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Computers and OS'es
Read the other day... that M$FT is gonna totally quit supporting Windows 7 in January of 2020... figured it was coming sooner or later.
This leaves me and some friends in the place of having to choose which direction to go with PC's (or Mac)... both business and personal.
Thought I would start a thread about computers... specifically some questions:
*Which OS do you use (assume if you are an Apple person, you own a Mac),,,
*Which browser do you use on that OS, and how well does it work...
*Does the OS support your choice(s) of company software...
*How stable and bug free (including resistant to malware) is your platform...
THX in advance for input...
Where I am now (options):
*Upgrade to Win 10
*Move to Linux on the same box
*Move to Mac
Thoughts on each platform would be appreciated
GA-HVAC-Tech
Your comfort, Your way, Everyday!
GA's basic rules of home heating and AC upgrades:
*Installation is more important than the brand of equipment
*The duct system keeps the house comfortable; the equipment only heats and cools (and dehumidifies)
*The value of comfort, over the long term; leave economic choices behind!
Choose your contractor wisely!
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Nice, right? Too bad we can't do that to customers, telling them we stop supporting your 20 year old furnace, time to upgrade.
I'm in a similar quandary, with Win 7. When I upgrade, I'll have to upgrade Quickbooks too. I tend to carefully back everything up (I have a laptop at home), and ride them til they die.
The thing with Mac's I don't like is even though they give you the free OS upgrades, they don't always work with all your software. Plus every new operating system is bigger so if you very expensive Mac doesn't have the capacity, you have to do some pricey upgrades or buy a new one.
I'll stick with Windows. Cheap, easy to upgrade, back up and restore...and throw away.
Can't comment on Linux, but those who use it seem to love it.
Random thoughts:
With Mac, if you have/use iPhone & iPad, everything works together quite seamlessly.
Some people go big with Mac, and put in a Windows partition.
Mac OS's wont play flash, a curse and a blessing.
I've always used Norton for anti-virus, never been hit (severely knocking on wood), but others use free anti-virus that they say works fine.
I just don't see the benefit of a Mac for me and that's mostly based on the price. $800 vs. $2200...
For my business program (FileMaker) you can develop and deploy on both systems so it doesn't matter, just that you can't use AppleScript on a program that is run by a Windows Computer, and vice-versa for Windows stuff on Apple.
I would like to buy a machine that's stripped of all the junk I don't need. Maybe get a geek to build me one.
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Here's a thread of interest. Just because MS is dropping support does not mean you have to stop using win 7. I refuse to use win 10, since the user is the product. They collect so much data, it's pitiful. I guess you can build a hardware dedicated firewall (i.e., PFsense) to manage outbound traffic, but why?
The weakest link in computer security/defense is the user. Be careful what sites you visit, what software you download/install. Don't click on email links, etc. Common sense, mostly.
My plan:
I have 5 win 7 machines and one win 8 machine (an early retail version of win 8, which I upgraded to 8.1 and customized to be much like win 7):
- I'll rebuild two of them with a new motherboard, cpu, RAM, etc and then "hand-me-down" the 'left over' hardware to my other machines.
- I'll reinstall win 7 on the re-built machines.
- I'll 'catch up' on updates with DISM++
- I'll disk image (using Macrium) the new installs & store them offline.
- Finally, I'll install all my necessary software, re-image and store them offline.
- Beyond that, I'll schedule 3x weekly macrium backups on mission critical partitions.
For those of you unfamiliar with DISM++, it's a utility that includes a win update tool. It default selects only viable & necessary updates (ecluding 'phone home' updates amongst others). It updates quickly and doesn't require restarts between updates (just re-boot when finished).
I have Automatic updates turned off and run DISM++ at the end of the month (giving MS a chance to deal with bugs).
A few links on DISM++:
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/dism-...r-size-reducer
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=site%3Asev...v49-2__&ia=web
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Yeah... the Mac idea would require a 'cheese-grater' box running IOS server... with a Windows emulator (Windows Parallel, PRO version)... for it to work for me. As I understand it... Mac's are not as immune to malware as they used to be.
