Microsft 'Edge'

I can't disagree that Linux can do almost everything that Windows can do, plus a bunch of stuff it can't. However, casual observation (and reading between the lines of many comments from Linux users) suggests to me that it is just a bit more difficult to use than Windows and its many supporters have a higher degree of technical knowledge and understanding than the average windows user - which is almost zero! I have used Linux in various flavours over the years although I spent my working life with a big Microsoft partner and that was our day-to-day working environment. For the vast majority of users, Windows just works, and that's all they need it to do. A levy to Microsoft is worth it to them. I've never really got to grips with the Apple environment - I even find my wife's iPad a challenge - but they have screwed down the environment even more tightly than MS and improved reliability and consistency as a result. At a price...

In any case, having bought stand-alone windows licences for several of my machines years ago, I have been able to transfer them across upgrades, hardware and software, without problem and my once-W7 machines are now running W10, prompting to go to W11, and at no financial cost to me. It does allow me to run software that has no Linux variant available and, despite many years in IT, it is still easier to use than Linux.

Nealeb,

Agree with what you are saying, especially about the lack of knowledge of users, indeed, I found quite a few users whose machines were setup for US of A working, not UK, US of A being the default setup.

For me, the crunch came when with the loss of XP support, I discovered that upgrading to whatever replaced XP, was about to cause me to replace certain pieces of fully working equipment at my expense, something I objected to just to bolster Microsoft's bottom line.

Now it has been pointed out to me, on more than one occasion, that Microsoft are not responsible for the software drivers for , eg, HP printers. Fair enough, but Microsoft are responsible for making changes that caused these drivers to stop working, and that is a good enough reason for me to blame Microsoft, especially as the Linux version I eventually adopted did everything I wanted, all without changing equipment.

Incidently, Microsoft did have some good ideas, witness the fact that ever since I made the switch, I have always setup my Linux versions to as closely as possible, resemble the XP desktop.

As far as Apple is concerned, I have used early Apple equipment, Mackintosh was it? I found it very frustrating to be limited in what I could do after being used for the almost free-for-all of DOS. As a result, I'm just not interested in anything Apple.

Tootle Pip,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 20/02/2023 14:11:41

I have both edge and Firefox on my pc's, but only use the latter. Keeping edge unused is no problem, and might be a good thing if Firefox has difficulties.

Just curious, what were you limited by Peter?

regards Martin

Martin,

I was frustrated by the fact that I couldn't do anything at the machine code level whereas with DOS, CP/M, MP/M etc I could happily trot around at that level.

I suppose really it was the experimental part of me, and of no real use for everyday computing. Actually, that's not really true. I managed to recover some files on a DOS system after someone had screwed up the directory tracks, and I managed to merge 3 DB files into one after the official support group had said it couldn't be done, so it wasn't all play, although a lot of it was.

That's all.

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 20/02/2023 21:17:55

Did you guys ever consider starting your own Linux thread rather than giving us all the benefit of your "enlightenment" in every Windows discussion that takes place here? The question, as in other cases, was one about a specific Windows problem not a request for alternatives to Windows.

I get that you like Linux. Can you get that others are not interested in hearing about it at every opportunity?

Edited By Peter Greene 🇨🇦 on 21/02/2023 01:20:57

Had to think of you guys keeping "ancient" computers running on alternative software to WIndows 10 etc today. I took my 5-year-old Samsung smart phone to several repair places to get the off button fixed because is is becoming hard to use without pushing it in very hard with a thumbnail. Obviously dirty contacts in the switch. But nope. No can fix. No parts available for such an old phone.

I would have a go at it myself with a bit of contact cleaner but don't want to risk killing the phone and losing all my contacts and photos etc.

So I guess it is new phone time when really there is nowt really wrong with the old one. But I am going to America in July and struggled to find a sim card there four years ago that fitted my "obsolete" phone then so I am sure it will be totally unusable there by now. Sadly, planned obsolescence is the way of the world, the world the Millennials keep blaming us for. But I am pretty sure it is not us is doing all this.

If forum threads stuck rigidly to the topic of the original post, they would be far less interesting and informative, and have narrower appeal. Many posters contribute for the benefit of as wide an audience as possible.

Those who are not interested in changing their habits won't discover the benefits of so doing. Keep doing the same, and keep grumbling if you wish, no-one's forcing you read comments that others may find useful.

Kiwi Bloke - Very well said!

Peter Greene,

The problem is that if Microsoft had their way, then PC's would become just another version of Apple with the internals locked down so tightly that no-one would be able to do anything other than what Microsoft (or Apple) allow. As it is, the likes of Linux, by insisting that they should be able to run on general purpose PC's (after all, what does PC stand for? Yes, Personal Computer!) help to prevent a takeover by Microsoft.

You've only got to look at some of the antics that Microsoft have got up to in their quest for PC domination: here in the UK & EU, Microsoft attempted to force us to use Internet Explorer and was it a music player program (I forget the exact details) by bundling them with the operating system. Fortunately, the EU stepped in and forced Microsoft to post a notice on initial installation that alternative pieces of equivalent software were available. You should also look at the amount of fines Microsoft has been given for abusing their position.

