A new year!

[antares]

I think they intend to cease providing security updates. You'll still be able to run the PC but there will be no more patches to address all the inevitable security holes that come to light in the OS. That said, Windows 10 onwards is defined by M$ as a "Service" rather than a traditional OS that we install, and as such it would not surprise me if they did remove the functionality remotely because such technology is already in place. I'm guessing that with the looming spectre of class action suits such a move would be suicidal. For now I reckon it will be business as usual, but my intention is to install Linux Mint if the push comes to the shove. I don't really have any positive words to say about the Redmond cash juggernaut.

[Deleted]

Jan 11, 2024 17:13:00 GMT -6 antares said:

I think they intend to cease providing security updates. You'll still be able to run the PC but there will be no more patches to address all the inevitable security holes that come to light in the OS. That said, Windows 10 onwards is defined by M$ as a "Service" rather than a traditional OS that we install, and as such it would not surprise me if they did remove the functionality remotely because such technology is already in place. I'm guessing that with the looming spectre of class action suits such a move would be suicidal. For now I reckon it will be business as usual, but my intention is to install Linux Mint if the push comes to the shove. I don't really have any positive words to say about the Redmond cash juggernaut.

I just spent the whole day switching the laptop over to Mint. It's OK. It seems to be working alright. But I think my HP is on its last legs. The Dell seems to be running things better.

 But MS was up to their trick on the HP. Seems they had a target on it. I had a real hard time running Linux from a USB drive. Turned out MS did not want me to install Linux on my computer. At least on the HP. This goes along with what I was reading how MS will start to shut down put dated computers. My HP is only 12 to 15 years old. LOL!

The way things are looking for me, I'll have to wait another 2 years before I can try and get a new laptop.

 The Mac that I would like to have is around $2700. I don't know if I want to invest into that. I know I don't want another MS computer. I did look at a laptop with Linux mint on them/ They started at $1000 and went up! WOW! A computer that comes with a FREE OP system. Heck, the MS 11s you can get doe around $250. I am thinking of getting one, then put Linux on it. I found an MS 11 laptop running an 8 core one terabyte hard drive and I forgot how much memory. It was the same computer they wanted $1200 running Linux. What does that tell ya?

[antares]

With old hardware it pays to read up first rather than just download the latest version from the repositry. Even then, I tried mint on an IBM X60 and it wouldn't play ball with the wireless card. The online kludges were so persnikketty and overblown that I just bought another better recognised wireless card from eBay. Fixed- but I still had to use version 18 of Mint. It's a flippin' good OS. I read somewhere that Bill's Bilge may morph across to using the Linux kernel, what barefaced cheek?

[Deleted]

Things are changing. 

 For a real shot time, I did have a 3rd Laptop. But it was so old, I could not get it to work at all with Linux. That surprised me. I tried and tried to get Linux to work on it. But it just would not run on that laptop. So I'll use the memory out of it for something else, and maybe the hard drive to store stuff on. The rest will go in the trash.

 The two laptops I have are old, but I did get them to work, and they are doing just fine. Now on the HP I did have to download the drivers for the Wi-Fi. On the Dell, there were no issues. But I did have to hard-wire both for the internet until everything updated. This is with Mint.

 But POP OS system 76 there were no issues at all installing it. I didn't even have to hard-wire the computers first. The POP OS recognized all hardware right off the bat. Now, POP is a little bit harder to use than Mint. With POP, one still needs to know how to use the command prompts to download things.

 Lime is a little more user-friendly. But it still helps to know how to use the commands.

 I am using my HP at this moment and things are going well at the moment. LOL! This is my second time using Lime. Been using POP. Both are good Linux OP systems. The only downfall that Linux has some old, out dated games on it. I like Chess and Checkers. And so far Linux has some old things for that, that are from the Dos days.

That is one thing I liked about MS, they have some cool board games. But, I'll find something else to do with games. It's not a dealbreaker.

[Deleted]

Hey Steve!

 Think I have found the Linux for me! I used it a lot of years ago, but man they have made some huge improvements to it. It's called Debian.

Installed it on the Dell. It works! It is running better than anything I have tried so far.

 It can read my iPhone and the iPhone can read it with no issues at all! I tried most of the day to get Mint to do that and still can't them to talk to each other.

But the Dell is linking this OP system. So far it's an easy OP system to use. I think most people would like it. I still have a couple of things I want to change to make it my own, but So far I am liking it a lot!

