Windows is getting disgusting

[anfang]

Don't let Torvalds see you talking trash on his binaries, he'll whoop your ass with his pasty Finnish fists.

[eugenenine]

Slackware's BDFL is Pat not Linus

[anfang]

Slackware's BDFL is Pat not Linus

Who is Pat - Patrick?

[eugenenine]

Yes, Linux is 'just the kernel'  Patrick is the BDFL for Slackware.

[anfang]

Yes, Linux is 'just the kernel'  Patrick is the BDFL for Slackware.

I know who Linus is and what the kernel is, and that ONLY the kernel is Linux, I asked who "Pat" is? Sounds dubious.

[eugenenine]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Patrick_Volkerding

Pat is The Man

[anfang]

I like BSD, far more efficient, logical naming, packages etc. I also like Linux, but BSD... is super.

[slicendice]

What a shame your information is inaccurate, outdated, and insecure:

Care to explain what you mean by this statement?

[eugenenine]

I like BSD, far more efficient, logical naming, packages etc. I also like Linux, but BSD... is super.

Slackware uses the bsd style inits rather than systemd so its the best of both worlds

Windows isn't the easiest thing to install now a days either.  With 4 of us in the house I'm reinstalling someone's windows every few months and fixing other in between.  A windows reinstall takes at minimum a couple hours if not longer by the time you apply all the updates and the work arounds for issues.
I buy myself a 'refurbished' laptop every couple years so I can pass mine down to one of the kids and in 30 minutes I';ve wiped it and am running Slackware already, its soo much quicker and easier to install and setup.

[JPortici]

wow this last page reminded me of /g/
very bad memories

[rrinker]

 I STILL don't know what people do that they have to reinstall Windows every few months or every year. I have NEVER had to do that to any machine in my household or under my control. Every one has lasted until the machine itself was replaced, in my case usually 5 years or more - and that's usually because I get the itch to build a new machine, not because it doesn't do what I need it to do. My current desktop is that old, but I did upgrade 7 to 10 on it. My server is more like 7 years old now, never rebuilt. My other machines are also on shorter lifecycles because everything I have is now running 10, so it goes back to whenever I got the free update notification - the oldest one about a year now. And even less savvy people - the machine I built for my ex in-laws is still running just fine for the past 3 or 4 years since I had to replace a dead hard drive, still Windows 7 on that one. I haven't even touched it for any real maintenance in over a year and a half, it only updates because I have it set for automatic updates, not because they know how to do it, and if you are skeptical of their level of expertise, the last time they contacted me is because they got one of those fake calls from 'Microsoft' and they weren't sure if it was legit or a scam, so they had to ask me.

[eugenenine]

usually its the kids turning them off without a proper shutdown or during an update.  But I also didn't lock out IE because a few school web pages still require it so they still will use IE for something else by mistake and get malware.
Plus I just don't feel like wasting time on maintaining windows, again I shouldn't have to, if a free OS can stay stable without tinkering then a paid for os should be able too.

[rdl]

Installing and uninstalling software causes registry bloat, because nothing ever completely uninstalls. Little dregs are left here and there throughout the Registry. Windows has to sift through the mess all the time.

This is why I require most software to run in portable mode with minimal to no need for the Registry.

Another thing is Windows keeps track of all your most recently used files and such, even if you turn that "feature" off. There can be thousands of these entries in the Registry. Again, more cruft to be sifted through.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg, so to speak.

[eugenenine]

I haven't looked at any windows newer than xp, does it still make a reg entry every time a usb device is plugged in?  That was one of the XP issues I had.  After months of plugging and unplugging my backup drive I had to clean out the reg to get it to see the drive.

[anfang]

I haven't looked at any windows newer than xp, does it still make a reg entry every time a usb device is plugged in?  That was one of the XP issues I had.  After months of plugging and unplugging my backup drive I had to clean out the reg to get it to see the drive.

I hope you have good security strategies if you're still on XP! It's a great OS, but come on...

[james_s]

I haven't looked at any windows newer than xp, does it still make a reg entry every time a usb device is plugged in?  That was one of the XP issues I had.  After months of plugging and unplugging my backup drive I had to clean out the reg to get it to see the drive.

I hope you have good security strategies if you're still on XP! It's a great OS, but come on...

I retired XP except on an old laptop I use when I need a real parallel port but I don't buy into all of the FUD about old operating systems and the security risks for the most part. I've seen zero evidence of the malware and exploit apocalypse everyone was fretting over. As long as one uses a browser other than IE and avoids doing sketchy things it's probably going to be fine. I realize security by obscurity is not the best strategy but the chances of someone stumbling across a random XP machine on the web and then taking the trouble to hack it is minimal. I've cleaned up a lot of infections over the years and I still don't think I've ever encountered a single exploit victim, rather in every case it was someone installing something sketchy, being tricked by a fake virus scanner popup or crapware bundled with legitimate software. Every single instance.

