Problems with windows (help me list them!)

[ryanVickers]

everyone that has something about windows that really bugs them, or is a major problem, post them here! I'm collecting the accumulative knowledge of the general Linux using public into this post so people can see what's wrong with windows so they don't get it (if planning to) or so that they can choose to switch to ubuntu!

I've got so many of them, but it might drive me crazy trying to list them all, but I'll try a few major ones: (these are all rhetorical questions; I know the answer and "why" just means it's stupid :p)
-why do you need to defragment!
-why does it slow down over time when you install programs and stuff!
-why does moving a mass of files between folders on the same partition take any time!
-why is the general design and user-friendliness so bad!
-why can they play mp3's, but they don't add support for open source things like write/read for Linux file systems, play ogg files etc.!
-why are they so paranoid about security with the stamp with number on computers for authorization etc. (win users, you know what I'm talking about!) but they haven't made an attempt to stop pirating of the OS ever though they could!
-why is the security/stability so BAD! viruses, hackers, crashes, corruptible file systems, on win 98 you can click cancel on the login screen, login as guest and then so anything! or just type a name and password not already a user and it will make one and log you on!
-why is there really no decent way to set permissions on files/folders!
-why did it take micro$oft 7 years to give xp a new skin and make it slower (creating vista! :p)!

Oooohhhhh, there's soooo much more, but I just shutter thinking about it all! everyone, list your windows-pet-peeves! :)

[starcraft.man]

I think my biggest problem with Windows was always the registry... it became very bad in XP (at least it seemed to me) but I would often find myself slowing down after some months of an install (I reinstalled between every 3 and 6 months, usually the lesser). It was really annoying, and there really wasn't any excuse for the gradual slowdown happening... Oh and that just happens to be your answer to question 2. The registry just gathers clutter and becomes bogged down.

My second biggest problem has to have been treated like a pirate. That made me very mad... especially since I been around since DOS and 95. It's just gotten worse and worse, and I've seen MS erode the ability of the end user to do things on his computer, in fact they seem to have developed a greater and greater complex that's lead them to believe it's their computer. Vista was the last straw, and Ubuntu was the angelic saving grace that I found to replace them all. I am not planning on ever looking back.

Oh and I answered 15 years to poll, even though I still use it the odd time. It's just not very often at all...

Edit: Yay, I am the longest guy yet.. Damn, that makes me feel so OLD!

Edit 2: Oh and I could go on, but damn I'd be sitting here all night... and there are all those people needing help. MS doesn't deserve much more of my mind/thoughts/time.

[jrusso2]

I have been using Linux for 11 years but I am a Windows Lan Admin and I have to keep windows here to do support on call.

[Rightmantrigger]

I started using computers when i was around 6. I started using linux when I was 10.

Also, main thing that bugs me...

Why press start to stop?

[ryanVickers]

sounds like me :p

I was on redhat 6 by the time I was about 7, but sadly, I never really switched to linux completely until ubuntu 7.04 - but now I'm never going back, it's that ood, compaired to perv. versions and everything else!

[afljafa]

Awesome - another windows bashing thread, Now there's something that hasn`t been done for what, at least 20 minutes.

PS - on a serious note. Most of your peeves are garbage.

[BoyOfDestiny]

First off I think this thread should be moved to the other Os talk section.

Anyway, I avoid Vista like the plague due to it's DRM.

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html

XP pet peeves, that if you enabled classic theme, it would still waste resources and skin things to look like 98. You have to go into the control panel, system settings and properties and go to performance and disable it directly there.

Activation insults me, your customers aren't the thieves MS.

Hate "personalized menus", in that menus you haven't used in a while become hidden, how useful. I disable that, you can do so by right clicking the start menu, and going through a few button clicks.

I dislike how the Start menu would no longer alphabetize once you've moved something in it.

I hate the backdoors Windows has, 98 I believe had 2 holes for the NSA. 98 memory managment sucked, disk thrashing galore. Why does Windows like to cache to the hd instead of use RAM. One has nanosecond seek times, hard drives in milliseconds. XP was better in this respect, but still lame.

Win 3.1 was bad for games compared to DOS. There is a reason you could still find a DOS version for games in the late 90's.

Overall, although I'm a computer geek.

Windows is way too geeky for me. It's high maintence.

Needs to be defragmented regularly (people say NTFS doesn't fragment with a straight face, it's a lie. In my usage it got severely fragmented, I believe in Vista has it to auto fragment Sunday night)

It needs me to manually install an anti spyware, and either schedule scans or do them myself.

I have to manually install ALL 3rd party software, updates, and drivers. Trying to update drivers via windows update for my ati card or soundblaster always broke things.

Not only that, I have to hunt around the web to find when an app is updated, and stop running it as I do the install, and possibly reboot. It's interactive as well, so lots of clicks, and I had to this for many apps, over several machines... It's too ridiculous.

System Restore needs to be disabled. I rather do my own backups, with a 3rd party cd burning app (used nero back in the day) Why do I hate snapshots and system restore? It makes backups of large files, sometimes in triplicate (at least Windows ME did this) and backups viruses and spyware and all that crud. Thanks, but no thanks.

I really could go on, about how win3.1/95 crashed often, I lost several book reports. To this day, I click the little save icon every 3 minutes or so regardless of app or OS. Thanks Windows, you taught me to save often.

It's also boring, you can't tweak a thing without either knowing the registry keys specifically or using some tweaker app or modifying system files which can bork your system. Want to change the text of "Start" get ready to whip out a hex editor and search for S T A R T.

Commandline is useless. Although as much as I loved adding wget manually to the path, navigating without tab completion, I'd have to deal with cd DOCUM~` or PROGRA~ etc. No thanks.

The nuisances that really tip me over are activation related. I can't just swap out a hard drive and put it in another machine with XP. With Win98 you could, just pop in the install disc and it would likely grab the missing drivers. So in that respect I'd say 98 was better than XP (everything else pretty much no)

As for plug and play, XP it's great (except dealing with multiple usb devices, I seem to get confused which one to "eject") Windows 95/98 was plug and "pray".

Ok rant over, I will say one good thing about Windows, it has a good selection of Free and Open Source software that runs on it.

Disclaimer, This is my opinion, based on my experiences, some things listed may not apply to all users. I am biased, and bitter towards WIndows. I didn't even touch upon MS anti-competitive practices. They tick me off, and continue to do so as they "build bridges" with patent licensing.

As for Ubuntu, as of now I maintain several home machines with it. The only tweak I had to do for Feisty on my box, install 915resolution. That's it. Seriously. So I'm happy. I can update/install apps from the repo, build the few that I don't automatically with some simple scripts. I never have to close an app to update. I get occasional questions, but when it comes to system hygiene, It's handled all for me. I like that, a lot. I can tinker because I want to, not because my systems will turn to sludge...

[ryanVickers]

I know, it's funny, alot of people think linux is just for geeks, but now with ubuntu 7.04, I think that's really not the case. For so many things it's so automatic! I mean, can windows automatically install a video driver without leaving a simgle window at the touch of a button? can it understand that a jpeg is a jpg? Oer any file without an extension? and how many more file formats of (mostly video and audio) can linux play that windows/micro$oft has never heard of!? :p just some more!

[ryanVickers]

Oh, just thought of this one too! I really love how they put spaces in the name of critical system files, like "Documents ans Settings" :lolflag: (for windows free people, that's like /home)

And all the slashes go the wrong way! and it needs drive letters! (I've always wondered what would happen if you had more than 26 devices attached :lolflag:)

[juxtaposed]

The one major thing, in my opinion, is the thing how it gets slower and slower over time. I don't know exactly why (registry maybe?), but it happens, and it happens very bad. So bad that it is unexcuseable.

Other then that, I just prefer linux and how it does things.

[jaspen.p]

Having to run ad aware&defender&Trend Micro to keep my laptop clean
Being locked out of the system clock. We do some real time control in the lab at school and we have to network a computer running DOS so we can increase the sampling speed. You can go from 50hz to a 600hz sampling rate easy by doing this, but you shouldn't have to.
Startup time- does every program you install in windows really need to have to a quick startup? Thanks but no thanks, I'd rather have a quick startup on my computer.

[ryanVickers]

The one major thing, in my opinion, is the thing how it gets slower and slower over time. I don't know exactly why (registry maybe?), but it happens, and it happens very bad. So bad that it is unexcuseable.

That is the major one, that and needing antivirus/spyware. I think it is the regestry getting bigger and bigger with keys and stuff it needs but it gets lost in the mess!

[tcpip4lyfe]

First off I think this thread should be moved to the other Os talk section.

Anyway, I avoid Vista like the plague due to it's DRM.

http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut001/pubs/vista_cost.html...........


GREAT article.

[ryanVickers]

First off I think this thread should be moved to the other Os talk section.
maybe your right, how would I go about doing that, or getting an admin to do it?

[Tundro Walker]

I like how they cleared up some issues from Win98 to WinXP, but didn't like how they insulted my intelligence by making the "uninstall Internet Explorer" option nothing more than a farcical placebo.

Essentially, after uninstalling IE, it's still there in the background, and pops up as the web-browser to do things sometimes, even if you set your system default browser to something else (like Firefox).

That basically showed me that Microsoft's new way of thinking was for their OS to do what THEY wanted it to do, not what *I* wanted it to do. And WinVista has taken that steps further with DRM, and now MS is trying to focus more on "trusted computing", which means their OS gets to dictate what does and does not run on it, and you're the one that has to prove if your trustworthy (to the companies that MS is in bed with.) For SHAME!

[FuturePilot]

9-14 years.

One big problem is hardware support. Yes I said hardware support. I have to install tons of drivers when I set up Windows because of all the unrecognized hardware. And then reboot like a million times. In Linux the only driver I need to install is the Nvidia driver. Everything else is detected.

[karellen]

9-14 years.

One big problem is hardware support. Yes I said hardware support. I have to install tons of drivers when I set up Windows because of all the unrecognized hardware. And then reboot like a million times. In Linux the only driver I need to install is the Nvidia driver. Everything else is detected.

and when it's not....may god have mercy ;)
I'd rather choose to pop in some 2-3 cds with the drivers from the manufecturer, click next-next and then have no hassle than hunt the web/forums for workarounds and half-performing drivers.
windows is far from perfect and I could list here probably dozens of its problems (as anyone else could) but I think this is not the idea. bashing it continuously won't make it any better and simply leads nowhere (except for flames and nerves and exaggerations and all the other stuff). we should understood it by now. I'm pretty computer savvy and I know what to do to maintain windows in a decent, if not good, state for some time. the last xp installation lasted on my hard drive for more than a year, until yesterday when I decided to reinstall. I had very to none problems with viruses/spyware/malware and all the crap. but again, I'm not really the average joe and honestly I don't care about the average joe. and it's not only about windows itself. windows is just a platform - and a poor designed one, if you ask me - but the things that really matter for me are the applications written specifically for that platform. I'm by no means a microsoft fan...but you could call me a fan of things like yahoo messenger, office, dreamweaver, webcam support, and some games. so...until I can't buy a gadget or a game and then be able to run it on linux, the later one can't be the primary choice for my needs.
Linux is not perfect, Windows is not perfect, no OS is and will ever be. it's obviously and normal. and the sad part is that every time a discussion like this one is started we reach at some point the useless and old debate of "windows vs linux". it's like in the childhood..."superman vs batman", "arnold schwarzenegger vs stallone" and so son...

[woodsmoke]

Welll....

since I never go anywhere on the net that my grandma wouldn't want me to go....I've never really HAD any problems with Windblows.....until.....

I was down on the docks one day.... and Archie was casting his pole.... made in country of DaNang, city of Viet-Nam..... and a guy asked me if I could mebbe assemble a computer for him....he was kind of down and out...

The Chinee was warming his hand at the chestnut fire and kinda winked and I said...well mebbe....

So...later the Chinee, he gave me some parts and his kid showed me how to assemble them.... and ...in less time than it takes for me to cook up a coupla brats and pour some synthahol.... I had a 'puter assembled....

then..... I was hit full in the face with a simple fact.....

I couldn't even put Windblows3.1 on it....and how many HUNDRED years old is that piece of drek?

Archie and me were looking out over the Hard and he said....well....what about LInIx..... I said....

dunno.....what's a Linix..... and he said something like it's an early form of Buntu....

oh....

ok....

so..... I asked Buntu how I could put something on this thing....

and that's all there was....

it's .....kind of.....I don't know.... a gut thing.

woodsmoke

[Volsfan91]

I'll give you one small good example of why I prefer Ubuntu so much:

When I formatted my hard drive and reinstalled everything (which took FOREVER, unlike Ubuntu where I can start Synaptic), I spent an hour getting the printer working. >_>

In Ubuntu, it took me, no exaggeration, 30 seconds to install it.

If a community built operating system can build this, why can't a huge corporation? It's maddening.

Windows needs an overhaul...

[ryanVickers]

Yeah, Apple rebuilt their OS from SCRATCH off of BSD between versions 9.x and 10.x and it's like one of the best in the world now, but micro$oft, they spent 7 years on vista, 7 YEARS! and what is actually any good/new!!!

Where as Ubuntu, new version every 6 months, and in 7.04 they've got so many new cool features, same with mac!!!
micro$oft's going to be in some trouble in the next while... (good thing, too :p)

[LollYouSuckZor]

"not Responding"

[Alterax]

Windows does have its nice points; I like using Group Policy with Active Directory to manage several workstations. Nice. But it has its bad parts too that make my administrative life a living hell:

1. Bulky. Tends to have a LOT of services automatically enabled for that "user-friendly" experience. Each of these is a potential security risk, so it's like opening all of your doors and windows, turning off the lights and burglar alarm before you go out for an evening.

