Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

analytics.usa.gov

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

21–30 of 60 posts

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#21

Post by ralfd »

dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

Similar story here, but with iPad (good accessibility for old people eye sight). Only Apple iCloud is still baffling (my cloud storage is full? I think I forgot my password?), but many things like TouchID make it easy to use and the simplicity of the system is unkaputtbar/secure compared to a "real" computer.

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#22

Post by glial »

ralfd wrote: post #21
dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

Similar story here, but with iPad (good accessibility for old people eye sight). Only Apple iCloud is still baffling (my cloud storage is full? I think I forgot my password?), but many things like TouchID make it easy to use and the simplicity of the system is unkaputtbar/secure compared to a "real" computer.

iCloud storage is baffling to me too, and I work in tech!

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#23

Post by type0 »

dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

Linux distros becoming easier to use than Win10, I know people in their 70 that are happy Manjro users and you don't have to be tech savvy to use it. The only problem i heard there was fonts, but even that is usually still better than windoze on most distros. Ubuntu MATE is particularly good for accessibility, with magnification if your hardware handles Compiz correctly otherwise Marco (Compton GPU compositor) is great.

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#24

Post by Retric »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #19
benologist wrote: post #6

I think Windows has become obsolete. For most people it's now something you choose to install in increasingly annoying update windows vs automatically installed on new PCs that used to sell like hotcakes. Everyone was automatically opted out of Windows 10 as they kept using old computers with no compelling reasons to buy a new PC again (probably 'ever' for most people). Phones usurped a lot of tasks that are more con…

I'm not sure there's a single task that I've found more convenient to do on a phone than a desktop.

Call people ;P

Also, your PC does not look like the average PC. Think 3-6 years old and filled with spyware.

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#25

Post by [deleted] »

ralfd wrote: post #21
dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

Similar story here, but with iPad (good accessibility for old people eye sight). Only Apple iCloud is still baffling (my cloud storage is full? I think I forgot my password?), but many things like TouchID make it easy to use and the simplicity of the system is unkaputtbar/secure compared to a "real" computer.

[deleted]

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#26

Post by pbhjpbhj »

dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

It's probably too late now but you can revert it back to a previous MS Windows version, eg https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/instantanswers/1235b5b0-....

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#27

Post by 33W »

dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

My wife and I have been using a chromebook as an inexpensive browser at home, with our work laptops if we need anything more intensive (we don't).

We're looking to get one for my mother in law as well, to give her a smoother computing experience.

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#29

Post by zeveb »

33W wrote: post #27
dade_ wrote: post #16

I am visiting elderly relatives this week, so I get my anecdotal updates. The Windows machine was under a towel (for dust) which basically means it isn't being used anymore. The story: after clicking no every time, his Windows 7 machine auto-upgraded to Windows 10. He has figured out how load Internet Explorer to find his links, but is baffled by the rest of Windows. So he went out and upgraded his phone to a new Sam…

My wife and I have been using a chromebook as an inexpensive browser at home, with our work laptops if we need anything more intensive (we don't). We're looking to get one for my mother in law as well, to give her a smoother computing experience.

If ChromeOS weren't a security nightmare (Google have complete access to one's system), I'd recommend it in a flash to non-technical folks.

How long will it be until organisations such as Google & Mozilla realise that people cannot trust them? And how long will it be until people realise that they cannot trust organisations such as Google & Mozilla?

Re: Windows dips below 50% of web traffic to US govt websites

#30

Post by zeveb »

nommm-nommm wrote: post #19
benologist wrote: post #6

I think Windows has become obsolete. For most people it's now something you choose to install in increasingly annoying update windows vs automatically installed on new PCs that used to sell like hotcakes. Everyone was automatically opted out of Windows 10 as they kept using old computers with no compelling reasons to buy a new PC again (probably 'ever' for most people). Phones usurped a lot of tasks that are more con…

I'm not sure there's a single task that I've found more convenient to do on a phone than a desktop.

In general, I think you're right. Were I less paranoid about apps, it's entirely possible that some of them would be more convenient than using my desktop (at this point, I basically cannot trust anything in the Play Store, so bad is the permissions situation). That said, these things are more convenient on a phone or tablet:

- directions & navigation

- reading an ebook on the train

- watching a movie while programming on the desktop

- texting (in fact, it may not be possible)

- using Signal for messages & voice

- tracking my steps in Google Fit

- hailing an Uber

- translating a menu with Google Goggles

That's about all, though. I still prefer my desktop for games, for programming, for creation in general. It's 50-50 between the desktop & a phone or tablet when it comes to browsing the web: the convenience of mobile is nice, but my desktop screen is much nicer.

Post reply on HN