Good news for Mac fans.

[Sarongman]

Well, here it is in the "flesh"

Mac pun.jpg

[Mugs-n-such]

It has found its "niche".

[Kirbstone]

Good to hear from you, Gary. I don't have a Mac, but I'll send that pic. on to one of my sons who does.

Tom.

[Kilted_John]

Wouldn't that prevent the proper use of Windows, that being an escape route for those machines running a Microsoft OS when they fail?

I work on both as a tech. Both operating systems have their faults, but I can say that OS X is a lot more stable than Windows. That said, I think I'd rather run Linux.

-J

[skirted_in_SF]

Wouldn't that prevent the proper use of Windows, that being an escape route for those machines running a Microsoft OS when they fail?

I work on both as a tech. Both operating systems have their faults, but I can say that OS X is a lot more stable than Windows. That said, I think I'd rather run Linux.

-J

I'm far from being a big fan of MS, but my Windows 7 computers at home and work are both very stable and have never given me a problem. Much better than the Linux Mint that I installed on my home computer when I got it three years ago. I could rarely work an hour without it locking up tight one to three times. That said, I don't add or delete much software from either machine and keep a careful eye on what MS is pushing on patch Tuesday. They pushed out IE11 a couple of weeks ago that broke a co-worker's access to our bank's website. It's actually the bank's problem since it doesn't work with the recent versions of Firefox either. Our IT person had to revert to an earlier version of IE for him.

[Kilted_John]

Wouldn't that prevent the proper use of Windows, that being an escape route for those machines running a Microsoft OS when they fail?

I work on both as a tech. Both operating systems have their faults, but I can say that OS X is a lot more stable than Windows. That said, I think I'd rather run Linux.

-J

I'm far from being a big fan of MS, but my Windows 7 computers at home and work are both very stable and have never given me a problem. Much better than the Linux Mint that I installed on my home computer when I got it three years ago. I could rarely work an hour without it locking up tight one to three times. That said, I don't add or delete much software from either machine and keep a careful eye on what MS is pushing on patch Tuesday. They pushed out IE11 a couple of weeks ago that broke a co-worker's access to our bank's website. It's actually the bank's problem since it doesn't work with the recent versions of Firefox either. Our IT person had to revert to an earlier version of IE for him.

Win 7 is decent. Am actually using it at this moment... Windows 6 (Vista), not so good. XP was pretty decent, as was Win 2K Pro.

-J

[dillon]

I'm running Windows 7, and I miss the hell out of XP!

[Uncle Al]

I miss Win XP-Pro also, but Win 7-Pro runs circles around XP-Pro.
Never had 'Vista' - knew many people that did and it was just like
Win 8---A Royal Pain In The Chair

Uncle Al

[Uncle Al]

Another use for an iPad
(You don't need to understand the
language to understand the video)



Uncle Al

[Big and Bashful]

I have Vista ultimate on one of my laptops, not a patch on Windows 7 but it's ok, I was happy enough with it until Windows 7 came along and made it look a bit limited. At work we are still using XP, which looks dated but works well.
However, Windows 8, I have seen it in shops, I think it looks foul, just like the Windows phone, not for me. If I want to look at large brightly coloured squares I will buy some lego or play tetris. I have yet to speak to anyone or read a review from anyone who actually likes it.

[crfriend]

I have yet to speak to anyone or read a review from anyone who actually likes [Windows 8].

At issue is the idiom that the GUI uses -- it's actually a very good one for touch-screen devices, but a horrible one for mouse- and other device pointer control. In fact it's so bad for use on a conventional computer I'm amazed that Microsoft's own quality-control folks let it out the door without a way to revert to a more conventional GUI.

Microsoft have, to a limited extent, addressed the problem by putting a "Start" button (or sorts) on the "conventional desktop" for Windows 8 (This was part of update 1), but it's still a confusing mess.

One thing I'm worried about is that Microsoft may have killed off the viability of conventional desk-side computers with their ham-fisted action to drive everybody to content-consuming devices. I have a need to create content -- and that usually means a real keyboard that can be touch-typed upon not some silly little "active surface" that provides no tactile feedback; I also have a need for a lot more horsepower than is in the typical tablet (See Uncle Al's "iPad" video).

[Zorba]

I was considering replacing my aging iMac with a nice Win 7 machine for the simple reason that Apple annoys me. If *ANYONE* but Apple did half the bone-headed stuff they do, they would be LAUGHED outta business. But because they're Apple, its a good thing (tm).

Then Microsoft came out with Windows 8.

I bought a Mac Mini the next day.

[skirted_in_SF]

A bit of good news from a tech site I read:
Furthermore, again according to insider sources, Windows 8.2 will introduce a “traditional desktop” SKU that is optimized for mouse-and-keyboard Desktop users and resurrects the original Start menu.
Full article here: http://www.extremetech.com/computing/17 ... indows-8-2

The bad news is the ETA is spring 2015.
I was going to forward this link to our IT department at work. They're starting a roll out of Win8 to replace XP in our company. Of course, they were short sighted enough to revert newly purchased Win7 machines to XP for the last three years even though my colleagues and I have been happily using 7 since June 2010. Since they forced an accounting software update down our throats with little notice, I told them the desktop client would only work on 7. That did let me get rid of our old low memory XP computers resulting in a substantial decrease in the time spent generating statements.

[Sinned]

But the main issue is that Desktops, Laptops, Tablets, Phones and other devices all have different purposes and are targeted at different markets. So a touch screen on a phone or a tablet would be mandatory, on a laptop possible but on a desktop probably not advisable. So why have one operating system to cover all these devices? It means that functionality in a phone would be redundant in a desktop and v.v. Instead you get some monolithic O/S that gobbles up space like .... well like something that gobbles up loads of space such as a black hole ( which isn't really black due to the particles radiating energy as they cross the threshold of death ). I was thinking about buying a new laptop the other day but all the machines in my local PC shop had W8 on them so I exited stage left. Is it true that if you buy a W8 machine the license allows you to revert to W7?

[skirted_in_SF]

I was thinking about buying a new laptop the other day but all the machines in my local PC shop had W8 on them so I exited stage left. Is it true that if you buy a W8 machine the license allows you to revert to W7?

If you are willing to buy a Dell, I just checked and their US site has about 15 laptops that they'll sell you with Win7. Not sure what might be available on your side of the pond.