 We will see how things go in another week or two. I am sure there will be some bugs show up. They all have their little things about them. Going to use the Dell for the next few days and if it does well, I think I am going to put it on the HP. The graphics are killer!

 It took all of 20 min to install and another 10 min to get the updates. Read my Wi-Fi right out of the box! It was so easy to install.

 You may want to look into it. Lots of good reviews.

[dnic]

Well I bit the bullet and got the screen replaced on my MacBook. As long as it's running I don't even get my m$ dell out of the the drawer. But I'm definitely on board to use the Linux if I ever need that one.

[antares]

Hey Eddie, DebIan (literally Deborah and Ian.) Debian was one of the very few completely open source distros. That is to say that it's mantra is or was "absolutely no proprietry code". What that implies is that if any hardware needs proprietry code / drivers to work, it will never ship with the .iso, and yoy're only recourse is to build your own kernel on top. Something in the dark recesses of my memory recalls that it is based more on BSD (aka FreeBSD) than the Linux kernel, but that's splitting hairs really. Good choice though. My own preference would be for SlackWare, but you do need to get your fingers dirty with Slack.

[antares]

Jan 12, 2024 19:06:11 GMT -6 dnic said:

Well I bit the bullet and got the screen replaced on my MacBook. As long as it's running I don't even get my m$ dell out of the the drawer. But I'm definitely on board to use the Linux if I ever need that one.

Ouch! ;<D

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2024 3:32:25 GMT -6 antares said:

Hey Eddie, DebIan (literally Deborah and Ian.) Debian was one of the very few completely open source distros. That is to say that it's mantra is or was "absolutely no proprietry code". What that implies is that if any hardware needs proprietry code / drivers to work, it will never ship with the .iso, and yoy're only recourse is to build your own kernel on top. Something in the dark recesses of my memory recalls that it is based more on BSD (aka FreeBSD) than the Linux kernel, but that's splitting hairs really. Good choice though. My own preference would be for SlackWare, but you do need to get your fingers dirty with Slack.

I think that Debian is not the same as Deblan. Who is Eddie?

  All I know is it works better than all the ones I have tried out to date.  Now, I do like POP and Lime a lot. But Debian was so easy to install. It made my Dell better than new! It takes a lot to impress me these days. That is what Debian did to me. At least it and my iPhone can communicate to each other like my Mac and iPhone can. That for me is a huge plus!

 Dane, I am glad you got your Max fixed. Lot less money in having it fixed than buying another mac. If you ever want to play around with Linux, Go to Linux.org there they have a list of the most popular Linux OP systems. You will need to make a USB ISO. Make sure that the Bios in the computer is set up to read the USB ISO. If you cannot get into the Bios, then you will need to fix it so you can. I can help you do that is needed. Had to do that on the HP.

 This is day two with Debian. Everything is working well. It is a fast OP system. It improved the graphics in the Dell by a lot! It all is so clean and sharp looking. Just glad I decided to get it a try. Didn't care for it years ago. But now that has all changed.

 

[antares]

Yeah that elusive guy.

I have a fork of Debian (Bullseye I think?) running on a digital modes hotspot here- a Raspberry Pi "hat" using a Raspberry Pi Zero. It's solid as a rock.

That wasn't DebLan it was DebIan as in Deborah and Ian, as in the couple who started Debian back in the day. I just upper-cased the "i" to illustrate the etymology- they concatenated two proper nouns abbreviating the first.

[dnic]

Thanks for the offer Chaz. If I ever go down that road it will all be GREEK to me.

[Deleted]

Jan 13, 2024 10:46:15 GMT -6 dnic said:

Thanks for the offer, Chaz. If I ever go down that road, it will all be GREEK to me.

It's not all that hard to do. Sometimes it can get involved. But with my Dell, everything went smooth.

 But I just found out the Debian won't work with the HP. At least, the Wi-Fi won't work. It does not work with HP Wi-Fi that is built in. I can hard-wire it and works fine. So I left the HP running Lime. There are 2 versions of lime. The one I am using is Debian based. They say it works the best for older laptops.

 I did try the updates to see if they would update things. A lot of times in updating the OP, it will find the driver needed. But this time it didn't. ON the HP that is. It is getting too old I guess. Maybe next year 2025 I will get a new laptop or get an iPad.

