Windows is getting disgusting

[rdl]

I've used SumatraPDF for years. No install, just unzip it to a folder and run. Very lightweight and does not run active content within pdfs. Also, the last couple of Windows 7 re-installs, I have not bothered with the flashplayer and haven't missed it a bit. Glad it's gone actually.

[rsjsouza]

I use an older version of Foxit installed a few years ago at my work computer and I like it, but the interface in later versions is a bit crowded for my taste.
Today I downloaded an old friend of mine from many years ago: Ghostscript and its companion Windows viewer Ghostview. It was a great surprise to see a clean and simple interface with a reasonable renderer (supporting also XPS and the original PS).

[Howardlong]

One further obnoxious thing is that Windows 10 keeps reverting the default pdf reader to its Edge browser

It should only revert to defaults when you get a feature upgrade (the same as Windows version change, like jumping from 7 to 8.1 but in this case from Win 10 version xxxx to 1607, which is the current one )

Windows does this because the upgrade comes as a whole package, and in order for being able to demonstrate all the new features working together, the defaults has to be enabled. It is a good idea to check these settings and many others every time you get a new feature upgrade (one is behind the corner already and will be released within a few months).

Perhaps it's changed recently, but pretty much every other week the POS would reset Edge to be the default PDF viewer. It's a pretty well documented hijacking feature (i.e., pretty much every time it did any update).

[MagicSmoker]

I use an older version of Foxit installed a few years ago at my work computer and I like it, but the interface in later versions is a bit crowded for my taste.

100% agree on this. I recently updated from 6.2.something to v8.2.something and the new UI is a hot mess. I like that I can restore my tabs after closing and restarting now, but all the notifications, cloud reader crap and bloated menu bars are a real turn-off.

Still better than Acrobat by a long shot, though.

[enz]

When it comes to PDF-Reader, I use SumatraPDF since a few years.
Very nice and reduced user interface.

[james_s]

Sumatra is great, I got so fed up with Adobe Reader that I went out searching for a replacement and found that, I never looked back. It's so much better than Adobe Reader in every way I can find. My computer is now Adobe-free and it's remarkable how much less trouble I have with it.

[JPortici]

I am wondering if, in practice, alternatives work well enough to be a replacement? I guess the only way to figure it out is to try it on my use cases.

Foxit is a true alternative. My colleague suggested that i try it because i needed a pdf printer too
you have to fine tune it a little:
-there are ads and logins but you can turn off them.. why have them in the first place i ask
-the rendering isn't 100% like on adobe but you get used to it
-you can have tabs () or different windows () for when you open a file
-you can hide all toolbars if you want to maximise the reading area without going into fullscreen
etc.

the pdf printer actually works, contrary to most other free ones.

[Whales]

Sumatra PDF is great on windows.  It uses the mupdf backend to render the documents and I've found mupdf to be a great option the past few years.  Some prior work I had involved everything from multi-hundred page text PDFs and diagrams to photo collection PDFs.  Sumatra opened and worked with everything quickly and reliably, Adobe Acrobat was the exact opposite.

It's sad to see many websites still telling people to install Adobe Acrobat to view PDFs.  All of the features that Acrobat has a foot over free alternatives for, bar it's good printing options, seem to be non-standard.

[stargonjie]

Cortana disgustingly useless, I try and try, she's always asleep or drinking tea. Slow as molasses, I give up.

[slicendice]

Cortana disgustingly useless, I try and try, she's always asleep or drinking tea. Slow as molasses, I give up.

Cortana is awesome, once you know how to speak to her (which may be a bit tricky). She's a bit stupid still though and she keep forgetting context in long conversations. Her Bing search should also be improved a lot before she would become really useful. I find searching using Google gives much better WEB results. But for overall interactions with Windows, Cortana is great. :-D

[james_s]

Pretty much all "she" does is open a search in Bing, a nearly useless search engine. I absolutely hate talking to machines too, it's much quicker and easier to simply type the search myself. Cortana is a gimmick, and a data harvesting Trojan horse.

[slicendice]

Hahhhah, you have no idea how to use Cortana then. Shes not just a search engine for the web. I bet you don't even use a fraction of the new Windows 10 features. :-)

HINT: Guys, learn how to use features before you say it's all bad and terrible.

