Windoze 8

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March 14th, 2013 at 7:41:24 AM permalink
boopsahoy
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1
Posts: 33
I have windows8 and its fine. Not difficult at all. You dont need a touchscreen but its set up so that you COULD use a touch screen. I really like it -and Im no techno wiz either!
March 14th, 2013 at 8:00:57 AM permalink
Pacomartin
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 1068
Posts: 12569
Quote: JB
If you switch to Linux, I recommend Fedora.


That's interesting. I've tried to use Open Office. Most of the time it works fine, but it has annoying glitches. It seems to freeze up frequently and it seems to damage the file. It runs through a recovery operation to get the file back (it has never failed), but it is time consuming.

I would be reluctant to use an open operating system. It seems like as if I would be second guessing everything that goes wrong based on the OS.
March 15th, 2013 at 12:06:04 PM permalink
AcesAndEights
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 6
Posts: 351
Quote: Pacomartin
Quote: JB
If you switch to Linux, I recommend Fedora.


That's interesting. I've tried to use Open Office. Most of the time it works fine, but it has annoying glitches. It seems to freeze up frequently and it seems to damage the file. It runs through a recovery operation to get the file back (it has never failed), but it is time consuming.

I would be reluctant to use an open operating system. It seems like as if I would be second guessing everything that goes wrong based on the OS.

When was the last time you used OpenOffice? I find it to be very usable, but I don't spend a lot of time in office programs, so my opinion is only worth so much.

If it was more than a year or two ago I would advise you to try again before you form an opinion - things have been getting more user-friendly at a very fast pace in the open software world. This is based on the whole of available programs, not just office-related.
"You think I'm joking." -EvenBob
March 15th, 2013 at 12:29:30 PM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: Pacomartin
Quote: JB
If you switch to Linux, I recommend Fedora.


That's interesting. I've tried to use Open Office. Most of the time it works fine, but it has annoying glitches. It seems to freeze up frequently and it seems to damage the file. It runs through a recovery operation to get the file back (it has never failed), but it is time consuming.

I would be reluctant to use an open operating system. It seems like as if I would be second guessing everything that goes wrong based on the OS.


OpenOffice works great for me. Only once when the person I was sending a file to couldn't open if but it was him as I sent it in many other formats. I love it, unless you are a heavy user it will meet your needs. As to the repair and rd over file if you shut down proper it shod not be an issue.

The open os idea is intriguing. I tried Linux 10 years ago but couldn't get it figured out. I got it free on a free of I sold later for $10 or something so I am cautious there. How is the look and feel these days? When my home remodel is done I want to set up a real nice workstation with 2 or three monitors and wonder if there is a better alternative. And how is virus protection?
The President is a fink.
March 15th, 2013 at 2:32:25 PM permalink
AcesAndEights
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 6
Posts: 351
Quote: AZDuffman
The open os idea is intriguing. I tried Linux 10 years ago but couldn't get it figured out. I got it free on a free of I sold later for $10 or something so I am cautious there. How is the look and feel these days? When my home remodel is done I want to set up a real nice workstation with 2 or three monitors and wonder if there is a better alternative. And how is virus protection?

The usability has increased dramatically over the past 10 years. I would try out Ubuntu and see if you like it. I personally prefer the look-and-feel of Xubuntu, which is the same Ubuntu internals but with a different "window manager" (essentially the part of the OS you interact with on a daily basis).

It's all free, so before you set up your new workstation, you can download an image to a CD and try it out on an existing computer. Ubuntu and Xubuntu will both allow you to try out the OS without modifying anything on your hard drive, but it runs a little slow off the CD. Installing to hard drive is not really an issue though, as it will shrink your Windows partition and install Linux on the extra space.

As to virus protection, I have never installed an anti-virus program on any of my Linux machines. In the past, the adoption was so low that the virus-makers never bothered making Linux viruses. Honestly I still think that is the case. At all of my jobs which have used Linux workstations, we were never required to have anti-virus software because the risk was so low. Just look at this graph and you'll see that Linux is still barely on the map in terms of "desktops accessing the internet." Even still, a quick google search for "linux anti-virus" reveals that there are some products out there.
"You think I'm joking." -EvenBob
March 15th, 2013 at 8:06:35 PM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: boopsahoy
I have windows8 and its fine. Not difficult at all. You dont need a touchscreen but its set up so that you COULD use a touch screen. I really like it -and Im no techno wiz either!


