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Stubborn Windows 7


V.T. Eric Layton

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I don't blame them. Windows 10 can be a nightmare. Multiple times I've had to wait half the work day while it slowly updated. It's worse than the old Blue Screen of Death. I've used every version of Windows since 3.0 and I think version 10 is the worst of all of them. It is the most horrible user experience I've had with Windows.

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I don't blame them. Windows 10 can be a nightmare.
I have not encountered an OS (Microsoft and others) that can't, in some circumstances, be a nightmare. There are just too many variables (most notably the hardware) to put the blame just on the OS.

 

I've used every version of Windows since 3.0 and I think version 10 is the worst of all of them.
And I've used every Microsoft operating system since DOS 1.0 and I think W10 is the best of them all. Do you seriously consider WindowsMe or Vista better? What about Windows RT? Or W8?

 

By far, it is my experience that most problems with W10 is people trying to install it on legacy hardware! Since it is the hardware makers responsibility to create compatible drivers, I find it difficult to blame W10 itself when it works so well with modern hardware designed with W10 in mind.

 

Now certainly, I do have to put some of the blame on MS marketing and executives for touting how easy it is to upgrade. But IMO, the developers have done an outstanding job with W10, and it just keeps getting better.

 

Remember, virtually every single Windows based computer ever made becomes a unique computer within the first couple minutes after the very first boot. Users setup their own unique networking, user accounts, drive/partition configurations, security apps, desktop customizations, and they attach all sorts of peripherals from 10s of 1000s of different manufactures. And Windows is just expected to automatically support them all. That's a tall challenge that even Apple can't meet and they hardly allow any personal customizations in comparison.

 

Is W10 perfect? Of course not. There are over 30 million lines of code in W10. But its getting there.

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Windows 10 for me, has been the best Windows I've ever used, especially the current Creators Update version 1703. Fast, stable, and easy to use. I know people love their menus, but I really prefer the search feature when launching an app.

 

My ranking of Windows from best to worst from my experience using them (not including versions I've never bothered using other for testing):

 

Windows 10

Windows 7

Windows XP

Windows 8.1

Windows 98SE

Windows 98

Windows 95 OSR2

Windows 95

Windows 3.11 For Workgroups

Windows 3.1

Windows 3.0

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Your ranking is the same as mine. Though I never migrated any of my own systems to Vista, I used it on several work computers. I would have to place it below W98.

 

W8 was actually a good OS, it just got hosed by MS marketing and executive decisions that tried to force the "metro" UI down users throats. I truly believe that left such a bad taste in users mouths that the migration to W10 has suffered for it.

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I never had problems with Windows 3.0 taking half the day away from me with a problem or update.

 

The old versions were fine for the time they existed in.

 

Version 10 is garbage. It is not the best simply because it can do things 3.0 could not do 27 years ago. For this time and place in history, Windows 10 is a disaster and is hurting desktop market.

 

An OS that locks you out for hours at a time during monthly updates is garbage. Sometimes it skips a month is the best thing I can say about it.

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I haven't found that the monthly security updates take any longer on my 2008 laptop running Windows 10, version 1703. In fact, it has been just the opposite during the restart/install process.

 

One of the aspects that has been worked on for the "Fall Creators Update" is to have the download/install of the new build do as much as possible during those steps so people can continue working at that point and, as a result, significantly shorten the time during the final restart part of the process. I'm running the Insider Builds on my desktop, also from 2008. It didn't take more than an hour on that old machine down time to finish the process. It is also easy to schedule the restart so your work won't be interrupted.

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For this time and place in history, Windows 10 is a disaster and is hurting desktop market.
Well, that is definitely not true. You might want to do some more homework before making such claims. PC sales are declining for numerous reasons, but W10 is not one of them. In fact, there is some indication that the decline in sales is slowing down as more are replacing hardware that is designed to support and take advantage of W10's advanced capabilities. This is especially true in the gaming PC market which is seeing a steady rise in sales.

