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Alternatives Fow Windows Software

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    Here are some good alternatives to default and popular Windows "Crap-ware".

    Replace Crap-ware

    <p>Karen Brad</p>
      April 30, 2008 10:06 PM BST
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  • alternative:

    don't use windows.

    my macbook pro laptop had a demo of office and a demo of iWork, both vet simple to get rid of.

    no other preloaded 'trials'

    it handles pdf files without acrobat 'out of the box', including the ability to save anything as a pdf (via a supplied printer driver)

    open office works pretty well too.

    also the whole 'it just works', e.g. setting the wifi up to minutes, as opposed to my windows XP machine which routinely forgets the wifi key, and makes entering it a royal pain.

    also no anti virus stuff etc.

    linux works about as well.
    Claire Rand email : [email protected] Yahoo : clair_rand -- Its not so much that I have issues as the case that I have a subscription... [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AuntIsobels[/url]
      May 2, 2008 2:45 PM BST
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  • I always get a kick out of those that knock Microsoft Windows. The majority seem to be anti big company or the fact Gates has made billions as if Apple and Steve Jobs are not, lol. Top that off with the biggest complainers are computer nerds that push things to the limit and don't have anything better to do except complain or people who paid too much for an Apple Mac and have to justify it by believing it is better when all they do is surf the internet and send email.

    I have 6 computers going at my house, 5 XP professionals and 1 Vista. I have never had any issues hooking up to wifi. There are some people even when their hands are held can't seem to comprehend instructions and make more out of it than it really is. As for the Adobe issue, Adobe sucks and is slow to update their software when windows changes. Adobe is the problem, not Microsoft.

    As for the virus stuff, that is because hardly anyone uses MACs! The hackers want to be noticed and since hardly anyone uses Macs, why bother. The next issue on Macs is that everything is proprietary and costs more than it should. Face it, Apple screwed up by controling everything in the beginning and people want to say MS monopolizes stuff, geez.

    Hugs,
    Marsha, the closet geek
      May 2, 2008 9:36 PM BST
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  • I always get a kick out of those that knock Microsoft Windows.
    not knocking it for the hell of it, windows had made computers what they are today, sadly its not all good, but generally its been progress

    The majority seem to be anti big company or the fact Gates has made billions as if Apple and Steve Jobs are not, lol.
    this may well be a point, however consider this.. I have over various years god so fed up of windows that I spent twice what I needed to in order to avoid it, being called a criminal by the 'genuine advantage' malware was the last straw

    Top that off with the biggest complainers are computer nerds that push things to the limit and don't have anything better to do except complain or people who paid too much for an Apple Mac and have to justify it by believing it is better when all they do is surf the internet and send email.


    the mac is more expensive to buy, but cheaper to own.. how much does upgrading to vista cost??? I can get OS X for under £90, full version. yes linux is pushed by nerds, and undoubtedly is not ready for the mainstream, it is cheap however. windows could be thought of as a middle ground in many ways. the mac is a better machine, windows generally has better software, pay your money etc.

    I have 6 computers going at my house, 5 XP professionals and 1 Vista. I have never had any issues hooking up to wifi.


    I doff my cap to a superior brain, however having to spend an hour to install 'plug and play' devices, and having it forget all the settings for each reboot is just irritating. btw this is with the drivers that came with it, I've more of less got it sorted now, thankfully I have a clue how to drive msconfig... glad you have yours working though. this mac required me to click an icon on the menu bar, select the wifi network i wanted froma list and drop the security key in, everything else was automatic. I've seen it done that fast on windows, I guess it depends who makes the hardware. vista was easier to setup though, so its progress to a degree

    There are some people even when their hands are held can't seem to comprehend instructions and make more out of it than it really is.
    this is very true, but this technology is sold as being easy to use... umm yeah right, I spent about 6 hours a month supporting my windows machine, rebooting, spyware scans etc. reinstalling software that some how or other died. the mac has had less than that in a year. not all microsofts fault I'll grant you, indeed a windows machine with *just* microsoft stuff on it generally runs well

    As for the Adobe issue, Adobe sucks and is slow to update their software when windows changes. Adobe is the problem, not Microsoft.
    adobe sucks on the mac too.

