[Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

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Exodus_life
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Exodus_life »

Well earlier i posted i was dual booting with Vista ,well that stops today

windows is history !!
Bryan88
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Bryan88 »

I have Cakewalk 9 which only runs on XP, so I have to have dual boot on my desktop (I have since got midi to work with Mint so I can't remember the last time I booted into XP). My laptop came Win 7 on it, I have been thinking of installing Mint on it, but I need it for gigging so I am scared of breaking it.
sanity rising

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by sanity rising »

For me like a few on here it is just the games, some i have got to use through wine but as i'm still learning and tweaking I have kept windows for now. But as soon as I can get them to work...or i get bored of them then it's bye bye windows. Other than that i don't use windows because i find my Mint seems to do everything else or there are alternative that will do the job just as easily, or in a lot of cases better.
MissileCop
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by MissileCop »

Still need Windows for a few items;

scanner and included software
video recording and enhancing software
trading software
as a way to walk through an issue when somebody calls me about their Windows computer problem. Once I know where I'm going, I can tell them where to go. Since I'm the family/friend/work tech support, I need to stay familiar with Windows. Besides, staying familiar with Windows just makes me appreciate Linux that much more. :mrgreen:
3mutts

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by 3mutts »

Still need Windows for:

My Games
Office
Video Drivers (the Linux ones dont work as well)
Trouble shoot Windows Issues on our network
I have the space (I have 3 HDDs)
altair4
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by altair4 »

So you call up your ISP's help desk ( or the computer manufacturer's support desk, or the ..... ) because all your modems light just went out and you have no internet access. The conversion will go something like this:

HelpDesk:> So what version of Windows or OSX are you using?

Me:> Um ... I'm running Linux?

HelpDesk:> Can you spell that?

Me:> L-I-N-U-X

There's a momentary pause while the call centre employee tries to find the correct response in the script.

I'm sorry sir and/or madam we don't support L-I-N-U-X.
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Fred Barclay
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Fred Barclay »

altair4 wrote:So you call up your ISP's help desk ( or the computer manufacturer's support desk, or the ..... ) because all your modems light just went out and you have no internet access. The conversion will go something like this:

HelpDesk:> So what version of Windows or OSX are you using?

Me:> Um ... I'm running Linux?

HelpDesk:> Can you spell that?

Me:> L-I-N-U-X

There's a momentary pause while the call centre employee tries to find the correct response in the script.

I'm sorry sir and/or madam we don't support L-I-N-U-X.
:lol:

You could have said Windows 9. ;)
Image
"Once you can accept the universe as matter expanding into nothing that is something, wearing stripes with plaid comes easy."
- Albert Einstein
r00t

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by r00t »

Compatibility testing. Where I work the servers are Linux, and my IT staff all run Linux somehow, on a VM or installed to their hard drives. But most other computers run Windows. I need to make sure everything is talking to each other how they're supposed to.
mbott

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by mbott »

Only one reason here and that's TurboTax. If it wasn't for that, I'd add a new hard drive to my collection.

--
Mike
craig10x

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by craig10x »

mbott wrote:Only one reason here and that's TurboTax. If it wasn't for that, I'd add a new hard drive to my collection.

--
Mike
Use Turbo Tax Online...problem solved :wink: :D
Alley Cat

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Alley Cat »

Adobe Photoshop and EA's Origin. :(
mike acker
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by mike acker »

App programs n/a on Linux

this, I think is the major reason folks can't quite kick

Here's my list
  • Epson Scanner
  • Roxie converter for VHS Tape
  • Tax software -- i've used both HR Block and Intuit
  • MusicBee
Music Bee will set the replay gain tags for you when you rip a cd. we need a better rip program in Linux.

I think the Linux desktop is still a bit behind the 8-ball because there are so many msft/windows desktops and laptops in use that developers tend to write for that platform . this will likely shift to aapl now,-- but: ios is a derivitive of FreeBSD i.e. Linux-like,-- which means apps compiled and tested for aapl may be much easier to port to Linux -- either RHEL or Debian ... etc

i think it's the .etc that hurts us some,-- for Debian we need a .deb package that we can install with dpkg -- which is a beautiful installer -- while other distros have other package things

i wonder if a general adoption of this "systemd" critter might help ?

if you follow hacking you know that simply opening an infected Word, Excel, or Flash object can compromise a windows system,-- totally un-acceptable. an O/S should never allow itself to be compromised by the activity of an application program; any O/S that fails in this regard is simply un-acceptable for use in a sensitive environment . this, combined with notes on this thread related to "why we still run windows" explains the hacking mess we have on our hands today .

worse, we still fail to generally make a practice of authenticating the sender of various transmittals -- eMail, software, Forms 1040 -- all sorts of critical stuff. and, worse yet, we generally rely on old symmetric keys,--
Data theft poses an indefinite threat of future harm, as birthdate, full name and social security number remain a skeleton key of identity in many systems.
Source: The Intercept: Data Theft Today Poses Indefinite Threat of “Future Harm”

Corporate support people generally feel the need to have a reliable corporation providing software support and I would think RHEL would fill the bill for such needs
¡Viva la Resistencia!
mbott

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by mbott »

craig10x wrote:
mbott wrote:Only one reason here and that's TurboTax. If it wasn't for that, I'd add a new hard drive to my collection.

--
Mike
Use Turbo Tax Online...problem solved :wink: :D
Not thrilled with the online. I've given it a try and prefer the local install.