[james_s]

I played around with it for a bit, but since I hate to talk to computers, how is it easier to use Cortana than to just type what I want to search for? Enlighten us please, what can Cortana do that is so fantastic and how is it useful to me? I work in a cubicle farm so we couldn't talk to our computers during the day even if we wanted to, it would be far too distracting. Perhaps with what I use my computer for the new features simply do not offer anything that benefits me? Have you considered that not everyone's needs are the same as yours? No, I probably don't use a fraction of the new Windows 10 "features" because I don't need them. I don't use mobile apps on my PC, I have a smartphone for that. I don't use Onedrive, it's against company policy to store proprietary data on external systems. I don't use Edge, I have a real browser that supports Adblock and has for years. I don't use the live tiles, I want a flexible start menu where I can organize all the software into folders in the order I see fit. I don't want a search bar in the task bar, I use that space to pin frequently used programs and keep track of what's running. You probably don't use a fraction of the features either, so you find Cortana useful, great, I don't. I'm sure there are features I find useful that you don't care about. I'm perfectly capable of using new features if they benefit my workflow but it would have to be a very great benefit for me to tolerate the fugly touch-optimized UI that comes in 10, along with the forced updates that mean MS can screw with my settings any time they want. I mean if I had a dollar for every time my work laptop has reverted back to Edge as the pdf reader, that just makes my blood boil every time that happens. I'm the user, I expect software to adapt to *my* needs, not the other way around.

[slicendice]

Any Windows version can be bent to the users will, including 10. Learn to use Windows and you will find out. It's just a matter of enough will power.

OneDrive does not have to be connected to anything or it does not have to be connected to Microsoft Azure. But it can. It can also be connected to your own private "cloud".

If your company has configured Windows properly, as it should be for proper workflow, none of your settings would revert after an upgrade of edition, including application defaults like Edge and also security settings or other things that has been preconfigured properly.

If Universal Windows Platform is such an annoyance, then the Enterprise edition of Windows is the way to go. Has all the "mobile" apps disabled by default. Even Cortana stays quiet.

I use most Windows features that comes with it. Even features that are not visible by default, but can be found buried within the folder structure of Windows. I even use the Linux sub-system that exists in latest Windows. Has a lot of powerful BASH tools, and Linux users know what those tools are and what they are useful for.

At first I thought Windows 10 and even 8 was ridiculous. But after I took the time to really understand Windows, I realized it's on the right track and it's moving forward exactly as it should.

With Windows today, whatever I was working on, on my computer, I can keep working on using my mobile, if I have to run. And once I get to my destination, I can use that local computer to continue working on the stuff edited on the mobile. There is a lot of stuff that can be shared in real time between any device. This is the MS vision, and I start to love it more and more every day, despite a lot of bugs still in the latest features.

EDIT: OH, almost forgot...Edge supports AdBlock. No problems. And soon it will support every plugin that works on Chrome. This is because the plugin architecture and API are the same on both browsers.

[james_s]

Sure, I can customize it to my liking if I try hard enough, but the effort is far less to simply use Win7 instead or even Linux. I'm going to take the path of least resistance. Why should I have to summon immense will power to bend the OS to fit my needs when other systems are available that already do almost exactly what I want with very few changes?

Yes in an ideal world the company computers would be better configured and we would have the Enterprise version but let me know when you find a company that has everything set up just right, and IT guys who have enough time and patience to figure out precisely how each person works and set up an optimal configuration for each individual. That ideal world is pure fantasy, I've worked at a number of different companies and none of them were anything like that. Maybe you should call up our CEO and IT guys and tell them how it's done.

If you can make continuum work for yourself then great, but it's useless to me. I don't do productivity on my phone, it's a small device that fits in my pocket, I use it for texting, phone calls, GPS navigation, check emails and occasionally looking up something online and that's about it. A phone that is big enough to comfortably edit a document, spreadsheet or anything like that is going to be much more bulky than I want a phone to be. Good luck writing code or designing a PCB layout on a phone. I get the MS vision but it's a fool's errand. A very niche set of circumstances that will be convenient for a small fraction of the ~1.5% of smartphone users who have a Windows phone but useless for most people. People who want to do work on a portable device have laptops. Out of everybody I know there are 3 people who have Windows phones, one of those is a current MS employee and the other two are former MS employees. The platform is dead on the vine, it would have vanished years ago if not for the fact that it is buoyed by other MS products and services.

[slicendice]

Did I say I have a Windows Phone? Assumptions!

I see now that the problem is the attitude, not the OS. We have nothing more to discuss regarding this matter.

The problem with most companies is that the guys in charge don't have a clue about how a system should be configured, and in most cases the IT departments hands are tied because of this fact. I have worked in big enough global companies (not MS) to know this. In most cases the left hand does not have a clue what the right hand is doing, the head does not have a clue or don't wanna listen to what the left and the right hand should be doing and because of this all is out of sync.

The head of the IT department should have at least 2-5 valid IT certificates (has to be renewed) in order to be a proficient enough decision maker regarding the IT infrastructure and how it should be run. Most companies don't pay attention to these details and all workers suffer. Certificates don't come easily and most IT "specialist" would most likely fail the first time.

[suicidaleggroll]

I see now that the problem is the attitude, not the OS. We have nothing more to discuss regarding this matter.