The big question for me:
Go Windows 10 and beef up the security...
OR
Go Linux and run a Windows emulator inside Linux
Thoughts on those 2 options???
GA-HVAC-Tech
Your comfort, Your way, Everyday!
GA's basic rules of home heating and AC upgrades:
*Installation is more important than the brand of equipment
*The duct system keeps the house comfortable; the equipment only heats and cools (and dehumidifies)
*The value of comfort, over the long term; leave economic choices behind!
Choose your contractor wisely!
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I have a win7 box, (2) 8.1, and a 10 box. 10 isnt as bad as it seems. I did lock out the updates (it can be done, look online) until I feel that they can be trusted.
Nest is POO!!
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I have a Windows 10 machine and a machine running Linux (Debian). I really enjoy Linux and depending on which distro you go with it can be quite stable and user friendly but software and hardware compatibility can be issues. Those issues can be solved but you are going to need to do some homework and put in the time on your own I once spent the better part of a day trying to get the WiFi on my laptop to work properly if you aren't willing to do that now and then Linux might not be for you.
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We have win 10 pro at work. Computers and server. Honestly I really like win 10. Compared to 8.1 it’s really easy to navigate and get
Things accomplished.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
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Originally Posted by
ga-hvac-tech
Yeah... the Mac idea would require a 'cheese-grater' box running IOS server... with a Windows emulator (Windows Parallel, PRO version)... for it to work for me. As I understand it... Mac's are not as immune to malware as they used to be.
The big question for me:
Go Windows 10 and beef up the security...
OR
Go Linux and run a Windows emulator inside Linux
Thoughts on those 2 options???
Between the two, I'd do win 10, but put a serious leash on both inbound and outbound traffic. The advantage is the SW & HW compatibility. I find emulators cumbersome.
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Have any of you tested win 10 with all those software from the manufacturer that make our life easier.
Like trane techview.
Vfd software
Turbocor software
Any other software you can think off.
...........
I've stayed with win 7 because I ain't sure that all the software I run are compatible with win10
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Originally Posted by
patpinet
Have any of you tested win 10 with all those software from the manufacturer that make our life easier.
Like trane techview.
Vfd software
Turbocor software
Any other software you can think off.
...........
I've stayed with win 7 because I ain't sure that all the software I run are compatible with win10
Manually run win 10 compatibility appraiser
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I think Linux will be the future for those who do not want to be enslaved to the endless cycle of new OS "upgrades" that also cause you to upgrade all the affiliated software you use. I still have a fully functioning Win 95 box so I can access old files and use old programs. NEVER connected to the web!
I think that someone that can be a Linux "go to guy" could earn a fair living helping us set up to move away from Micro Sludge...
Any computer that is stable and self contained will run pretty much indefinitely as long as there is no outside connection. Quickbooks is another example of extortion. Still have a stand alone copy from years back on the '95 box. The copy I had on a connected computer went sour after QB changed it's extortion program to online....
Personal use? Mac all around. 2016 Macbook pro with HDMI output, headphone jack and USB3. Iphone 6. Very few if any crashes or other problems in 13 years and no anti virus program ever. Have had two Mac's. One bought in '06 and the new one in '16.
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I'm still using QB 2002, on Win 7. But it won't load on Win 8 or higher. One of the main reasons why I don't want to upgrade.
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You may be interested in the Windows 10 LTSB (Long Term Servicing Branch) version.
https://www.howtogeek.com/273824/win...tsb-explained/
10 years of security updates without all the bloatware/features (e.g. Cortana, Microsoft Store) in the regular versions of Windows 10.
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Post Likes - 1 Likes, 0 Dislikes
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Originally Posted by
Juan Madera
I think Linux will be the future for those who do not want to be enslaved to the endless cycle of new OS "upgrades" that also cause you to upgrade all the affiliated software you use. I still have a fully functioning Win 95 box so I can access old files and use old programs. NEVER connected to the web!
