What version of Windows do you use?

[aramis]

I was a happy linux and mac user for several years.

I've watched most of my friends be forced into hardware upgrades because the couldn't revert the hardware, and couldn't cope with the new version of windows on the old hardware. Mostly due to games.

Constant complaints about ms bloat code.

 

[Dragoner]

All of which is true, esp of older games (such as my experience with pg2), but the systems are most common in business and education, which means learning different systems for whatever you would be doing and is a real pita just between versions.

 

[CosmicGamer]

Is it just me? When I add up the percentage results for the poll I get over 110%.

 

[Icosahedron]

Wouldn't touch XP, and forget any subsequent Wincrap.

Microsoft's "Your software, hardware, and your very soul belongs to me - ask permission to think" attitude made me halt at Win2k,

I'm not sure that's really true of MS, Apple sure, but not MS. After Win98, I had a good experience with XP Professional, Vista Ultimate was quite good (tried it after SP1 so missed most of the reported issues), now happily using Win7 Ultimate.

I once had a motherboard battery fail on me. I got a second hand box, plugged my Win98 HDD into it, and was up and running in no time.

The same thing happened to a friend running XP. It cost him time and money to pay a guru to rescue his data, wipe his HDD and reinstall it in a new machine, because you're NOT ALLOWED to swap YOUR hard drive from YOUR computer to YOUR other computer without Mr Gates' permission. Quite often, you're not allowed to reinstall the software after a crash without touching your forelock, and I believe with post-XP software, you don't even get a physical copy - after you've given MS your entire life-history, you have to download a virtual copy which prevents itself from being sub-mastered, and is only downloadable for ~3 years before it becomes 'unsupported' and you have to pay another £500 for the next version - and it wouldn't surprise me if it stops working due to a computer ID error if you replace your mouse...

No thanks!

And don't get me started on the darn thing inserting capital letters all over the place because Mr Gates thinks I'm too stupid to know when to use capitals...

Tried Linux once. That's 9 months of my life I'm never getting back. What a disaster. No doubt a different and newer distro would be 'better', but everything I want to run works under Windows (with negligable maintenance overhead) so why bother?

Each to his own, of course. I'd been hoping to figure out Linux for a long time, but it's only recently that the GUIs have become comprehensible. Now at last I'm free - free software that I can copy anywhere, any time.
I've been running Linux for over a year, and it's never hung up, never crashed, never clogged up, never stopped in mid-backup, never told me my computer has performed a fatal error...

Bliss.

Unfortunately, yes, there is still some software that only runs on Windows, and I haven't sussed out Win emulators yet, but one day...

 

[nDervish]

The same thing happened to a friend running XP. It cost him time and money to pay a guru to rescue his data, wipe his HDD and reinstall it in a new machine, because you're NOT ALLOWED to swap YOUR hard drive from YOUR computer to YOUR other computer without Mr Gates' permission. Quite often, you're not allowed to reinstall the software after a crash without touching your forelock,

Not exactly the same thing, but my work computer is a dual-boot Linux/Win7 laptop and, when a coworker who got hers at the same time had a drive failure last year, I swapped out the original hard drive for a new one. Windows didn't care. It didn't even show any indication of noticing, regardless of whether I had the original drive, the new drive, or both connected.

(Which isn't to say I didn't have any problems, but those were the result of my own clumsiness in handling the drive UUIDs and not keeping the boot manager updated with the correct ones. They were not in any way related to Windows DRM.)

and I believe with post-XP software, you don't even get a physical copy

My girlfriend just bought a new Win7 laptop last week and it came with a Windows install DVD. I think the physical install media is decided by the manufacturer, not by MS policy.

Each to his own, of course. I'd been hoping to figure out Linux for a long time, but it's only recently that the GUIs have become comprehensible. Now at last I'm free - free software that I can copy anywhere, any time.
I've been running Linux for over a year, and it's never hung up, never crashed, never clogged up, never stopped in mid-backup, never told me my computer has performed a fatal error...

Welcome aboard! I've been using Linux as my primary OS since sometime around 1999, but almost always with a current-enough-version Windows installation handy for gaming purposes.

 

[Fritz_Brown]

Is it just me? When I add up the percentage results for the poll I get over 110%.

It's a multiple choice poll, Cosmic. You could answer with more than one answer.