2. The Registry. It's extremely complex, not documented well, and unless you do some major study, it's gobbledygook to the beginning user. I'm a seasoned veteran, and half of it is STILL gobbledygook.

3. Poor Security Practices: By default, the average user's preloaded (which is why it "just works" desktop) gives them local admin privileges by default. So when they come to work, they assume they should be able to do whatever they want. And when they can't, they complain that I'm not treating them fairly and they can't do their jobs until I get ordered to make them local admins. Then the PC is back in the shop every month for spyware, viruses, and things I'd rather not think about.

4. Worse Programming Practices: Programmers usually have to develop code using local admin privileges, and tend to not actually test their code with an account with any privileges other than admin. So what you get is code that won't work unless it can put files and registry keys where best practices and common sense say it shouldn't. Faulty code like this will only run if the user is a local admin. The programmers say just make the people local admins. I say, it's buggy code; Fix it.

(On the other hand, with Linux it is usually assumed that you will not be running as root, so the developers are more accustomed to writing and testing with a limited/standard user account in mind. So it helps the overall security of the system)

5. That startup music thingy. Eww.

--Alterax

[DeadSuperHero]

Well, I started using computers back when I was about two years old (I'd watch mom play the King's Quest/Space Quest/Quest for Glory Games). Mom taught me how to play them, and all was well.
By age 3, I could log into Windows 3.1 (back in the day), and be able to play kid's games.
So, for 13 years I've been a Windows boy. And geez, did I ever have complaints...

1. The viruses.
2. Slowdowns that killed the comp.
3. Everything had to be installed with a CD.
4. Even in Windows, Belkin didn't work right. Using MSN Messanger would kill the wireless.
5. Install a little madman named Norton. They swear he's to protect you...but he gets frightened a lot, and when he gets frightened, he gets gungry. And when he gets hungry, he goes and eats the registry. (Norton AntiVirus)
6. Sometimes Windows classics (Re-released Sierra games for XP) Just didn't work.
7. Had to get dodgy 3rd party software to change the look of the OS.
8. Even when you wipe your hard drive, a little bit of Windows stays. This "little bit" makes the reinstall very painful, and kills the computer for good in about a week.
9. 256 color mode just really sucked.
10. Had to Google file formats, just to find software to open them. And they always come with a "free" virus.
11. Odd bugs with MP3 playback when you run certain games.
12. For some reason, Itunes crashes a lot...Oh, that's right. It's made by Apple, and MicroSoft doesn't like them.
13. With Linux, when you have nothing to do, you can entertain yourself by customizing your system. In Windows, when you have nothing to do, you can have a race between Norton and intentionally downloaded viruses, and see who gets to the registry first.
14. Norton messes with wireless networks, ruins file sharing.
15. Windows Defender is a rip-off of Norton, meaning we can't even see a familiar, hungry old friend anymore.
16. Free Software is not Open Source, and a lot of times has viruses.
17. No official site where you could download free themes.
18. If you somehow ruined MS Office (and yes, it happens), then you have to dish out more money to re-download and install it.
19. Internet Explorer is a joke. You can get to Google in a day and a half, and that's on Cable.
20. Random reboots.
21. Icons on desktop kept rearranging themselves.
22. There's no stress-reliever programs, except for installing Ubuntu.

[KIAaze]

I never hated Windows. It did everything I needed (GNU/Linux just does so much more than that :) ).
In fact, I even miss all the illegal operations I could do on it. ^^

"You have just performed an illegal operation and will be shot down."

[edd07]

The startup takes ages, and once you see your desktop and think stuff should work now, it keeps loading more apps.

You need an Antivirus, and most of them are more annoying than the viruses themselves...and sometimes there's no way to just shut them up.

No themes. I had to patch some .dll file to install a non-Microsoft skin (which is 'Human' by the way :D)

Internet Explorer. The thing is a nightmare

The fact that some software you buy has a 'Made for Windows' sticker, is no guarantee that it will work.

[LANjackal]

1-why do you need to defragment!
-why does it slow down over time when you install programs and stuff!
-why does moving a mass of files between folders on the same partition take any time!
-why is the general design and user-friendliness so bad!
-why can they play mp3's, but they don't add support for open source things like write/read for Linux file systems, play ogg files etc.!
-why are they so paranoid about security with the stamp with number on computers for authorization etc. (win users, you know what I'm talking about!) but they haven't made an attempt to stop pirating of the OS ever though they could!
-why is the security/stability so BAD! viruses, hackers, crashes, corruptible file systems, on win 98 you can click cancel on the login screen, login as guest and then so anything! or just type a name and password not already a user and it will make one and log you on!
-why is there really no decent way to set permissions on files/folders!
-why did it take micro$oft 7 years to give xp a new skin and make it slower (creating vista! :p)!

I use both OSes, and this is crap for the most part. There are advantages and disadvantages in both. The only thing I've never really liked about Windows is relatively poor resource management (rogue processes can easily lock up the system, although that's been addressed in Vista) and unnecessarily heavy system overhead (still an issue). Linux is far more efficient for the most part. Still, most of what you've written just isn't true.

Defragging - Since XP, there's never been any real need to do so

Slowdown over time - I've seen the same happen with Ubuntu depending on what you install and enable on it. It's far from an issue unique to Windows

Moving folders on the same partition - I could ask why it takes Dolphin several seconds to render a folder containing less than 20 subfolders. Hmmmm...

Lack of native FLOSS support - Why does Linux lack native proprietary codec support? Right back at ya.

Piracy - MS has probably made more efforts against this than we could count, much to the chagrin of their users. Odd that you would complain about this, seeing that their protection measures are a big reason for many users' dislike of MS

Security/Stability - You referred to Windows 98 as the basis for your argument? You couldn't be serious. Fully patched XP Pro SP2 and Vista systems have no remote vulnerabilities

File Permissions - It's very possible and easy to set those on XP Pro. Right click the folder and select Properties. Really don't know what you're talking about.

Vista - Decent, unbiased reviewers such as Ars Technica and OSNews have said that Vista is a significant leap forward under the hood for Windows. Their opinion probably counts more than yours.


Again, I use both OSes, and I'm happy with both for what they do. What I do not do is bash for its own sake, which is what this looks like to me.

[voxman69]

...and it needs drive letters! (I've always wondered what would happen if you had more than 26 devices attached :lolflag:)

Hahaha...that made me fall off the chair laughing! Thanks man!! :-) In Sweden that would be three more devices since we have the funny letters with the dots and circles above them.

Normally I wouldn't participate in a thread like this, since I live by the rule "Never hate the other team, just love your own", but then again...who's perfect? ;-)
Pretty much everything seems to be listed already, but I remember a little thing called "Trumpet Winsock" back in the Windows 3.x days. It was used to connect your modem (9600 or was it 14400 kbps back then?). TW crashed EVERY session, you could count on it. Oh how I miss being on 99% on a download and hearing the "click" from the modem and knowing you had to start all over again...yup, that's right, no resuming back then.

TW wasn't really a Windows issue, but it was the best solution at the time.

[karellen]

I use both OSes, and this is crap for the most part. There are advantages and disadvantages in both. The only thing I've never really liked about Windows is relatively poor resource management (rogue processes can easily lock up the system, although that's been addressed in Vista) and unnecessarily heavy system overhead (still an issue). Linux is far more efficient for the most part. Still, most of what you've written just isn't true.

Defragging - Since XP, there's never been any real need to do so

Slowdown over time - I've seen the same happen with Ubuntu depending on what you install and enable on it. It's far from an issue unique to Windows

Moving folders on the same partition - I could ask why it takes Dolphin several seconds to render a folder containing less than 20 subfolders. Hmmmm...

Lack of native FLOSS support - Why does Linux lack native proprietary codec support? Right back at ya.

Piracy - MS has probably made more efforts against this than we could count, much to the chagrin of their users. Odd that you would complain about this, seeing that their protection measures are a big reason for many users' dislike of MS

Security/Stability - You referred to Windows 98 as the basis for your argument? You couldn't be serious. Fully patched XP Pro SP2 and Vista systems have no remote vulnerabilities

File Permissions - It's very possible and easy to set those on XP Pro. Right click the folder and select Properties. Really don't know what you're talking about.

Vista - Decent, unbiased reviewers such as Ars Technica and OSNews have said that Vista is a significant leap forward under the hood for Windows. Their opinion probably counts more than yours.


Again, I use both OSes, and I'm happy with both for what they do. What I do not do is bash for its own sake, which is what this looks like to me.

finally...it seems to me one the few decent and objective reply of all I've read so far...:)

[Bungo Pony]

- BSOD
- Anyone who has installed a "pirated" copy of XP has seen this: "You may be a victim of software piracy". How am I a victim if I'm not robbed of my money?
- IE installed by default
- Included software that never gets better with each release (Notepad, Paint, Sound Recorder, Hyperterminal)
- drwtsn32 ('nuff said)
- "A fatal error has occured" - Thank you for identifying the error for me!
- WinME
- That crappy font when you use a DOS program. The ANSI looks like crap.
- Pop-up bubbles! I hate them! "Your computer may be at risk"

Windows Vista was also the last straw for me. It's slow, expensive, and I need to fork out money for better hardware just for transparency? Ubuntu gives me transparency just fine with my current hardware and it's all FREE! Oh yeah, and DRM is a big one too.

[brim4brim]

The Registry proprietary theming requiring an additional program for non-signed themes or a hack explorer.exe and explorer.exe are not the same thing Almost every service is SVCHost.exe!! Prefetch, prefetches everything I've ever used! DLLcache, caches every DLL I've ever used!! When I move the task bar to the top of the screen, all windows titlebars load underneath it!! Window media player never finds the codec its looking for User Interface inconsistencies 2 thousand ways to do the same thing, each being in a different place so that a user and adminstrator can perform the same task instead of designing it right in the force place. general Ms problem is that they have more concern for the companies they work with than the end users experience

[Bungo Pony]

TW wasn't really a Windows issue, but it was the best solution at the time.

How I loathed Trumpet Winsock. I found an application that worked so much better called "Webrider". Easy to configure, and it had a couple of customizable buttons to put a web browser, FTP, or Telnet. I never used Trumpet Winsock again.

I only wished that they made a 32 bit version of Webrider because I hate Dial-up Networking too. It's not as bad as TW, but it still sucks. I'd like to see what's happening with my connection. I know there's more to it than arrows travelling through a wire going from one computer to another.

[LaRoza]

Oh, just thought of this one too! I really love how they put spaces in the name of critical system files, like "Documents ans Settings" :lolflag: (for windows free people, that's like /home)

And all the slashes go the wrong way! and it needs drive letters! (I've always wondered what would happen if you had more than 26 devices attached :lolflag:)


The reason it uses Drive letter, was to make DOS backward compatible with another OS which it is based off of. Odd that is still in use, you can't have more than 26 devices and A: and B: are for floppies only, and C: is reserved so you can only have 23 devices, 25 if two of them are floppy drives.

I dislike spaces in the names of any file or folder, but you can get around them in the terminal by using quotes, in Windows Vista it is slightly different, "Documents and Settings" is not where use info located, it is in c:\users\laroza, much like Linux.

I used Windows for a few months before switching to Linux, and use Vista for testing and development. Interestly, Windows Vista is the only Windows OS I am familiar with.

[Tomosaur]

Why is the default Windows installation a crippled mess, and why do people argue that it isn't? When you buy a machine from PC World, that is not a default Windows installation.

Terrible, terrible documentation. "Did this solve your problem? No. We cannot help you". Great :/

Why the long install time? 4-5 hours? Seriously?

Terrible package management. Yes, please flood my system with a million libraries which all do the same thing!

The registry. Why? What does this achieve? As far as I can tell, the registry simply causes problems. If you want to keep track of settings, paths etc, just use static files or environmental variables, not 3 completely different things.

Why are you spying on me? Why can't I mess around with my own computer? Why do I have to validate Windows? I already paid for it, why are you threatening to cripple it?

Why is it so hard to customise stuff? The start menu is a mess if you install a lot of programs, why can't I set it all up in seperate menus?

[LaRoza]

Why is the default Windows installation a crippled mess, and why do people argue that it isn't? When you buy a machine from PC World, that is not a default Windows installation.

Terrible, terrible documentation. "Did this solve your problem? No. We cannot help you". Great :/

Why the long install time? 4-5 hours? Seriously?

Terrible package management. Yes, please flood my system with a million libraries which all do the same thing!

The registry. Why? What does this achieve? As far as I can tell, the registry simply causes problems. If you want to keep track of settings, paths etc, just use static files or environmental variables, not 3 completely different things.

Why are you spying on me? Why can't I mess around with my own computer? Why do I have to validate Windows? I already paid for it, why are you threatening to cripple it?

Why is it so hard to customise stuff? The start menu is a mess if you install a lot of programs, why can't I set it all up in seperate menus?

1. I get help with Windows in Linux forums, because that is the only place to get good information
2. I've installed Vista once, it is the worst install experience ever.
3. The registry, it cleaned up the mess the .ini files were making in the beginning, but instead of making it neater, you now have to sift through the registry instead of other folders, they moved the problem
4. When you pay for Windows, you are not buying it, you are buy the right to use it.
5. Well, it is difficult to customize stuff, but the Vista start menu is actually useful, so I can't say anything about that. But I wish I could make other menus, the "quick launch" is not enough.

[Nikron]

2. I've installed Vista once, it is the worst install experience ever..
When I installed Vista I'd have to say it went pretty smooth. However it would not let install it unless I let it take up the entire drive.

[bobbocanfly]

The Slowdown of the OS in general is just annoying. It is very obvious from the first time you boot after the install, despite the adware. Yesterday i rebooted and xp took 10 minutes on my 1gb RAM, Core 2 Duo to load up, go into my profile and then start a game. To do the same on my 512mb, Pentium 3 on Ubuntu took about 3 minutes.

