Goodbye to Windows

movdqa

movdqa

Talk Tennis Guru
Windows 7 goes off support in January 2020, 8.1 in 2023 and I really hate Windows 10. I only have one remaining program that only runs on Windows (doesn't work on Wine) and I'm considering dropping that program and using something else. I run it on a Windows 7 VM but I don't want to have to upgrade to 8.1 and then decide on what to do in 2023. The program leaks memory on Windows 10 and gets slower and slower as it uses up all of the memory on the system.

I just moved the Virtual Machine off to a spare SSD and removed it from my Mac so I have it if I change my mind. I have been moving away from Google services as well to reclaim a bit of privacy.

It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?
 

I've been off windows for a year and half now.

Also using 1.1.1.1 (its a web address) cloudflare dns vs googles. Just learned about it, do what you want, but all your data was being filtered through google's dns (they grab) reguardless of what you did.

Browsing is so much zippier.
 
It's pretty clear that these products are mostly unavoidable and should be made, as in Europe, to respect more of their customer's privacy.

movdqa said:
It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?
Click to expand...
 
I read somewhere that Microsoft is developing a much lighter Windows 10.

I have no problem with Windows 10 so far. My PC is running fast as always.
 
movdqa said:
Windows 7 goes off support in January 2020, 8.1 in 2023 and I really hate Windows 10. I only have one remaining program that only runs on Windows (doesn't work on Wine) and I'm considering dropping that program and using something else. I run it on a Windows 7 VM but I don't want to have to upgrade to 8.1 and then decide on what to do in 2023. The program leaks memory on Windows 10 and gets slower and slower as it uses up all of the memory on the system.

I just moved the Virtual Machine off to a spare SSD and removed it from my Mac so I have it if I change my mind. I have been moving away from Google services as well to reclaim a bit of privacy.

It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?
Click to expand...

Nice.
I've been intending to move away from windows for the past year or so, but am too lazy to have done anything about it yet. I liked XP, but it's been downhill since then. Inbuilt backdoor spying that can't be turned off? No thanks Jeff.
Like you I want to eventually eliminate google from my life, they are too monolithic and too all reaching for it to be healthy. The plan is to move to Linux, but I'm not sure which is the simplest and safest version of it.
Even android is created and owned by google, so not sure what the non google & apple options are in that regard.
 
sredna42 said:
Nice.
I've been intending to move away from windows for the past year or so, but am too lazy to have done anything about it yet. I liked XP, but it's been downhill since then. Inbuilt backdoor spying that can't be turned off? No thanks Jeff.
Like you I want to eventually eliminate google from my life, they are too monolithic and too all reaching for it to be healthy. The plan is to move to Linux, but I'm not sure which is the simplest and safest version of it.
Even android is created and owned by google, so not sure what the non google & apple options are in that regard.
Click to expand...

https://peppermintos.com/ Slap it on a usb drive, boot off that drive to test it (called a live boot, dont have to install)

Bartelby said:
I just discovered this idea on a separate website.
Click to expand...

Tw is like twice as fast now for me. The handshake is instant and editing posts as well
 
sredna42 said:
Nice.
I've been intending to move away from windows for the past year or so, but am too lazy to have done anything about it yet. I liked XP, but it's been downhill since then. Inbuilt backdoor spying that can't be turned off? No thanks Jeff.
Like you I want to eventually eliminate google from my life, they are too monolithic and too all reaching for it to be healthy. The plan is to move to Linux, but I'm not sure which is the simplest and safest version of it.
Even android is created and owned by google, so not sure what the non google & apple options are in that regard.
Click to expand...

I have been looking at Linux too. I just wish the hardware companies would do a better job at supporting it. I saw the latest Dell XPS 13 today and it's a beautiful machine. Fantastic hardware and it would be great if Linux completely supported it.
 
movdqa said:
I have been looking at Linux too. I just wish the hardware companies would do a better job at supporting it. I saw the latest Dell XPS 13 today and it's a beautiful machine. Fantastic hardware and it would be great if Linux completely supported it.
Click to expand...
I thought those were available with Ubuntu
 
mmk said:
I thought those were available with Ubuntu
Click to expand...

I went to their website and didn't see any Linux options. I tried the Business section too.