--
Mike
Crewp

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Crewp »

I have Windows for 1 reason only, and is to update my Garmin GPS. There is no good Linux work around for this, or I would ditch Windows completely.
mrdachshund86

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by mrdachshund86 »

I keep Windows mostly for games, such as Banished, or older games that only run on Windows, such as Civ 4. I haven't booted to Windows in weeks, and whenever I do boot to Windows, I am very careful to not click "Shut Down" when there is a little shield on it. Updates are Windows's way of punishing me for using Linux. :lol:

I also keep around Windows for school purposes, since homework may be require using an application that only comes in Windows.

Also, there are programs already installed on Windows, and those programs' installation discs are long gone, so for the time being, Windows gets to stay.

Windows wasn't so lucky on my other computer, however. :wink:
Drygar

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Drygar »

At work, we use Windows as company policy.

At home, I ditched Windows on host and only run GNU/Linux.
I keep a Windows XP SP3 virtual machines - one offline and one online.
The offline has XP and MS Office 2007 on it and I use it to edit documents previously created with Office or for some very specific things not present on Libre Office. For more simple things I use Libre Office.

The online one is to access my office email in out of office hours since the web version of Outlook Web Access does not work well neither with Mint's Firefox nor with Chromium. It simply logs me off from the work mailbox after very short period of the initial login to the company mailbox.
For the same strange reason, it works perfectly with Firefox on the XP Virtual machine, so if I want to access work emails, I must use Windows.

Sometimes, on rare occasions, I install Windows XP or Server 2003 on VirtualBox for some specific software testing, then I delete them.
Drygar

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Drygar »

altair4 wrote:So you call up your ISP's help desk ( or the computer manufacturer's support desk, or the ..... ) because all your modems light just went out and you have no internet access. The conversion will go something like this:

HelpDesk:> So what version of Windows or OSX are you using?

Me:> Um ... I'm running Linux?

HelpDesk:> Can you spell that?

Me:> L-I-N-U-X

There's a momentary pause while the call centre employee tries to find the correct response in the script.

I'm sorry sir and/or madam we don't support L-I-N-U-X.
Great story, sounds funny :D

Once I had issue with the Internet access at home. The ISP sent me cable guys to check. They wanted to check the machine, I doubt at first, then I allowed them. They sat at the laptop, found it strange, clicked on the Mint "Start" button, looked strange and asked "What is this?". I said Linux, Mint.

They must have thought "What the hell?" :shock: and asked me to ping certain machine, they coudn't work it.
At the end, they were excited :D because I was able to run Linux.
In their eyes I looked like Super Hero and real IT Pro :P :lol:
Matera
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Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Matera »

LOL. My ISP setup guy had to deal with my Debian laptop, but survived. One of my favorite jokes is that, around here, more that 2 Linux users in one room is a hacker convention.

I have two dual-boot machines, and run some virtual Windwoes. Windows is necessary only for Microsnot Publisher (I'm too lazy to re-do a newsletter in Scribus) and World of Tanks. Otherwise I could live without it at home. The only Windows software I can't live without is IrfanView, which behaves wonderfully in Wine.

Now that I have Mint on my all-64-bit muscle machine, I don't see much of Windows.
When I have a computer problem, I call myself.
Veerstryngh Thynner

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Veerstryngh Thynner »

Hello all,

Interesting discussion, this.

Today, I'm very chuffed with KDE on my laptop. My desktop (for music production, mainly) is still kitted out with Ubuntu 12.04 LTS/Windows 7 dual boot, at the mo. But Ubuntu 12.04 is now rapidly deteriorating and the whole dual boot configuration not functional any more, really, since a separate Windows7 laptop has been available for a while. The plan now is to replace the whole with KDE Mint as well.

Incredibly, though, there was a time that I wasn't even aware of the existence of something called Linux! So I just made do with MS Windows - which, in the end, drove me insane, to be honest: no matter whether on Windows 95, 98, or XP, one issue solved would ever and anon be followed by at least three fresh ones to sort out. Moreover, over a period of ten years or more, only two or three Windows applications ever worked to satisfaction.

One day, however, I was introduced to Ubuntu 10.04 - which turned out pure bliss, in terms of reliability and security. And from there I evolved to Ubuntu 12:04 LTS and, subsequently, KDE Mint. However, leaving Windows wholly behind turned out to be not entirely practical.

As far as I'm concerned, Linux is still lagging behind in the following areas:

- music notation: MuseScore has greatly improved, the years. But Sibelius, on which MuseScore is based, is much more versatile;
- a decent voice changer is not available in Linux. Audacity may still be offering an option - but although I'm a big fan of Audacity, the application aforementioned is a very poor substitute compared to what Screaming Bee (Windows only), for instance, has on offer;
- samples and sampling: in this area, too, definite improvement has been observed. KXStudio a point in case. Still, it's much less complicated to play music instrument sample available on my Windows 7 laptop and to capture audio thus attained in Audacity on my desktop: a simple audio cable from the one to the preamp connected to the other all it needs. Job done;
- video-capturing: for this, a degree in advanced IT is most definitely essential still.

Otherwise I have no complaints.

Veerstryngh Thynner
Shunjoss

Re: [Chat] Still keep a Windows? Speak out your reason

Post by Shunjoss »

bawldiggle wrote: Excel 2003 (for my VBA addins) -- on XP and Win7
I think you can do anything you want on LibreOffice now.

For my part I have windows 8.1 (desktop) for games only and windows 7(laptop) i will upgrade to windows 10 (i think in August).
I use Linux mint 17.1 cinnamon. Most of my (steam) games works on Linux but I have a type layout problem in-game.
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