Installation is hard work, especially if you have customised the computer. Got to mess about with the drivers and everything.

WiFi support is a bit sketchy at times, very hard to just log into a new wireless network (like at a hotel) without setting up a whole new network.

[DR_K13]

and when it's not....may god have mercy ;)
...


Try an ATI driver a few years back ! hahaha

[jgrabham]

For as long as I can remember - 486 with DOS 6.22 and windows fow workgroups 3.11! Then a P3 with 98. Then a P4 2.4ghz with XP

[steeleyuk]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned as I skimmed through some of the comments:

Why does Windows lock up when you apply network settings? The system virtually grinds to a stop while it does whatever it does...

[dkaddict]

Gulp, gulp,

berrrrrrrrrrrpppppppppppppp

fart...

[KIAaze]

I'm not sure if its been mentioned as I skimmed through some of the comments:

Why does Windows lock up when you apply network settings? The system virtually grinds to a stop while it does whatever it does...
Oh yes, that is so true... :(

By the way, my first experience with PCs started about 8 years ago with Windows 95, then it quickly went to Win98, and later my first own PC with winXP home (quickly followed by a cracked XPpro where I can set folder permissions :p ).
And then Paradise: GNU/Linux. :D

[goumples]

Erm, I used windows since win 95 and I switched to Linux in 2006, so about 10-11 years give or take. My real beef with windows was that each new release became more and more of a system hog. Went from 256megs of ram on my win2k machine to 1gig ram minimum (I certainly wouldn't want to run vista on 1gig but meh) on Vista.
I cant even imagine what kind of hardware power one is going to need for future MS releases.

[ryanVickers]

Wow, this is growing fast! not unexpected however! I knew that posting this would be compairable with throwing a zebra into a tiger cage and seeing if it can resist terring it to shreds! :p

In fact, I even miss all the illegal operations I could do on it. ^^


Yeah, like at my school, when ever you logon using one of the laptops, it says something like "you've just illigally relocated something.dll..." and it goes on and on... Of course, nothing is actually wrong, or so you think (as micro$oft laughs maniacally at the uselessness of their errors)!

Maybe in the future OS's, if it detects linux, it will say you have an illigal operating system on your computer and then refuse to say why because it's "too busy" :lolflag:

[wheels.]

the thing that bothers me most about windows is that I am using it right now.

[ryanVickers]

the thing that bothers me most about windows is that I am using it right now.
And why would you not want to be using it? there's nothing wrong with is, right!? :p
care to explain... :)

[whistle]

Wow, talk about a bell curve... I guess technically, I'm still using Windows (dual boot).

[ryanVickers]

But when did you begin using linux ~>40% of the time (that's what I call a switch! :))

[Yellow Onion]

Why is it so hard to customise stuff? The start menu is a mess if you install a lot of programs, why can't I set it all up in seperate menus?
Well, it is difficult to customize stuff, but the Vista start menu is actually useful, so I can't say anything about that. But I wish I could make other menus, the "quick launch" is not enough.

The start menu is a folder system its easy enough to rearrange (but Microsoft should have outlined a nice arrangement for developers to abide by they started it off good with accessories but that's about it)
Also hate how some programs are in a deep tree of folders eg Publisher/Developer/Program in the start menu

and also you can change to colour of the original theme to anything you wanted (interesting how it went from 16million different colours in 9x to 3 in XP and vista isn't it one? I'm now sure mac has more now hasn't it?
the things I hated (trying not to list ones already said)

The fact that the "default Browser" is a local machine setting and not a user setting

Don't see why windows x64 installs 32bit apps in a separate folder from 64bit ones "Program files" "Program Files (x86)"

the fact that an admin can block out user settings that aren't a security risk eg change background, word settings (I remember at school when I tried to use word each time it ran it asked me for my name and initials and I had to rearrange the panels to how I liked them) but if the admin forgot to disable cmd you could access it though a batch file or a button in help then completely destroy the system using it eg echo something > C:\WINDOWS\*

basically the mulit-user environment sucks

notepad just sucks balls an exact replica of edit.exe and it crashes when you open ~4MB filesWOW!! their notepad has a spell check

the fact that I needed a floppy drive to install XP on my machine!! and that I have to stay during the whole process of installing

they removed support for 2.88MB floppies (on my 98 machine I could change the BIOS to a 2.88 floppy and it detected it as a 2.88 and I could format it at 1.44 and 2.88 )

The Fact that not only do I have to Restart after programs install that some ask you restart to before and after install

the fact that I have to restart to install system updates but can't install them on shutdown (installs them after all programs are closed then restarts)

if I could choose to install updates while system was running it would prompt every 10mins to restart forcing games to minimise and what not

Check disk never works on ntfs cause you need to unmount the drive forcing you to use cmd to initiate a check disk on boot (who said that was user friendly?)

it pages everything in memory using large amounts of HDD

When installing visual studio .NET (and just .NET I think) to another drive it would put 600MB in C: and 80MB in the other

the fact that searching for .NET on internet finds every .net sub domain

boot takes way too long ( some how windows destroyed several of my partitions forcing me to scan disk and corrupting many programs funny enough though it only affected several reinstallable programs didn't touch my My documents partition but increased my boot time down to half a bar before going to log on screen)

Always thought that windows XP (x64) was actually pretty stable until BSOD 3 times in last 3 months (never BSODed before that) after running SETI for 10mins, trying to close a game after 4 days of being on (game was on for half an hour) and randomly during same game as well

WOW64 (32bit compatibly layer) doesn't work properly sometimes

Getting Windows media player 11 for windows doesn't work in Firefox because it needs to determine the version of windows after Downloading the version for my windows with IE it wouldn't install because it wasn't compatible With my version of window!!

to many vendors only support windows

multi tasking suck eg 1) windows task manager never comes up when you need it only after
2) a HyperThearded system running music at highest priority and encoding video at lower priority
the music stiill studders

That they stole openBSD's TCP/IP stack for vista (mind you The BSD licence does allow that Thats why I personally Would use a GNU like licence to stop that kinda thing)

The "allow or Deny" window in vista clearly a way to blame the user and not actually try to fix up the security
even though it could be by passed in the control panel and easily cracked with a program that would click it for you and that it doesn't wait 10mins like sudo

Outlook express doesn't have a spell checker until you install Office and the upgrade form 5v-6v turned on "block suspected files for viruses" which just blocks every file

msn messenger allows the transfer of suspicious files but deletes them once they get on your computer which was only a harmless txt file with code in it but allows .zip files with anything in them

I Think thats enough if I think of any more Ill tell you :P

[Mr Tim]

-why did it take micro$oft 7 years to give xp a new skin and make it slower (creating vista! :p)!


Thats a little unfair... They also gave it a new box and made it incompatible with a whole lot of XP programs!!

[ryanVickers]

Yeah, like office 2007 "Requires windows Vista!" :p

A good example of how much Linux is better than windows it just in this month, my computer started acting strange, like random lock-ups, on windows and Linux! So to keep this story under one "page", I'll continue like this. Turns out the motherboard was fried and half my RAM was broken, so the RAM was replaced under the unconditional lifetime warranty (!:)!), and they gave me a new motherboard, an Asus A8V-E SE :p. So, it's very similar, some things are better I think, and it was $50 cheaper than the original which will probably be covered by warranty. So, to get tot the point, to make linux's graphical system work again, I typed a command and life goes on! But windows now won't boot because it doesn't setect the HD, so it needs to be re0instralled with a special driver, and even if that wasn't a problem, once I reinstall, it's going to not let me register because I changed a major component, I have to reinstall/change a ton of drivers, etc.! Unbelievable! Well, not really after you use windows for a few years, but just, AHH!

[cleverselfreferentialname]

I switched after six months of Windows. Never looked back :D

[Espreon]

I hate Windows for many different reasons:

1: Vista is more of a downgrade than an upgrade:
-It has DRM
-Almost nothing works with Vista
-M$ is trying to monopolize the Anti-Virus Market by using the Kernel Patch Protection feature (M$'$ AV product
apparently works) so I think KPP should be renamed to M$AVMM (Micro$soft Anti-Virus Market Monopolizer)
-The eyecandy in Vista is just a bunch of crap (it is all bark and no bite, compared to Beryl,Compiz and
Compiz-Fusion. [I mean Aero eyecandy adds no new functionality last time I checked (maybe except the 3-D
Win-Tab effect (just a matter of time before Compiz-Fusion gets that feature) [The original Compiz better
become GPLed to prevent M$ from stealing our precious eyecandy [or at least some of it].
-FTP support in Vista sucks (I saw a vid on Youtube: Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0CXs96pHqUg )
-It is slower than XP last time I checked
-WGA 4 Vista can **** features like Aero and other stuff If it thinks that the copy of Vista is fake

M$ had 7 years to impress us, and what was the result? A piece of BS.

2: M$ is trying to Monopolize the Portable Application Market (affects me since I develop portable applications, for Winblows (What is the likelyhood of encountering Linux [the best OS on the planet, IMO] on average Joe Schmo's comp?). by purchasing U3 (it sucks horribly!). M$ will probably make it Vista exclusive (and Vista sucks as we all know).

3: M$ hate opensource software!

4: Even the US government knows Windows sucks! They use Linux for pretty much everything! Including for space and military operations! It can't get any better than this! Plus the US Government loves opensource in general, they have launched a few.

5: It takes forever to startup! On my Mom's laptop it takes 3 Mins to startup and it is a decent system!

6: M$ makes you buy the same products like M$ Office over again by making new standards like the .docx format!

Even worse! I am forced against my will to use Winblows!!!!!!!!! UNBELIEVABLE
For all us Windows haters search for jungiantheology on Youtube and watch the vids made by jungiantheology . This guy is a real Winblows hater!
For a convient link: http://www.youtube.com/results?search_type=search_videos&search_query=jungiantheology&search_sort=relevance&search_category=0&page=

EDIT: Compiz-Fusion now got Vista's Win+Tab feature!

[KIAaze]

The original Compiz better
become GPLed to prevent M$ from stealing our precious eyecandy [or at least some of it].


Wow, I didn't know that. You're right, it's not GPL, it's under the MIT license. :/
But the good news is that only the core is under the MIT license. The plugins can be made under the GPL, since the MIT license is GPL compatible.
The core of compiz is MIT, like you say. The advantage of this is that you can write plugins using any license you want, even something closed source.

source: http://www.realistanew.com/2007/02/23/compiz-porting/

So it looks a bit like the X11/Metacity-Gnome situation.

If Microsoft wants to use X11 or compiz-core, they could indeed. They would only have to remake the Window manager/desktop environment and the plugins.

I really wonder why they didn't implement useful stuff like scale/expose and virtual desktops in Vista. But I'm happy they didn't. :p
Maybe they think their "average users" aren't ready for it. ^^

[misfitpierce]

I used for about 3 years then started linux like 4 years ago and about 3 years ago fully converted to linux... Hate win-doze

[sad_iq]

Ok...seems no one mentioned it...why can't you have an uptime for like a week without windows crashing without any reason(it was never done and I don't think it's possible with vista)??
Why do every app you install, will leave a huge amount of crap in the registry and when you remove that app...it won't clean it???
Why do you have to install an Antivirus, Antispyware, Antimalware, Firewall, Registry cleaner... just to be "safer" to boot into Windows!!
Why Vista does such a good job of hiding folders like emule->Incoming??
Why do they force you to upgrade to vista just to get DirectX 10 or the latest Word??
Why do all(well allmost all) companies sell Pc with Vista preinstalled(or windows for that matter) and refuse to give you a pc without it...and if you really complain they will give you a blank hdd inside but still charge you for Windows??? (Happened to me here in Spain!!! :( )
Why I can't find any XP disk in the shelves (again...I am still looking for one here in Spain)???
Why do they have separate editions(Home, Professional)...it's like they split users in categories...morons and idiots :( !!!
Ohh...and for the ones thinking windows isn't hard...go to a friends house to install Windows without any driver discs and see how well that goes(have done it a million times before...causes serious brain-damage)
But...I have to give credit to them...I think the only good thing windows has(besides the ability to wipe your hdd and install linux) is DirectX...if only it existed in linux :idea:
The worse thing Ubuntu has(in my opinion) is the boot spash image...they should have at least left it off by default...I see no difference in reading WINDOWS when my computer boots or UBUNTU...or at least they could have come up with a more original thing...not just an Ms-crap copy!!!!

[briealeida]

Check out

www.windowstruthzone.com for the TRUTH!

[KIAaze]

Thanks for the link!
From the quotes section:
From cnet news on the release of Windows 2000:

"Gates also boasted of the increased reliability of Windows 2000 on the
desktop. He cited a recent study that showed that a Windows 95 system
needed to be rebooted every two days and a Windows NT system every
five days, while the new Windows 2000 kept running without crashing
after 90 days"


:lolflag:

[dkaddict]

The worst thing about Windoze, IMHO, is the fact that Vista came along after it. Now there is an even longer line of diseased code from Novell which is outrageously infecting end-users' computers the world over with covert money making processes *(and especially with Vista; an OS positively jam packed with built in Software that sends info about end users computing habits etc to MS HQ:mad:), viruses, and other such nasties, while they innocently surf and spend.

95
98
2K
ME
XP
Vista
=
:mad::mad::mad::mad:

Viruses
Infection
Spyware
Trojans
Adware

[tashmooclam]

I've used computers since 84, had an IBM desktop PC running DOS with Lotus on it. It had a 5mb hard drive and cost $5000.
Did some work with windows 3.1, which was torture compared to the mac I used at home.
Got a crappy laptop for a job I had which ran windows 95. Left that job and gave the laptop away in Mexico.
Got my friend's laptop used running windows xp. He instructed me what to do as it froze often, he actually took the battery out!
A few days of this and he offered to re-install XP. So, install #2
It seemed to work for a while, then the sound mysteriously "corrupted" or something. So, no more sound, no Skype.
We tried another install of XP hoping the sound would return. Install #3.
No sound. Then, something with the wireless card. Windows would not let me re-install the software for it. Now, no wireless.
Strangely also, the hibernate function disappeared. So, either shut down or let it run.
Got Avast, Adaware, and Spyware sweeper. Found 300 "malwares" the last time I used them. That was the day I installed Ubuntu.
Now the sound works. No go with the wireless card. OK, I keep this on a desktop mostly anyway.
I was always clicking to close little windows here and there, it was maddening.
ETC.