 

[mbrinkhues]

I once had a motherboard battery fail on me. I got a second hand box, plugged my Win98 HDD into it, and was up and running in no time.

The same thing happened to a friend running XP. It cost him time and money to pay a guru to rescue his data, wipe his HDD and reinstall it in a new machine, because you're NOT ALLOWED to swap YOUR hard drive from YOUR computer to YOUR other computer without Mr Gates' permission. Quite often, you're not allowed to reinstall the software after a crash without touching your forelock, and I believe with post-XP software, you don't even get a physical copy - after you've given MS your entire life-history, you have to download a virtual copy which prevents itself from being sub-mastered, and is only downloadable for ~3 years before it becomes 'unsupported' and you have to pay another £500 for the next version - and it wouldn't surprise me if it stops working due to a computer ID error if you replace your mouse...

No thanks!

Shoot the "Guru" because he does not know his job!

You can easily install a drive in another computer or "downgrade" a drive to second drive in a new XP or Win7 box. Done both more than once.

XP and later will ask you for a re-activation if too much of your hardware changes but that is easily done either online or by phone IF you have a legal copy! Done that as well quite recently.

Win7 either comes with disks OR asks you to create the disks after first start. Did so both on my HP and ASUS boxes (that came without) while I got a DVD for a co-worker two weeks ago. You do need a DVD drive (external USB is enough) for that. Win8 also comes with disks if you want them. Depends on where/what you buy. Most "complete" boxes come without disks (or three blank DVDs)

Windows7 costs between 70 and 100€ depending on the version you want (Home Premium or Professional). Server Versions cost more but they deliver a lot more. If you pay more - shoot the dealer! Win8 pricing is similar.

And don't get me started on the darn thing inserting capital letters all over the place because Mr Gates thinks I'm too stupid to know when to use capitals...


Each to his own, of course. I'd been hoping to figure out Linux for a long time, but it's only recently that the GUIs have become comprehensible. Now at last I'm free - free software that I can copy anywhere, any time.
I've been running Linux for over a year, and it's never hung up, never crashed, never clogged up, never stopped in mid-backup, never told me my computer has performed a fatal error...

Bliss.

Unfortunately, yes, there is still some software that only runs on Windows, and I haven't sussed out Win emulators yet, but one day...

I could use all that FOSS software on Windows as well. There is no end user programm (and few admin level programs) for the Penguin that does NOT run on Win7. And often better since WinXP/7 are better in some areas then Linux (Thread handling i.e, important for JAVA based systems).

And there are quite a few systems that WON'T run on Linux. There is still no support for WACOM digitizers that work so one of my two main boxes won't work. No voice input that can compete with Win7s build in (And Dragon Natural is even better). Power management is 20+ percent worse and often will only support part of the capacities (Suspend to disk not suspend to RAM) so this gets worse when Win8 systems come out. Hardware support for current gen hardware is so-so to none

As for the rest - my WIN7 boxes haven't caused me any problems in the last years and my XP boxes before rarely did. WHEN they did it was hardware (like the overheating AMD CPU due to bad QS at the manufacturer) not an OS problem. And I push the boxes a LOT harder than most doing software engineering on them.

Linux is useable if properly lobotomized and castrated (Android) or as a cheap test server when the hardware is not SOLARIS certified. But otherwise it is second best on Desktop (To Windows and Mac) and on servers (To SOLARIS, HPUX, AIX)

 

[Hemdian]

I once had a motherboard battery fail on me. I got a second hand box, plugged my Win98 HDD into it, and was up and running in no time.

The same thing happened to a friend running XP. It cost him time and money to pay a guru to rescue his data, wipe his HDD and reinstall it in a new machine, because you're NOT ALLOWED to swap YOUR hard drive from YOUR computer to YOUR other computer without Mr Gates' permission. Quite often, you're not allowed to reinstall the software after a crash without touching your forelock, and I believe with post-XP software, you don't even get a physical copy - after you've given MS your entire life-history, you have to download a virtual copy which prevents itself from being sub-mastered, and is only downloadable for ~3 years before it becomes 'unsupported' and you have to pay another £500 for the next version - and it wouldn't surprise me if it stops working due to a computer ID error if you replace your mouse...

As I wasn’t there I am reluctant to speak ill of this ‘guru’ but I am surprised.