 But if you want, you can always send me your laptop and I could set it up for ya. I won't charge you anything. Let me know I am here to help.

 

[antares]

Hey Dusty, why not do as I did- just buy another blue chip brand of WiFi card? It cost me about 6-7 bucks on evilbay and it was so much easier than tracking down drivers for stupid proprietry HP junk.

[Deleted]

Jan 14, 2024 3:33:41 GMT -6 antares said:

Hey Dusty, why not do as I did- just buy another blue chip brand of WiFi card? It cost me about 6-7 bucks on evilbay and it was so much easier than tracking down drivers for stupid proprietry HP junk.

I did get the Wi-Fi to work. But I was going to do that. Buy a WI-FI USB card for the laptop, HP.

  But I do think the HP is getting to where it is tired. It won't be long before it quits on me. It keeps getting slower and slower to load things. Whereas the Dell works so much faster. Now, the Dell and the HP have the same SSD hard drives and memory in them. 

  But I have used the Dell so much the lettering on the keys have rubbed off so it's a chore typing on it and I have to use a wireless mouse on it because the scroll pad has quit working on it. LOL!

 Back on the HP, now the Bluetooth stopped working on it. All that means is I cannot use by Bluetooth headset I have. They are super nice! I do have a USB headset, but they don't sound as good as my Bluetooth set. Plus the HP, the top sounding the keyboard has started to crack.

 I will need to face it, I think I have gotten my moneys worth out of my two laptops. It's time for something new or newer. Been looking at some used ones, but people think they are worth as much as new.

 I also found out anything you buy from Amazon or eBay, you have to be careful that you aren't getting something that someone has refurbished, that they are trying to sell as new. There are a lot of those.

 I looked up, Tiger Direct. I used to buy a lot of computer parts from them. But they are no more. New egg is not what they used to be as well. Both companies used to sell computers without and OP system installed. But NO, New egg is selling old Windows 10 laptops under the title of no OP system.   

  

 They are only about $100.00 cheaper than ones with w11 in it. They do sell ones with Linux installed, but they are the same price as Amazon and start around $1100.00 and go up from there. I can get the laptops with W11 in them for $500.00 or less. So I think that is what I'll do is get an W11 computer and put Linux in it. I would have the same computer as the one with Linux in it that they are asking a lot more money for. But I wonder why the Linux computers are so much more? Linux is free, whereas Windows is not. Hum. Used to be the other way around. Computers with Linux on them sold for a lot less than MS computers.

 Looks like my dream of owning a MacBook Pro will not happen. I can't afford them. The one I want after upgrades is right at $2700.00 It would be the last laptop I would ever own. I thought it would be nice to have a laptop that I could also use to make my videos with and have it communicate with my iPhone and Mini Mac M2 computer. But after another year or two or even less I'll probably stop making videos. After all, I'll be 70 soon and need to start looking at other things in my life. Been disappointed with the videos I have made, plus tired of some out there that find the need to put not only me down but others. Why is it there seems to be so many people bent on being mean to others?

 Well, I'll keep on limping along with my two laptops for now. Oh, I also now have this problem with the HP that if I close the lid and open it, it turns off the Wi-Fi. I have to restart the computer to get it to turn back on. It will not turn back on by going into setting. Another thing I have been dealing with on the HP. LOL!

[dnic]

Jan 13, 2024 11:17:27 GMT -6 @stealthguitar said:

Jan 13, 2024 10:46:15 GMT -6 dnic said:

Thanks for the offer, Chaz. If I ever go down that road, it will all be GREEK to me.

It's not all that hard to do. Sometimes it can get involved. But with my Dell, everything went smooth.

 But I just found out the Debian won't work with the HP. At least, the Wi-Fi won't work. It does not work with HP Wi-Fi that is built in. I can hard-wire it and works fine. So I left the HP running Lime. There are 2 versions of lime. The one I am using is Debian based. They say it works the best for older laptops.

 I did try the updates to see if they would update things. A lot of times in updating the OP, it will find the driver needed. But this time it didn't. ON the HP that is. It is getting too old I guess. Maybe next year 2025 I will get a new laptop or get an iPad.

 But if you want, you can always send me your laptop and I could set it up for ya. I won't charge you anything. Let me know I am here to help.

 

Thanks a lot Chaz. Not making any moves on the Dell at this time.