[ryanVickers]

Wow, that's a real success story! I hope lots of people read this poll and switch to Ubuntu. I mean, after reading that, how can you not agree it's so much better!? ;)

As of July 31st, 2007, there are officially only ~14% of people still using windows! This blows away other recent "professional" estimates of 89% right out of the water! good work everyone! :p

[Alexander2007]

Windows:
3.1
95
98
98SE
2000
Me
XP
Vista (Now this is a complete joke!)
...yep used em all. All crap! Slow, unstable (if one program crashes, it sends the entire system crashing along with it).
WINDOWS, BE GONE!!!

[KIAaze]

...yep used em all. All crap! Slow, unstable (if one program crashes, it sends the entire system crashing along with it).
Please confirm: Vista is unstable?!

I know it has some big retrocomaptibilty problems because of the "more secure kernel" or something like that.

But is it still unstable?!
Because I found XP to be quite stable. (no need to reboot when it crashes that is)

[Quillz]

I have an equal number of problems with Mac OS X and Linux as well as with Windows, but why does the board never make threads regarding those? That said, I don't use Windows full time anymore, as I have an iMac, but I do have Parallels running virtual machines of XP, Vista and Feisty Fawn.

[Quillz]

Please confirm: Vista is unstable?!

I know it has some big retrocomaptibilty problems because of the "more secure kernel" or something like that.

But is it still unstable?!
Because I found XP to be quite stable. (no need to reboot when it crashes that is)
Vista is actually quite stable, as it's built atop the Windows Server 2003 foundation. Those who claim the entire system crashes when one application does obviously have not used Vista, because this doesn't happen, in fact, it hasn't happened since Windows XP became the first mainstream NT operating system.

[Dimitriid]

Windows still uses the "registry" for most settings including application settings. This is a fundamental design flaw, a security liability, a huge inconvenience for developers, you name it.

Linux keeps a myriad of different setting files each for not only every application but also for each different part of the system. This makes it ideal for developers and specialist, very complicated for end users.

Debian takes the best things of both worlds: It keeps settings separated so its easy for developers, support specialist, and power users to manage their systems, and it offers a centralized control system for end users to keep track of applications and dependencies for them. Very elegant solution with a very powerful level of customization. IMHO applications like an automated/gui checkinstall would make it even better. ( since it would be good to have the power of source code with the convenience of binaries and packet management as integral part of the system )

From what ive read other distros have similar solutions with varying degree's of success and other plataforms like *BSD take a little from both approaches but I dont have enough experience to comment further on those.

The only thing I can comment on is that the first approach, the windows approach is the worst solution to me.

[Dimitriid]

Vista is actually quite stable, as it's built atop the Windows Server 2003 foundation. Those who claim the entire system crashes when one application does obviously have not used Vista, because this doesn't happen, in fact, it hasn't happened since Windows XP became the first mainstream NT operating system.

You are correct, but the reason for the stability is not to improve end user experience or better support, its just there to support draconic copy protection schemes like DRM.

[popch]

Vista is actually quite stable.

Stabilty := abilitiy to stand still?:lolflag:

[stmiller]

The problem is that Microsoft continues to choose convenience over security. You have to make sacrifices in each area to get a good compromise. You can't have both.

I was horrified to find out that on a default install of Vista, you are the full administrator. No limited user account is created. You actually have to know what you are doing to set up a limited user, and log in as that user etc. to be safe.

For every new computer sold at BestBuy, Dell, etc. with Vista your average Joe or Grandma is not going to know anything about this.

So most all Vista machines out there are running as full administrator.

Linux: Limited user (or with Ubuntu there is no root account enabled!)
OS X: Limited user (no root account enabled!)
Windows: Full administrator clicking and executing away

Microsoft does this I know because certain software needs admin rights to run. But why not just use a sudo type system, so when admin rights are needed it can be authenticated? Why is this not the default in Vista?

And no, the cancel/allow thing is NOT sudo. There is no password authentication, and you are running as full admin anyway.

/End of rant :popcorn:

[ertrules22]

I have a lot of problems with windows and microsoft.
One: When you switch to Vista, all the office file exstensions change, and you have to specifically change the file format for 98 to 2003 office!
(by the way, these aren't in any specific order!)
Two: Vista is big and slow, thus the computers that come with it are

[leo_rockway]

"You have just performed an illegal operation and will be shot down."

I'm halfway through the thread and I may comment smth else later... but i had to stop and post now: gee, you made me laugh!

[ertrules22]

Sorry, I didn't get to finish my post! Dumb vista had ANOTHER problem! so anyways...
the computers that can run vista have to be fast have lots of memory and large hard drives (there is nothing wrong with this) otherwise vista will not be able to run! And every new 2007 software that comes out, is only vista compatible! That's stupid! The only good thing I can see about vista is improved pictures and slightly good file organization. It seems as though they hired a few artists to work with their programmers to rebuild XP. :lolflag:
Well, that's how I feel about Vista! (by the way, I have Ultimate, which costs $400 or so)
Go FreeBSD, GNU/Linux, Ubuntu and all other free opensource operating systems and software!

[mpgarate]

my 3 favorite things that make ubuntu > windows, are:

--startup time:
ubuntu:
2 sec bios - 20 sec boot - 10 sec login (at its worst)
windows:
2 sec bios - 2 min boot - 2 min login (on a good day)

--everything installs the same, updates the same.

--customizable!
beryl/compiiz/compiz-fusion
themes!
sounds!
window environments!
programs!
... and so on

[Earthwormzim]

One thing that everybody seems to mention is the ridiculously slow start-up times of Windbloze XP and Vista. And I agree...the start-up time is almost maddening.

But, there is an equally maddening point that I don't see to many people addressing...(actually, I read up to page 5, and didn't see anyone mention it...I'm going to continue reading after I'm done posting this).

What really pisses me off is not the boot-time...but the shut-down time! Every time I press shut-down, I get like 8 hung applications that refuse to quit unless I manually press the OK button to force terminate each one, and when you finally get them all to close, you hear about 4 or 5 Windbloze error sounds just before the shut-down screen finally appears (which has always bothered me...because you know that that sound means something not good has happened...exactly what? Who knows...you can't find out now...system is shutting down).

And now that the shut-down screen has finally appeared, it sits there for a couple of minutes, saying, "Saving Settings"...and then, eventually..."Windbloze is shutting down."

Okay...I admit, my computer is old. So, in part, the fault lies in the fact that my computer, itself, is slow...but in Ubuntu, when I select restart or shut-down...within 15 or so seconds...it's off. So, it just seems a bit unnecessary to me for Windbloze to take so long.

[popch]

One thing that everybody seems to mention is the ridiculously slow start-up times of Windbloze XP and Vista. And I agree...the start-up time is almost maddening.

But, there is an equally maddening point that I don't see to many people addressing...(actually, I read up to page 5, and didn't see anyone mention it...I'm going to continue reading after I'm done posting this).

What really pisses me off is not the boot-time...but the shut-down time! Every time I press shut-down, I get like 8 hung applications that refuse to quit unless I manually press the OK button to force terminate each one, and when you finally get them all to close, you hear about 4 or 5 Windbloze error sounds just before the shut-down screen finally appears (which has always bothered me...because you know that that sound means something not good has happened...exactly what? Who knows...you can't find out now...system is shutting down).

And now that the shut-down screen has finally appeared, it sits there for a couple of minutes, saying, "Saving Settings"...and then, eventually..."Windbloze is shutting down."

Okay...I admit, my computer is old. So, in part, the fault lies in the fact that my computer, itself, is slow...but in Ubuntu, when I select restart or shut-down...within 15 or so seconds...it's off. So, it just seems a bit unnecessary to me for Windbloze to take so long.

You wouldn't have a server based profile in Windows? That would explain the the slow 'saving setting' and startup bits. Also, moving stuff from your desktop to almost any other directory might help in that case.

Just a thought.

[lucy_liu_lover]

One of the biggest problems with Windows is the amount (and cost) of all the extraneous software that I need to run to keep the system running smoothly and securely:

Norton System Works, Go Back, Ghost, Antivirus, Firewall
Spyware Doctor
Registry Mechanic

My system can take over 5 minutes to boot due to all these services that it needs to load. But once up and running it very rarely gives me any stress.

Oh yeah, and the number of times I have to re-boot after installing software or updates.

[iPower]

i use anything but windows

[popch]

We acknowledge that the current release has some features which are not as widely appreciated by the public as we would have expected them to be, up to the extent of calling some of them 'problems' or 'bugs'. However, the following migration path will get rid of all of them:

06/2008 Windows Vista SE a.k.a. 'Windows Second Sight'
11/2008 iWindows

[hockeyfighter09]

the spyware and viruses are the biggest reasons i made the switch. i got sick and tired of trying to maintain my computer for that stuff.

[Earthwormzim]

You wouldn't have a server based profile in Windows? That would explain the the slow 'saving setting' and startup bits. Also, moving stuff from your desktop to almost any other directory might help in that case.

Just a thought.

As for whether or no I have a server based profile...I don't think so. All I know is that I've got a student version of Windows XP Professional. Does Professional default to a "server based" profile? I dunno. I will admit, though,I do have a cluttered desktop. I'll try cleaning it up and see what happens. Thanks!

[rbprogrammer]

i switched to linux for many reasons, and now with this new windows vista, i know i made the right decision.

when all my friends said "what do you think of that new operating system microsoft is coming out with (ie vista)?", i said it was going to suck and no one believed me. now that all my friends (and me) are moving to another college campus, they all bought new computers with vista.. and now all i hear is how vista sucks.. they thought they would buy this new computer, it will come with vista, it will be great, the computer arrives, they try it out, and the first person they think of is me.. because they realize vista is just absolutely crap.

i feel like it was one of those movies where everyone thinks this one thing is going to be great, then the find out later it destroys the earth.. i love being the one thats rights :) , but this time it was just annoying :mad: ..

sorry for the ranting, but i just had to get that out..

one problem that i think vista will have huge issues with is that damn allow/block message box that comes up for like every program that you want to run. even microsoft programs. i think people will at first think it is more secure, but after awhile they will get tired of it and constantly press allow. thus making your system more vulnerable to just about every virus ever created..

[popch]

find out later it destroys the earth.. i love being the one thats rights :) , but this time it was just annoying :mad: .

Finding that the earth is:lolflag: destroyed.. Yes, I can understand that one could think that annoying.

[ryanVickers]

The other day I was in Future Shop and they had a really nice computer on display with Vista (so it's not so nice after all :)). 2 monitors and everything, it looked pretty powerful, so the first thing I do is open up the task manager and get this!: with no programs running,, just idling, it uses ~710Mb or ram!!! This is such an "improvement" over xp's average of 350 to 420!! of course, I can run ubuntu fine with about 250Mb consumed with some apps open! They also had an animated background (probably .gif or something) and in the right click menu, they had an option to start and play or freeze it; which was good because with it running it took 14% of the processor!!

Then I had a look at the "effects" they're so proud of! Funny, you know how with beryl or that on ubuntu, it takes a bit of your video processing power off, but the effects are great and you can turn them off if you want, right? Well, in vista, I saw no obvious way to turn them off, and what's more is if they are going to take 7 years doing ONE thing, it better be good, right!? well, the effects consume the power about equal to ubuntu, but the difference is you can't really even notice them!!! one was when you minimize or restore something, the shrinking to the task bar was a little bit better, and on creation/destruction of a window, I think it uses "Glide" (as in beryl), but the window is totally faded away before it can fall back to about 15 degrees, so who cares!!!?? As for new features, it's really not worth it since what your getting and what your giving up is after a few calculations, not in the "positives" :p.

Then over a bit in the other isle, they had a bunch of macs with Tiger (not the new one (leopard), 0.1 version down), and it was quite nice, of course!

[Amazona aestiva]

I used XP:
I removed a simple cdrom from the drive. After that about 3 hours Windows said something like this:
Wrong volume in the drive.
There wasn't any disc in the drive of course.
I could choose:
Try again -> Same window reopened.:neutral:
Continue -> Same window reopened.:-k
Cancel -> Same window reopened.:shock:

This window was uncloseable from Ctrl+Alt+Del:
It wasn't in the Processes.:?
If I clicked on End now button -> Same window reopened!](*,)

I had to reboot my computer, because I had given that CD to my friend before this trouble!

[toupeiro]

The Registry proprietary theming requiring an additional program for non-signed themes or a hack explorer.exe and explorer.exe are not the same thing Almost every service is SVCHost.exe!! Prefetch, prefetches everything I've ever used! DLLcache, caches every DLL I've ever used!! When I move the task bar to the top of the screen, all windows titlebars load underneath it!! Window media player never finds the codec its looking for User Interface inconsistencies 2 thousand ways to do the same thing, each being in a different place so that a user and adminstrator can perform the same task instead of designing it right in the force place. general Ms problem is that they have more concern for the companies they work with than the end users experience



SECONDED!!!!

As a former Software packager, I DESPISE prefetch, dll caching, and most of all that noisy bloated registry!