First off, if it was the CMOS battery on the motherboard, just buy a new battery for a few quid and your machine is working again. No need to move the HDD or recover data or anything.

Secondly, I have had to recover data, perform hardware upgrades, and/or reinstall the OS a number of times for friends, family, my landlord, and neighbours over the years (for various reasons) and never had any problems. With retail versions you still have a physical disk (CD or DVD). With OEM versions you used to get a physical disk but the trend now is to make a recovery partition on your HDD instead (first thing I do is burn that to disk and repartition to recover that small amount of space) ... that’s not MS, that’s the OEM builder. I believe there is a download from MS option but I've never tried it. The most I ever charged was £30, but I usually did it for free or a home-cooked meal.

Admittedly I have run into cases where one user cannot access another user’s files. That’s built in security for your protection (not MS’s). And if you use common data areas and have backups then this is a non-issue.

When I got rid of my last XP desktop, I had over the years replaced everything on it (motherboard, CPU, memory, graphics card, and case) ... except the soundcard without any problems.

Windows XP is still supported (albeit in a limited capacity and only for another year because it’s so old) and you can pick up a legitimate copy on eBay for a lot less than £500 (try £20). In fact I see PC World has Windows 7 *Ultimate* listed for £190. And the only thing I’ve ever needed to tell MS in regards to installing Windows was to go online and click ‘register’: this asked NO questions, it just confirms the licence key you used is legitimate.

As I said I am reluctant to speak ill of this ‘guru’ but if he was the source of your information then it sounds like you’ve been misled. All your concerns belong on Snopes.com.

And don't get me started on the darn thing inserting capital letters all over the place because Mr Gates thinks I'm too stupid to know when to use capitals...

Sounds like you’re talking about the AutoCorrect feature in Word (or another Office program) which is off topic. But if it is then AutoCorrect can be adjusted to turn off that aspect, or turned off in its entirety.

I've been running Linux for over a year, and it's never hung up, never crashed, never clogged up, never stopped in mid-backup, never told me my computer has performed a fatal error...

Bliss.

Ditto for me using Windows 7 Ultimate. Except I wouldn't bother saying "bliss" as it's what I've come to expect from Windows. Admittedly I did have an occasional problem with Vista for awhile when I was using beta drivers, but hey ... beta drivers.

 

[Icosahedron]

As a Linux user, I expect to be in the minority, and I fully expect those of you with the knowledge to act as your own 'gurus' if you have problems.

No doubt there are all manner of fixes to all manner of problems, some relatively easy, some needing a lot of knowledge. To date, apart from the initial learning curve, Linux hasn't given me any problems to fix.

All I can comment on is my own experience as someone who knows nothing about computers and can't afford professional advice. MS stressed me out. Linux has been a blessed release. And no matter how little you pay for your chosen version of Windows, it won't be cheaper than Linux.

It works for me, but if you like Windows, keep using it.

 

[mbrinkhues]

As someone who has been writing UNIX Software almost a decade before LINUX became a 1.0 kernel and is a decend UNIX admin to this day:

Try using some "rare and special" hardware like

WACOM (or NTRIG) Digitizers (Build in a tablet or external, same for Cintiq)
Touch enabled monitors like some AIO systems have them
Full set of features on a modern High-End graphic card
Multi function printer/scanner systems, even more so if they are LAN based
Simply buy/lease a standard box and try to use all the stuff build in there
Run JAVA and try a multi-threaded system (Nice to check how your software behaves on an overloaded system)
Install ORACLE DB (It's free for personal use/development) on a typical desktop Linux
Attach a camera or smartphone (including, ironically, many Android-systems)
Use Kindle reader software

and you learn what "stupid design concepts", "lack of support for commercial software" and "fragmented operation system" really means. Let's just say Professor Tanenbaum was right.

The problems with Linux come out over time when "support" for your current version runs out after 6-18month (Unless using one of the rare and often costly LTS versions that give 3-5 years - still a joke) or the repository does not have the software you want/need. FUDTracker can be extreme but there is a lot of truth in the TM section of that page.

The "Mighty morphing kernel API" makes it extremly problematic to keep drivers up to date so many companies do not do it or only support certain kernel/distribution combinations. Typically the combo that is not supported by the soft/hardware you also want to use.