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Thread: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

  1. #11
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    Hardy Heron (Ubuntu Development)

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    The only reason System 76 recommends you install Win7 in a VM is because they, as a company, don't support Windows. They're not going to have a central web site you can go to and download all the Windows drivers for your hardware.

    But since you are dead set on only using it in a VM, I don't really understand what it is you are wanting from this thread. A VM is a VM. Once you have Guest Additions installed, and are using the correct chipset settings in VirtualBox, that's the best you're going to get. You aren't going to get "bare metal" performance out of a VM. You're just going to have to live with what you have.

    Also, in my experience, it's the people who freak out about Windows security the most that have the most trouble. I'm running Windows 7 right now without any antivirus at all, and I never have trouble. One thing that's very important to do is make regular backups, especially if your data is as important as you say it is. It's possible to lose data in Linux, as well as Windows.
    Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. - Dr. Seuss

  2. #12
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    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    I concede that you made some good points in your reply.

    I subscribe to CrashPlan+ home unlimited plan so it just backed up all of my data in my /home folder including my Virtualbox VMs folder.

    Windows 7 is still new and fresh right now. I only installed my purchased software applications and I updated everything. That's about it.

    I have to contact the Office of Information Technology at Montclair State University to see what are their PC requirements. I think that I meet or exceed most of them. The only thing that I still need to get include a second Lithium Ion 6 cell battery and a color printer. I will contact them on Monday.

    I leave my guest virtual machines powered off most of the time. This gives me peace of mind and I can sleep well at night.

    I won't know the extent to which I will have to use Windows 7 until I move onto campus and I am pursuing my degree program by attending classes. My hope is that I won't need it very often at all. Windows gives me problems and headaches. Office is another source of frustration and problems too. The biggest problem with Microsoft Word and Power Point is that complex nested data sets don't convert seamlessly to LibreOffice Writer and Impress that well. Fortunately, I won't have to worry about this too often as I do not expect my professors to give long Microsoft Power Point presentations in the Graduate English Department. We are going to be focusing on authors and their works most of the time.

    Finally, I hope that the US economy improves by the time I graduate. I plan to apply for internships half way into my degree program at local community colleges. I want to become an adjunct English professor at a community college. This will be my first real job in a number of years.

  3. #13
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    Hardy Heron (Ubuntu Development)

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    Quote Originally Posted by Welly Wu View Post
    Office is another source of frustration and problems too. The biggest problem with Microsoft Word and Power Point is that complex nested data sets don't convert seamlessly to LibreOffice Writer and Impress that well. Fortunately, I won't have to worry about this too often as I do not expect my professors to give long Microsoft Power Point presentations in the Graduate English Department. We are going to be focusing on authors and their works most of the time.
    If I were you, I'd just install MS Office in Ubuntu with Wine and start using it instead. That way you'll have good compatibility across the board. You already have Office and are using it in Windows, so there's no reason not to. I use Office in Ubuntu, and you can get all versions of it working well with Wine (except, perhaps, the new beta when it comes out next week).
    Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You. - Dr. Seuss

  4. #14
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    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    I can install Microsoft Office 2010 Professional Plus 32 bit Service Pack 1 using Codeweavers' CrossOver for Linux 64 bit 11.2.0. It has a Silver medal rating. Codeweavers stated that they plan to upgrade Microsoft Office 2010 and Intuit Quicken Deluxe 2011 to Gold medal rating sometime by the end of this summer with a future updated version.

    However, I am going to use these software applications in Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 because I have 100 percent compatibility.

    Silver medal rating is pretty good, but there are still known bugs especially when it comes to converting Microsoft Word 2010 and Power Point 2010 documents to LibreOffice Writer and Impress. Intuit Quicken Deluxe 2011 has some problems downloading and applying updates.

    I also have Intuit Quicken Deluxe 2012 and I installed it in Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1. It works perfectly in my Oracle VM Virtualbox guest virtual machine. Codeweavers' CrossOver for Linux 64 bit version 11.2.0 ranks Intuit Quicken Deluxe 2012 with a Bronze medal rating. This means that there are significant bugs that still need to be worked out.

    For now, I don't have any documents from Montclair State University that I need to download or work with. So, I am fine for now. I did my job to install and configure my purchased software applications.

    I have to focus on my GREs and my graduate application to Montclair State University. The university granted me a fee waiver for my graduate application because I have a legitimate disability and financial hardship. So, I don't want to install any more software applications and waste my time doing so. I need to study and work on my application tomorrow on Monday.

