Microsoft Sucks

[Magician16]

I've had 2 Microsoft emails ever since I've been on the internet. Microsoft made one of them unavailable because I refuse to pay for their stupid "one drive" which I don't want. Recently I've been getting emails from MS that they're going to make my other email inaccessible if I don't do something to keep it accessible. Basically the same thing that happened to the other email. Well now I also have a google email because I'm probably going to lose access to my MS email.


I may be going to Linux.

[Thumper]

I see the cloud as a snooping and data mining trick, sold as a convenience. I save my important files on redundant local drives. Accessible even when there is an Internet outage.

Once in a while I go to my one drive space and delete the random files that have been scooped up over time.

Then again, Google has everything. It's huge

[bigdano711]

If Microsoft is evil, Google is it's malevolent hell-spawn.

They track every click you make, every word you type, all in an insane attempt to keep you on their site for the longest amount of time.

YouTube knows when you take a screenshot of that hot young thing...is he/she legal? Eventually they WILL have laws...

[GypsyR]

I've used every Windows there is since there was a Windows and have NEVER used their email. Outlook or anything else. Yahoo and Gmail. They keep putting stuff on Onedrive every time I fire up a new PC (example, I have like seven laptops). I don't know why they insist on hosting that data but I just ignore it. I have my own backups and portable drives. There is no "cloud" it's just your stuff on someone else's computer. Not interested in that myself.

[Magician16]

Google sucks as bad or worse than Microsoft. The problem is I have to have an email, and my hotmail email is the email of record for just about everything I do. If they make it so that I can't get access to it anymore, I plan on getting rid of everything MS on both of my computers.



When I bought this computer, I did an install where most of MS's programs were not loaded, including one drive. I have backups on portable drives. Every time I do an update, they try to download crap I don't want. I just found that they uploaded Outlook in the last update, and the email that they had made inaccessible before is now accessible. Of course the 15 or more years of emails disappeared. It's no good to me now.

[2LZ]

I went to Libre Office after they pulled the Office 365 scam. I'm not business, just a guy at home who wants a typewriter and a spreadsheet. Like hell if I'm going to pay for an annual subscription for a typewriter.

[Thumper]

Originally Posted by 2LZ

I went to Libre Office after they pulled the Office 365 scam. I'm not business, just a guy at home who wants a typewriter and a spreadsheet. Like hell if I'm going to pay for an annual subscription for a typewriter.

Libre is 100% compatible and works GREAT. I finally got away from MSO when newer verions of word, powerpoint just moved tools to different menus for no reason, and a few went away. Like the bar code under an address printed from word on an envelope. Gone for no reason. Remember when you could select save as and it would just show the folder where you save docs? Now there is an intervening navigation window with One Drive option. You have to navigate past it to print a PDF or just save a document. As Dana Carvey (Church Lady) says, "How convenient"

Adobe started getting frisky about a decade ago and wouldn't allow me to load either of my legitimate Photoshop versions from the CD. They want a subscription now, just like office 365. Why should I pay for things over and over again! So I got Gnu Image Manipulation Program (GIMP). I had to change the default image export location (was aimed at one drive!), but I think Windows did that. GIMP is easy to use and there is a guide published by the developers to learn new stuff. Great software.

[GypsyR]

I also have no interest in "renting" software. It makes no sense at all for personal use. I think Adobe was one of the first and worst with that. Also I've never understood why/how they charge so much for their products. Like there aren't any alternatives.

[Magician16]

I quit using MSOffice when I sold my company in 1999. I have been using Apache Open Office. For a browser I use Firefox, and Thunderbird for email.

[TominMO]

In 2014, on the day that MS stopped supporting Windows XP, I switched over to Linux and haven't looked back. Pretty seamless switch. Linux has come a long way since 2014.

A good YT channel to inform peeps about Linux, and lots of other computery things:
https://www.youtube.com/user/explainingcomputers

Review Of Ubuntu 22.04:



Review of Linux Mint:

[JerryHawk250]

I would of switched to Linux years ago but Linux doesn't support any of my drafting programs.

[Texas Pete]

CAD/Drafting is the only Achilles heel of Linux these days that I know of if you use well-known name brands from Windows and not a native Linux CAD.
( https://itsfoss.com/cad-software-linux/ )

What you can do is install Virtualization software in Linux and launch a VM and install Windows in it. Then you can launch the CAD software inside Windows inside a VM but have it show up in your Linux Desktop like a Linux app. It just seamlessly hides away the Windows if you want. Or you can completely full screen your Windows OS in a VM and hide your Linux Desktop until you are done and shut down Windows and then boom you are back in Linux Desktop.

It used to be with Linux the big Achilles heel was games as well but Steam brought out the Steam Deck handheld PC for gaming ( https://www.steamdeck.com/en/ ) and it even has a Dock for $79 ( https://www.steamdeck.com/en/dock ) so you can run it as a full fat Desktop PC if you want, some people do, use it as their only PC and handheld gaming computer because to get a gaming laptop is three times the price and a gaming PC is expensive to build these days as well compared to $300-400 range Steam Deck. The Steam Deck's Operating System is Linux so they have put so much development into Proton a compatibility layer that over 6,000+ PC games run excellent natively on Steam Deck Linux and therefore on all Linux PCs that have Proton, etc.

What I cannot figure out is why my CAD program is really a SaaS backend, loading JavaScript and running in a Web browser reskinned as a Windows application, but they don't support running it on Mac or on Linux, that's just lazy when you converted it all to web browser technology!

References:

SteamOS
( https://store.steampowered.com/steamos )

Doesn't tell you much so here is the Linux OS they built Steam OS from; it just happens to be the Linux OS I have been running for nearly 15 years now.
( https://archlinux.org/ )

I do decently advanced tiling interfaces these days as I'm tired of manually dragging and placing windows around by hand. Think of all the clicks and arm wiggling I have done over the decades of PC use!

I also am getting lazy in my old age so I use this young German chaps configuration files (dot files). And run his tiling desktop configuration and keyboard shortcuts. And to think he works in graphics arts, not computer administration!

Video shows you how he seamlessly launches Virtual Machines like candy from his Linux OS and does what he wants, when he wants it.

Video is a bit old; he updates software that comes already updated out of the box these days on the ISO file you download.



He doesn't show off his customizations and desktop workflow in the top video, just installing.

Below is the latest update to his configuration files and he shows of some of the new features he has been working on this week.

[XLsior]

WIN10 will be my last Microsoft OS...I even installed an 'start is back' to make the start menu go back to WIN7 functionality.


Right now its basically to run games.


Though I know its possible to game on Linux now quite seamlessly.

[Magician16]

I just downloaded Mint to a usb drive. It's pretty simple to use, but I couldn't find a couple of files that I use all the time. Also, I couldn't figure out how to shut down the computer, so I ended up doing the cont-alt-del method.

[Texas Pete]

If you really want to save your time and blow your mind. Use Ventoy on your USB stick. You can copy any number of ISO files to the USB stick and it will let you boot off any of them when you boot from your USB stick on your computer. I have Windows 10, Windows 11, and a ton of different Linux, and special Emergency Recovery ISO on my USB stick and I can boot any of them at will when needed. No more hunting for which USB stick was the one I "burned" an ISO file to for a specific OS.

Now you can try all the flavors before you find something you like and install that favorite flavor.