Your OS is a tool that is supposed to make your life easier and your work more efficient.  Forcing the user to jump through hoops in order to disable spyware, revert settings that are changed without notice or permission, and re-order their work style in order to operate how the OS wants them to operate, is not the right way to accomplish that.  Of course all of this will probably fall on deaf ears, since apparently anybody who disagrees with how MS does things has an "attitude problem"...

[rrinker]

 I was with you up to the claim on certs. SOME certs actually require knowledge of the products - particularly the Citrix ones where you actually do a lab practicum. This is how it SHOULD be But others, like the Microsoft certs? Those are utter and complete  0 experience, but 5 certs, vs 10+ years experience working with the products and no certs? If you've bought in to the Microsoft kool-aid, you'd toss the resume of the second one. But I have many experiences over a (so far) 29 year career that will show why that would be foolish. Direct case in point, I have been installing and configuring Microsoft email solutions since Microsoft Mail, before Exchange. Hundreds of successful implementations, I went to take the Microsoft Exchange certification exam. ANd failed. Their tests have no bearing on real world examples, and you must memorize EVERYTHING since unliek the real world you are not allowed any of the tools you normally have access to. Back in the day, Novell did it right. The tests were complex enough that you needed to know the material, as you would never complete enough to pass if you had t look up every question. But you were allowed to bring books and reference material along to the exam.
 I have also experienced multi times when I am called in to fix a problem and the client contact, who has every cube wall papered with certifications, disparages me for not having any certs, yet they are unable t solve the problem themselves. ANd working for a Microsoft partner, we have to maintain various certifications to maintain that partner status. In addition, new rules require the point person for each discipline to be a different person - ie one person can't pass 4 different tests and count as one of the people for all 4 tracks. WHy not? Just to make you spend MORE money on taking their exams. It's an out and out scam, at lest the Microsoft ones.

[james_s]

I'm not going to say certs are a bad thing, but there is certainly a type of person who anyone who works at a large-ish company will run into sooner or later, who excels at earning various certs but when it comes to practical application of skills they are useless. I distinctly remember interviewing more than one candidate who had a PhD in EE and an impressive looking resume but when I actually talked to them they did not impress me at all, lacking even some fairly basic problem solving skills. Some others with relatively modest education ended up being far more impressive at actually doing useful work. Also I've earned various certs over the years and recently threw out a few of my certificates when I realized I have not touched the stuff in several years and have no recollection of what I learned. A lot of these things are "use it or lose it", a wall of certs says nothing about the knowledge or skills one currently possesses.

[nctnico]

When it comes to PDF-Reader, I use SumatraPDF since a few years.

Can you disable anti-aliasing in this? Foxit is unusable to me because the anti-aliasing which makes anything completely unreadable to me cannot be disabled.

[ovnr]

Any Windows version can be bent to the users will, including 10. Learn to use Windows and you will find out. It's just a matter of enough will power.

If you require "enough willpower" to get to grips with an OS, the OS is not doing its job. It's supposed to stay in the background and Just Work. Not require hours of un-fucking every time MS decides to "enhance" it further.

[tronde]

If Universal Windows Platform is such an annoyance, then the Enterprise edition of Windows is the way to go.

Where can small companies buy enterprise?

[rdl]

When it comes to PDF-Reader, I use SumatraPDF since a few years.

Can you disable anti-aliasing in this? Foxit is unusable to me because the anti-aliasing which makes anything completely unreadable to me cannot be disabled.

I'm not sure exactly what you mean by "anti-aliasing", but it wouldn't be much trouble to test it out yourself. SumatraPDF is only about a 6 MB download, and only needs to be unzipped to run (does not require any special "installation" and doesn't write to registry).

[Howardlong]

Certifications aren't everything, but they do give you visibility of product features that you'd otherwise not be aware of, or would only pick up by chance.

What they don't give you are analytical skills. You can have certs coming out of every orifice but it doesn't mean you know how to efficiently troubleshoot, or architect solutions to fit into your typical environments full of legacy technology, or teach you how to be a reasonable human being. There is a lot more to life than certs.

As an example, at a place where I do a bit of consulting recently let someone go who, on paper, is incredibly well appointed including a Cambridge degree along with a string of certs. He was disruptive but in a bad way. While he was very good at coming up with random solutions, they only fitted his blinkered utopian world, they were mostly useless when it came to integrating with existing infrastructure, process and operations. Not a week would go by without some new point solution based on products that no-one had any experience of. He'd work fine in a greenfield startup where this kind of disruption is de rigeur, but not in the world of big corp enterprise.

What was worse was that he called himself a data architect. I remember the day he sent me a long email where he pulled rank and called himself that, I nearly fell off my chair! A case of Peter Principal if ever there was one.

[slicendice]

If Universal Windows Platform is such an annoyance, then the Enterprise edition of Windows is the way to go.

Where can small companies buy enterprise?

From Microsoft. Contact a Microsoft representative and off you go.