CAD, graphics, documents, spreadsheets, photo editing etc..

Yes, I enjoy a tinker as much as anyone, and I could easily run Windows inside my Linux system.

But why on earth would I ever want to???

Home users due for a battering with Microsoft 365 subscription stick

Re: Never guessed...

I did guess. Saw this coming a long time ago and migrated to Linux. Home built PC(s), Mint 18.3, Libre Office, FreeCad, Gimp and Inkscape do all I need. VirtualBox for an old copy of Win 7 if I need it, though a quick look at the log says I have not fired it up for almost a year.

I don't pay the Microsoft tax now, and have no intention of ever doing so in the future.

Happy bunny.

It's official. Microsoft pushes Google over the Edge, shifts browser to Chromium engine

Re: And who got fired for taking all the wrong decisions?

Windows 11 will be based on 7 UI?. Nah. Linux, obviously.

Incoming! Microsoft unleashes more fixes for Windows 10 October 2018 Update

Incoming....

Incoming. Take cover! Enemy missile approaching. WILL do serious damage on impact.

Yeah. Seems about right..

Question: How fast is the Windows 10 October 2018 Update rolling out? Answer: Not very

Once bitten....

No surprises here then.... But probably not too much new wisdom either.

Microsoft slips ads into Windows 10 Mail client – then U-turns so hard, it warps fabric of reality

Re: You paid

I pay good money to build my own (desktops). Second HD for data, so no cloud for me. Load up Linux. Adblock, Ghostery, Ublock deal with ads and tracking etc. Fast, stable, rock solid and great for WORK.

Happy bunny

My hoard of obsolete hardware might be useful… one day

Keeping old kit? - YES if it still does it's job.

OK, I am guilty of almost every behaviour identified in previous posts, and possibly some quirky ones of my own. But I will make a case for keeping SOME old kit. For example, I have an old Minolta 35 mm film scanner, for which Windows support was dropped around Vista time. However, it is recognised by Mint 18 and still works perfectly well. It is probably far better built than most modern equivalents costing £00s to £000s. Why throw out anything that still works? Linux OS seems to have a remarkable ability to breathe new life into (some) old kit.

OK, so I am Scottish and traditionally tight fisted, but it is my money.

The nights are drawing in. Pour a cup of cocoa and join us for Windows 10 Autumnwatch

Re: sudo

Quite so. No basic system update has ever, in six years of continuous use, borked my system. or taken more than a few minutes to complete.

Suits me very well, thank you.

Icon, because you already knew without being asked.

Windowswatching?

Don't think I will bother. Past performance is more than sufficient to predict what watchers will see. I'll rely on El Reg to let me know if anything spectacular happens - like it actually working, for example

Unsure why you can't log into Office 365? So is Microsoft

Re: "You (won't)need the Internet for this"

Correction - I have LibreOffice, so I don't need – or want – MS Office. At all. Simples.

Memo to Microsoft: Windows 10 is broken, and the fixes can't wait

Win 10 broken beyond repair?

An IT salesperson asked me this week how I could possibly prefer Linux to Microsoft. I asked him if he had ever tried, or even looked at Linux, to which the answer was unsurprisingly, an emphatic NO! Why on earth should I? (Wrong religion, I guess)

It does not seem to matter how terminally broken Win 10 is, like a car with a written off engine, unthinking fans will continue to sing its praises. Even though it is not going anywhere. Corporate users, who cough up for MS's profits, are bound to see things differently.

Zip it! 3 more reasons to be glad you didn't jump on Windows 10 1809

iFixit score of 1

Note that the latest MS fondleslab gets an iFixit score of just 1 for maintainability and repairability. Looks like the OS should get the same score as well. Or possibly less. Consistency seems to be the key here.

Microsoft points to a golden future where you can make Windows 10 your own

Deinstall Win 10?

Microsoft has announced that its customers will finally be able to remove more of the cruft that arrives with a Windows 10 installation. In 2019.

I'd rather be able to remove the entire OS - i.e. all of the cruft.

Or, preferably, not have to install any of it in the first place.

In Windows 10 Update land, nobody can hear you scream

Re: Yes I understand Microsoft's problem ...

Microsoft have always been legendary for their ability to get it wrong, but someone has raised the bar dramatically this time. And still, they have cleared it with ease.

Contrast Linux. I have been a user for more than six years now, and have NEVER had an update bork the system. (I have done it myself, by buggering about in ignorance, but that's my fault.) Not only will it run on a wider selection of hardware, but it will also support a large number of older peripherals (printers, scanners) which still work perfectly well, but have long been abandoned by Windows.

The hobbyist system? Windows, obviously, because you can spend endless hours trying to get it to work. Trouble is, I thought you were supposed to enjoy your hobby.......

Windows 10 1809: Now arriving on a desktop near you (if you want it)

Re: Hmmmm - updates

(work PC updated overnight) - and found the process markedly faster than the April 2018 Update – less than an hour from start to finish.

One (more) reason why I use Linux.

WLinux brings a custom Windows Subsystem for Linux experience to the Microsoft Store

Re: The Other Way Round

Quite so. I started using Linux seriously about six years ago, dual booting with Windows at first. I then found, after a couple of months, that I was preferentially booting into Linux almost all the time. I now run a Linux host with Win 7 in VirtualBox, which I sometimes use to open and convert old Corel Draw files.