I'd really like a Core i9 laptop and my preference would be a MacBook Pro but Apple hasn't been doing a good job keeping their Macs up-to-date for a few years.
 
movdqa said:
I have been looking at Linux too. I just wish the hardware companies would do a better job at supporting it. I saw the latest Dell XPS 13 today and it's a beautiful machine. Fantastic hardware and it would be great if Linux completely supported it.
Click to expand...

Hardware is exactly the same. Linux uses mostly generic drivers that work on first boot. The only 3rd party driver i use is nvidia's video driver.

i9 is overkill, unless your rendering stuff, which you would probably need windows.

movdqa said:
I went to their website and didn't see any Linux options. I tried the Business section too.
Click to expand...

Remove the operating system maybe, should lower cost as well.
 
what about windows xp..that's been going since the dinosaur age of 2001.
Tennease said:
I read somewhere that Microsoft is developing a much lighter Windows 10.

I have no problem with Windows 10 so far. My PC is running fast as always.
Click to expand...
they are, I read somewhere too lol, its gonna be much more of a smaller data cake, if you can have a cake in bytes.
 
Goosehead said:
what about windows xp..that's been going since the dinosaur age of 2001.

they are, I read somewhere too lol, its gonna be much more of a smaller data cake, if you can have a cake in bytes.
Click to expand...

I can only use supported operating systems on the work net.
 
Chadillac said:
Hardware is exactly the same. Linux uses mostly generic drivers that work on first boot. The only 3rd party driver i use is nvidia's video driver.

i9 is overkill, unless your rendering stuff, which you would probably need windows.

Remove the operating system maybe, should lower cost as well.
Click to expand...

My son does genetic pipelines and I've dabbled in them as well. Comparing DNA from a sample and multiple references is pretty CPU intensive. I also have done open source work on large codebases and CPU horsepower helps when you're doing parallel compiles.

Money isn't really an issue. My budget is up to $10K.
 
mikeler said:
So I changed my DNS servers to these and wow, much faster. It should not change your IP address though unless you've setup a proxy server with it. DNS just translates domain names to IP addresses.
Click to expand...

I punched it into the router (dns setting, very easy when you find it and log in) so phone and tablet also get it. Easier to do at the source if you have multiple devices
 
movdqa said:
I went to their website and didn't see any Linux options. I tried the Business section too.

I'd really like a Core i9 laptop and my preference would be a MacBook Pro but Apple hasn't been doing a good job keeping their Macs up-to-date for a few years.
Click to expand...
Just type Ubuntu into the search field on their website, make my old friend Jane Silber's day.
 
mmk said:
Just type Ubuntu into the search field on their website, make my old friend Jane Silber's day.
Click to expand...

Interesting. They have a ton of XPS 13 configurations with Ubuntu and they call the model the XPS 13 Developer's Edition. They have some very nice stuff on Intel's 8th generation processors. They are supposed to have models with Coffee Lake around now so I expect to see a refresh really soon. I would love to see 15 and 17 inch models too. I currently use a 15 inch MBP which I like but I used to use a 17 inch model and I miss the bigger screen. I'm not really looking for an Alienware-style laptop - something with a lot of power and up to 6 pounds.

That XPS 13 looks like it would be a workhorse hooked up to a pair of monitors, external storage and a few other things.
 
I was in Oak Brook recently, and walked past the Apple Store. .. packed with grunge-looking high-value consumers. A windows store not too far away, and I walked past it. Empty, save for a salesman in back.

I have more on my plate than toying with my computer. Mac OS Sierra works fine; my internet search is usually Duck Duck Go, which claims to be nonintrusive.
 
max said:
I was in Oak Brook recently, and walked past the Apple Store. .. packed with grunge-looking high-value consumers. A windows store not too far away, and I walked past it. Empty, save for a salesman in back.
Click to expand...
I never understood why MS decided they needed stores, they do have some overpriced hardware, but it isn't like they are the exclusive manufacturers of windows machines
 
movdqa said:
I have been looking at Linux too. I just wish the hardware companies would do a better job at supporting it. I saw the latest Dell XPS 13 today and it's a beautiful machine. Fantastic hardware and it would be great if Linux completely supported it.
Click to expand...

Linux is too fragmented, too many flavours despite sharing code bases/repositories. For most end-users it's too complicated. Tarballs, SUDO, SuperUser mode, mounting drives, etc. is too much for the non-techie. Also from what I've read being open source is a problem for the big PC makers/resellers.

Then there's the issue of hardware support; will likely need far more versions compared to windows.


It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?

