Posts tagged Windows
2014 – Windows XP Deadline
Dec 30th
Its time for a shift. Windows XP, the longtime staple of industries around the world, has a deadline. It will no longer be supported by Microsoft in 2014. Because of this companies will either need to upgrade to Windows 7, or some sort of alternative. Windows 7 costs been 4-6 thousand dollars for a 30 license pack. If your company has thousands of computer this is a whole lot of money. Why not switch to Linux, it is free. Is free bad? Is free not good? There are many people that do not like free, which is just strange. Not liking Ubuntu is like someone coming up to you and saying “here take this for free”, and you saying “no thanks I don’t want it”. What a strange notion that Linux is not liked by millions.
Ubuntu can replace the standard workstation. There are some thinks holding back the switch. The main thing is applications that require .net framework. Its really messed up that there is no support for .net framework in Linux. Using Wine .net framework can easily be installed, especially with Wine tricks, but using programs that depend on its functionality is another story. Various frontends to database applications use .net to access the server. Is there an alternative application, made by the company, that does not depend on .net? If your company has thousands of computers, and you can save over a million dollars just in Windows 7 license fees, is it not worth investigating? You’d be surprised there are many companies out there that would rather spend the million dollars than investigate if implementing an alternative is possible.
Your Netbook – Windows, Linux, or Other
Nov 25th
There is a mountain of different operating systems available now. More than ever before in history. The main players are Microsoft Windows, Debian based operating systems, Red Hat’s OSs, Unixs, BSDs, and upcoming Google Chrome OS. What OS do you use? What OS is better? How does Windows compete with free?
While some netbooks are coming with Windows 7, and previous Windows Vista, some were and still are coming with Windows XP. The lower powered MIDs are coming with Windows XP, which is becoming outdated, but I prefer to the more recent versions of Windows. What is better than Windows, Linux!
Will the market accept another netbook with a non-Microsoft operating system? That’s the question some are asking in the wake of the release of the code behind Google’s Chrome OS, which is known as the open-source Chromium OS.[Source]
It gets complicated sometimes. I have a Sony Vaio P and Linux is not great on it. The Poulsbo GMA 500 graphics drivers are not good at all. Even Itel’s Moblin Linux is not great at all. Ultimately I will be sticking with Windows XP on this particular machine. My opinion is that Windows XP will last until 2014, and by then Linux should be fine on the machine!
Microsoft Windows – New OS Why? People Don’t Update Either Way
Nov 22nd
The problem with Internet security nowadays is largely in part because people do not know how to update their computers. I fix computers as a side job, and you’d be surprised that many people have told me they don’t click the Microsoft gold shield in their system tray because there is a virus going around. What absolute ignorance. The Gold shield will update your computer to protect you as much as possible with critical updates. I am continuously flabbergasted with genuine stupidity. The default setting in all MS Windows products should be to automatically install updates, because the general public simply does not understand the importance of keeping their software shiny new.
Every time you see the gold shield in the bottom right hand corner of your computer, it is your obligation to click it and process the updates. As a Windows user, if you have a virus, a Trojan, or anything in between you are contributing to the massive problems that plague the Internet nowadays. Spam, phishing and lots of other things are predominantly broadcast from exploited machines.
Recent exploits in old versions of Internet Explorer have resurfaced this very issue of security.
“Symantec has conducted further tests and confirmed that it affects Internet Explorer versions 6 and 7,” the company wrote on its Web site Saturday. “We expect that a fully-functional reliable exploit will be available in the near future.”[Source]
People have relatively new installations of Windows Vista and they are using Internet Explorer 6 and 7. Why? There is Internet Explorer 8? “Ohhh, I don’t like the new version”, they say. But the new version is more secure, and more up to date. Get used to change; accept change for the better. It is necessary.