Now I know the above sounds like an anti-Microsoft rant, but they have had some good ideas, and a lot of bad ones. The trouble is that as someone above commented, the vast majority of PC buyers simply go with whatever is placed on their machines - just think what might happen if all the PC retailers were required to supply machines without an OS, and were required to explain the alternatives to Windows along with their relative costs, perhaps even having to demonstrate the different systems. Now ok, Microsoft would scream, but at the same time other OS's would become more readily available and their market share would grow.

So, far from "enlightening" people, I would like to think of myself as helping to keep the idea of competion alive. After all, when you buy a car, you have a large number of manufacturers to choose from together with countless variations in specification, including engine types and sizes. Why then, shouldn't that also apply to PC's instead of the two that we have - Apple & Microsoft?

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

Not a diversion, but what Win 10 gets up to to screw up the works.

My digital fcamea a Panasonic TZ3, more than adequate for my needs.

I have not downloaded any pics. since Win 10 replaced Win 7. damn, what a kerfuffle it was to get the download into the PC.

It has taken me nearly 2 hours to get it to latch and download in a completely alien fashion. The format convoluted in the Microsoft way. Bah!

I was going to add my bit about how good Linux has been for 20 years without all the windows hassle but I won't then! LOL There are non so blind as those who dont want to hear ? lol

I won't also mention how frustating my Chromebox is with google trying to own me all the time.

Sorry off topic.

I also won’t mention then that I had both a Mac and a PC on my desk at my last job and the Mac did nearly all the work. I don’t know anyone who switched that said “I’m going back to windows”.

May be a bug, not a fundamental problem. Do cttl-alt-delete and use Task Manager to see what the CPU usage is. There are a number of circumstances in which system processes run amok and gobble all the CPU: if an update arrives when this is happening it takes hours or even days to complete.

Some advice here.

I've had the 'superfetch' problem a couple of times on one of my 3 windows computers. They all run W10 in the same configuration, but only one goes sick, and it's intermittent. Researching it, the problem has been annoying a small percentage of users for about 5 years, and - so far - no-one has identified root cause. Best fix is to recognise the symptoms - a process persistently using 100% CPU - and to kill it. On my machine, cures the issue for months, which probably explains why the cause is so difficult to find.

Dave

Harry,

One of the problems is that Linux as such is not advertised, or at least I never see any adverts for it. Another problem is that the vast majority of PC's in this country come with Windows. How then is the punter to find out about alternative operating systems? The poor bloke, or blokess, may be struggling like SOD/Dave above with a computer that takes forever to do a Windows upgrade when that same machine, under Linux might only take a few minutes for an upgrade.

(Dave, I don't mean that you personally are struggling - it's obvious that you are not.)

So, by me taking the opportunity to explain how to run Windows programs under Linux, either by program substitution, or via an intermediary program, I try to demonstrate that there is a usable alternative to Windows.

Another problem that a Windows user may have an old Windows/DOS program which they need. Now ok, there may be upgrades which allow the old program to work with the latest version of Windows. Or maybe not! I have this problem with an ageing, well perhaps obsolete might be better, DOS based database program which will not work with those versions of Windows designed for home use (apparently Microsoft does not give DOS access on these systems). Whether it will work with the commercial versions of Windows or not I do not know. (I'm sorry, I don't actually know the correct terms for these varieties of Windows - all I know is that the cheaper versions do not allow DOS access.) In my case, as mentioned earlier in this thread, I've got it working under Linux via DOSEMU2. Hence, Linux has got me out of a hole.

Now, you may well ask why I don't upgrade this program? A fair question. First I would have to learn a new program, and at my age that's just not on, and secondly, I would then have to transfer my data across. Perhaps not difficult, but why should I? I have a program which does everything I want, so why learn a new program?

So, as I say, I look upon my comments about Linux as a form of advertising in the hope that more and more people will come to realise that there is an alternative to Windows. True, it might need a bit more work to get running satisfactorily, but the end result will be every bit as good as, and maybe even better in some respects, eg updates, than Windows.

That's why I take the opportunity to rabbit on about Linux.

Cheers, & goodnight one and all,

Peter G. Shaw

OK, I concede - I'm a minority of one.

Couple of points before I go:

- make no mistake, the Linux swerve is not "topic drift". It's topic hijack plain and simple.

- my issue (and only mine apparently) is not that Linux is occasionally suggested as an alternative solution to whatever Windows problem a user is having. It's that it's rammed down our throats by the Linux bores every time a Windows question is asked. It is just so predictable.

And yes, I have run Linux in the past, in several versions and forks (who can keep count). Including the shell which I suspect most here would run a mile from. I've also worked with UNIX and QNX in the distant past. At my stage in life, Windows suits me better. Please accept that I know what's best for me as much as you do for yourselves.

SOD, My PC did the same so I installed Ccleaner and about every week or so I do a clean, some times it finds up to 3000 items of Adware! It will also clean up the registry and the programme is free for use.

Windows on a Mac ? There is always Parallels or Bootcamp to run virtual machines.

regards Martin