Most users aren't techies so it's unlikely the majority will even read the IT press or even be aware of the issues and even if they are aware a percentage will be apathetic. I think the % may be quite large.


Edit: I use windows at work/home. Sat through a Solaris Admin course years ago, tried a few Linux flavours on my home pc via VirtualBox so feel free to dismiss any of my Linux 'knowledge'.
 
Last edited:
Zardoz7/12 said:
What do you people think of Linux?
Click to expand...

I like macOS because it's Linux that has vendor support and it carries a lot of nice apps that work seamlessly across macOS and iOS. That said, Apple has been Crapple with hardware lately.

My work platform is Linux so I spend a good chunk of the day working with it. We have IT support to maintain our development systems so there's a lot of stuff that I don't have to maintain. But I can if I need to. And we have our own Linux distribution so there are a lot of people here that I can ask for help should I need it.
 
sarmpas said:
Been looking for version that works fast-enough on a old 400mhz Dell Inspiron I have gathering dust. Trying Bodhi at the moment in a VM to see how user-friendly it is.
Click to expand...

Puppy linux is probably the best for old computers. I dont think it will really work though, new browsers are pretty demanding and will get video lag from your pci/agp video card when you scroll.

Zardoz7/12 said:
What do you people think of Linux?
Click to expand...

I fixed a couple laptops last week (win10 wouldnt boot, bad hd's), put pep64 on both and they have had no issue so far. I actually think linux is easier to use than windows, win is so clunky, feels like it was made for a phone.
 
Chadillac said:
Puppy linux is probably the best for old computers. I dont think it will really work though, new browsers are pretty demanding and will get video lag from your pci/agp video card when you scroll.
Click to expand...

I'll give that a try. The laptop physically is still in fine working order so binning it is a waste. Right about video, IIRC it couldn't smoothly play h.264 encoded stuff when I tried it some time ago.
 
Chadillac said:
I punched it into the router (dns setting, very easy when you find it and log in) so phone and tablet also get it. Easier to do at the source if you have multiple devices
Click to expand...

I changed it at the device level since I read a bunch of stories about AT&T blocking it at the router level. I'm still don't understand why that would change your IP address though.
 
mikeler said:
I changed it at the device level since I read a bunch of stories about AT&T blocking it at the router level. I'm still don't understand why that would change your IP address though.
Click to expand...

I dont think it changes your ip. Mine is the same and my dad has 8 static ip's that were unchanged. I think its just changing your public ip outside of the router.

https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

The first page should show you your real ip, the page after a test shows what others see. You can toggle it on and off since its on your computer to test, simple check box.

At&t disabling this option tells me they want to know everything your doing. You are right all 2wire (att router/modem) have it blocked out. They claim its for their special iptv channels they dont want others seeing, but makes no sense.
 
movdqa said:
Windows 7 goes off support in January 2020, 8.1 in 2023 and I really hate Windows 10. I only have one remaining program that only runs on Windows (doesn't work on Wine) and I'm considering dropping that program and using something else. I run it on a Windows 7 VM but I don't want to have to upgrade to 8.1 and then decide on what to do in 2023. The program leaks memory on Windows 10 and gets slower and slower as it uses up all of the memory on the system.

I just moved the Virtual Machine off to a spare SSD and removed it from my Mac so I have it if I change my mind. I have been moving away from Google services as well to reclaim a bit of privacy.

It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?
Click to expand...
Im not sure where you live. But Facebook and Google had to change how they operate in terms and privacy and the use of the information about you to all people in Europe. It is by law here. So I have now, with the help from them changed what I want to share, which is about none.
I know you dont have this law outside Europe, so I wonder if Facebook and Google have set this new law as a default, or of they still earning billions stalking you.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Im not sure where you live. But Facebook and Google had to change how they operate in terms and privacy and the use of the information about you to all people in Europe. It is by law here. So I have now, with the help from them changed what I want to share, which is about none.
I know you dont have this law outside Europe, so I wonder if Facebook and Google have set this new law as a default, or of they still earning billions stalking you.
Click to expand...

Check out their earnings.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
This is a new law in Europe, this month, just now.
More laws will come. It has just started. In 20 years things will be very different.

looks like Facebook will not use the EU laws as a default outside EU.
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...sers-out-of-reach-of-new-european-privacy-law
Not surprised.

some info about the EU privacy law GDPR
https://www.theguardian.com/technol...acebook-google-amazon-data-privacy-regulation
Click to expand...

