Before 10, dual/multi boot linux,unix and windows was never a problem as long as the OS with grub was installed last. With the inevitable version upgrades(inplace install) of 10 every couple weeks/months, 10 always becomes the defacto last OS installed and overwrites the previous bootloader. Grub and the MBR will always fight like cats n dogs. You can re-flag your Linux Os to boot first, - It's just a pain to have to do it on a regular basis. Yeah, i posted this as feedback a year ago. Cue the Crickets.
Just install easyuefi on Windows. It takes only a mouse click to change bootloader. Indispensable, for a multi-boot configuration with Windows.
Post by Bayer A.User on May 10, 2016 9:12:23 GMT -6
Thinking about trying Linux ? Remember, some of the available distro's install media is "live file" What does that mean ? When you dwnld the iso image & burn it to a CD/DVD it is more than just install media. You can actually run the OS from the disk in your optical drive without installing it. When you boot from the disk the OS files will load into your machines ram(memory) and result in a fully functional system to satisfy your curiosity. When finished , you can exit or eject the disk and nothing is saved or changed on your PC.
In addition, some of these "live file" distros have utilities to create bootable USB flashdrive versions that you can run in the ram(memory) of different machines and your settings/files will be saved to the flashdrive when you exit/close your session. Even if the HDD in your PC is Dead or missing, as long as the motherboard allows booting from the external drive you can run these os in the random access memory. Learn more about PuppyPrecise5.7.1 32bit or latest Slacko64 bit versions. puppylinux.org
Last Edit: May 10, 2016 10:05:40 GMT -6 by Bayer A.User
Post by Bayer A.User on Oct 9, 2016 12:26:58 GMT -6
Now running latest Linuxmint18 cinnamon
clean installed on my Tosh P775,SSD, with intel i7cpu & HD graphics. Gawd it looks n runs great. Full featured and stable as always. Intuitive user interface,easy transition from Windows.
Valuable NEW features: Update manager setup super simple for 'nix newbies
Endless customization options: themes,window managers,icons,fonts. If you dig the "dark theme" in 10, it has that too.
Once upon a time, many years ago, someone told me, "There is a lot more to computers than just DOS and Windows."
Yep, that was way back in the days when DOS 6.x and Windows 3.1x was king. Yes, we all have become very accustomed and comfortable with the Microsoft way of doing things. Because of that, I know that sometimes it makes it very difficult to let go even in the light of the poorest Microsoft Windows OS offering to date called Windows 10. It's been stated before, but I'll state it again, one does not even have to install an alternative OS anymore to try them out as many will let you run them in Live CD mode, thus preserving whatever it is you have installed onto your system. Also, with everyone using some type of Virtualization Product these days, you can install them as a virtual machine too. If you want to try them out on real hardware, I'm sure many of us have a machine or two sitting in a corner not really doing anything that we could repurpose to do this as well. One nice thing about many alternative OS's is that many DO NOT have the same overhead requirements that Windows has to get them running properly.
Post by Bayer A.User on Oct 11, 2016 15:43:09 GMT -6
Yep, The Linuxmint iso's burned to DVD's are live file media. No need to install if you want to give em' a try. Boot from/run the OS from your optical drive in the RAM. When your finished,eject the DVD then restart your pc. On the desktop is an icon "install Linuxmint"- that requires a double click. Stay away from it if you have no intention to install. If you have an old machine without a HDD it will still work !
Yeah well, that can be changed too . This is my own theme. I call it FrankenTronXPvistastein I scaled the desktop shortcuts BIG so you wouldn't have trouble seeing them.
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Last Edit: Oct 11, 2016 17:35:41 GMT -6 by Bayer A.User
Yeah well, that can be changed too . This is my own theme. I call it FrankenTronXPvistastein I scaled the desktop shortcuts BIG so you wouldn't have trouble seeing them.
Nice!
Have you tried to change the icons in the left side of the start menu?
Once upon a time, many years ago, someone told me, "There is a lot more to computers than just DOS and Windows."
Yep, that was way back in the days when DOS 6.x and Windows 3.1x was king. Yes, we all have become very accustomed and comfortable with the Microsoft way of doing things. Because of that, I know that sometimes it makes it very difficult to let go even in the light of the poorest Microsoft Windows OS offering to date called Windows 10. It's been stated before, but I'll state it again, one does not even have to install an alternative OS anymore to try them out as many will let you run them in Live CD mode, thus preserving whatever it is you have installed onto your system. Also, with everyone using some type of Virtualization Product these days, you can install them as a virtual machine too. If you want to try them out on real hardware, I'm sure many of us have a machine or two sitting in a corner not really doing anything that we could repurpose to do this as well. One nice thing about many alternative OS's is that many DO NOT have the same overhead requirements that Windows has to get them running properly.
Great thoughts, but...
Imagine 100% of your time being taken up to just barely keep up with all you have to do now. Imagine being competent, even adept at using Microsoft software after a lifetime of training and experience.
Now along comes the need to ramp up to do everything a completely different way. And it doesn't promise better everything, just a divorce from a partner who once was good but is no longer.
