A pile of crap code by any other name or marketing spin is still a pile of crap code 
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I fondly (not really) remember the introduction of Windows that was but a fancy interface to dos with a zillion bugs thrown in for free.
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âMicrosoft is just great fodder for bad as well as good jokesâŠâ
TOO true! As my favourite email tagline says:
âMac OS is graphic proof that it is easier to make Unix pretty, than it is to make Windows secure and stable.â
Sadly, pointing out Microsoftâs failures and flaws is like shooting fish in a barrel. TOO easy!
âI fondly (not really) remember the introduction of Windows that was but a fancy interface to MS-DOS with a zillion bugs thrown in for free.â
Then we had Windows 2000 with 65,000 (odd) reported bugs. Funnily enough, MS has never reported that number for any subsequent release of Windows!
Because as more and more users realise the basic flaws and privacy invasions of Windows 10, fewer people will use it!
Consider the (major) alternatives:
- Linux. Free and secure and MUCH less hungry on resources!
- Mac OS. Initially more expensive, due to superior hardware, and SO much easier to use!
- pen and paper; definitely the least cost and most reliable method available.
Assuming they realise these things and assuming they matter and assuming the ubiquity of Windows doesnât squash change and assuming that the devil you know know is not better than the devil you donât then you may be right. In the marketplace inertia matters more than raw technical merit.
The cost of Windows bundled with a new machine is small. From a business point of view the cost of hardware is fairly small compared to the whole package of hardware, OS, apps, training, user efficiency etc. Few business uses are performance limited and, other than games, almost no home uses are. Resource usage and superior hardware are marginal issues to most users (except gamers).
Usability is an issue for both home and business but it mainly comes from apps not the OS. The great bulk of people neither want nor need to get under the hood. Which OS (in the desktop context where we are now) supports the biggest pool of apps fighting for attention and user dollar?
I assume 3. is a joke.
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âIn the marketplace inertia matters more than raw technical merit.â
Sadly that seems to be the case. That is why most insurers offer a much better rate to NEW customers rather than those who merely click the RENEW button.
âThe cost of Windows bundled with a new machine is small.â
Even when this is the case, why should customers be forced to pay a premium for defective goods when a more capable, more solid, and more secure alternative is available for FREE?
âWhich OS (âŠ) supports the biggest pool of apps fighting for attention and user dollar?â
A misleading question. When the VAST majority of home users need email, text editing, and maybe spreadsheet capability, please explain what Linux does NOT provide?
Point #3 was only HALF joking. Many people can get by just fine with this very economical option!
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Every year the World celebrates World Backup Day. This year it was the 31st of March. To read the article at the site and to read why and how to backup go to:
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I hope that one does backups more than once a yearâŠwe do ours monthly if we havenât been doing muchâŠor more regularly of there is a trigger (such as an holiday where the information which is backed up us given to a family member to look afterâŠand just in case we need any of the back up documents).
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As a gamer, I cannot see myself leaving Windows any time soon. The options for games on other platforms (with the exception of consoles, which have terrible control systems) are extremely limited.
The cost of Windows 10 is effectively free, if you approach your acquisition in the right manner. The cost of alternatives is a whole lot of learning different ways of doing things - and most Linux distributions (i.e. all but Appleâs) will let the average user play with things of which they wot not.
Linux is not a solution, and as various hackers have identified over the years is not necessarily even a secure solution. Dare I point out the irony of that link?
Of course, if you are desperate for Linux you can always install the Windows Subsystem for Linux 
.
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Good point. With Mac OS you only need an external disc drive and it will backup your system forever with âTime Machineâ (qv).
Linux has many apps to do the same thing.
Windows requires you to do âmanualâ backups or PAY yet again for a backup program. Really?
The cost savings with Linux, and the time savings with Mac OS, blow Windows out of the water.
For most people, Windows just blows!
Windows backup software can schedule backups depending on user requirement. Third party software is either manual, or many also schedule.
I find (free) third party software backup more controllable in relation to what is backed up and how files are retrieved.
We use both (Windows regular scheduled full backup on an internal slave drive and third party manually about monthly on a connected external/removable drive for documents, email and settings only).
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No, not really. There are literally thousands of free backup programs for Windows, many of them very well known (link is to a DDG search for âfree backup softwareâ) and from popular software companies.
Yes you can go with Linux if you have the time - or you can go with Mac if you have the money. The reality is that if you want all the options you need to be on Windows.
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Windows schedules backup if you set it up and Windows encourages a user to set up backups & schedule, it has had backup software for many years even in Win 2.X (called Microsoft backup) & then in NT (called NTBackup). It is an internal program (now called Backup & Restore and was introduced as this in Win Vista) but you can also go âAfter marketâ for free or paid versions of other backup software which also offer to backup to a schedule. Thereâs also File History built into Windows which will backup user data when it is changed.
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Thank you for your OPINION, as opposed to reality. The fact is that I donât want to pay for all the options required by Windows, such as anti-Virus, anti-Malware, system cleanup utilities, disc defragmenters, backup programs et al, let alone suffer the performance hit they create, on top of the lousy performance of Windows itself. (Donât believe me? Try Linux on the same hardware and see the difference! It takes me over four minutes to boot Windows 10 to a usable state, whereas Ubuntu Linux is up in just over one minute on the same hardware. Other versions are faster. Shutdown is even more of a stark contrast.)
Windows, with all its additional costs, failures and security problems, is simply not worth it, even if you ignore the hidden cost of Windows included in the PC price (the only reason it is so ubiquitous). God forbid you have to pay the retail price of Windows ($199 from Harvey Norman) to install it on your hardware!
I largely moved over to Linux about 16 years ago, having discovered its ease of use, vastly better performance, plus inherent security and reliability, not to mention its dramatically lower cost of ownership, with a vast array of apps available at no cost.