I'll throw a few more out there... DRIVE LETTERS. $#(*$& DRIVE LETTERS!!!

and the solution to drive letters is NOT sharepoint! Sharepoint is nothing more than a dusgusting way to sweep a huge mess into a box that only allows you to put things in, and taking things out would be disasterous. In the end, you still have a huge mess

Finally, their insipid native logical volume management capabilities. Its sad that you HAVE to rely on third party tools to make your filesystem efficiently grow and shrink.

/rant

[thevictor390]

I actually have very few problems with windows that can't be easily fixed. My comp runs fine and has been doing so for 2 years, I can run XP on a laptop that would pretty much refuse Ubuntu (Pentium II, 192 MB RAM. XP runs great, no antivirus/spyware/anything because i need all the resources i can get). It's become very good through sheer penetration of the market. If you have a problem, millions of other people have too, and there's a fix for it.

Linux is great, and nice when you don't want to buy an OS. But since Windows comes free with most computers, most people have no reason to switch.

I will concede that I don't like the registry, but cleaners exist. And defragmentation should be done automatically.

[mech7]

The other day I was in Future Shop and they had a really nice computer on display with Vista (so it's not so nice after all :)). 2 monitors and everything, it looked pretty powerful, so the first thing I do is open up the task manager and get this!: with no programs running,, just idling, it uses ~710Mb or ram!!! This is such an "improvement" over xp's average of 350 to 420!! of course, I can run ubuntu fine with about 250Mb consumed with some apps open! They also had an animated background (probably .gif or something) and in the right click menu, they had an option to start and play or freeze it; which was good because with it running it took 14% of the processor!!


I think you don't understand how vista works.. it preloads apps in meory that you are going to use and makes more memory free if you need it.. what is the point in having 2/ 4 gb ram if you are not using it properly ;)

[meindian523]

Why should we need third-party apps to clean the registry?
Come to think of it,why do we need such a central repository of all program values such as a easily-hackable registry?

[Dr. C]

I votes 14 - 20 years and have used the following versions of Windows (bold I have used frequently)

3.xx / 9x family
3.0
3.1
95
98
98 SE
Me

NT family
3.1
3.5
3.51
4.0
2000
XP
Vista

Server
2003

I must say the single worst problem with Microsoft Windows and virtually every Microsoft product today is DRM. Everything else can be fixed or worked around. I used to be a loyal Microsoft customer in the 1990's when Microsoft products were free from DRM (copy protection it was called in those days and consisted among other things of deliberately creating bad sectors on 5.25 in floppies, hence the origin of the term "defective by design"). Microsoft used to be a great company, but not anymore as it digs itself deeper and deeper into a DRM hellhole of its own making. The ugly mess that Vista has become is the prime example.

The most recent WGA outage
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=534665
is a perfect example of what is truly wrong with Microsoft today.

By the way the new GPL v3 may turn out to be the savior that prevents GNU / Linux from sinking into a DRM hellhole like Windows. There is enough GNU code in GNU / Linux that together with projects like SAMBA will ensure that GNU / Linux remains free from DRM regardless of whether the Linux kernel goes GPL v3 or not.

[hobieone]

to be honest instead of listing whatis wrong with windows. i think it would be easier to list whatis right with windows. other wise we all will still be here listing everything wrong with windows for the next 15-20 years!!

[ryanVickers]

to be honest instead of listing whatis wrong with windows. i think it would be easier to list whatis right with windows. other wise we all will still be here listing everything wrong with windows for the next 15-20 years!!

Yeah, it would :), but then people wouldn't know the whole of what's wrong, just what's right (out of the total stuff it does), and that just wouldn't do! :) Information about how bad it is should be plentiful, accurate, and readily available to the computer-using public! :)

[ryanVickers]

...But since Windows comes free with most computers...

It actually doesn't! They hide it in the cosrt of the machine, and now everyone can see that because at dell and other custom computer places, you can get a $550 machine with windows, or the same computer for $400 without it!!!! :p

[ryanVickers]

I think you don't understand how vista works.. it preloads apps in meory that you are going to use and makes more memory free if you need it.. what is the point in having 2/ 4 gb ram if you are not using it properly ;)

then wouldn't it make sense to list the "loaded" apps in the task manager so you know where it's being used, and also maybe put a * beside them and then at the bottom have a note/spot that explains what you said!?!? :)

I suppose this is a good idea if your right, but I really think that they should have done it better, like a lot of "their" good ideas :)

Another problem I see with this, is that if something needs to open, it won't just have the load to RAM time, but also waiting for the other stuff to unload!

I also hope that somewhere there's a place where you can choose which files/programs you want preloaded, but I would assume not! :)

Again, correct me if I'm wrong, but if not, then just laugh at M$ more! :p

[atlfalcons866]

Ever relize that windoze uses the swap file instead of using all of the ram 1st? My friends computer had 2 gigs of ram. Windoze was only using 732 Mb of it and had used 1.3GBS of the swap file. Pathetic

Microcrap claims that NTFS is more resistant to fragmentation than fat32. There wrong. I installed windows on a 30GB hard drive before and it was 22% fragmentated already after installation when using ntfs. When using fat32 it was only 9% fragmented on the same drive.

Overall Windoze is getting worse and worse as new windoze releases are released. Vista is just showing the direction microsoft is going. With all the 360s failing too I see microsoft having a tough time in the future

[lisati]

"not Responding"

"cancel, ignore, end task now, end task now, end task now end task now, end task now,......"

[lisati]

I used XP:
I removed a simple cdrom from the drive. After that about 3 hours Windows said something like this:

There wasn't any disc in the drive of course.
I could choose:
Try again -> Same window reopened.:neutral:
Continue -> Same window reopened.:-k
Cancel -> Same window reopened.:shock:

This window was uncloseable from Ctrl+Alt+Del:
It wasn't in the Processes.:?
If I clicked on End now button -> Same window reopened!](*,)

I had to reboot my computer, because I had given that CD to my friend before this trouble!
I've had a similar problem - install or modify something, click on "Finish", everything looks like it's finished (who would think to check "task manager" to see if it really has?), take out CD, then get:

Try again -> Same window reopened.:neutral:
Continue -> Same window reopened.:-k
Cancel -> Same window reopened.:shock:


I didn't like Windows the first time I used it (helping out a family member, possibly on an older Win95 machine) becasue you'd click on "print", get to the stage "printing complete" or some such message, but nothing had appeared on the printer - yet!

[TheThinker]

[QUOTE=starcraft.man;2802059]I think my biggest problem with Windows was always the registry... it became very bad in XP (at least it seemed to me) but I would often find myself slowing down after some months of an install (I reinstalled between every 3 and 6 months, usually the lesser). It was really annoying, and there really wasn't any excuse for the gradual slowdown happening... Oh and that just happens to be your answer to question 2. The registry just gathers clutter and becomes bogged down.
QUOTE]

Man, isn't that the truth. I've installed a LOT of software on Ubuntu, yet it hasn't slowed down at all when it came to startups. The only slowdown (which is minor) I got was when I rearranged my desktop, and that's only on the login. Plus uninstallation is generally very easy if you're using deb files. With windows, it's very common to have leftovers of uninstalled programs cluttering your hard-drive and STILL slow down the computer because they left their marks in the registry. For this I had to use programs like RegCleaner, which were great but something I wish windows never needed in the first place.

If there is one thing about Windows (primarily XP) is that I had to work to keep it from hurting itself. The work would either entail a program that worked in the background, taking up resources, or manually doing it myself every now and then. And when it came to security, Windows was like a cardboard castle.

[Dennis123]

Most of the Arguments I've heared are either because of the user, or because of the programmer of the 3rd party program the user is (well) using.

If you install an AV program the startup time doubles(or even triples), so I've stayed away form such POS, and only use an on-demand AV scanner.

Another point in the thread was the eMule folder:
Vista has put it into the VirtualSotre, because a program without admin right(!) wanted to write in its pprogram folder.(the only ones who are to blame here are the developers of eMule, incapable of following desing guidlines, assuming that every user is admin). But MS even thougt of such bad programs and gave them the ability to continue to work as expected, because they've created the redirection mechanism, so rthat the settings go to the user folder.

How would linux treat programs that write their data into the /bin folder?

And to the drive letters:
Windows can have more than 26 drives. For example if you have a CD-Rom drive named D: and a hd (E) then you can mount D to E:\CD1 and after you have done this yoiu can remove the drive letter E: and reuse this for another drive...

Moving folders:
On the same partition it takes half a secod to show the move window, wich then disappears directly after coming up. So moving large folders take about a second.(But that depends on the number of files within(the NTFS MFT must be updated)

Explorer:
I like the new explorer in vista, with this gnome-like, but improved breadcrumbs folder location display. And the preview function is really useful...

Contra(I'm not a MS marketing employee):
The only thing i can object to windows, that it is not "geeky". I mean on linux i can have all those transparent Terminals and can do something usful with them(not only cd & dir)
Another negative point is that there are so many versions of the OS. basic premium...
Because i've only bought the premium SB version(90€-->120$) i can't us gpedit.msc and so have no acess to the group policies...

To Vista:
I'm writing this post on a vista PC with 1,5GB of RAM. That's not the world, and i have a reprted uptime of 120h. This is due to the hibernation mode. I can't imagine a life without that function anymore...

[gwoodard]

I hate on certain "programs" you are asked "Are You Sure You Want to Quit" even though I do and am sick to the teeth with that "thing" that micro(cough)sux i mean microsoft codes into programs...

Oh yeah i installed clamwin antivirus and windows dosent recognize it (it keeps telling me to install antivirus)

[sstusick]

Some things I really hate about Windows:

1) Every program wants to be a part of the start-up. I used to get so sick of disabling programs in the startup tab on msconfig. Why does everything have to run at startup? If I want to run the program, I will open it myself.

2) When Windows is shutting down, it should send a kill signal to all applications and immediately kill them...None of this hung application crap..and the system should shut down immediately.

Those are two of the major ones... there are more... but I can't think of them right now. Will post back later when I do.

[gwoodard]

If no one has mentioned this, Microsoft is too lazy to make DX9.0L for XP and I just wish someone would takeover (with the overthrow of Bill Gates of course) Microsoft and give the gamers what they really want

Oh yeah I bet most businesses wont upgrade to vista due to XP Pro is way better the the Vista "version"...HA!

[ryanVickers]

If no one has mentioned this, Microsoft is too lazy to make DX9.0L for XP and I just wish someone would takeover (with the overthrow of Bill Gates of course) Microsoft and give the gamers what they really want

Oh yeah I bet most businesses wont upgrade to vista due to XP Pro is way better the the Vista "version"...HA!

It's not because they're lazy - it's sooo on purpose to try and force you to buy vista! :p seriously! That's the kind of games they play, and a good reason to not use anything micro$oft! ;)

[gwoodard]

Well as the old saying goes "You shouldnt put all your eggs in one basket" But alas Microsoft did and what do u know they are losing money to Vista (deserved that they did)

[ryanVickers]

Yeah, "1 million lines of bad code in hand is worth more than 2 million in the bush" :p

[gwoodard]

also another thing, If you have games made for the pc why do they call it that when all people with a brain stem that its meant for microsoft use only?

[TheThinker]

Some things I really hate about Windows:

1) Every program wants to be a part of the start-up. I used to get so sick of disabling programs in the startup tab on msconfig. Why does everything have to run at startup? If I want to run the program, I will open it myself.

2) When Windows is shutting down, it should send a kill signal to all applications and immediately kill them...None of this hung application crap..and the system should shut down immediately.

Those are two of the major ones... there are more... but I can't think of them right now. Will post back later when I do.

I wholeheartedly agree. Of course, it is possible to setup an XP machine so that it doesn't have those issues. For example, the computers I use at college use XP certainly don't have what you're describing since they have login-user accounts. However, there is ALWAYS an issue with those machines because they still have root access to system in some form or another (hence the necessity of firewalls, etc). One inexcusable issue that I've found was that some computers have become victims of "Microsoft updates" in which they'll restart in a perpetual cycle. That is not an error of users or of 3rd party developers; that's a blatant vulnerability in the system that the administrators have already worked hard to fix.

Some people here have pointed out that user-error and 3rd party developers are at fault for much of the problems in XP. That is very true. After all, we here at the forums have errors all the time when we try to tweak Ubuntu for our own desires, and many of us have broken the system only to re-install it and try again. But that's the beauty of linux/unix in comparison to Windows; users are much more willing to experiment and learn from their mistakes. I know I am, since I have used Windows for over ten years and lived with programs that warned me of the legalities of tampering with their software on MY computer. So there you have it; the biggest problem with Windows is that it's not modder-friendly.

Here's a link to the EULA:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/eula.mspx

[BLTicklemonster]

If I'm running it, I like Windows okay.

If other people are running it, I like it better, because I can make money off of them when they get to where the machine won't work because of all the viruses.

:)

Oh, and that's after installing AVG, etc. They just usually disable it, never update it, etc. and kabam, no protection.

[sstusick]

Oh, and that's after installing AVG, etc. They just usually disable it, never update it, etc. and kabam, no protection. Tell me about it. I get emails all the time from people who never update their anti-virus... their anti-virus status is penned to the bottom of the emails. Many of them haven't updated their AV in over 2 months. Then they wonder why they get viruses. Is it any wonder?

[Dennis123]

I have no AV at all. And I'm not running a virus contaiminated system where adds for enlarging body parts come up everytime and I'm also not running any secret irc botnet client(netstat -an).

You just have to behave right and you should use a real browser then everything is just fine.

[akiratheoni]

I still use Windows; it's on my other box and I'm too lazy to install Linux on it (my brother doesn't want to either), and I'm fine with that. I prefer Linux over Windows but I probably won't be ditching Windows completely anytime soon.

[louieb]

I can't remember when did win 3.0 come out? Thats how long I've been a win user. Coming from DOS thought the GUI was great and a lot cheaper that a MAC.

Had the usual problems BSOD, Spyware, Adware, all those closed source programs seem to add something extra. In that time always had an AV program running only had one.