 

The biggest things that hurt and is still hurting PC sales is the fiasco with W8 and the fact that more and more users are moving to and doing most of their computing tasks on hand-held devices, notably, smart phones. This trend started long before W10 and in fact, is exactly why Microsoft changed the UI in W8. They (incorrectly) assumed users would flock to W8 and fall in love W8's "metro" UI. Then, next time they went shopping for a smart phone would pick up a Windows Phone and automatically feel comfortable with it and choose it over Apples and Androids.

 

But that marketing decision and assumption turned out to be totally wrong and Microsoft has not been able to recover from it yet. But to suggest W10 is a disaster and the cause for PC sales declining is simply wrong. W10 has nearly 30% of the global market share - not enough as MS would want, but still very significant.

 

Another HUGE reason PC sales are declining is due to the hardware of legacy systems itself. (1) Hardware makers, for years now, have been making very reliable hardware that won't die therefore does not need to be replaced and (2), that hardware is very capable hardware that continues to meet users needs today. Neither of those facts are Microsoft's fault. Users are simply hanging on to their hardware longer because it still meets their needs.

 

An OS that locks you out for hours at a time during monthly updates is garbage.
I maintain many W10 systems (including 6 here) and I have never, not once, been locked out of any system for hours at a time. In fact, At most, only a few minutes to complete updates upon boot after the system's scheduled reboot happened in the middle of the night while I was comfortably sleeping.

 

It didn't take more than an hour on that old machine down time to finish the process.
I think this is a little misleading. Installing a new build is a major upgrade, not a simple Windows Update. In effect, it would be similar to upgrading from Windows 3.0 to Windows 95. 1000s of files are being replaced - all while the system is still running. That's almost like replacing the engine of your car while cruising down the highway. Not an easy feat.

 

I also note computing today is much more involved than it was back in the day with Windows 3.x. For one, the only way you could get infected by malware was via the "sneakernet" - that is, someone walked across the room in their sneakers with an infected floppy, stuck it in the new computer, then rebooted with the floppy in the drive. Thanks to the bad guys, today's operating systems must include highly complex code for security.

 

Also, back in the day, computers were stand-alone. They were not networked. Networking involves a significant amount of coding and setup too.

 

It is not the best simply because it can do things 3.0 could not do 27 years ago.
Huh? Nobody said or suggested anything like that. I note even as recently as XP, "format and reinstall" was a common fix for almost any problem. It was even common for users to routinely format and reinstall, just because it had been awhile since they last formatted and reinstalled the OS. :ermm: How is that better?

 

Windows 10 biggest problem is the IT press taking every single event experienced by only a tiny handful of users, exaggerating it WAY out proportion with sensationalized condemning headlines that then go viral and get repeated over and over and over again. Such reporting causes readers to believe the universe is about to collapse upon itself again. Sure, if the problem happens to you, it may be a disaster and IS unacceptable. But when several 100 million other users suffer no such problems, it can't really be called a disaster no matter how loud and vocal those upset users can be - especially after their woes are endlessly amplified by wannabe journalists and bloggers seeking recognition with exaggerated headlines, and biased Windows bashers. :(

 

And frankly, another one of W10 problems are users themselves dinking with the default settings. This is something we have noticed here in my little shop. If users would just let Windows 10 do its thing with the defaults set by Microsoft, most would have no problems at all. But instead, too many users think because XP needed this or that "tweaked", so must W10. That is just not true. As a hands-on control freak myself, this was a hard lesson for me to accept too. But it is true. Just let Windows manage it and chances are, all will be fine.

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V.T. Eric Layton

Well, my first experience with Windows in any form was on the new computer systems that my brother installed in his office when I was working for him back in '89. The were running Windows 3.1, I believe. For a long stretch after that, I did not have any experiences with computers or Windows. Then in 2000, I inherited a desktop computer from my brother (he bought himself a new Gateway system). This machine was running Windows 98SE. Later in around 2002 or so, I bought a bare-bones system at a computer fair here in Tampa. It had Windows XP on it. A few years ago, I moved passed XP to Windows 7. So, my list of MS WIndows is:

 

Windows 7

Windows XP

Windows 98SE

Windows 3.1

 

Of all of those, my favorite was 98SE. :)

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The third most popular computer OS in the world is XP.

 

It's not just about being able to afford a new computer, it's about the later OS's being too hard to use.

 

Some will hold on to Windows 7 for the same reason.