There is another major problem. PC manufacturers like to sell antivirus software packages. They preinstall them on machines, and give 60 free trials, and then expect people to pay the subscription fees to keep them active. This is absurd. Who in their right mind will pay those fees? By far the vast majority of people do not pay those fees and are using high vulnerable, non up to date software. This is a shame because AVG, and other companies, offer free anti virus that is continuously updated! Yes, I said continuously updated. New updates are issued all the time for free; do you understand free does not cost money?
If you are using a Windows computer update your antivirus right now. Do the world a favor and remove that botnet from your computer. Stop sending out mass spam emails right now. Run S right now. Install it from www.spybot.com. Install the apps, update them, then reboot your computer in safe mode. Hold f8 when your booting and select safe mode! Run AVG, then Spybot, then AVG, and Spybot again. Clean your machine now!
Now this will take some time to clean your virus infested Windows machine thoroughly. Maybe a day or two. Maybe you will have to reinstall the entire OS alltogether. Either do this now, or download Ubuntu and never think about antivirus again.
Ubuntu Bugs in Release Candidate – Hating
Oct 28th
There are several posts going around about a bug in the Ubuntu Karmic release candidate. One post details the lack of the 64 bit installer being able to detect multiple sata hard drives.
“The 9.10RC Karmic Koala ubiquity disk partitioning steps (#4, #5 in the installation screens) seem to have regressions when booting the AMD64 ubuntu live desktop CD on systems with multiple disks.
This is a shame of a bug to be exploited by haters. Once Ubuntu is up and running it cannot be compared to Windows. It is much more stable, will run for months without needing to be shutdown. There is no worry of viruses, and spyware, and 99% of applications have a version that will run. The only two applications, that I can think of, that will not run on Linux is iTunes, and Quicken. THERE ARE ALTERNATIVES THOUGH, and always a way to do what you want to do.
The only reason Windows is liked more than Linux is because the majority of humanity is NOT TECH SAVVY. If a problem is encountered in Linux, Google is your friend. There is always a solution! It is worthwhile to find the solution, to get Ubuntu working, because of the benifits.
1) No more viruses or spyware. There are very few bad things that can happen when using Linux.
2) Stability, and no need to defragment. Your machine will run for months or years without needing to reboot.
One of the only reason to use Windows is for games. Drivers for top end video cards, and the games themselves, are generally only supported on Windows.
Windows 7 – Thoughts and Considerations
Oct 20th
Frankly Windows is pretty. I like Windows, the only things that really annoys me is viruses. Because of the thousands of viruses and attacks that can be performed, antivirus software is an absolute requirement of a Windows powered computer. Antivirus software takes a lot of power, because it is constantly scanning incoming files, and making sure files on the system are clean. Also antispyware software is a requirement. This software will make sure that files are not changing on the system, especially critical system files that should never change. These two applications are constantly running in the background and draining resources. These two types of applications are required because there are some 25,000 viruses for Windows based machines.
Windows 7
On the other hand Linux is getting better and better. There are only a handful of viruses, and typical website attacks are non functional most of the time. In other words Linux based machines are relatively immune to the vast majority of Windows attacks. This makes antivirus software not necessary. This also makes use of anti spyware software a moot consideration. If you like the look of Windows you can make Linux look comparable. Overall the only reason to use WIndows is for graphics card compatibility for gaming. Also for iTunes! But there are even alternative for iTunes on Linux. I will try and use Windows 7. I purchased a Vaio P; it came with Vista and if Sony offers me a free upgrade I will definitely install it over XP. Ive heard that it is less bloated that Vista, and it will be clearly more functional than XP. I think it will be interesting, and I look forward to trying to get my hands on it. Don’t get me wrong I still think you can do much more in a Linux PC. MythTV, and the way VirtualBox works are much better than comparable functionality on a straight Windows PC. Plus there is Compiz 
The 3D desktop effects of Windows, even the aftermarket apps like Deskspaces, are not comparable to the degree of seamless integration achieved on Linux.