Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#51

Post by bydo » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:07 PM UTC

eddieroger wrote: post #39

kweinber wrote: post #21

I recently switched from a 15" macbook to a lenovo windows 8.1 laptop after 10 years of mac/linux for my daily driver. I live with Windows as the base install and virtualbox linux (arch + ubuntu). I am so glad to be free of the Mac... My hardware is upgradeable again, the touchscreen is a real innovation, Excel opens instantaneously and when I want Unix, I use the linux vm, I am not tempted to use the strange halfway…

You do know that the "unix cli/packaging system" thing is actual UNIX, right? Like, bona fide, certified UNIX for a while now. Homebrew is just a different package manager than you're used to, but not so different from things like apt or yum once you get to know your way around it.

Not to mention that you can use straight ports of Debian apt-get[1], FreeBSD pkg-ng[2], or even Arch pacman[3] on OS X if you so desire.

1: http://pdb.finkproject.org/pdb/package.php/apt 2: https://github.com/freebsd/pkg 3: https://github.com/kladd/pacman-osx

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#52

Post by pjmlp » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:07 PM UTC

millstone wrote: post #44

kweinber wrote: post #21

I recently switched from a 15" macbook to a lenovo windows 8.1 laptop after 10 years of mac/linux for my daily driver. I live with Windows as the base install and virtualbox linux (arch + ubuntu). I am so glad to be free of the Mac... My hardware is upgradeable again, the touchscreen is a real innovation, Excel opens instantaneously and when I want Unix, I use the linux vm, I am not tempted to use the strange halfway…

Can you elaborate on how OS X is way behind Gnome, KDE, and Windows?

Just used OS X a few times, but memory management seems to be a constant complaint.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#53

Post by egeozcan » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:09 PM UTC

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #42

egeozcan wrote: post #29

I got a brand-new laptop with Windows 8 pre-installed from a local manufacturer in Turkey (Actually it says "Grundig" but it's assembled by Arçelik[1]), as a present. It had an i5 and an SSD so I decided to give it a go as a mobile workstation (I'm the kind of developer who likes his large monitors a bit too much). The installation was single-language and I wanted it to be English, so I re-installed from the dedicate…

> That's why I'm so excited about .NET going full cross-platform Just remember that it's only the web stack. No part of the Windows widget/form libraries (to make GUI apps) is being opened. I see this confusion a lot.

Most of my projects are consisting of an API-server and a web front-end lately but you are right, I'll at some point surely need to come-up with something which runs native on Windows and will need to setup Windows anyway.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#54

Post by V-2 » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:10 PM UTC

bydo wrote: post #36

V-2 wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

While I agree it's ridiculous, Apple imposes a limit of 100MB for cellular downloads - http://www.macrumors.com/2013/09/18/apple-increases-over-the... - so even though it's a more reasonable figure, still a showstopper for obtaining your 230MB wi-fi driver.

This is for app downloads; you can't install an app larger than 100MB over cellular. You can download generic files of any size in the browser, or from within apps.

Ah, ok. I stand corrected, thanks.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#55

Post by dragonwriter » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:11 PM UTC

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #50

ryanjshaw wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Windows developer and somebody who actually likes using Windows, I'm still shocked by how pathetic Windows Update is. I'm often reinstalling because as a developer I want to try out the newer platforms. I gave Windows 8.1 a try recently. Fresh install and Windows Update says there's nothing to update. Knowing that's BS, I force it to refresh -- after a significant wait suddenly there's 1GB of updates. Really? Wh…

> As a Windows developer and somebody who actually likes using Windows, I'm still shocked by how pathetic Windows Update is. Heh. My workstation in my cubicle at the office is getting a hard drive replacement right now because some update left it stuck at startup, saying "Windows is configuring things. Please do not turn off your computer." (Or something to that effect.) I get it; if it takes longer than 15 minutes t…

Seems to me that while the Windows Update hanging is a problem there, at least as big of a problem is that your "core IT" is only keeping base images of systems rather than images of complete-and-current builds with applications and current patches.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#56

Post by [deleted] » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:11 PM UTC

grandalf wrote: post #45

The UX of windows 8 is so incredibly poor (even after 8.1) that I question the methodology used to design it. Whatever test group or user studies are suggesting that MS is going in the right direction are deeply flawed. It's just utterly confusing to figure out how to do nearly anything on the OS. There are all sorts of noisy visual cues that look like they communicate state or flow but don't, as well as many seeming…

[deleted]

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#57

Post by egeozcan » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:11 PM UTC

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #50

ryanjshaw wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a Windows developer and somebody who actually likes using Windows, I'm still shocked by how pathetic Windows Update is. I'm often reinstalling because as a developer I want to try out the newer platforms. I gave Windows 8.1 a try recently. Fresh install and Windows Update says there's nothing to update. Knowing that's BS, I force it to refresh -- after a significant wait suddenly there's 1GB of updates. Really? Wh…

> As a Windows developer and somebody who actually likes using Windows, I'm still shocked by how pathetic Windows Update is. Heh. My workstation in my cubicle at the office is getting a hard drive replacement right now because some update left it stuck at startup, saying "Windows is configuring things. Please do not turn off your computer." (Or something to that effect.) I get it; if it takes longer than 15 minutes t…

Just a suggestion: Using Virtual Machines is a good idea for your development environment. You can backup regularly and experiment freely.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#58

Post by grandalf » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

[deleted] wrote: post #56

grandalf wrote: post #45

The UX of windows 8 is so incredibly poor (even after 8.1) that I question the methodology used to design it. Whatever test group or user studies are suggesting that MS is going in the right direction are deeply flawed. It's just utterly confusing to figure out how to do nearly anything on the OS. There are all sorts of noisy visual cues that look like they communicate state or flow but don't, as well as many seeming…

[deleted]

I used to think that. Try using Windows 8.1 and see if you can figure out basic things. Try it with two monitors and you'll find that the hover zone for some of the hidden stuff is about 30x30 pixels. It reminds me of trying to find hidden doors on Zelda.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#59

Post by TheRealDunkirk » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:12 PM UTC

jkot wrote: post #18

topbanana wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'll save you the effort. Shock horror, he has to download a wifi driver.

For Linux user it is sort of shock. Also why that thing has 230MB? Even 10MB would be too much.

Heh. Last time I installed the "driver" for my Logitech mouse on Windows, I think it was 150 MB. 150 MB! For a mouse driver!? I remember when we got REAL WORK done with DOS 6.22, Windows 3.11, and Office 4.0, and it all fit on a 10 MB hard drive, with room left over for Doom.

Re: Installing Windows 8 after 8 years of Linux

#60

Post by Sammi » Thu, Mar 19, 2015, 1:15 PM UTC

millstone wrote: post #44

kweinber wrote: post #21

I recently switched from a 15" macbook to a lenovo windows 8.1 laptop after 10 years of mac/linux for my daily driver. I live with Windows as the base install and virtualbox linux (arch + ubuntu). I am so glad to be free of the Mac... My hardware is upgradeable again, the touchscreen is a real innovation, Excel opens instantaneously and when I want Unix, I use the linux vm, I am not tempted to use the strange halfway…

Can you elaborate on how OS X is way behind Gnome, KDE, and Windows?

File and window management is what kills OSX for me. Finder is just too simple and restrictive, and simple things like window snapping doesn't even exist in OSX. Don't get me started on the horrid mess that is maximization of windows. I really don't know what will happen when I press that green little button in the corner.