  5. #15
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    Ubuntu 12.04 Precise Pangolin

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    Quote Originally Posted by forrestcupp View Post
    Also, in my experience, it's the people who freak out about Windows security the most that have the most trouble. I'm running Windows 7 right now without any antivirus at all, and I never have trouble. One thing that's very important to do is make regular backups, especially if your data is as important as you say it is. It's possible to lose data in Linux, as well as Windows.
    This. Before converting to Linux at the start of this year, I had run Windows 7 without any anti-virus or firewall for years with no issue at all. Meanwhile my fiance's laptop which she insists on having all of these, gets malware and virus's frequently, and she's fairly careful and doesn't download crap. Still trying to convert her to Ubuntu
    Ubuntu User #34927
    Linux User #553475

  6. #16
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    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    I am going to stick with Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit Long Term Support and Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 for the next two to three and a half years from today. I will upgrade to Ubuntu 14.04 64 bit Long Term Support in April 2014. I will stop using Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 by December 31st, 2015. I will upgrade to future service pack versions when Microsoft Corporation releases them to the general public.

    Windows 7 has pretty good built-in security and defenses, but the third-party software security applications that I purchased offer more features and enhanced capabilities. My Windows 7 64 bit Ultimate Edition Service Pack 1 is clean and it is running in tip top shape because it is a fresh installation. Nothing is corrupted. None of my critical and confidential data is stored in a Microsoft Windows environment. So, I have nothing to lose that is of value to me.

    My /home and /swap partitions are fully encrypted using Advanced Encryption Standard in CBC mode at 256 bits 14 rounds with SHA-512 hash algorithm. My Intel 3rd Generation "Ivy Bridge" Core i5-3210M supports AES-NI and VT-x so I have hardware support and acceleration for AES and virtualization. This means my Oracle VM Virtualbox guest virtual machines are fully encrypted.

    I bought all of that third-party software security applications because I had some valuable data lost when I was using Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit Home Premium Service Pack 1 on my previous ASUS N61JV-X2 notebook PC as my primary operating system. This experience taught me to upgrade Windows 7 64 bit to Ultimate Edition and to purchase Symantec Norton 360 version 6, Super Anti-Spyware Professional, Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware, QFX Software KeyScrambler Premium, and WinPatrol PLUS to beef up security. I also purchased LastPass Premium and I have two Yubico Yubi Keys for strong two-factor authentication. I also use KeePass 2 as a backup along with LastPass Premium Pocket for local credentials management.

    It is going to be extremely difficult and expensive along with time consuming to attack my Microsoft Windows 7 64 bit guest virtual machine.

    I paid for my WiTopia personal VPN PRO. I connect to WiTopia IAD gateway using OpenVPN. I use the Blowfish cipher in CBC mode at 256 bits 16 rounds cipher security with SHA-512 hash algorithm. This creates a secure encrypted tunnel. Finally, I paid for OpenDNS Home VIP service. This protects me from DNSChanger malware and other threats and I get advanced filtering capabilities and I can block certain web domains entirely.

    So, yeah, I take information assurance very seriously. Purchasing my System76 Lemur Ultra and using Ubuntu 12.04 64 bit Long Term Support made me a lot safer and it made my data much more secure. I also use the privacy settings so that my activities are not being recorded and sent to Canonical or anyone else.

    I use Google Chrome. I installed NotScripts, Adblock, Web of Trust, BitDefender TrafficLight, BitDefender QuickScan, Ghostery, and LastPass Premium. So, my web browser is highly secure. I also disabled WebGL entirely in Google Chrome.

    CrashPlan+ backed up all of my data yesterday afternoon. So, I have a full backup of all of my data. I also copied my critical data to my external storage devices.

    Finally, I use TrueCrypt 7.1a. Almost all of my data is fully encrypted using AES 256 bits in either CBC or XTS mode 14 rounds using SHA-512 hash algorithm. I use LastPass Premium and KeePass 2 for key management and credentials management. I enabled two-factor authentication for my databases.

    Windows 7 is secure and it is ready for school. Montclair State University will accept my completed application and I will get free help and support on campus on the fifth floor of University Hall. This is where the Office of Information Technology department is located on campus. They have a Network Group to assist faculty, staff, and students to register and connect up to three devices to their network on campus. They also have a Help Desk and Support technician team with a ticketing system to handle specific requests for support for Windows 7.

    I wish that I could upgrade to Windows 8, but I can't because I won't get support. That's a shame, but it is expensive to roll out support for a brand new operating system every 3 years.

  7. #17
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    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    Are you running a personal computer or a national security and defense system? Talk about over kill .
    This account is not active.

  8. #18
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    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    I got quite a number of IT security related certifications so I applied my knowledge.

  9. #19
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    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    You left a very large security hole open....................................... The on/off switch.
    This account is not active.

  10. #20
    Join Date
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    Ubuntu 18.04 Bionic Beaver

    Re: Living with Microsoft Windows 7 for the next several years

    I'm not sure where you are taking this discussion, but I will let you know that I suspend to RAM when I am not using my computer.

    I am not breaking any forum rules here so let me be.

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