A work colleague finally convinced me to try a Mac; I had always been a bit gun-shy, as it looked so different and confronting. I was amazed at how much simpler it is to use on every level. So now I have a Mac for everyday use; it is so nice to come home to after having to wrestle with Windows at work. Also an Ubuntu Linux machine as my second PC. It has a Windows partition which is hardly ever used, and is a royal pain by comparison getting it to work when it is fired up.
Mac OS is graphic proof that it is easier to make Unix look pretty, than it is to make Windows secure and stable.
Windows (Microsoft) has these bundled with Windows OS, there are also freefull version, free limited version or paid full version option available from other software (third party) vendors.
Like any software for any operating platform (Apple OS, Windows OS, Google OS, Linux etc), each version has different options, effectiveness and user functionality/friendliness
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Apple products also suffer from Malware just not as much as Windows which has a bigger user base so a larger target plus there is a bit better security offered from the Apple software but it isnât perfect. This is also reflected in Linux which has the same roots as Apple ie UNIX:
âIs antivirus software available for Linux?
Yes. Plenty. While developers will play down the chances of an attack, and are right in many ways, it never hurts to be careful.
Some of the perennial favourites on Linux are ClamAV, Comodo, and Sophos. All are free and offer enhanced protection for your system with a minimal impact on performance.â
Windows supplies a built in defragmentation routine that is scheduled normally to run weekly (now called Optimize) that if you have an SSD actually runs the TRIM command rather than a defrag. Absolutely free and as part of the Operating system.
Does Apple need defrag/TRIM sure does just it is built in like in Windows:
âMac do not need to be defragmented because the file system (initially HFS+ and more recently APFS) prevents fragmentation and automatically defrags files if necessary - if the file has more than eight fragments, or is smaller than 20MB, it will be automatically defragged.â TRIM is enabled by default for SSDs that come with a machine, however if you add an SSD or replace a faulty one then you need to manually enable TRIM for that drive, it isnât automatic.
A bit of a contradiction in the quote above that it doesnât need to be defragged because it is defragged, however I think they meant to say it is done automatically rather than manually but Windows if allowed will also do it automatically. This is also run at an OS level in Win rather than a File System level but is not really different in outcome. TRIM though is run at an OS level in all OSes as distinct from defrag.
Again the Backup programs, Windows has them for built in and free as does Apple and Linux (rsync).
Does Linux run faster, sure does and is much less hungry for system resources than Win, but it isnât as supportive of as many games as Windows, it doesnât have as much commercial Business Software ported to it as is natively developed for Windows (that is written for Win). I also add that not all Linux distros are free to use just most are.
Basically it is a choice to use whatever you want just a user must realise that each have their strengths and they all have weaknesses, none are perfect.
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Linux licensing requires that it distributed for free (or when it was on disc, for no more than the cost of materials/distribution). Distro makers earn their keep either by bundling particular software/tools, or in support. Red Hat went down the support/enterprise path over a decade ago - if not two.
There are also some security problems with Linux - as with all modern operating systems including MacOS and Windows.
And so on. You then need to rely upon your distro provider to fix the problem and provide you with the fix.
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Two answers on the Unbuntu forums about the âfreeâ cost of Linux:
âYou are not allowed to sell a Linux distribution.
Incorrect. You can sell Free Software as long as you comply with the terms of the license (so, providing source code for free/the cost of the physical media for GPLâd software).â
&
"You can sell Linux, and open source applications.
Yes, âsellâ.
The thing is, how well are you going to sell, or how happy will your customers be, when they find out they can get it for free elsewhere? That is why 99% of open source software is given out at no cost, plus to tap into the open source developer network you need to be able to let them see the code and work with it.
Go ahead, download Red Hat, itâs free. Of course you have to remove the trademarks and other things and then recompile it back into a distribution. Just because CentOS has a dozen developers doing essentially that with minimum âmucky-muckingâ so as to keep it 100% compatible, shouldnât shy you away from doing it yourself. Heck, maybe youâll get good enough to finish it by the time the next version comes out!
Oracle found this out the hard way with Unbreakable Linux, which if they do too much to it then it becomes a fork of RHEL and they are on their own to rebuild it with their tweaks at every release.
Red Hat makes their Linux money off of support subscriptions. You pay for being supported for the year(s), and in turn you get the RHEL upgrades option included.
JBoss, MySQL and other open source applications can make their money off of dual-licensing. This way a proprietary or non-open source product can include MySQL or other application bits without having to release it under the open source license.
Plug-ins, on the other hand, do not necessarily have to be released under the GPL even if what they are plugging into is open source. Fluendo codecs plug into GStreamer, which is open source, yet they do not have to release it as open source. Monodevelop has MonoTouch, which allows for programming applications in Mono fro the pre-4.0 iPhone. Monodevelop and Mono are open source, but MonoTouch is a paid-for plugin.
Eclipse is open source, but I believe a number of businesses build pay-for plugins for specific tasks, languages, etc. Iâm not sure if Joomlaâs open source, but I know they have a large number of pay-for modules.
So yes, you can sell open source. The question is whoâs buying."
The GPL does not preclude selling by you, but you must make the Open Source code freely available (cost of media is allowed) to those who request it. You will notice a lot of router/modems will have as terms of their use that they will supply the open source code they used if a person requests it. Anything they add that is proprietary they can charge for and do not have to supply on request.
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Chromium is open source. It is also used as the basis for a lot of web browsers, including (soon) Microsoft Edge. Being secure and standards-compliant is difficult when youâre building a browser, and since Google has done the hard work a lot of other entities are using it as the basis for their own browsers. Of course, Chromium is not something you can just fire up as a web browser - it is merely the engine under the surface, hence the need for development on top.
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