Char Jackson wrote:
On Sat, 2 Mar 2019 01:04:39 -0700, "Bill in Co"
surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:

Mike wrote:
On 3/1/2019 7:30 PM, Bill in Co wrote:
Mike wrote:
On 3/1/2019 12:39 PM, Bill in Co wrote:
Roger Blake wrote:
On 2019-03-01, Bill in Co surly_curmudgeon@earthlink wrote:
What support? (If you're a home user, I mean). In which case,
it's a moot point. So I expect some of us will stick with Windows
7, or even Windows XP, at least for those few of us that like to
work on their PC without all those extra encumberances getting in
the way.

I would say that as long as you can run an up-to-date antivirus
program and web browser then you're golden with Windows 7.

I hate to say it, but I'm taking a few chances by NOT using the
latest antivirus programs, because I just can't handle all the bloat
and slower performance of the newer versions. That said, I try to
play it safe with my online browsing and emails. :-).

I'm guessing the day will come when I will have no choice but to go
to Windows 7, if for no other reason, due to the browsers not working
anymore on most sites. So I've got a Windows 7 laptop next to me for
that, which I occasionally boot up, just to check for and presence of
rust. :-) But the aggravation of using it, with Win 7 and all its
ownership and permissions baggage getting in my way, especially when
using Windows Explorer for any file operations, is just too much for
me. I'm too old for this nonsense. :-)


Turn off UAC.
Don't try to put stuff in protected directories.
Don't use Windows Explorer.
I prefer Totalcommander, but there are several that claim to be
as good.
You can easily take ownership of anything you want.
You can take ownership of the whole drive.
But I have had issues with circular references in the user's
directories after doing so. But there's a tool to fix that.

I've already done much of that. It's still an unnecessary nuisance.

People get very excited about tiny changes in the UI.
Put links to everything you use frequently in one directory
and load that page. Or link stuff to the toolbar of startmenu.

If your computer has enough horsepower and available drivers
for your hardware, win7 is a slam dunk.

It's not for me, until necessity prevails. :-)

You can say the same thing for win10 once you get the updates under
control and delete anything that's deletable, especially active
icons on the start page.

I've done some of those things, but it's still a bit of a PIA. And
don't get me started on the circular references and junction points
crapola!

As I've said, life is too short for this obfuscation (at least for me).
OTOH, if you're just using it for work programs and higher level stuff,
maybe it's not such a problem. The problem is when you get down to the
file administration level and it gets in your face. Well, that, and the
pathetic GUI that needs Classic Menu to be even halfway usable. And
that it takes twice as long to boot up in the first place (might as
well get a cup of coffee while its booting up).

Classic menu is an excuse for people who want something to bitch about.

No, Classic Menu is there to make it easy to find something, instead of
going on some fishing expedition.

If you sleep your computer, it takes almost no tome to boot. I reboot
my system every few weeks just in case. There are enough memory leaks
in the gazillion apps to make it crash eventually. That's not new with
win10.

This Win 7 laptop takes about 4 minutes to fully boot up (the other same
model Win XP laptop takes about 2 minutes). I prefer shutting ALL
systems down at bedtime, for what I consider to be self evident reasons.

For me, my tablets and the Chromebook spend most of their time shut
down, while all PCs remain running 24/7 for obvious reasons.

As for Windows boot time, it stops being an issue if you stop shutting
down so often. I've found that restarting every 3-4 months is fine for
anything up to 8.1. With Win 10, I've never gotten nearly that far.
After a few days, it manages to tell me that it's sick and needs to
rest.

Windows XP (and Windows 98SE and Windows 2000) were simply lean and
mean, with nothing ever getting in your way. If you wanted to do
something at the file level, nothing was stopping you. That said, I
wouldn't want to go back to Windows 3.1. :-)

A horse drawn buggy was lean and mean. I wouldn't go back there either.
Time marches on. Try to keep up ;-)

No thank you. (contary to public opinion, newer is not always better).
Want another sterling example? Office 365, and all the subscription
nonsense. No thanks.

Windows 2000 was my favorite OS. I put off XP until I just couldn't do
what I wanted anymore in 2000.
Same for 7 and 10. Average delay was 3 years after introduction.

My 10 start page looks almost the same as my directory/window of program
launchers in 7 and xp and 2000 and 98... I find myself using the window
of program launchers in 10 most of the time anyway.
I haven't used windows
explorer much since MS started messing with it at every turn.
If you haven't tried totalcommander, give the demo a try.
There are several freewares that are similar.
If I didn't already have a license, I'd probably start with one of
the free ones.

I've got several Windows Explorer clones over here, but I generally
prefer jjust using Windows Explorer. I'm, not looking for lots of of
bells and whistles. (Less can be More, sometimes. :-)

Windows 10 as an OS isn't any more difficult than previous versions.
What's different is the MS philosophy of monetizing your computer use
by any means possible. Blocking updates at inopportune times seems to
have been fixed. I've had months where I had 50GB of internet download
that was mostly updates for several computers. Pity the people on
metered internet. but I digress...

But I seem to recall that there are some programs out there that can
prevent those incessant, automatic windows updates. And kudos for that.

So, I have to keep removing junk they download
and block access wherever possible. But I'm old...what else am I gonna
do? Take another nap...yep, that's it another nap...

It would be interesting to see what kind of file administration is
causing you consternation.
Copy, delete, move, open, save. What am I missing?

ALL of that, with access sometimes being denied (and the incessant
permissions and ownership BS), OR even just having to see if what is
there, is really there, or is just an illusion, with all the stupid
circular references and junction points, and some smoke and mirrors.
No thanks. It's not worth the aggravation to me, and is completely
avoided by simply using XP. I'm sure Mayayana can fill ya in. :-)

You guys recently tried to fill me in, but were unsuccessful. ;-)
You have to really go out of your way to have those kinds of issues.

--

Char Jackson

No, we probably just spend a bit more time down there at the C: partition
level, working with Windows Explorer (or at least trying to, in spite of all
the obfuscations and smoke and mirrors), for various sundry tests. :-)