Spend most of my computer time on a pc running Linux, but I still use XP. Don't think I'm ever going to switch to VISTA.

[ryanVickers]

so many people are not going to vista that they've been doing a bunch of things to make zp stick around - pressure from other companies to let them sell it, you know! :p

I've never really liked windows :), but whenever one came out, I'd always just find myself thinking "I wonder what they'll do next?...", but now, I realized that subconscious question seems to have changed to "I wonder what they'll do now that they don't make operating systems anymore?" :lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

I've had a similar problem - install or modify something, click on "Finish", everything looks like it's finished (who would think to check "task manager" to see if it really has?), take out CD, then get:


I didn't like Windows the first time I used it (helping out a family member, possibly on an older Win95 machine) because you'd click on "print", get to the stage "printing complete" or some such message, but nothing had appeared on the printer - yet!

Oh yes, that reminds me how windows seems to have no conception of the concept of "mounting" :p I remember back in windows 98 (but it's probably still true :)) where if you were in the middle of running something on a cd, (and back then everything ran on cd's, so if you pulled it out, it would kill the whole os :p), and you clicked the eject button, it would just open the tray, and then be all like "hey, wait a second! I needed th- Achck!!" and it would die :) where as Linux will hold it until it's good and ready to give it up :)

[gwoodard]

What I dislike about windows but like about linux... Free DVD Codecs!

Its too bad if you build a custom PC (Like I did) and install Windows you have to buy "third-party" codecs or some other crud to watch movies on my PC or if someone has a laptop and is on a plane (if allowed) and wants to watch something other than the "on-board" they have to go and buy the codecs if not installed by the PC manufacturer but with Linux (I have Ubuntu 7.04, looking forward to 7.10) then you can easily get them from wikis on each linux based "system" (quotes are for not exact word, only word i could think of...don't get mad)

Yes I dual boot until I get everything I want to run on Ubuntu then Im off of Microsux Broken Windows forever :)

[angryfirelord]

Yes I dual boot until I get everything I want to run on Ubuntu then Im off of Microsux Broken Windows forever
Doesn't matter. Vista breaks all of your software. ;) :D

Anyway, I've been using Windows since I was 4 years old with Windows 3.1. My parents took a while to upgrade, but eventually they got a Pentium II Gateway that ran Windows 98, which I though was so much cooler than the Windows 3.1 interface. Of course, it crashed 2 times, corrupting all data in the process, but fortunately my dad kept good backups on his tape drive.

Then I got a computer of my own 2 years later which was loaded with....Windows ME. Oh boy, constant blue screens, slow performance, random errors, etc. & I had to live with that for three years. Eventually I got an upgrade to XP, but the computer ran a little slow.

Somewhere a year later, I stumbled onto a site called linuxquestions.org and registered there (I still have the same name here). I picked up a copy of Red Hat Fedora and Enterprise Linux 4 Bible and a Ubuntu 5.04 cd from ShipIt, which got me into Linux. I didn't run it much, primarily because I didn't really know the difference between a .tar.gz, a .rpm, & a .deb (among a couple other thing as well, like dial-up).

Eventually, I built a new computer and my parents got high-speed internet. I began using Linux, primarily Ubuntu while trying out other distros. I hung out on forums, which by far is the best way to gain experience with Linux (along with Google) and so far, it continues on this upward trend to this day (although I've stopped being a distro ***** and settled on Ubuntu and Fedora). I got Vista since my college will use it next year, but I only boot into that when I absolutely have to.

[ryanVickers]

Yeah, and I've heard that not only is it different so it "just doesn't work", but in some cases, it would have worked but micro$oft intensionally added code to make it not work with xp, and xp software not work with vista![-X

[angryfirelord]

Yeah, and I've heard that not only is it different so it "just doesn't work", but in some cases, it would have worked but micro$oft intensionally added code to make it not work with xp, and xp software not work with vista![-X
Of course, otherwise no one would be buying so many new computers and software.

I think the Windows OS that "just worked" would have to be Windows 2000. It was fairly quick (even IE 6 ran fast) and was stable compared to the DOS based Windows OSs. If Office 07 wasn't a requirement, I'd still be using it.

[ryanVickers]

I think that windows NT was unarguably their greatest accomplishment, but it wouldn't run very many programs because they changed a lot of things (to be more like Linux actually! ;)), and then they stirred in 98 code and got XP! Decent stability, decent compatibility, doesn't take 700Mb of ram like vista... :p

[gwoodard]

Yea NT was great (If your talking first actual "secure" File systems)
other than that it was another step of ruining a persons data by windows

(I wonder if anyone has hit a baseball through the Microsoft hq yet, baseballs tend to break alot of windows...lol)

[joe.turion64x2]

It does not have workspaces. Any given computer just runs slower with Windows because it has to run otherwise unnecessary programs (AV, Firewall).

I think the worst problem of Windows is security (can not forget the day I got hacked in W98SE). In fact, whenever I use a Windows system (connected to internet) I feel as if I am walking in the middle of a battlefield, not knowing where to get shelter or where will the 'killing blow' come from. On the other hand, using Linux (connected to internet too) I feel so secure...like driving in the same battlefield but inside a heavily armored tank...I can even enjoy myself.

[ryanVickers]

It does not have workspaces. Any given computer just runs slower with Windows because it has to run otherwise unnecessary programs (AV, Firewall).

I think the worst problem of Windows is security (can not forget the day I got hacked in W98SE). In fact, whenever I use a Windows system (connected to internet) I feel as if I am walking in the middle of a battlefield, not knowing where to get shelter or where will the 'killing blow' come from. On the other hand, using Linux (connected to internet too) I feel so secure...like driving in the same battlefield but inside a heavily armored tank...I can even enjoy myself.

I know eh! I don't even have AV on Linux but yet it just feels so much nicer ;)

Do tell about the hacking incident... (unless your feeling, [-(ish ;))

[joe.turion64x2]

I know eh! I don't even have AV on Linux but yet it just feels so much nicer ;)

Do tell about the hacking incident... (unless your feeling, [-(ish ;))
It's ok, nothing really important, but it made me realize how fragile a Windows system is.

I was browsing the web (with W98SE) and chatting in Latinchat with a girl. After a while chatting I noticed a slow down in the machine and out of the sudden my nick in the chat started telling things by itself! Then my machine froze and I had to hard reboot it.

My research about firewalls started that very day, unfortunately I lived in darkness those days (didn't even know *nix or whatsoever).

Joe.

[ryanVickers]

I see...

[-grubby]

The one major thing, in my opinion, is the thing how it gets slower and slower over time. I don't know exactly why (registry maybe?), but it happens, and it happens very bad. So bad that it is unexcuseable.

Other then that, I just prefer linux and how it does things.

+1

[kulturloseramerikaner]

(I've always wondered what would happen if you had more than 26 devices attached :lolflag:)
I've always wondered if it can handle 26 devices...

[Dennis123]

I've always wondered if it can handle 26 devices...

I found the answer:
http://technet2.microsoft.com/WindowsServer/en/library/f7e61105-8033-4c45-a6d2-9476266aac221033.mspx?mfr=true

It says, that if you want to use more than 26 device you have to use
mount points to access your devices. But i think if you would try this
with win9x, then the system would either not start or wouldn't access the drives...

[tech9]

everyone that has something about windows that really bugs them, or is a major problem, post them here! I'm collecting the accumulative knowledge of the general Linux using public into this post so people can see what's wrong with windows so they don't get it (if planning to) or so that they can choose to switch to ubuntu!

I've got so many of them, but it might drive me crazy trying to list them all, but I'll try a few major ones: (these are all rhetorical questions; I know the answer and "why" just means it's stupid :p)
-why do you need to defragment!
-why does it slow down over time when you install programs and stuff!
-why does moving a mass of files between folders on the same partition take any time!
-why is the general design and user-friendliness so bad!
-why can they play mp3's, but they don't add support for open source things like write/read for Linux file systems, play ogg files etc.!
-why are they so paranoid about security with the stamp with number on computers for authorization etc. (win users, you know what I'm talking about!) but they haven't made an attempt to stop pirating of the OS ever though they could!
-why is the security/stability so BAD! viruses, hackers, crashes, corruptible file systems, on win 98 you can click cancel on the login screen, login as guest and then so anything! or just type a name and password not already a user and it will make one and log you on!
-why is there really no decent way to set permissions on files/folders!
-why did it take micro$oft 7 years to give xp a new skin and make it slower (creating vista! :p)!

Oooohhhhh, there's soooo much more, but I just shutter thinking about it all! everyone, list your windows-pet-peeves! :)

Windows is buggier than S H I T...
not to mention MS Updates are pain in the "you know what"

[gwoodard]

I think why the supposed "cyber criminals" are doing these things to Windows based PCs are trying to make everyone realize that Windows
is bad for the "health of computers" and trying to make people switch to a easier system (not hacking easy but simplicity easy) I mean when was the last time there was a virus for a linux or Mac based OS or Kernal?

Just my thoughts on that

[gwoodard]

check this out if you havent heard

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,132662-c,companynews/article.html

[ryanVickers]

Wow. Don't you just want to walk right up to any high-ranking m$ person and punch their lights out!? :p

[gwoodard]

yea I would but I would go to some center for battery or murder (jail, prison and if too serious the electric chair...lol)

[gwoodard]

More News... Bungie was let go by Microsoft (its just Bungie moved to a seperate location in Kirkland, WA

http://blog.seattlepi.nwsource.com/digitaljoystick/archives/123319.asp

[ryanVickers]

It's just ridiculous how they act like the run the whole world and stories like this are a good example! They are basically saying "Alright, if you really want to, we'll let you make Linux based devices using our 'patented technology'":evil:[-X

They act like a mom who's giving some little kid permission to eat a cookie after begging for hours... :mad:

And to think this is with Bill still running the company - I can't imagine what things will be like with Ballmer in charge!...

[Sklasko]

I honestly don't think putting all this childish and negative spin on Windows or any other operating system helps the FOSS community look any more respectable.

90% of the time in this forum all I read are people talking about extremely exaggerated "problems" in Windows.

Contracting viruses in Windows is really all a matter of stupidity on the end users part, by accessing a suspicious website or download. People in the Linux community complain about Microsoft making operating systems too easy to use, and in the same sentence cry about users who don't know what they're doing getting viruses.

My Windows XP Professional installation has run clean for several years now. No anti-virus, firewall, etc. Simply by using an alternative web browser to Internet Explorer and using CCleaner to keep all junk files out of my installation, I run a safe and secure system.

Edit: Also, all this talk about Windows 98 is really pathetic. The 9x/DOS base is gone, long gone. At least compare it to the current NT version.

[ryanVickers]

I've heard that something like 50% of windows computers get hacked in the first 5 minutes of unprotected use - your a living example of the alleged other 50%, congratulations! :p

[Sklasko]

I'd really like to know where you get these so-called statistics. I really don't want to start a flame war, but this is all just really immature bashing.

[gwoodard]

Unless You want to go against freedom of speech be my guest but almost everyone's opinion is important but whoever wants to say what they have on their minds about microsoft say it

[ryanVickers]

I'd really like to know where you get these so-called statistics. I really don't want to start a flame war, but this is all just really immature bashing.
Well, honestly, I don't remember if it was 50% or anywhere up to 99%, but just to be nice I said the lower end ;). I just see them in online technology news things gmail recommends from what it sees I'm doing (adapting adds are the best kind :))

[Sklasko]

I'm not wishing to challenge your freedom of speech, it would just be nice to see someone actually backup their claims with facts.

The description for this board clearly reads...

Please do not use this as a bashing area.

I can understand wanting to discuss the issues everyone has with Windows, but it's really unnecessary to make them up.

[ryanVickers]

I'm not wishing to challenge your freedom of speech, it would just be nice to see someone actually backup their claims with facts.

The description for this board clearly reads...

Please do not use this as a bashing areaI can understand wanting to discuss the issues everyone has with Windows, but it's really unnecessary to make them up.

Guess what? I had this somewhere else and an admin/moderator moved it here! oh burn!!! :p

Ok, flame war over ;)

[Sklasko]

Oh, burn?

Sir, I really hope you can eventually come to comprehend just how vastly shallow this argument against Microsoft's product really is.

Either way, I'm moving on. I would rather not see this thread locked.

[gwoodard]

Guess what? I had this somewhere else and an admin/moderator moved it here! oh burn!!! :p

Ok, flame war over ;)

Oh man that's hilarious

Pwned by the host...goes similiar to my line "pwned by the noobs"

[gwoodard]

Oh and another thing, Don't most people tell certain things to others even though the other people are going to do it anyways?

"Do Not Use As A Bashing Area"="Please Use It Anyway You See Fit, But Don't Bash Linux":lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

Point is it was in the community discussion session and a moderator moved it here to the windows area, obviously quite aware it was mostly bashing ;), but it was not here by my doing...

[vishzilla]

well, a very good friend of mine removed some nice shiny Bright Orange-Brown (whatever the color is) CD covers from his bag. I asked him, "What are these?" He replied "oo-Boon-too". I replied back "What?" Since then i never looked back.
That was pretty much how I met Ubuntu. I still have the Win XP, dont have any problems with it. But i prefer Ubuntu coz its speedy and easy to customize.

[CD4liberty]

The major problem with Windoz, the cost. They've figured out that by bringing out a "new and improved" version every 4 or 5 years will bring them major bucks. Then to hamper those who don't want to keep on spending, they just cut off support. When they announced they wouldn't be supporting Windoz 2000 Pro anymore, I decided to try Ubuntu on the desk top (dual boot along with Windoz 2000) and Kubuntu on the old Dell laptop (I just wiped XP from the drive).

Now if I could only get away from dial up it would all be Linux.