I've noticed Microsoft themselves spreading the same FUD about Windows 7 despite the fact that it's still supported for several more years. I have little doubt they are partially responsible for doing the same for XP once they became desperate to get people to upgrade.

[eugenenine]

I haven't looked at any windows newer than xp, does it still make a reg entry every time a usb device is plugged in?  That was one of the XP issues I had.  After months of plugging and unplugging my backup drive I had to clean out the reg to get it to see the drive.

I hope you have good security strategies if you're still on XP! It's a great OS, but come on...

This is/was back when I was on XP.  The USB issue, the resume suspend issue, the swap memory issue and of course the IE/security issues drove me to Linux.  I only use windows on my work provided laptops now so I don't have admin rights to dig in but can confirm all the user issues are still there, the resume issue, the shutdown/reboot while working, the memory usage, etc.

[eugenenine]

I retired XP except on an old laptop I use when I need a real parallel port but I don't buy into all of the FUD about old operating systems and the security risks for the most part. I've seen zero evidence of the malware and exploit apocalypse everyone was fretting over. As long as one uses a browser other than IE and avoids doing sketchy things it's probably going to be fine. I realize security by obscurity is not the best strategy but the chances of someone stumbling across a random XP machine on the web and then taking the trouble to hack it is minimal. I've cleaned up a lot of infections over the years and I still don't think I've ever encountered a single exploit victim, rather in every case it was someone installing something sketchy, being tricked by a fake virus scanner popup or crapware bundled with legitimate software. Every single instance.

My daughters was the last xp laptop we had and last summer my son poured water on it so its gone now.  Theirs are all windows 7 except for my wife's which came with 8 and was unusable for 6 months so she didn't have anything to use going to 10.  My son has  10 on his desktop and 7 on his laptop.  My daughter was using 7 on my wife's old netbook but it decided to upgrade itsself to 10 and would take 20-30 minutes to boot after so I bought her a newer laptop with 7 already on it and just formatted the netbook and stuck Slackware on it and its usable again.

IE is my biggest issue with windows, I might have stayed if they hadn't integrated the browser so deep into the OS.  I had to use IE and a simple typo in the address bar took me to a malware site and despite being locked down as a non admin, etc.  After the speed and stability of windows 2000 XP was a big letdown.

[CraigHB]

I don't buy into all of the FUD about old operating systems and the security risks for the most part.

That seems to be the case, a lot of FUD about computer security.  The only times I've had any problems personally was from landing on hostile web sites when I was running IE up until a few years ago.  The browser seems to be the entry point for malware you really have to be concerned about.  After I went to a more secure browser with a good IP filter (Chrome with uBlock Origin), I haven't had more any trouble. 

I think MS likes to motivate people by using FUD about computer security.  It's really just a marketing ploy.  There's probably some improvement in security from one OS to the next, but I don't think it's enough to warrant running out to buy the next version as soon as it releases.  In fact there may be security issues with a new version because unknown issues may exist.  I'd be surprised if someone can genuinely show a difference in security between win7 and win10.  As for winXP its only failing in my mind is that it's no longer supported.  I think it was the best product MS ever made.

[eugenenine]

Problem is it doesn't matter how much security they add to new versions of windows until they remove IE from it there will always be that nice big insecure hole.

In other news I see they are changing the UI again for 10, more lipstick on a pig.

[avrishuvorlaz]

Buy Mac, poroblem go away forever.

[james_s]

Macs have their own set of problems though, there is a lot of software that is simply not available for Mac and to run it you end up running Windows anyway.

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah if you're going to get a mac, which is closed and proprietary like Windows, may as well just go Linux, you'll run into the same set of compatibility issues but at least it's an open platform backed by a large community that will run on commodity hardware.  A mac is a closed black box more or less. 

[joeqsmith]

I retired XP except on an old laptop I use when I need a real parallel port ...

Lack of a printer port was a problem on my new PC but I did find one that sits on a PCIe slot that I have working.  I used one of the internal USB ports to install a 2G stick that I boot when I need to run the older software.  Right now, just DOS.    

Even managed to get the old firewire working on it.   

Still not a big fan of Windows 10.  Just too much fluff.  But it has been very stable.   

[avrishuvorlaz]

Macs have their own set of problems though, there is a lot of software that is simply not available for Mac and to run it you end up running Windows anyway.

"A lot of software" = an outdated myth - name some...

http://www.macyourself.com/2010/03/21/11-common-myths-that-keep-people-from-switching-to-macs/