Bad Microsoft! Bad!

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussions' started by Kizmet, Jul 24, 2017.

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  1. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  2. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I'll use it forever. I have spare "Paint" install and/or working files on floppy, CD and USB. I can even use it without Windows - in Linux (under WINE). I'm also using Windows Cardfile, that was removed years ago. I have full Windows versions back to 3.1. So handy! You can use Cardfile to file text, pictures or all kinds of objects - music files, etc. They should never have taken it down.

    My younger son calls me the "King of Old Software." Even Pre-Windows. I can run DOS programs galore from the 80s perfectly on my big flat-screen with VDOS. And DOS ones I wrote yesterday or last week, using my old DOS compilers, like Borland Turbo-Basic (1987). They can take away anything they want. I get to keep it anyway.

    I can do newer stuff too. I installed Jython the other day (basically Python re-written in Java, with many extensions) and have already written a couple of small thingies... Yes - I think they are bad people too -- but I am worse. I know how this works... :smile:

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 24, 2017
  3. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    It looks like the new Paint 3D will allow you to do the same things, plus more. It doesn't look like we're actually losing anything.

    As an amateur meme artist, Paint is great for a lot of the quick copy/paste/color/write things I do here and there while wasting my life away on the internet. You may have seen some of my paint images floating around older threads and even in my signature.

    Anyway, I went to go download Paint 3D only to find that Microsoft had already automatically downloaded and installed it in a previous update. I really wished they would have asked first :\ I'm sure at some point, I'll try it out and if I do, I'll have more to share in this thread.
     
  4. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    It's often made to look that way. It's a kind of digital trompe l'oeil. Like the missing "Edit" command, been there since DOS days, silently taken out of the Windows 7 CLI. No replacement, but you can use Notepad instead, which means you have to leave the command line and go back later. Sometimes they don't bother with replacement. Like Cardfile. What replaced that? Zilch.

    Microsoft giveth (and chargeth) then taketh away. That's OK. There are other Operating Systems - lots of them free.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 24, 2017
  5. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Speaking of, though, don't newer versions of Windows have a bash shell? If so, that's a great trade for a DOS box, especially one where key features are deprecated.
     
  6. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  7. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    I've used MS Paint since the Windows 3.1 days, but I ended up switching to SnagIt from TechSmith, which a theoretically just a screen capture tool, but includes a great editor that's so easy to use that I set it as my default image editor. Worth every cent.
     
  8. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  9. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Yes - but it's an add-on, not a replacement for the venerable command line interface. Not for everyday users.

    A quote: "This won’t work with server software, and it won’t work with graphical software. It’s intended for developers who want to run Linux command-line utilities on Windows. These applications get access to the Windows file system, but you can’t use Bash commands to automate normal Windows programs, or launch Bash commands from the standard Windows command-line. They get access to the same Windows file system, but that’s it."

    (From howtogeek.com)

    As for me, if I want to run Linux command-line utilities, I'll run 'em on Linux. Linux can "see" my Windows files just fine, if it needs to. I have about 40 different distros to choose from.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2017
  10. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    (1) "Microsoft isn't evil, they just make really crappy operating systems."
    (2) “If Microsoft ever does applications for Linux it means I've won.”


    From Linus Torvalds, originator of the Linux operating system. Maybe the bash shell for Windows will signal a start, Linus. Who knows?

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2017
  11. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Oh, yeah, that's less amazing.

    Fair enough. I actually switched from Linux to a Mac for my main machine not long ago, which was a real mental shift for me. So far no regrets.
     
  12. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    My son, who teaches a variety of computer-related subjects, did the same at home, 3 or 4 years back, when his last PC was on its deathbed. He has no regrets either. I believe Apple's OS-X operating system has Unix roots, BSD Unix to be precise (Berkeley System Distribution.) I have a Free-BSD distro that runs fine on Intel machines.

    I decided I would not buy any Apple device, after reading a bio. of the late Steve Jobs -and also reading up on the manufacturing facilities in Asia. They make fine devices, though, and I have nothing against people who do buy them. Good machines, but not for me.

    J.
     
    Last edited by a moderator: Jul 26, 2017
  13. Maniac Craniac

    Maniac Craniac Moderator Staff Member

    I've tried to be Linux-exclusive many times and each time I run into some major problem that is so much more easily handled by Windows that it was worth paying the money.

    Depending on the distro, Linux seems to be great for basic users who have no use for anything more than what comes out-of-the-box and advanced users who want command-line server programming stuff. For above-the-norm empowered PC users such as myself, it's equally constraining and overwhelming, depending on exactly what we're trying to do. :banghead:
     
  14. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, there's one thing you can't do with Windows - head on over to your favourite Internet site and get a completely different distro. :smile: I don't think I'll ever be "exclusive" with any one OS. I find that Linux and Windows systems are easily customized - adding software etc. is not usually a big problem for either. And there is plenty of free software for both systems. More than I could ever need. Some say Linux isn't quite "there" yet as far as professional programs for music, sound, video production etc. Anything I've wanted to do as an amateur has been supported just fine. I also have an "arts" edition of Ubuntu Linux that's just blow-away! Yes, occasionally drivers or printing can produce nightmares - but don't Windows users have those problems too?

    I'm glad there's a choice. And if I find a Linux distro that doesn't do what I want out of the box, usually I can head to the "Repo" and install what I need. Or get another distro with more bells and whistles. If it has too many, I can ignore some. Or I can go back to Windows and use it until I figure out a different solution. So many operating systems ... so little time. :smile:

    J.
     
  15. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Problems with drivers and printing? Well... no, they don't. And believe me, I don't want to praise Windows. But the truth is what it is.

    I'm very glad there's a choice as well. A Linux or BSD machine is not off the table for me again in the future.
     
  16. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    Well, no, Steve doesn't, you mean. There are tons of pages offering advice on printer / driver problems, particularly after upgrade to Windows 10. So SOMEBODY must need them. I've seen similar literature on other windows versions and upgrades, and quite a variety on IT forums. Over the years, I've experienced a couple of instances of these problems myself, as a user on networks - that were promptly fixed.

    True - I haven't really had anything significant on my home system. Maybe I will if I abandon Windows XP. (Not in the plan.)

    J.
     
  17. SteveFoerster

    SteveFoerster Resident Gadfly Staff Member

    Oh, Windows 10. Okay, that's fair, I avoided it altogether because of its reputation, so I wouldn't know if they've messed things up enough that that's become a common problem. It didn't used to be, though. Wow.

    True - I haven't really had anything significant on my home system. Maybe I will if I abandon Windows XP. (Not in the plan.)[/QUOTE]
    Windows XP isn't getting security updates anymore. No thanks.
     
  18. Johann

    Johann Well-Known Member

    I hear you. My Windows XP has never been to the Web - and will never go.

    J.
     
  19. Kizmet

    Kizmet Moderator

  20. decimon

    decimon Well-Known Member


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