The biggest problem with privacy laws is that the companies have the data but they are required to protect it. That works if the law is observed; but we all know that that's not always the case. We have no idea as to how much our intelligence agencies capture as well. If you truly want privacy, then don't use these services.
 
movdqa said:
The biggest problem with privacy laws is that the companies have the data but they are required to protect it. That works if the law is observed; but we all know that that's not always the case. We have no idea as to how much our intelligence agencies capture as well. If you truly want privacy, then don't use these services.
Click to expand...
Then you cant use internet at all. Even going in TheGuardian website they have been taken information, any site really. But at least this now has to stop in the EU.
We have just seen the beginning of restrictions on the internet.
 
TheGhostOfAgassi said:
Then you cant use internet at all. Even going in TheGuardian website they have been taken information, any site really. But at least this now has to stop in the EU.
We have just seen the beginning of restrictions on the internet.
Click to expand...

You can be aware of the risks and decide where you go and how you store personal files and the types of interfaces that you use to pick more privacy-friendly services. My company has a ton of rules on where you can go, what you can store and where you can store it and it's quite restrictive. Applying those rules in your personal life can enhance privacy. But it really helps if you understand the security issues and that's never going to happen for most people as they don't have CS degrees and take security courses.
 
I use Linux Mint which I like but the main reason I don't use Windows is I don't feel like spending so much time updating and cleaning and scanning, you get the gist. I simply feel way too vulnerable on Windows without constantly standing guard. I use an Apple IPad Mini, too. In my work (no longer working) I could never use Linux because I worked in medical transcription which usually meant MS Word inside a proprietary platform and heavy use of text expansion programs. I still miss Windows because I'd love to use programs like AHK and a few others. But at least with Linux I do the required updates and feel secure in that, with Duck Duck Go as my browser.
 
Rafa.the.Magnificent said:
I use Linux Mint which I like but the main reason I don't use Windows is I don't feel like spending so much time updating and cleaning and scanning, you get the gist. I simply feel way too vulnerable on Windows without constantly standing guard. I use an Apple IPad Mini, too. In my work (no longer working) I could never use Linux because I worked in medical transcription which usually meant MS Word inside a proprietary platform and heavy use of text expansion programs. I still miss Windows because I'd love to use programs like AHK and a few others. But at least with Linux I do the required updates and feel secure in that, with Duck Duck Go as my browser.
Click to expand...

Updates are a real hassle with Windows and there's a major one that should be hitting systems very soon (started April 30). So I expect my old machine to be down for a day for the update.

I have enterprise security software on my Mac and it's not a bad idea to have additional security and run scans, even on platforms with far fewer retail users. My company requires it.

I tried Duck Duck Go a few years ago and I didn't like the results but I put it on my systems and devices last week and it is much, much better. To the point that it's what I'll be using for the future.
 
Chadillac said:
I dont think it changes your ip. Mine is the same and my dad has 8 static ip's that were unchanged. I think its just changing your public ip outside of the router.

https://www.dnsleaktest.com/

The first page should show you your real ip, the page after a test shows what others see. You can toggle it on and off since its on your computer to test, simple check box.

At&t disabling this option tells me they want to know everything your doing. You are right all 2wire (att router/modem) have it blocked out. They claim its for their special iptv channels they dont want others seeing, but makes no sense.
Click to expand...

I agree, that's a bogus reason.
 
movdqa said:
Windows 7 goes off support in January 2020, 8.1 in 2023 and I really hate Windows 10. I only have one remaining program that only runs on Windows (doesn't work on Wine) and I'm considering dropping that program and using something else. I run it on a Windows 7 VM but I don't want to have to upgrade to 8.1 and then decide on what to do in 2023. The program leaks memory on Windows 10 and gets slower and slower as it uses up all of the memory on the system.

I just moved the Virtual Machine off to a spare SSD and removed it from my Mac so I have it if I change my mind. I have been moving away from Google services as well to reclaim a bit of privacy.

It's pretty clear that most folks don't care about privacy given the results from Google, Facebook and Microsoft this past week. How about you?
Click to expand...

Windows 10 is the best! Never crashes and runs across different size enterprise system from Federal governments worldwide to individuals and has all the software packages that worth getting!
 
Windows is still the gold standard.
I've always been a Windows guy with some Apple usage too, but I quit Apple completely a year or so ago after owning a Mac and an iPhone for a while and I haven't looked back.
 
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