 

I don't find Windows 10 difficult on a daily basis, but I find it impossible to trust. I've had too many mornings and afternoons lost to a black screen of death as it updates. Or I need to do something fast but it won't boot up because it is installing surprise updates for the next 30 minutes, or I need to shut down but another surprise update is preventing that. I live in fear of Windows 10. It can't be trusted or relied upon. Tens of millions agree and are keeping their old computers.

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I have upgraded a 2012 Sandy Bridge desktop from Windows 7 Pro to Windows 10 Pro, and a 2014 AMD A8 laptop from Windows 8.1 Home to Windows 10 Home. Both machines run well and stably - no blue screens or interminable update sessions. I did have to enlarge the system reserved partition on the desktop but that was easy enough to do with Minitool Partition Wizard. Although this hardware is a long way from bleeding edge I had no problems getting Windows 10 to work with both setups.

I am guilty of tweaking though. I don't want to use Cortana, Bing, Edge, IE or for that matter any Microsoft app except Skype (the grandkids use Skype.) Also the post-Windows 7 Start Menus drive me bonkers. I put in Classic Shell so that everything looks like Windows 7.

My wife likes Windows as do my son-in-law and daughter, so I keep it around to be able to help them out - as well as many seniors in the 'hood who still use desktops or laptops with mice.

In my own time I just rock on with Linux, such as now on my Thinkpad - best Linux machine I've ever bought and comparable with a desktop I built for Linux.

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My rankings:

 

Windows 10

Windows 7

Windows XP

Windows NT4

Windows 98 SE

Windows 95

Windows 8.1

Windows 3.11 for Workgroups

Windows Vista

Windows Me

Windows 3.0

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it's about the later OS's being too hard to use.
I totally disagree. It is about a wiliness to take a little bit of time to learn the differences - which really are NOT that much different. It see this as you being used to driving your trusty 25 year old car with a standard transmission and you are afraid to learn how to drive a brand new car with all the fancy new features and automatic transmission. The fact is, once you got used to the new car, you would then see how archaic the old clunker really is. It is the same with XP and W7 and more so with W10 - though the fact is, the change from XP to W7 is greater than W7 to W10 in my opinion.

 

Your "extreme" examples with updates and delays are just that, extreme and not normal, and frankly, that points to your system more than it does to W10. And while there may be 10s of millions who agree with you, there are more than 500 million Windows 10 users and that number keeps increasing.

 

FTR, if the small learning curve needed to get used to W10's UI is an issue, I highly recommend using Start10 which brings back the familiar W7 Start menu and desktop and for just $5 (after a decent 30 day trial period), IMO is well worth it. Or there is Classic Shell which many like too, and it is totally free. StartIsBack is a third alternative that many like and it is just $3.

 

Trust??? What about security? You say Windows XP is the third most popular as if that is a good thing. It's NOT! Its a bad thing because XP can NOT be trusted to keep its users secure. And more importantly, XP is threat to the rest of us!

 

I would be much more willing to accept your arguments if you were only talking about migrating from Windows 7. But you are trying to justify the continued use of XP. Sorry, but because XP (when it has Internet access) threatens the security for the rest of us, it is simply being irresponsible to continue using it (with Internet access). So there is no excuse. XP needs to go away. Period!

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I'm not advocating using XP. I'm saying Microsoft is to blame for it's continued use. Vista, 8, and 10 are the main reasons it continues in the home. It's also widely used in business. Many use it and don't even know it because it is hidden behind the ATM screen. It might be a decade or two, maybe three, before XP becomes a historical OS.

 

Tens of millions of home users still get their email and do their web browsing on XP. They have been doing it for over a decade. If you or Microsoft see that as a threat, perhaps you should advocate security updates for these existing systems instead of ignoring them.

 

I think people stick to XP for the simple desktop, many for the Classic menu system of Windows 98. There are many horror stories of those who downgraded to Vista, 8, or 10. You may call them an upgrade, but to someone who wants to live in a simple world of easy to understand menus, Windows 10 is a foreign language.