I think the issue is: what do you do with the PC?

For people who browse the web a little and then read their email, and who never spend more than an hour or two at the computer, I guess it might be ok. But when you need several windows open at once, and are used to switching between tasks along the Win95/98/XP/Vista/7 model, it's too much to ask to reduce your scope to that of a tablet, or to put up with massive inconvenience.

At work I have at elast 4 windows open at once. usually more like 6 to 8, with active switching between 2 of them and less with the rest.

At home I do less. Usually two browser windows, plus a game. But I spend hours like that (on and off), with frequent switching. then, too,s ometimes I work on writing, or am researching travel, and I need two or three more open windows.

Read again what I said about the Win95/98/XP/Vista/7 model. essentially this means I, and millions of people, have been using the same environment, with some changes, for 18 years. Now we're expected to change to something radically different. I would understand that if it offered an improvement in use, but it doesn't.

I'll say it again: I had the same concerns with the changes in Office 2007, and I was right. Things I could do easily, if seldomly, now go undone because I can't figure out how, or they cannot be done any more, or take longer. Why do this to the whole OS?

Really, if not for the fact that all other options are worse....
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
March 16th, 2013 at 7:02:11 AM permalink
AZDuffman
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 135
Posts: 18136
Quote: AcesAndEights


It's all free, so before you set up your new workstation, you can download an image to a CD and try it out on an existing computer. Ubuntu and Xubuntu will both allow you to try out the OS without modifying anything on your hard drive, but it runs a little slow off the CD. Installing to hard drive is not really an issue though, as it will shrink your Windows partition and install Linux on the extra space.


Here is the question. Say I buy a new bare-bones PC with no O/S. Do I just download the aforementioned CD, put it in, and a wizard handles it? I do like the Xubuntu look a little better at a glance as Ubuntu looks a little more touch-screen as was mentioned. I switched from IE to Firefox last month and can't believe I never did before. I am thinking the OS will be the same when I get a new system.
The President is a fink.
March 20th, 2013 at 12:19:19 PM permalink
AcesAndEights
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 6
Posts: 351
Quote: AZDuffman
Here is the question. Say I buy a new bare-bones PC with no O/S. Do I just download the aforementioned CD, put it in, and a wizard handles it?

Yep. This is one of the biggest improvements in Linux over the past several years. When I started futzing around with it back in college (about 10 years ago), installation required a "power user" to some extent, now the wizard is about the same as the Windows installation (note I have not installed Windows since XP).


Quote:
I do like the Xubuntu look a little better at a glance as Ubuntu looks a little more touch-screen as was mentioned.

That is one of the biggest knocks on the newer Ubuntu versions. Like Windows 8, they have sacrificed usability for desktop users to make something that looks "cool" and is usable on tablets. No thanks, I don't have a tablet.

Quote:
I switched from IE to Firefox last month and can't believe I never did before. I am thinking the OS will be the same when I get a new system.

Good call. I switch between Chrome and Firefox these days, they both serve my needs just fine. The switch from Windows to Linux wouldn't be quite as smooth, but based on your comments here I think you could handle it. Hopefully you would enjoy the change as well, but I won't guarantee that :).
"You think I'm joking." -EvenBob
March 26th, 2013 at 9:02:35 AM permalink
Nareed
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 346
Posts: 12545
Quote: Nareed
Here's another prediction: the next Windoze will likely revive the look and feel of Win7 with a tablet-like option (you don't throw out a failure just because it failed; even New Coke hung on, died, and then was resurrected). Possibly it will be released within three years, with buzz beginning in 16 to 20 months.


So now the tech websites are abuzz with a pre-pre-release leak of something called MS Blue. At first I thought I'd been wildly optimistic with my prediction, but then I found out MS is still on full-tilt New Coke mode. This "Blue" stuff is New windows, only more so.

So I'll ammend my prediction: either we'll see a Win7/Desktop look and feel within 16 to 20 months, or the crash, when it comes, will be spectacular.
Donald Trump is a one-term LOSER
March 29th, 2013 at 7:15:46 PM permalink
AcesAndEights
Member since: Oct 24, 2012
Threads: 6
Posts: 351
Quote: Nareed
So I'll ammend my prediction: either we'll see a Win7/Desktop look and feel within 16 to 20 months, or the crash, when it comes, will be spectacular.


God I hope so.
"You think I'm joking." -EvenBob
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