[tech9]

I've heard that something like 50% of windows computers get hacked in the first 5 minutes of unprotected use - your a living example of the alleged other 50%, congratulations! :p

scary, but believeable

[joe.turion64x2]

I've heard that something like 50% of windows computers get hacked in the first 5 minutes of unprotected use - your a living example of the alleged other 50%, congratulations!
Even if they are offline? Please, if there is somebody ingenuous enough to connect a Windows machine to internet BEFORE installing security apps (you don't need to be online to install stuff), then s/he deserves the problems.

[ryanVickers]

yeah, I'm running a VM with no protection and it's fine (I keep it off the net ;))

I know it's fine because I did put in AV for just a quick system scan and then removed it for the resources :p

[Sklasko]

After reading this thread through, among thousands of others over time, I've come to realize that the Linux community is absolutely no better than Microsoft when it comes to completely unsupported claims.

Microsoft might tell you that the Windows Server line is superior to Linux on the server, they might tell you that Windows Vista is just as secure as most other modern operating systems, and they might tell you that Linux infringes on their patents.

..but on the other hand, look at this community. Dreaming up statistics about Windows, making up Windows "horror stories", and telling new users in this forum that Windows will destroy their computer and that the only way to protect themselves is to make a leap to an operating system that they are entirely unfamiliar with, unaware of the learning curve ahead of them, formatting their hard drives and loosing their data..

..and all because Linux zealots want to spread propaganda.

As a Linux user, would you be pissed if you knew Windows users ran around yapping about how Linux is no good just because they couldn't figure it out? (Of course, we all know this is already the case.)

How is this thread, among others, any different? People can't seem to figure out how to properly use Windows, so they run back to the Linux-camp flaming away at Microsoft all the while making up all the facts that they possibly can.

You know as well as I do that the only responses I'll get to this post are poor attempts at elitism by the OP and his apparent disciple, but shouldn't that say a lot about the credibility of threads like these?

People, get the facts yourself. Don't listen to someone ranting in a forum, or a cult-base in an IRC, and most certainly don't listen to any corporate entities. They all want you to believe their propaganda, and in some cases, give them your money.

Of course you're thinking "Well, why should I listen to you?" Good question: You shouldn't. Like I said, just get the facts yourself, compare the many sides of the situation and make an educated decision. You don't need a ranting mouth like me, or anyone else, to do that for you.

[gwoodard]

To the getting stuff not online item; unless you have the protection products on cds or (if old enough) floppys then you have to get protection items online

One good (spyware-free) website is majorgeeks.com

[ryanVickers]

...telling new users in this forum that Windows will destroy their computer and that the only way to protect themselves is to make a leap to an operating system...

Yup, sounds about right! :lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

...As a Linux user, would you be pissed if you knew Windows users ran around yapping about how Linux is no good just because they couldn't figure it out? (Of course, we all know this is already the case.)...

Well, anyone who still users windows as the main OS usually (not always ;)) doesn't have a clue about how either of them work or what the advantages/disadvantages of either are as well...

where as micro$oft is just doing (incorrect and misleading) advertising ;)

What's the most annoying, and the most common (whether the people realize they are wrong or not) is when people will say Linux sucks because it doesn't run any windows software - their just making themselves seem stupider..., and if you tell them otherwise, the usual comeback is "well, if Linux is so great, why didn't it become the major OS an get lots of software?!" ](*,)

Edit: From this post and on, I'd like to try and just have a conversation without opinions and slight mis-wordings creating a flame war ;)

[gwoodard]

Hmm good point but I do like the Apple Vs Microsoft Commercials (Fun Vs. Business)

[ryanVickers]

Well, they're true! The bloatware, viruses, fatal errors, "allow or deny", etc. :p

"Woe, PC! what happened to you?"
"It's all this trial software; they pack my hard drive full of it, but it doesn't do very much unless you buy the whole thing or's just pain useless. hoowh, really slows me down..." -PC ;)

[ryanVickers]

oh, yeah, almost forgot - You know your a geek when you've momorized all the commercials! :p

"Hi, I'm a Mac"
"And I'm a PC and it's time to play 'Choose a Vista'!"
"Hey, what's goin' on here?"
"Well, Vista comes in 6 different versions and I don't know which to choose; I could spend a lot of money and get a ton of stuff I don't kneed, or spend too little and get one that doesn't do anything at all"
"Hm, Mac just comes with one version that has everything you need"
"Well that's boring, this is fun!"
*spins the wheel*
"Come on, come on. Big operating system, big operating system, daddy needs and upgrade!"
*lands on 'lose a turn*
Mac: "Didn't you make this?"
:p

[dark_harmonics]

HAHA I hate those commercials.

Just to weigh in my opinion. I think that windows does have lots of cool integrated and well thought out software.

The problem is that they leave no room for anybody else because they make their OS incompatible with everything not windows. This sort of business monopoly thinking is going to grind windows into the ground as the users become more and more technically savvy. Ubuntu might not always be here to be a nice bridge for the windows users into Linux land, but i think that some form of Linux will be with us for a long long time.

[gwoodard]

I also think it could be vice-versa in which Windows will not last longer than Ubuntu...(What they have gone through how many OSs and are still getting hacked?)

[ryanVickers]

DOS, 1,0, 3.1 (probably more in there ;)), 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista... :p

[gwoodard]

Btw did you see my new signature?

[ryanVickers]

yeah ;)

You've been a great asset to this cause :p

[gwoodard]

Stupid Microsoft... Im on XP right now (btw it is a genuine copy) but Microsoft has now just told me that it isnt genuine and wants me to pay for a "genuine advantage kit" for 150 Bucks! (dollars not male deer)

[gwoodard]

yeah ;)

You've been a great asset to this cause :p

Thanks I just wish I could get all my games to work in wine then I would erase Windows XP altogether...

[sstusick]

Stupid Microsoft... Im on XP right now (btw it is a genuine copy) but Microsoft has now just told me that it isnt genuine and wants me to pay for a "genuine advantage kit" for 150 Bucks! (dollars not male deer)
What thieves!!!

$150 could buy a lot of new hardware for a new machine or a lot of upgrades for your current machine.

[American_Outcast]

What theives!!!

Those weren't the two words I was thinking of..... But I will just agree with you instead of mentioning my thoughts, :lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

no, if there's a place for "mentioning your thoughts", this is it ;)

Yeah, actually, $150 - people complain about the price of it all the time, but perhaps they should be complaining even more! ;) I mean, you could buy a decent C/GPU for that! or an awesome motherboard!! ex. mine was about $89 and one feature of it is 8.1 surround sound capability :p

[sstusick]

Those weren't the two words I was thinking of..... But I will just agree with you instead of mentioning my thoughts, :lolflag:
:lolflag: I was just putting it nicely... I could think of several other words for them too, but I'll refrain from mentioning them.

[American_Outcast]

:lolflag: I was just putting it nicely... I could think of several other words for them too, but I'll refrain from mentioning them.


:lolflag: Gotta love Microsoft.

[sstusick]

:lolflag: Gotta love Microsoft.
or love to hate them :-D

[kulturloseramerikaner]

It really won't be long before a MS OS on your computer will be the most expensive thing on it, the way hardware prices keep dropping. And then MS will begin to lose even more market share, as people begin to realize they can cut the price of their PC in half by running Linux.

[gwoodard]

Hear Hear to that...

[ryanVickers]

Exactly! I'm going to bring back an old post of mine to show what I think ;)


so many people are not going to vista that they've been doing a bunch of things to make zp stick around - pressure from other companies to let them sell it, you know! :razz:

I've never really liked windows :smile:, but whenever one came out, I'd always just find myself thinking "I wonder what they'll do next?...", but now, I realized that subconscious question seems to have changed to "I wonder what they'll do now that they don't make operating systems anymore?" :lolflag:

[gwoodard]

Just a question how much money do you think Bill Gates will take to sell Microsoft?

If I had that much and Bill Sold it to me Id shut it down for good or make some changes

[ryanVickers]

yeah - I'd do what apple did and totally redesign it - based on Unix, put it in the GPL so I could use Linux code and that, and make it magically compatible with all the same games still by having some feature where you can set letting the programs talk directly do hardware on or off (by default ;)). Then I'd go around and apologize to everyone for making windows in the first place and it's better now, so try it! :)

[sneax]

I still use windows (vista home premium on desktop computer) and I like it, I don't have any of the problems you are all talking about. I have linux on my laptop and I like it too.

WIndows as its good and bad points so does a good linux distro.

[sstusick]

Most of Linux's bad points are because of Windows.

[jpittack]

Like video games, driver support, etc.

[joe.turion64x2]

Like video games, driver support, etc.
It would be like blaming a PS3 for not playing Atari 2600 cartridges. Or like complaining that GM spare parts do not fit in a Ford.

[ryanVickers]

I still use windows (vista home premium on desktop computer) and I like it, I don't have any of the problems you are all talking about. I have linux on my laptop and I like it too.

WIndows as its good and bad points so does a good linux distro.

Some things I'm willing to admit I like about windows, is the ease of editing/creating cursor themes - it's just simple! Where as Linux... ;)

Another thing is the start menu - ok, stupid name and it can't sort/categorize to save it's life, but it's fast compared to the gnome menus once you've added a few custom entries! :mad:

[jpittack]

It would be like blaming a PS3 for not playing Atari 2600 cartridges. Or like complaining that GM spare parts do not fit in a Ford.

My comment means that because of Windows popularity, games, driver, etc are written for windows. companies don't pay much attention to linux. Thats were all my problems are comming from.

[gwoodard]

Of course EA Games has made Certain games made for Apple Mac 10.6
(I hope that's right) of course they could make a boatload off of Ubuntu Users or other linux users

[ryanVickers]

Of course EA Games has made Certain games made for Apple Mac 10.6
(I hope that's right) of course they could make a boatload off of Ubuntu Users or other linux users

Mac 10.6!? woe, where can I get my hands on that!? It oughta be awesome when it comes out in a few years :lolflag:

[gwoodard]

I think It's "Panther OSx" or something along those lines...didnt mean to be rude

BTW where did you get that avatar?

[ryanVickers]

tux.crystalxp.net

Yeah, panther, the newest one, is 10.5. :) I just thought that was kinda funny ;)

[gwoodard]

Yo Ryan, the New OSx comes out in 9-10 days from today...I checked the Apple Website...

Oh and another thing I couldn't find the avatar i liked but I found a "Vista" Wallpaper Pack (free download):lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

Yo Ryan, the New OSx comes out in 9-10 days from today...I checked the Apple Website...

You sure, I thought that it had already been out for a month or so now... Anyway, point is, 10.6 doesn't exist ;)

[gwoodard]

Yea Mac OSx "leopard" check apple.com

[oerllikon]

its not ubuntu... the only reason i use it is because i cant find an ubuntu proram for dvd decoding and stuff like that.

*its a buggy piece of crap(windows)
*really vulnerable
*not ubuntu
*not free
*resource hogs(cpu, ram, etc)
*uuugggghhhh

[ryanVickers]

Yea Mac OSx "leopard" check apple.com

10.5! 10.4 was tiger, now there's leopard, which makes it 10.5!!! :mad: ;)

[gwoodard]

Oh okay, sorry...

[ryanVickers]

;) not a big deal... :)

[inversekinetix]

nice bashing thread

Discuss the Windows operating system here. Please do not use this as a bashing area.

[sstusick]

nice bashing thread

Discuss the Windows operating system here. Please do not use this as a bashing area.
Who died and left you boss?

[Geeke]

Who died and left you boss?

have to agree with you on that.

[inversekinetix]

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=244

what does it say next to the forum title?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3547997#post3547997

what does it say at the top of every page of this thread?

I don't see how me making an observation and quoting the forum rules makes me the boss.


Learn to read before you drool.

[sstusick]

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=244

what does it say next to the forum title?

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3547997#post3547997

what does it say at the top of every page of this thread?

I don't see how me making an observation and quoting the forum rules makes me the boss.


Learn to read before you drool.
Sounds like you're a wannabe admin to me.

[inversekinetix]

Who died and left you boss?

you're very argumentative aren't you. did you miss out on hugz?

[kulturloseramerikaner]

Discuss the Windows operating system here. Please do not use this as a bashing area.

This is not Windows bashing; we are simply engaged in a mature and enlightening debate, the primary focus of which discusses the many ways and how badly Windows sucks. Please do not project negative feelings of hostility.

[inversekinetix]

very cliquey, almost mac-esque

[FurryNemesis]

http://ubuntuforums.org/forumdisplay.php?f=244

Learn to read before you drool.

I'll thank you not to insult the community. Jump off the admin bandwagon, please - we're trying to have a mature discussion and it chafes somewhat that you use your first few posts to remind us of rules of which we are all well aware.
On topic - has anyone seen this (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/17/vista-memory-problem) and does the Linux kernel suffer from the same problem at some level?

[American_Outcast]

On topic - has anyone seen this (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/17/vista-memory-problem) and does the Linux kernel suffer from the same problem at some level?

Not that I have noticed so far. Linux seems to handle RAM and Virtual memory much better then my experiences with XP.

[gwoodard]

For the guys talking about other "threads", DON'T... Keep this as Windows Problem Area (and btw you can bash it in a literal sense, if you talk about problems about something YOU ARE BASHING THAT CERTAIN OBJECT) As I said before keep the thread on the subject it's named for :lolflag:

[ryanVickers]

Who died and left you boss?

nice bashing thread

Discuss the Windows operating system here. Please do not use this as a bashing area.

GOD! How many times do I need to explain this!!! I had this somewhere else and an admin moved it here!!!!! ](*,)

;)

[inversekinetix]

I'll thank you not to insult the community. Jump off the admin bandwagon, please - we're trying to have a mature discussion and it chafes somewhat that you use your first few posts to remind us of rules of which we are all well aware.
On topic - has anyone seen this (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/17/vista-memory-problem) and does the Linux kernel suffer from the same problem at some level?

there are no admin nor bandwagons in self serving threads like this. just the topic starter and his pets batting drivel back and forth.