    As for the virus stuff, that is because hardly anyone uses MACs! The hackers want to be noticed and since hardly anyone uses Macs, why bother.
    this always makes me laugh, consider linux (OS X is a sort of linux, well close enough for this anyway) and of course there are no websites run by servers on linux at all.. so no target there then.. actually if windows software was written to run as a limited user windows wouldn't have half the security issues they have.

    besides the mac is close to 3%-4% of the market according to the last figures I saw, odd there are *no* viruses in the wild for them, i.d expect fewer than windows for sure. but of course the kudos to bring the mac community down?? someone would go for it if it was easy. not saying macs are un crackable, nothing it, but they are much more secure by design.

    The next issue on Macs is that everything is proprietary and costs more than it should. Face it, Apple screwed up by controling everything in the beginning and people want to say MS monopolizes stuff, geez.


    everything costs more? well the hardware is expensive I'll grant you, but its cheaper to run (OS updates cost a hell of a lot less, and don't always need a new machine) over time they probably still cost more, but less than you may think.

    Apple have a very rough record over the years, they have done many odd things.

    overall depends what you want to do.

    browse the web & send email? get a cheap machine with linux for maybe under £100
    graphics work: mac every time
    office work: windows based PC
    games: get a console

    its not windos that is the problem, well the security issues are, but the badly written rubbish that runs on it.

    oh and being that open to spyware/malware yeah whatever.

    I dropped windows as a main machine over a year ago, not looked back.
    Claire Rand email : [email protected] Yahoo : clair_rand -- Its not so much that I have issues as the case that I have a subscription... [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AuntIsobels[/url]
      May 2, 2008 9:59 PM BST
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  • PAY???

    Linux, Firefox, OpenOffice et al. Plenty of easily installed enhancements, the list goes on.

    And at least one major manufacturer is supplying machines with Linux installed as an option.

    It's got to be the way to go, open source with a huge number of people keeping it properly sorted.

    Ok, I admit do have dual-boot with XP for convenience, some things just won't work otherwise, but I can do almost anything I want to, quickly, safely and FREE !!! (I do like that last word...).
    Sue. X Psychiatrists are like the eunuch in the harem. They know what transvestism is, they can describe it, they can demonstrate it, but they cant actually explain it!
      May 2, 2008 11:07 PM BST
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  • open office is fine for some things, but consider this:

    how many offices are basically glued together by macros in excel spreadsheets and truly horrible 'access' databases?

    until they can allow all that junk, not to mention the thousands of custom written applications out there to run without an issue windows is safe.

    of course this is not to say microsoft will sell more copies, people will just stick with XP, or older, since it 'works' and changing to something newer breaks something.

    XP is actually pretty good now, it used to be a turkey, but they more or less got it right with sp2. vistas is a lame duck, what exactly is the key selling point over XP again? I've missed that bit.

    for the record i have used a linux box at home for a long time till i got my mac as the backup machine/firewall. its in the loft now unused. it was a very good machine, only got rebooted after six months due to a power cut, the only other time i powered it down was for a ram upgrade, 64meg was cramping its style, needed an upgrade to act as a database server.

    ho hum.
    Claire Rand email : [email protected] Yahoo : clair_rand -- Its not so much that I have issues as the case that I have a subscription... [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AuntIsobels[/url]
      May 2, 2008 11:17 PM BST
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  • Claire, I hope you don't think I was attacking you, I was really just attacking Apple for their business practices. LOL, anyone want an overpriced Iphone or Ipod to go with their Mac?

    I think many of windows problems are because of the brains attached to the fingers stroking the keys. If MS was allowed to bundle a full featured security software with windows that would make a huge dent in security issues. But because of the wonderful EU suit MS can't bundle add-ins like that so instead package with trial versions now. The problem is your average user is an idiot when it comes to security and does not maintain it making windows an easy security target. I do believe MS makes a dumbed down version for the EU, maybe that is the problem.