I think that someone that can be a Linux "go to guy" could earn a fair living helping us set up to move away from Micro Sludge...
Any computer that is stable and self contained will run pretty much indefinitely as long as there is no outside connection. Quickbooks is another example of extortion. Still have a stand alone copy from years back on the '95 box. The copy I had on a connected computer went sour after QB changed it's extortion program to online....
Personal use? Mac all around. 2016 Macbook pro with HDMI output, headphone jack and USB3. Iphone 6. Very few if any crashes or other problems in 13 years and no anti virus program ever. Have had two Mac's. One bought in '06 and the new one in '16.
QB is my 'gotcha'. I have to run the latest version (within 3 years) for transaction downloads. It's a must for me, or I wouldn't be able to keep up with my books. It's a lot cheaper to buy a new version every 3 years than to hire a bookkeeper (I get the latest version at Sam's for $149).
Yeah, I could run it in Linux using a VM, but I don't care that much for VMs. For security, I have a dedicated "books" machine from which I run quicken & QB. I never browse to any site other than bank sites and secure the machine via a separate subnet router, an additional software Firewall (outbound) and firefox and addons. I image the data and system partitions after every use and store the backups offline.
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Just built a hackintosh system ( for half or even lesser then cost of a mac system). You can run both mac os and windows 10 or only keep mac os on there. I think honestly windows 10 is fine. You can turn off that function where MS is collecting your data. Linux is really good also once you have all your hardware setup. Most of the time Linux OS works right out the box after install. I like Ubuntu version of Linux. I also believe Linux is less likely to get a virus or other malware then pcs and macs. As of security issues and such.. its true windows is more likely to get some malware. But I also believe it all matters on the end user and how careful they are while browsing the WWW.
I have lately been getting the itch to go all out and upgrade my current system. LOLL, I am trying to hold out so I don't go crazy and built a $1000 computer. (I really need a new graphic card... my current one struggles to play battlefield 1. )
https://www.tonymacx86.com/
wHen I diE I hOpe gOd haS mErcy oN my SiNful LifE
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my entire system was almost 2900 a couple years ago. dont be a sissy... 
Nest is POO!!
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OP
Use a linux distro...Ubuntu is a good place to get your feet wet...and use windows for for apps that only work on windows....dual boot...one machine
https://www.google.com/search?newwin...67.dpuSUnk9Ops
Sent from my SM-G930R4 using Tapatalk
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Originally Posted by
HVAC_Marc
my entire system was almost 2900 a couple years ago. dont be a sissy...
These days... For maybe 700-800$ you can built a pretty souped up pc. That will include a nice graphic card and a raid ssd setup..probably 2 512gbs...
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when i built mine it was top-line. now, only a few things are "lesser" though it'll still well outperform many new store-bought "prime" systems.
somewhere here I have an older intel unlocked cpu at 2.6 GHz. something like 16 cores. It's in my vinyl cutter pc 
Nest is POO!!
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Originally Posted by
ga-hvac-tech
Yeah... the Mac idea would require a 'cheese-grater' box running IOS server... with a Windows emulator (Windows Parallel, PRO version)... for it to work for me. As I understand it... Mac's are not as immune to malware as they used to be.
The big question for me:
Go Windows 10 and beef up the security...
OR
Go Linux and run a Windows emulator inside Linux
Thoughts on those 2 options???
I have run Ubuntu Linux alongside windows as a dual boot for well over nearly 15 years. To run a vitual box or emulator for Windows programs inside Linux tends to be rather buggy in my experience, so I've never opted for that route. The dual boot setup is easy to do as it's built into Ubuntu and more recently in Windows, I believe.
In all those years I have had zero issue security-wise with Ubuntu Linux with no anti-virus or anti-malware protection at all. For Windows I run the standard Windows-recommended security and Malwarebytes Premium.
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