What's the effort required to push over that speed bump of continuing to keep up with everything in Windows land AND acquiring Linux? 150%? More?
Who do you know who isn't already right at the verge of being overwhelmed by what they do today?
Microsoft is locking more and more people into Windows by making their technical lives more and more complicated, to where they can barely keep up, and honestly can't even imagine stopping and starting over on a new path. Thus they Microsoft are shutting out alternatives. Microsoft will of course be the winner if they get everyone to pay them to not have to change.
We the users are of course the losers in all this.
-Noel
Author of the "How to Configure the 'To Work' Options" series of Windows books. Not feeling enough love to do one for Windows 10.
Some examples of real things that need attention if one were to change the OS around which one builds one's technical life...
You've accumulated a lifetime of data, some of which is in proprietary formats. Will you be able to continue to read it?
There are a number of things you do all the time, which require specific Windows software. Can you get equivalent (or ideally even better) software on Linux?
You have an intuitive feel for how things work and can fix any problems that come up (and they invariably come up). What do you do when that happens with Linux and you have no idea why? Everyone is scared of being a newbie again.
How to do equivalent maintenance activities such as keeping temporary areas clean, performing backup, keep software up to date, etc. - all of which require a good bit of time to get used to.
How long will it take to achieve the same level of stability as one currently enjoys with Windows?
What happens when you decide to "throw the switch", and suddenly you find there is no way to make your RAID arrays work, or your external drive is not seen, or you can't get calibrated output on your monitor, or you can't network with a device you have connected now and access regularly with Windows, or you can't manage your UPSs, or...? I can imagine many "can't get there from here" situations, but it's the ones I'm NOT imagining that are scariest, and while running Linux in a VM is a good way to start, some gotchas simply can't be known until the day you decide to put Linux on the hardware.
Some examples...
I have accumulated tens of gigabytes of eMail archives in .pst format. Being able to continue to access them will be important to me. Photoshop PSD files are another.
I have many, many handy tools I rely upon. Some of them will be provided right out of the box in Linux - for example various filters I use on the command line from GnuWin32 now are just native there (e.g., grep, sed, etc.). Some will either have to be re-implemented or I'll need to find alternatives. Yes, I can imagine running virtual machines under Linux, containing Windows systems that can help me during the transition. But that's just a crutch, not a long-term solution.
I rely on some commercial tools that are absolutely not available in Linux. Photoshop for example. Microsoft Visual Studio for example.
I have a lifetime of .BAT file scripting knowledge and I'm sure I'll find myself struggling for a while with bash or whatever. This, however, is a case where the scripting language in Linux will actually be better ultimately than .BAT. I'm actually looking forward to that.
It will take time to learn a whole new set of online places to look for good information. And I will no doubt miss some I frequent now that provide only Windows information.
Honestly, the more I think about it the less I want to do it. And THAT is what Microsoft wants.
-Noel
Author of the "How to Configure the 'To Work' Options" series of Windows books. Not feeling enough love to do one for Windows 10.
I think that the only practical, yet expensive in time and money, way to approach this would be to purchase and create a duplicate system. Load and fine tune an alternate OS, install all required hardware and software (this in itself will be a good learning experience) and then solve problems as they come over time. Use this system as you can, but you will always have the fall back of the current OS. Eventually you will either transition, perhaps lowering expectations, or determine it simply not feasible.
That said, and as I have previously said, I no longer need to rely on MS for my livelihood, just my entertainment. As people get more stupid, bizarre becomes normal, and the world around us degrades, I'm just sitting here watching the wheels.
As I have heard said, our engineers and scientists are in the engine trying to move us all forward, but the masses of stupid are in the rear cars holding the brakes and are overwhelming the power of our engines.
Some examples of real things that need attention if one were to change the OS around which one builds one's technical life...
You've accumulated a lifetime of data, some of which is in proprietary formats. Will you be able to continue to read it?
There are a number of things you do all the time, which require specific Windows software. Can you get equivalent (or ideally even better) software on Linux?
You have an intuitive feel for how things work and can fix any problems that come up (and they invariably come up). What do you do when that happens with Linux and you have no idea why? Everyone is scared of being a newbie again.
How to do equivalent maintenance activities such as keeping temporary areas clean, performing backup, keep software up to date, etc. - all of which require a good bit of time to get used to.
How long will it take to achieve the same level of stability as one currently enjoys with Windows?
What happens when you decide to "throw the switch", and suddenly you find there is no way to make your RAID arrays work, or your external drive is not seen, or you can't get calibrated output on your monitor, or you can't network with a device you have connected now and access regularly with Windows, or you can't manage your UPSs, or...? I can imagine many "can't get there from here" situations, but it's the ones I'm NOT imagining that are scariest, and while running Linux in a VM is a good way to start, some gotchas simply can't be known until the day you decide to put Linux on the hardware.
Or you could just buy into this bullshit and put everything into the MS Cloud.