    I use an online security suite and rarely check for spyware. last time I did I still had zero so how you spend 6 hours a month is beyond me when i maybe check once or twice a year, get it started and walk away.

    BTW, in your other post you mentioned MS "Access" database software. I have run my business with Access for 13 yrs and love it. I have 20+ tables that relate and work together flawlessly so someone would be hard pressed to ever get me to change.

    Most importantly, I have no problem accessing the Trannyweb site.

    Hugs,
    Marsha
      May 3, 2008 12:45 AM BST
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  • not in the least...

    got an ipod to go with the mac, actually two of them. won't touch the iphone with a long pole though.. you want me to buy the phone AND have a contract.. ummm no.

    MS don't have to bundle a security program with windows, just close the loopholes, fix the bugs, and generally remove the need for them.

    leave security progs to filter emails for spam etc.

    the six hours a month was time spent trying to keep a two year old windows install going, this was not a naff machine either, nor a preinstalled crapware filled version. just time taken to run scans, time i'd loose as the auto update feature decided it needed to reboot so it did.. hmm.. a bit of a choice would have been nice there, specially when you have a program running in the background.

    ended up blocking the auto updates thing at my router, simply turning it off didn't help much.

    also removing the crap that got through, the WGA one took a while but its dead now, things looked up when i basically nuked internet exploiter and outlook. i dare say someone thought letting them run with full access to overwrite files was a good idea..

    i wrote a database for my previous employer, a simple import routine took 18+ hours, processing about 10,000 rows of data froma text file into a table, and having to check to see what needed updating/inserting for each row, error checking etc.

    replaced it with a reasonably small C++ routine eventually (after a fight with admin) that ran in about 10 mins. access is very nice, and powerful but its a mess when abused.

    in some ways there is little to touch excel, but in other ways its a royal pain. can't have two spreadsheets with the same name in different places open at once wtf? and whats going on with the clipboard??

    word is ok, but it should be merged with publisher and it would be better. powerpoint.. don't even get me started.. 'keynote' blows it away, if only other people could read the files... (hence i'm stuck with PP)

    T-web works fine, always been able to get into the site with firefox/konqueror just the chat room that gives trouble sometimes. don't get me started ont he sites HTML code, or frontpage either.. i'll start foaming at the mouth.

    oh and my db prog had three back end data storage files, total size close on 3GB, i wrote a front end in vb.net eventually (a very nice program, xcode isn't even close) which worked way better than access ever could. close on 60 or so tables, gave up on queries, let vb handle all that dynamically.

    back to security, the average users intelligence may well be an issue.. but why did MS not take that into account? linux does, the thick can't use it.. safe. the mac however is a dream to use generally (its not perfect) but the security stuff doesn;t get in the way either.
    Claire Rand email : [email protected] Yahoo : clair_rand -- Its not so much that I have issues as the case that I have a subscription... [url]http://groups.yahoo.com/group/AuntIsobels[/url]
      May 3, 2008 2:13 AM BST
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  • Hi All,
    Actually, much like my real life, I am a trans platform computer user. Guess the trans label goes beyond my gender identity.

    I'm in the industry and have XP, Vista, Mac OSX 10.5, Sun Solaris and Linux systems at home. I use them to do research on all env, as my client base uses a mixture of systems. I tend to use the mac's at home and Microsoft or unix oriented stuff at work. It's kind of funny though - my macbook runs Vista much faster than my company issued laptop.

    I move files back and forth between the mac and PC environments quite a bit, as my macs have high end graphic and sound editing software which the results I later include in my presentation material on the PC. I did try some of the open software office packages, but didn't have quite the same success in transferring work between the different platforms.

    So this girl doesn't really have a platform preference (except for maybe 3-4" cute platform shoes). At least we have choices.

    Hugz,
    MichelleLynn
      May 10, 2008 1:48 AM BST
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