But run Linux under a Win host? What on earth for? "You cannot be serious!"

Icon because Big Brother is NOT watching me.

Office 2019 lumbers to the stage once more as Microsoft promises future releases

Re: Classified and commercially sensitive documents?

Can users be sure that copies of their documents are only stored in accordance with their organisation's security policy or their country's national security legislation?

NO

That simple.

Yada yada, take my money: Firms do not scrutinise software support spend – report

Contract renewal

What about some sort of "Compare the Market" for IT contract renewal? Not sure how this could be made to work in practice, but it could put the wind up some of the major suppliers .......

Just a thought

Microsoft tells volume customers they can stay on Windows 7... for a bit longer... for a fee

Re: Microsoft is giving people some extra time...

Yes, people are now switching to Linux, but still in relatively small numbers. It is only AFTER you have made the switch, AND you have become comfortable with the new system, that you begin to appreciate just how very much better than MS Windows (Win 10 in particular, but that's not difficult) it really is. I have NEVER had a BSOD, or an update bork my system, in 6 years of daily use. I love the support it provides for my legacy film scanner. Updates are not forced on me, and take from a few seconds to two or three minutes, silently, in the background, with no need for repeated reboots etc. etc. etc. Modern printers and scanners are easily supported, and the major manufacturers all provide Linux drivers these days.

Linux may become dominant in time, but only after a large enough body of day to day users has become established for the word to spread. And M$ have lost their stranglehold on the supply chain, where they continue to push out a seriously unsatisfactory OS on new hardware that, more often than not, customers really do not need. Sad.

Microsoft gives Windows 10 a name, throws folks a bone

Word Perfect 5.1

Remember the "Reveal Codes" feature? This allowed you to see exactly which text and formatting codes - features - were in use at any point in a document, and to edit or delete them if you wanted to. Never seen anything half as useful in any "modern" word processor. Dug me out of some horrible formatting holes in tables and forms, that did. I really miss it. WP 5.1 was pretty damn good really, even by today's standards. (I still have a copy, on 5 floppies....)

It may be poor man's Photoshop, but GIMP casts a Long Shadow with latest update

The best software .......

The best software in the world is the software you know best.

Any truly capable software will be complex and will take time to learn. And it will be different. As Ragarath says, make the effort to learn it before commenting or complaining.

Some of you really don't want Windows 10's April 2018 update on your rigs

Re: Why so traumatic? Since you ask

The system I am typing this on is a somewhat elderly - 4 years ish? - home build put together as follows :-

Gigabyte motherboard

Intel i5-2500 @ 3.3 Ghz quad core chip

Nvidia GTX 550 Ti graphics card

1Tb Western Digital system disc (Spinning tin - have not gone SSD yet)

2Tb W.D. data hard drive (manual switch, not powered up on boot unless I think I will need to access it)

24 Gb RAM (I use CAD and play about with virtual machines)

all running Mint 18.3 Cinnamon 64 bit V3.6.7 on 4.15.0-29 generic kernel

In other words, absolutely nothing special at all. Hope this helps.

Why so traumatic?

I cant help but wonder why MS updates always seem to cause so much grief. Linux (now on Mint 18) updates happen quickly and silently in the background, and so far - I have been a user for the last 6 years - have never borked anything.

Suggestions?

Microsoft says Windows 10 April update is fit for business rollout

Re: good news

There are already several very good replacements for Win (any number you like) freely available out there ........

It's getting more and more Azure'd: For Microsoft, sorry seems to be the hardest word

Boy am I glad..

that I don't use anything made by Microsoft any more. Stability and reliability are much more to my taste.

Which? calls for compensation for users hit by Windows 10 woes

MS abandoning Windows??

The only thing that will make MS sit up and take notice of it's (Windows) customers is that they start losing them. Losing money will do it.

That said, since they seem determined to move to being a "cloud and services" business, and have suddenly decided to "love" open source and Linux, could it just be that they have simply lost interest in Windows - not making enough money - and are preparing to abandon it?

Interesting times.

MPs slam UK.gov's 'unacceptable' hoarding of custody images

Garbage in......

OK. Let's fill it with the entire UK population, all presumed guilty in the first place, on the basis that all of us will commit some sort of offence sooner or later....... Stuffing a database full of false data only makes it harder to search for the good stuff. If you do not know whether any bit of data is true or false, can you really call it a "database" in the first place?

Scrap the ruddy thing.

Microsoft's latest Windows 10 update downs Chrome, Cortana

Re: GIMP is pretty good

Note that it also runs on Windows as well (if you must stick with MS). And it is FREE, as well as being powerful.

More ad-versarial tech: Mozilla to pop limited ad blocker into Firefox

Re: Adblocking is stealing

Adblocking is NOT stealing. Unsolicited advertising hogging my bandwidth IS. The adslingers are soaking up bandwidth I have paid for, without my consent, meaning that I cannot use it for the purposes for which I paid for it. Taking someone else's goods without their consent satisfies every definition of theft that I have ever seen.

Brit military boffins buy airtime on HD eye-in-the-sky video satellite

State of the art

Nice to know we can make this stuff -- but not quite so nice to know that we have to rely on someone else to launch it...