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The day Windows died

thomasbandt.com

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Re: The day Windows died

#791

Post by ChancyChance »

Dalewyn wrote: post #338
ChancyChance wrote: post #289

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But at least “yes, it can do that” That's a good point. Hardware failures are far more costly on a Mac that on a windows machine. I'm so far removed from that being an issue (because I'm old) that it is a privilege I forget I have. Duly noted. Cygwin/MSYS/Mingw are really sad reflections of their source material. Not to take a big crap on the millions of man hours the developers have put into them, but they are not…

It's really all about the perspective. I'm a Windows wizard of many a decades and fucking hate iPhones and iPads, but finally got around to buying a Macbook to try it thanks to the sheer hype surrounding the Apple M chips. My understanding of Macs now is that I hate them but also respect them. What do I mean by this? Well, I have gripes, lots of them; but I'm a power user and here's the kicker: Macs are not intended…

> Macs are not intended for power users,

The fact that you can make that claim with a straight face in the context of Windows, with zero examples, tells me you have little experience with both.

Re: The day Windows died

#792

Post by bluedino »

elihu wrote: post #485

I just bought a Lenovo Ideapad from Costco for about $500. The last time I bought a computer preloaded with Windows was about a decade ago. My experience so far: I turn it on, there's a license agreement. Actually, there's two. One is from Microsoft, and it's rather long but I guess it's about par for the course. Then there's the Lenovo license agreement, which is actually a bunch of other license agreements concaten…

I have a USB device that needs a Windows computer to run the software to pull data off of it.

I've always kept an old Thinkpad around for it, first it had XP, then I upgraded and had Windows 7...my latest laptop has Windows 11 on it.

I had to agree to Windows terms of service, refuse OneDrive and Office365 trial, tracking, windows experience, plus the Microsoft account...such an annoyance when I just want to install some software and use the damn machine like I used to.

Re: The day Windows died

#793

Post by kofejnik »

irthomasthomas wrote: post #633
elihu wrote: post #485

I just bought a Lenovo Ideapad from Costco for about $500. The last time I bought a computer preloaded with Windows was about a decade ago. My experience so far: I turn it on, there's a license agreement. Actually, there's two. One is from Microsoft, and it's rather long but I guess it's about par for the course. Then there's the Lenovo license agreement, which is actually a bunch of other license agreements concaten…

Been a Linux user for almost a decade. Built a PC for someone recently and they wanted 11 Pro. Whatever, I shrugged, and downloaded the iso from Microsoft. I dd'd it to a usb, like every other iso, and boot to the installer menu. I'm greeted by an error that there are missing drivers. I'm familiar with this error, still, but I'm surprised to see it on the latest O/S. It looks exactly like I remember from 98. So, I sp…

FYI, to get a bootable Windows USB key, you don't need any special tools or DD. Fresh format it with NTFS, and simply copy the contents of ISO onto it. Somehow it works pretty reliably.

Re: The day Windows died

#794

Post by chupasaurus »

kofejnik wrote: post #793
irthomasthomas wrote: post #633

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Been a Linux user for almost a decade. Built a PC for someone recently and they wanted 11 Pro. Whatever, I shrugged, and downloaded the iso from Microsoft. I dd'd it to a usb, like every other iso, and boot to the installer menu. I'm greeted by an error that there are missing drivers. I'm familiar with this error, still, but I'm surprised to see it on the latest O/S. It looks exactly like I remember from 98. So, I sp…

FYI, to get a bootable Windows USB key, you don't need any special tools or DD. Fresh format it with NTFS, and simply copy the contents of ISO onto it. Somehow it works pretty reliably.

> you don't need any special tools or DD. Fresh format it with NTFS

Is kinda special tool in non-MS world.

Re: The day Windows died

#795

Post by di456 »

The end for me was when I found out my local files were syncing to OneDrive without knowing. Some dark pattern convinced me to opt in. I remember opting out before that. Somehow it must have connected my Hotmail browser session to my PC. I really have know idea how it opted me in.

Lesson: never use an actual active MS account for an OS install. If required, make it machine-specific.

After this experience I will never trust or use OneDrive or any MS-connected account tied to my OS. And I plan to use Linux going forward, with one laptop already migrated to Ubuntu.