 

I guess I am unlucky enough to have three computers with "extreme" examples of problems. I guess my cousin's upgrade gone wrong was her fault to. She has been messaging me on her iPhone and iPad for months since she does not want to turn on her new and improved Windows 10 desktop anymore. Another cousin recently spend $800 over a few months with her local shop to help deal with her most recent software/hardware issues. All she needed was a new hard drive, but now she has problems with the new software as well. This occurred while she was daily visiting her sick husband in the hospital and could only get on the computer when she got home at night and was exhausted. I guess now that he has died she will have more time and willingness to learn the new Microsoft OS differences that keep us safe.

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I'm not advocating using XP. I'm saying Microsoft is to blame for it's continued use. Vista, 8, and 10 are the main reasons it continues in the home.
Nope, sorry, but that is incorrect. I run a custom PC and consulting business and by far, the most common reasons we hear as to why clients want to stick with XP is because (1) our current hardware is still working just fine and (2) XP supports our current (often custom) software.

 

It would be great if the W10 supported every program ever written for every version of Windows. But that cannot happen. Why? Many reasons not least of which is the advancements in hardware technologies that old software does not support. In fact, building in legacy support in XP so corporate clients would not have to retool again is one the main reasons XP had so many security issues. Microsoft, kowtowing to the demands of their corporate user base, compromised security in favor of legacy support. Then the bad guys moved in but who got blamed? Microsoft for being lax on security. So now they put security first, and rightfully so.

 

Tens of millions of home users still get their email and do their web browsing on XP. They have been doing it for over a decade. If you or Microsoft see that as a threat...
Oh for heaven's sake! This is the biggest problem we (the general public who understand the threat) have. It is people who refuse to accept the problem. The problem is not what people do with XP. The problem is just connecting to the Internet with XP exposes XP to threats that are then used against the rest of us. I am sorry you and sadly, too many others, refuse to accept the facts. But those are the facts.

 

And since you refuse to accept them, I don't see any more point in repeating them. Good day.

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You keep trying to put me on the defensive by saying I said things I never did.

 

All Microsoft had to do was put the XP desktop (with Classic option) on Windows 7, 8, or 10 and people would have had the familiar simplicity they needed. Instead they put a more complicated menu in 7, touchscreen tiles in 8, and a flashing menu screen with advertisements in 10. Then people hear the horror stories from people that "upgraded." That's why there are tens of millions of average home users that cringe at the thought of buying a new computer.

 

A decade of lies about the "improvements" in Windows destroyed peoples trust. Many want their XP back and others will never "upgrade" as long as their old computer still runs.

 

By the way, my main OS is Ubuntu, I haven't booted into an XP computer for months and have not used XP as my main OS for years. I can fix most of the menu problems with W10, but the endless security concerns of Windows means it will never be my primary personal OS.

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I don't have a dog in this fight really, because I am mainly a Linux user too and haven't run XP since 2012. However I will say that in my view the same people who have trouble with Windows 10 had it with Windows XP or 7 for that matter. They don't keep antivirus and malware software up to date, they visit dodgy sites, they install crapware and they click on blackhat email attachments.

One of my coffee buddies screwed up his Windows 10 system with WannaCry just recently.

To get a drivers licence you have to learn the rules and take instruction. Not so with a computer; there are far too many "unlicensed" users out there wrecking their computers - or if they are still on XP wrecking other people too.

To be responsible you need to be educated and by and large that means educating yourself.

Sure a Windows 10 menu might be annoying but you can easily turn it off and go back to good old Windows 7 (or earlier) with a simple add-on like Classic Shell. It's not that hard to find out how if you want to.

Unfortunately too many users just want to log on to Facebook and YouTube.

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All Microsoft had to do was put the XP desktop (with Classic option) on Windows 7, 8, or 10 and people would have had the familiar simplicity they needed. Instead they put a more complicated menu in 7, touchscreen tiles in 8, and a flashing menu screen with advertisements in 10.

 

No. Sorry, but you really don't understand the facts. The W7 menu is not more complicated. It is just a little different. And like switching between Firefox and IE, once you get used one, the other seems foreign. Users who gave W7 a chance and got used to it soon felt XP was foreign when they saw it again.