Imagine Windows 10 in ten years. It will most probably be called just “Windows.” You won’t have a traditional desktop PC in your room, but rather all you will have is a HoloLens. If you need to sit down and work in front of a desk, you just fire up Word and use your Bluetooth keyboard and mouse to do what you have to do. Think of it like Continuum for Phones, but a step further. You won’t even need a screen anymore. You will have all your files in the cloud, and by using the glasses, you will just edit them wherever you go without begin limited to any device except your head.
You're right of course about outfitting another entire hardware system.
The step of getting at least somewhat familiar with the new system in a VM is first. I've done that with every version of Windows before adopting it, culminating in a period where I've immersed myself in the new system for a week just to see if trying to rely upon it leads to gotchas. It's no different with an entirely different OS, except that it's a bigger leap and will take longer.
Throwing away all my current knowledge will be traumatic, but so will doing nothing be.
I guess I'd better get started, though I have hated Unix and its lack of discipline since the mid 1970s.
Post by Locutus deBorg on Oct 14, 2016 11:01:32 GMT -6
I'm not traumatized by not having a shart fone I'm not traumatized by using XP to get real work done I'm not traumatized by using win 3.1 for the program that generates and prints my billing
the apparent "doing nothing" is akin to the saying you are still voting by not voting
I vote with my feet and wallet will not be paying the MS tax anymore XP and older run just fine without ever needing to poke the web
when IPv6 finally gets around to replacing IPv4 and thus IPv4 is deprecated / obsoleted I will be pulling the net plug no private address ranges = no connections allowed here
to borrow from freakman, get a buggy whip for that...
if using win 7 and older is akin to using horse and buggy, then I'm the Amish of the PC world and quite contented in doing so
the biggest issue will be hardware with no new hardware avaialble it's keeping the aging stuff running that is the only real challenge of exiting the current push toward 1984
if I absolutely have to connect for something then live CD/DVD/USB will be the only way
I find the lack of configuration options disturbing !
I felt a great disturbance in the force.. as if millions of win 7 systems suddenly cried out in terror.
<Rick> Good video. It's almost hard to believe that at one time Windows 98 was the resource hog, but even then, it still ran circles around what Windows 10 can do on today's modern hardware and look a heck of alot better doing it.
May 25, 2021 22:55:12 GMT -6
<Rick> As stated elsewhere, So much for the launch of Windows 11, "The Great Crash." Myself, I had a hard time getting into the site listed above, when I did get in, the video was partly done and then it crashed. There has been many other reports of crashing.
Jun 24, 2021 9:52:33 GMT -6
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<Rick> I see Microsoft has been very quick to pull down reports of site crashing regarding the Launch of Windows 11 on the Microsoft Insiders forum.
Jun 24, 2021 9:57:31 GMT -6
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<Rick> The rebroadcast is working okay.
Jun 24, 2021 11:00:25 GMT -6
<Rick> With reports of people being able to install the dev-edition of Windows 11 on machines not meeting spec, I thought I would give it a what-the-heck try. Lucky me, I'm caught in the downloading, doesn't meet spec, clearing, re-downloading loop on my machine!
Jul 2, 2021 7:08:46 GMT -6
<Rick> I've recently purchased a license for ArcaOS from www.arcanoae.com/ to play with. First impressions, it's still OS/2, but it now has a Linux twist to it.
Jul 2, 2021 7:32:53 GMT -6
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<dozrguy> laptop shit out and am stuck buying a new one. os win11 as fucked as win10 was?
Oct 2, 2021 12:56:10 GMT -6
<Rick> Let's see ..., my impression of Windows 11 is that it is a spruced up version of Windows 10 requiring a 64-bit processor plus a piece of security hardware that is less than 4 years old in order for it to run.
Oct 4, 2021 18:25:49 GMT -6
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<Rick> On the plus side, Microsoft is supposed to be supporting Windows 10 for some time to come for those of us still using systems with I7 or older processors.
Oct 4, 2021 18:44:35 GMT -6
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<dozrguy> i tried installing win10 om the 'shitout' pc this morning usung media creation. EPIC FAIL! went into an endless bootloop. win7 reinstalled just fine
Oct 21, 2021 11:23:38 GMT -6
<dozrguy> STILL so much bullshit and so little time for the kiddie ideas from the hill. My new laptop (MSI GE 11-UH461) would be an awesome "10" machine but because of Winblows I can only give it a "2"......wasted $3500
Oct 27, 2021 9:36:47 GMT -6
<Rick> Hello. Just checking in.
Mar 17, 2022 10:46:54 GMT -6
<isidroco> Each new w10 update adds >100000 useless files to \Windows\Servicing\LCU\Package_for_RollupFix... folders. Even in a SSD takes time to delete that stuff. In each version they manage to worsen stuff.
Mar 27, 2022 16:14:51 GMT -6
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<dozerguy> still traffic here?
Oct 9, 2022 17:32:44 GMT -6
<Rick> No, there does not seem to be very much traffic these days. I still check in from time to time.
Oct 9, 2022 20:08:58 GMT -6