Re: The day Windows died

#796

Post by jwr »

AnonCoward42 wrote: post #577
jwr wrote: post #484

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This post is screaming out for Linux. Linux is the solution to his dilemma. I'm not sure about that. Ubuntu at least is being slowly turned into adware. Apt already shows advertisements, the snap store is being expanded and promoted — and yes, these are small changes for now, but that's exactly how Windows started changing as well. Change like this happens, as the saying goes "gradually, and then suddenly". Sad fac…

The standards for what constitutes adware are a bit higher than on other OSes, however I also see this as a warning sign and I despise snap. As someone who also vets Linux installs for some relatives I used Ubuntu on these and I regret it a bit. It's nothing you can't fix yet, but it becomes an annoyance. This and the silent introduction of phased updates and some broken updates makes me avoid Ubuntu in the future fo…

> The standards for what constitutes adware are a bit higher than on other OSes, however I also see this as a warning sign and I despise snap.

I am actually most concerned with advertising in apt. And yes, it's subtle for now, but that's how things begin.

Re: The day Windows died

#797

Post by Koshkin »

apatheticonion wrote: post #534
ncallaway wrote: post #416

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Windows; Desktop PC mostly for games. That's totally fair, but I would definitely recommend that you try installing games on your Linux desktop as well. Proton is absolutely stunning in what they've managed to accomplish. I'm always a little surprised when a game _doesn't_ run well in Proton now. If you've got particular games that you must play that don't run well on Linux, you'll probably want to keep the Windows…

This is actually something I try to make a point of doing frequently. I tend to try games on Linux first before falling back to Windows after. Big call out is controller support. Sometimes I game on my TV, when I do I use an Xbox whatever-the-current-gen-is controller with the official usb dongle. To get it working on Linux, I had to compile/install a third party kernel extension from GitHub via the command line - fi…

I remember Syberia 2 (from GOG) refused to work properly on Windows (no matter what compatibility settings or nvidia tweaks I tried) until I got an obscure dx3d patch from some dark corner of the Web.

Re: The day Windows died

#798

Post by cesarb »

_dain_ wrote: post #759
blkhawk wrote: post #424

Earlier quoted context omitted.

why is that user-unfriendly? Didn't it work? Did you miss the ads and the tracking you cannot turn off, updates that ninja-popup and log your PC for half an hour if you not careful for half a second while writing something or the simplicity of selecting the type of user you want to setup by pulling the network cable or disabling your wifi?

>why is that user-unfriendly? Didn't it work? assuming you're not trolling, it's user-unfriendly because novices are used to changing settings in GUIs. changing settings in a bash script is a qualitative difference, and paradoxically leaves novices more helpless, despite being a more powerful tool in principle. they don't know any of the syntax or semantics of bash, so they may as well be pasting something written in…

> compare a GUI: a GUI settings dialog will have options labelled in English

In my experience, a GUI settings dialog normally will have options labelled in Brazilian Portuguese, which is even more friendly. The command line, on the other hand, is always in English (though its output is often in a mix of English and Brazilian Portuguese).

(Your experience may vary; people from smaller countries might have only a partial translation of the GUI, or even none at all.)

Re: The day Windows died

#799

Post by tabtab »

Windows is annoying largely because Microsoft has insufficient competition. If you want to "do real business", you pretty much have to use Windows. Google was giving MS a run for their money, but seems they mostly backed away for some reason. MS can be a jerk because the penalty for jerk-hood is too small.

What would partially help is a state-ful GUI markup standard so we could run both web and desktop GUI apps smoothly on Windows and other OS's. I realize Java applets tried similar, but they tried to be an entire virtual OS and app platform, biting off more than they could manage. Just focus on being a GUI browser and only a GUI browser, rather than a Swiss army knife. Do one job and do it well.

Re: The day Windows died

#800

Post by mrguyorama »

whstl wrote: post #562
raxxorraxor wrote: post #524

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand how Microsoft can cheapen their main OS that much. If they really wanted to emulate Apple, they wouldn't fill their OS with trash in every corner. This also extends to the default landing page of Edge. This is the worst form of bullvard, it is a tiny bit better than directly advocating for penis enlargement on the internet. But not by much at all. There should be no ads on the OS level. Especially…

I think it's just different groups in the Windows team pushing for different things. One portion wants to move in an Apple-like direction, while another group wants to increase "engagement", have metrics and add shovelware to get another revenue stream. The obvious reality of course is that #1 won't make Apple users migrate to Windows because of #2. And both #1 and #2 will alienate diehard Windows users.

But the problem is an executive team that seems to agree with the engagement group.
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