 

W8 touchscreen tiles? Come on! Complaining about that is just silly. Nobody forced anybody to use a touchscreen. Yes, the new UI was horrible especially because it was forced on users. But that was a poor marketing and executive policy. The OS itself was an excellent OS.

 

And of course, it was simple to bring back the familiar old Desktop and start menu with programs like Start8 and ClassicShell.

 

And in W10, I don't have any flashing menu screens and ads, as you call them. And other features are easily disabled.

 

Then people hear the horror stories from people that "upgraded." That's why there are tens of millions of average home users that cringe at the thought of buying a new computer.
This is just nonsense. If users buy a new computer with W10 already on it, they won't have to upgrade.

 

I am sorry, but that's just crying sour grapes because you have it burned in head that the "relatively few" having problems represents the vast majority. That is just not the case but no doubt you will never believe that.

 

I think the problem is you "hear the horror stories" that have been greatly exaggerated and repeated over and over again by those in the IT Press, bloggers and Microsoft haters, and you now believe the problems have reached pandemic proportions. It is just not true. The problem is a tiny few (way less than 1%) may have problems, but those complaints are amplified many times over. 1,000,000 upset users represent just .2% of the total number of W10 users. 99.8% success rate is phenomenal in any industry. But because 1 million people can make a LOT of noise - especially when amplified by those seeking sensationalized headlines over their names, the problems seem much worse than they really are. There are NOT 1 million people having problems with Windows Update every patch Tuesday, but you sure could get that impression if all you do is "hear the horror stories". :(

 

Many want their XP back and others will never "upgrade" as long as their old computer still runs.
And again, that is just negligent ignorance on their parts - if they connect to the Internet, because they put others at risk. People justify rolling through stop signs by claiming they are safe drivers. But that is not the point, is it? The problem is they threaten the safety of other drivers, and other passengers in their cars too.

 

While your reasons are real, they just are not the major obstacles you portend them to be. Skipping W8 because it is such a minor player, W7 and W10 are really easy to learn, if just given a chance. W10 is by far, the most secure Windows yet, and getting better all the time. And as raymac correctly noted, it really is easy to make W10 look and feel like W7 or even XP.

 

but the endless security concerns of Windows
Huh? I sure hope you don't believe Linux is immune to security issues? Again, W10 is the most secure Windows yet - especially if users would quit dinking with its default settings (Windows Update, for example). And sadly, I fear you don't seem to understand the difference between privacy and security. :(

 

Microsoft, with W10, is NOT trying to steal our passwords. They are NOT trying to learn our real names, street addresses, billing information, bank accounts, or our personal contacts. In fact, they are actively working (and successfully too) at protecting that data. I trust Microsoft way more than I trust ISPs and cell phone carriers as they already know our real names, street addresses and billing information. And cell phone carriers even know within a few feet, where we are standing to include the aisle of the store we are standing in. They know where we've been, the direction we are heading and how fast we are traveling. And they know who we have talked to and texted!

 

The closest Microsoft knows of my physical location with this Ethernet connected computer is my PoP (point of presence) - where my ISP connects me to the Internet backbone - and that is 10 miles away in the next town over!

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Microsoft, with W10, is NOT trying to steal our passwords. They are NOT trying to learn our real names, street addresses, billing information, bank accounts, or our personal contacts. In fact, they are actively working (and successfully too) at protecting that data. I trust Microsoft way more than I trust ISPs and cell phone carriers as they already know our real names, street addresses and billing information. And cell phone carriers even know within a few feet, where we are standing to include the aisle of the store we are standing in. They know where we've been, the direction we are heading and how fast we are traveling. And they know who we have talked to and texted!

 

The closest Microsoft knows of my physical location with this Ethernet connected computer is my PoP (point of presence) - where my ISP connects me to the Internet backbone - and that is 10 miles away in the next town over!

 

I've told people pretty much the same thing as mentioned above :) .

 

I find Windows 10 a very stable operating system but I must have Classic Shell installed or else I turn into an

. I have however dealt with more than my fair share of customers who've experienced problems after WIndows 10 updates but I have no way of knowing what state their computer was in before the updates ;) . I can assume based on the junkware I often see. System Restore, SFC and CHKDSK do wonders to start with. Edited by daveydoom
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I really don't understand the Windows Update issues. I personally have 5 computers here (1 notebook and 4 PCs). One PC was built from scratch with W10. The rest were all upgraded from W7. I have never had a Windows Update break any of my systems. I have many more that I am responsible for and WU has not broken any of those either. We have had WUs that failed to install but at worst, a simple reboot cleared everything up.