[gwoodard]

Nice article...but if Microsoft was kind enough (it will never happen) that they "sold" rights to directx or If Apple was kind enough to help Linux Users (I believe the quote goes: "The Enemy of my Enemy is my friend?") (no pun intended) and "give or lend" gaming compatibility files to run games wouldn't that be nice? :-D

[ryanVickers]

I think the ultimate OS (excluding Mac OS X ;)), would be if someone hacked the windows source code, and turned it into a DE for a modified Linux kernel, and allowed apps to talk directly to hardware. You would end up with something slightly less stable than Linux, but be able to run all windows and Linux apps! :p

[gwoodard]

I think the ultimate OS (excluding Mac OS X ;)), would be if someone hacked the windows source code, and turned it into a DE for a modified Linux kernel, and allowed apps to talk directly to hardware. You would end up with something slightly less stable than Linux, but be able to run all windows and Linux apps! :p

Hmm... not bad but I was going along the lines of Apple and Linux being allies (in the operating system sense, not war)

See, Apple could "ask" certain game companies (aka EA Games, Blizzard Studios) to try to make games compatible on Linux based kernals, of course if the game codes work...then the games would be a little more expensive than the "Made for Windows" versions...but I could live with that

[kulturloseramerikaner]

this (http://www.theinquirer.net/gb/inquirer/news/2007/10/17/vista-memory-problem) and does the Linux kernel suffer from the same problem at some level?
WTF; remember the "memory full" error you used to get in Win95? Has Microsoft truly set the goal of establishing itself as the polar opposite of progress?
To answer your question, I can say pretty conclusively that this is not an issue to worry about under 'Nix. I'm in the process of ripping my entire CD library to MP3; there's something on the order of 10,000 song files in my music directory that I routinely copy over to a USB HD and my Windoze partition on a separate internal HD. It's much simpler simply to copy the whole thing in it's entirety and overwrite the old "my music" file, rather than pick and choose the new files from the folders and subfolders, so I routinely move blocks of 10K or more files. I have never had an issue doing this in 'nix. The cumulative thing doesn't strike either; before the semester started and i had hardly a need for Windoze, I was doing the same thing about once every two weeks on a machine that had been up for 2 1/2 months. As an aside, is it even possible for a Windoze box to have a 2 1/2 month uptime? Even updating a word processor requires a system restart after all....

[ryanVickers]

Wow, I read the article and that's pathetic! :p

To put this in perspective - I once used up all my ram and swap (and apparently some I didn't have ;)) and I managed to save it without even killing X! ;)

[kulturloseramerikaner]

Wow, I read the article and that's pathetic! :p


Truly. They keep tacking on stuff to their kernel, and it keeps getting more bloated and slower, rather than correct errors directly in the older code, or so it would seem.

[uTrumpy]

One thing that got me on to Ubuntu (and Linux in general) was the constant problems with getting the same old "Windows cannot find the information on this CD" when trying to install drivers for a new bit of Windows-only gear.
I had a digital camera once that used to drop it's drivers every now and then, it's in the bottom of a land-fill as I speak, when you have to reload your drivers every time you want to upload some pics and negotiate all the in's and outs of the XP "Install New Hardware Wizard", I just got peeved with it all in the end. :(

[gwoodard]

Right Now I Am Downloading the "Official Version" of 7.10...finally it's out!

[sstusick]

I'd be downloading 7.10 right now, too.. but on dialup that's not possible. So I ordered the Ubuntu 7.10 discs and will wait the 6 weeks or so. The anticipation is killing me :D

[ryanVickers]

even with high speed you'd be getting dial-up speed though :p Trust me! ;)

[sstusick]

Probably lol

[kulturloseramerikaner]

I'm having to fire up uTorrent and get it that way. I started a download before heading off to work this morning, and it looked like all was well. Get home to find it at about the same spot.
Oh well; as long as I get it before tomorrow after work. I got a couple family members that have about had it w/ Windoze and I told them I'd head over and install the latest and greatest for them before headin out, and I also wanted to dd my Feisty partition 1st, JIC...

[mr32123]

I don't know about anyone else, but so far I haven't had any problems with my XP :). Sometimes it gets a little bit buggy, but I'll admit it happens only when I'm doing something that I shouldn't be doing and messing with critical settings. Other than that, I never noticed any slow down, after installing my programs, filling up three hard drives, and swapping the crap out of the hardware inside with without letting it know (in other words not installing the hardware properly).

Then again, even when I change setting and mess around with files and what have you, my system is still able to boot and run so far so that I can at least fix it. Not so with Linux. The only way to fix it is basically through the terminal and I'm just not at that level yet.

[American_Outcast]

I don't know about anyone else, but so far I haven't had any problems with my XP :). Sometimes it gets a little bit buggy, but I'll admit it happens only when I'm doing something that I shouldn't be doing and messing with critical settings. Other than that, I never noticed any slow down, after installing my programs, filling up three hard drives, and swapping the crap out of the hardware inside with without letting it know (in other words not installing the hardware properly).

Then again, even when I change setting and mess around with files and what have you, my system is still able to boot and run so far so that I can at least fix it. Not so with Linux. The only way to fix it is basically through the terminal and I'm just not at that level yet.

There are many tools to help fix or play around with something in Linux, especially Ubuntu. I wish more people would focus on those tools for new Linux users before telling them to jump into the terminal. I personally don't do that. For example when I help someone get Ubuntu set up I tell them the types of packages they can install the easiest. I tell them to use Synaptic or Automatix, for example, first and search to see if anything they want is there. If they need or want a package the needs to be compiled from source I tell them wait and I will do it and show them, "dependency hell can be, well hell, lol." The good thing with that is using Synaptic to see if the missing packages are there and installing them that way.

Ubuntu is really not that hard to use and play around with outside of the terminal. It just takes time to get comfortable with the differences compared to Windows.

[mr32123]

I retract my defense of windows. I just installed Nero and the Play All Button in the explorer stopped working :(

[ryanVickers]

Just a quick interjection from the host ;), can anyone solve this? [-o<
(http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=3564966)

[American_Outcast]

I retract my defense of windows. I just installed Nero and the Play All Button in the explorer stopped working :(

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

[inversekinetix]

i got 7.10 in 2mins 27 seconds using utorrent using xp

[kulturloseramerikaner]

:lolflag::lolflag::lolflag::lolflag:

C'mon man, let's not laugh at the dude, let's help him out. We were all Windoze users once.

Mr.32123: I replied in the other thread, give that a try. New Windoze apps always play havoc with file associations.

[American_Outcast]

C'mon man, let's not laugh at the dude, let's help him out. We were all Windoze users once.

Mr.32123: I replied in the other thread, give that a try. New Windoze apps always play havoc with file associations.

I wasn't laughing to make fun or be mean. I was laughing because I remember all those times I had similar and even dumber problems with Windows, made worse because that was the only OS I had installed and what I relied on. I still have some problems every now and then on my Windows partition even though I rarely get on it and when I do it is for games only.

[inversekinetix]

this new ubuntu is a dog of an installer. during install it sleeps the system until you touch the mouse, the graphics screw up at 90%, grub doesnt load. pfff. cool.

[angryfirelord]

this new ubuntu is a dog of an installer. during install it sleeps the system until you touch the mouse, the graphics screw up at 90%, grub doesnt load. pfff. cool.
If you're having issues, please make a new topic with descriptive details of what was going on in the install process. Posting it here won't get you much help.

[gwoodard]

Ugh... As I am a impatient person...the download time for the 7.10 on my pc went over an hour and still wasn't done...I do have broadband (felt like dial-up) Well anyway, I tried to go thourgh my windows os to download and burn a cd (I don't know how to use the Ubuntu cd burner) but the download was SLOW! also the damn computer wanted me to restart after updating (20 updates, shows how long I stuck to Ubuntu :lolflag: ) Then I restarted after the download canceled (Windows did that not me) So I tried the Alternative to go to Ubuntu and get the ISO to burn onto a cd but It was still slow (a little faster than Windows) Ill try again today after I get home from my community college classes (dual credit program thourugh my High School)

[gwoodard]

Hey does OS mean operating system or "Off Style" :lolflag:

[angryfirelord]

Ugh... As I am a impatient person...the download time for the 7.10 on my pc went over an hour and still wasn't done...I do have broadband (felt like dial-up) Well anyway, I tried to go thourgh my windows os to download and burn a cd (I don't know how to use the Ubuntu cd burner) but the download was SLOW! also the damn
Use a torrent next time around. The servers get bogged down with all the downloads and with a torrent, I was able to get an image in about 20 minutes. Plus, you're sharing Ubuntu when you use a torrent.

[gwoodard]

Okay, tell me are torrents "free" (with a catch) or free free and where do I get one?

[ryanVickers]

they are free free and you can gt the mat like isohunt, thepiratebay.org, torrentportal (probably the best for this), but they are usually for illigal purposes, and usually for windows, and in the case of it being for windows, they are usually also a mild/extreme virus ;)

[-gabe-noob-]

I've been using computers since I was...4 or 5 (1999ish not saying my age or anything) I was raised on windows... or primarily playing starcraft :P. Just recently on my vista PC I noticed how HORRID vista is.... soo about a week ago I became a Ubuntu user, thought I still have XP (got it from an old disk) to play world of warcraft. Imo Ubuntu is the best OS I've used, and its my Main OS

[American_Outcast]

I've been using computers since I was...4 or 5 (1999ish not saying my age or anything) I was raised on windows... or primarily playing starcraft :P. Just recently on my vista PC I noticed how HORRID vista is.... soo about a week ago I became a Ubuntu user, thought I still have XP (got it from an old disk) to play world of warcraft. Imo Ubuntu is the best OS I've used, and its my Main OS


World of Warcraft works great with Wine or CrossOver (I am using CrossOver for WoW.)

[gwoodard]

Okay I got the Torrent file downloaded now how do I burn it to a cd?

I use CDBurnerXP Pro 3

[gwoodard]

Okay I got the Torrent file downloaded now how do I burn it to a cd?

I use CDBurnerXP Pro 3

Never mind, I found the iso file in a seperate folder...(I usually do Ubuntu ISOs in a named folder "Ubuntu")

[gwoodard]

Never mind, I found the iso file in a seperate folder...(I usually do Ubuntu ISOs in a named folder "Ubuntu")

Nevermind on the never mind... the copy I burned is bugged up

[mr32123]

errr... i started downloading 7.10 but i didnt realise i was getting the dvd version. poop. oh well 79% no reason to turn back. but anyway, back to the topic:

I actually don't think it's windows thats buggy. The problem lies with the programmers that do a half-*** job writing programs for windows. For example, I don't blame windows for my "play all" button problem, I do however blame the ignorant "programmers" that wrote nero and messed up some dll or whatever it is that causes the problem.

I think Linux's advantage is that it is open source, and this allows the programmers to delve farther into the system and make sure things actually work... flawlessly... without any random side effects (like making certain buttons no longer work, like seriously wtf?, that was my favorite button)

[gwoodard]

very good now let me try...I think Windows bugged up my Ubuntu ISO in mid download but I did it in Ubuntu (burnable iso) and it works perfectly...Oh yeah also (i may have mentioned this before) why does Microsoft put in useless programs then make you buy or download programs that you actually need?

[ryanVickers]

very good now let me try...I think Windows bugged up my Ubuntu ISO in mid download but I did it in Ubuntu (burnable iso) and it works perfectly...Oh yeah also (i may have mentioned this before) why does Microsoft put in useless programs then make you buy or download programs that you actually need?


It's all in the ads:


"woe, PC, what happened to you!?"
"it's all this trial software - they pack my hard drive full of it but it doesn't do very much unless you buy the whole thing, or's just plain useless. Ohh, really slows me down..."
:p

[gwoodard]

Yea... If only the game companies that made my favorite games could start making games for Ubuntu or other linux kernals... I believe if they did that they would make a lot of money (not that they do or anything...lol) and people won't have to use Microsoft Windows for gaming (I mean Ubuntu has Gimp, Open Office, Mozilla Firefox and drivers for almost every piece of computer hard ware made) so the business end is good but add gaming to the mix and yeah it is gonna be good :lolflag:

[kulturloseramerikaner]

Yea, life would improve a lot if games makers could be convinced to use Open GL instead of DirectX. Oh well, se la vie.

[ryanVickers]

I never even thought of the differences between DX and OGL, is there any sort of performance differences!?

[gwoodard]

Never mind, Open GL... yea open gl is what you would normally see on "Google Earth" or other "high-end" programs, but Direct X is a Performance over quality...Open GL is Quality over Performance

[ryanVickers]

I see...

[gwoodard]

anything else you would like to discuss?

[ryanVickers]

this is a little old, I know, :p, but about that argument earlier over how windows sneeks updated in no matter what, vs or not, look at this :P

Hm, I don't know if that's all true, Inversekinetix...



AFAIK, Windows DOES even install some 'minor' secret updates, even if Autoupdate is disabled (for the purpose of keeping the updater up to date, as they claim). I don't think that this feature is linked to the WGA tool that's checking your System's genious genuity....


perixx

[KIAaze]

Not really a problem, but a funny potential Vista exploit:
Vista Speech Recognition Attack (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWYigh839gI)
:lolflag:

[gwoodard]

Yay! this thread is back up...I'm happy to "discuss" my problems with Microsoft...

[gwoodard]

http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=607141

I tried to start the thread up again, but all I had was the "bait" and no "bytes" (get it computer pun)

[gwoodard]

I finally got Halo: Combat Evolved to work on Wine!

(Very Laggy video, mouse, but works okay, even online)

[Frak]

I use a mac, but I like the post.