 

But we have had quite a few systems come in with problems. But by the time I see them, the user has tried so many things that it is impossible to really know what happened. But even still, so far, none of those computers were turned to bricks.

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I have never had a Windows Update break any of my systems.
You are fortunate.

 

No more Windows for me after 7. Android is more my "cup of tea". Updates are done with no blood, sweat and tears, nothing is broken, no reboots required (except when the version of android is changed) and no broken devices. In fact, I was surprised the other day when my tablet was upgraded from Marshmallow to Nougat! I'm still waiting for the phone to get updated. Both the tablet and phone are Samsung.

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You are fortunate.
I don't see it that way. I see it as my experience is the norm. There are over 500 million W10 systems out there now. If WU was a problematic as some in the IT press make it out to be, and as some consequently believe, it would be a much bigger news story than it is.
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I really don't understand the Windows Update issues.

 

Neither do these unfortunate folk.

 

http://forums.scotsn...howtopic=88117

 

An that is just one of many similar posts. Posted by experienced users who take great care in how they run their pc's.

 

An this woman must be in the pay of Putin or some other evil state that wishes to cripple americas greatest software's reputation,

 

http://windowssecret...ndows-updating/

 

 

By any measure, 2016 was strange and jarring — and that includes Windows patching, which was problematic for both Windows 7 and Windows 10.

But a new year brings renewed hope. Among my new-year wishes is one that 2017 is much better for Win10.

Some left-over issues for Windows and Office

 

As 2016 comes to a close, I’m still tracking a few Win10 1607 bugs that are causing problems with my Office network. I can only hope that they’ll be corrected in early 2017.

Microsoft Support article KB 3198614 describes one of the issues: access to shared files. My small-business network had indexing turned on so we could quickly and easily find shared documents.

However, after updating office workstations to Win10 1607, I had to disable indexing. A flaw in the update causes File Explorer to freeze when a shared folder is created or renamed; then an error message pops up and we can’t access the folder for about 20 to 30 seconds.

Oddly, the problem doesn’t appear on systems upgraded to the Windows Insider edition. But using a beta OS isn’t an option for the majority of us — especially in business applications. Nor is rolling back to Version 1511 an easy solution. According to a MS TechNet post, the fix will show up in a cumulative update, sometime next year.

 

 

Susan-Bradley_avatar-60x60.jpg

 

About Susan Bradley

 

Susan Bradley is a Small Business Server and Security MVP, a title awarded by Microsoft to independent experts who do not work for the company. She's also a partner in a California CPA firm.

 

:breakfast:

Edited by abarbarian
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An that is just one of many similar posts.
I understand what you are saying but those really are limited and even extreme examples that do NOT represent the big picture. In every case, it is only a very tiny percentage of users who have problems and those deal with narrowly focused scenarios under specific and fairly unique circumstances.

 

Susan's complaint, for example, deals with indexing shared Office documents in a shared network folder. How common is that scenario? And understand it only affected a few (relatively speaking) in that same scenario.

 

The problem is for those of us who work in the trenches, we see the problems and may even be inundated by them. But it really is like the Toyota mechanic who sees nothing but broken down Toyotas all day long, day after day, month after month. In time, he may start to think Toyotas are lousy cars. And certainly the owners of those broken Toyotas are not going to be happy. But does that mean Toyotas really are lousy cars? Of course not.

 

Between W7 and W10, there are over 1 billion Windows systems out there. If just 1% have problems with an update (and it is no where near that!) that is still 10 million :blink: upset users! And 10 million upset users can make a lot of noise - especially when wannabe journalists (that, BTW, does not include Susan!), bloggers, and MS bashers amplify the problems with exaggerated and sensationalized headlines. :(

 

Undeniably, keeping Windows current is one of the most critical steps users can take to ensure their systems are safe and secure from malicious attacks. And whether it is accepted or not, the odds are great Windows Update will NOT cause problems. Therefore, keeping Windows Update enabled and in its default setting is, and will remain my standard recommendation to all my clients, family, friends, and for my personal computers too.

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What I don't understand about people who say they need to keep XP because of some legacy software is that virtualization will take care of that. Oracle's VirtualBox is free. VMware Player is free for home use. Then of course, Windows 10 has Hyper-V. Heck, even Windows 8.1 has Hyper-V. I guess change can be hard. But if their old hardware dies, good luck trying to install XP on a Kaby Lake CPU.

 

My favourite feature of Windows 10 is Ubuntu Bash for Windows, a.k.a. Windows Linux Subsystem. Now I can ssh into all my Linux boxes from a command line interface on a Windows desktop without having to install PuTTY.

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I know a fellow in my neighborhood who ran XP on an ancient eMachines desktop because he liked a 2005 version of Family Tree Maker that crashed on Windows 7 or later.

When we installed Linux Mint I added WINE for him and the old version of FTM runs perfectly under WINE. Go figure.

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When I got a new computer with Windows 8, (updated to Windows 10), the only programs that I couldn't run were 16 bit, and certain parts of Office 97. Other 32 bit programs run fine.

 

As far as I'm concerned the problem is unrelated to Windows 8 & 10, but is because it happens to be running 64 bit.

 

Word 97 and Excel 97 were my most used Office apps, and they both worked (w/o the "Help" function). That kept me going long enough to choose between Open Office and Libre Office....

 

I still have a couple of old Win 98 machines running offline, to give me access to the old DOS and 16 bit Windows programs that contain business and personal records from the 80s & 90s, and can read the floppies that contain the backed up data.... Bonus - games so ancient that, to the grandkids, they're new. :shifty:

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What I don't understand about people who say they need to keep XP because of some legacy software is that virtualization will take care of that.
In most cases this is true. But virtualization does not guarantee 100% compatibility. We have seen this primarily with custom software that was written specifically for XP on XP era hardware. For small, struggling businesses, this can be a real financial burden.

 

I think, however, that those "excuses" are just that, excuses used to justify not going through the expense of retooling the hardware, buying/developing new software, and expending the resources to get through the learning curve - or the resistance to learning curves since people like the status quo and people hate to throw away hardware that is still doing its job.

 

I hesitate to call them Luddites because I still have a landline phone. And I use my smartphone for... what do they call them? Oh yeah. Phone calls.

 

But upgrading consumer electronics is just a fact of life. The return in popularity of vinyl records is the exception. But reel-to-reel, 8-tracks, cassettes, CDs, VCRs, CRT TVs and monitors, old cell phones, even cars are regularly replaced just because the technology was superseded or simply because the user wanted something new. I just don't get why many of the same people who replaced their perfectly good cell phones or TV for something newer are so hesitant to apply the same logic to their personal computers.

 

The sad part, to me, is many of these XP hold-outs just don't believe, or refuse to accept that they are a threat to others if they connect to a network with Internet access. :( So with those folks it has become matter of selfishness and neglect. When someone knows their actions put others in harm's way and they do it anyway, besides being irresponsible, it is bordering on "criminal" neglect, IMO. If there were no alternatives, I would feel differently. But there are many - including free Linux.

 

FTR, except (maybe) for custom software, I am not buying "the budget" as an excuse anymore - not when you can get a refurbished PC or laptop with a modern OS for near chump change - many of which have 90 day to 1 year warranties.

 

It's not like folks didn't have any advance notice to save up their pennies.

 

Now for sure, I am sympathetic to the plight of many of our very elderly senior citizens who are both on a very tight fixed income and who have difficulty learning new technologies. But in most areas there are resources available to help them. In fact, helping such a senior learn how to safely use their new hardware, and being there to answer questions (even if you already answered it a dozen times) can be quite rewarding. I'm just saying.

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As far as I'm concerned the problem is unrelated to Windows 8 & 10, but is because it happens to be running 64 bit.
I think this is an important fact and also think it is important to point out that it was the hardware industry that drove the move to 64-bit, not the software industry. 64-bit capable hardware was around many years before 64-bit software.
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