[doslover]

waldojim, on 02 December 2012 - 10:20 AM, said:

First, Siri doesn't work well enough for anything longer than a few sentences
Second, schools are relying heavily on PC's for typed up reports. Writing a 1,000 word essay on an ipad would be a miserable experience.

I wasn't suggesting that SIRI should be used for dictation of long reports, but it great for short forum posts and email. I also like the fact that I can just push the ON button on the iPad and ask SIRI a question like what was the score of the Alabama game, and actually get a good answer. Anyway, if I were to give a kid a serious laptop computer, then it would be a Mac anyways. Windows PCs suck in so many ways, and the only reason I use them is that I've got decades invested in them, including DOS software that I wrote that will run in a DOS box in Windows. My PCs are constantly running slowly due to virus scans and firewall programs, updates, and long boot up and shutdown times. And then there is the registry corruption and fragmentation problem that doesn't exist with Apple products. When my PCs die, I will no doubt migrate to Macs.

[LiveBrianD]

Siri is a gimmick IMO, and if I had an iPhone I would probably forget about it quickly. And as someone who is currently in high school, I can say that you want to actually have Microsoft office (or libre) for assignments.

Also, Windows does not suck. Show me a Mac laptop for the sane price as the average for laptops. (around $500) Giving a kid a $1000+ computer isn't a great idea IMO either.

Needless to say, my $400 x120e does far more than your iPad mini could ever dream of, and is a lot better for school purposes.

This post has been edited by LiveBrianD: 02 December 2012 - 12:14 PM

[waldojim]

doslover, on 02 December 2012 - 10:57 AM, said:

I wasn't suggesting that SIRI should be used for dictation of long reports, but it great for short forum posts and email. I also like the fact that I can just push the ON button on the iPad and ask SIRI a question like what was the score of the Alabama game, and actually get a good answer. Anyway, if I were to give a kid a serious laptop computer, then it would be a Mac anyways. Windows PCs suck in so many ways, and the only reason I use them is that I've got decades invested in them, including DOS software that I wrote that will run in a DOS box in Windows. My PCs are constantly running slowly due to virus scans and firewall programs, updates, and long boot up and shutdown times. And then there is the registry corruption and fragmentation problem that doesn't exist with Apple products. When my PCs die, I will no doubt migrate to Macs.

Giving a kid a Mac is like saying "First, I don't trust you in the slightest, and I don't really want you to learn usable skills for work either." Sorry, but it's true. Windows drives the workforce, it is also easy enough to use that children around the world learn quickly. If you are having VIRUS problems, you really need to look at YOUR usage. There are too many people out there that DON'T run anti-virus, and never seem to get infected... myself included. A decent hardware firewall, paired with intelligent surfing habits (IE: Don't download porn from screwy sites) result in a happy PC.

As for long boot times, apparently you have never touched Windows 8.

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 02 December 2012 - 12:13 PM, said:

Siri is a gimmick IMO, and if I had an iPhone I would probably forget about it quickly. And as someone who is currently in high school, I can say that you want to actually have Microsoft office (or libre) for assignments.

Also, Windows does not suck. Show me a Mac laptop for the sane price as the average for laptops. (around $500) Giving a kid a $1000+ computer isn't a great idea IMO either.

Needless to say, my $400 x120e does far more than your iPad mini could ever dream of, and is a lot better for school purposes.

OK, so Apple doesn't like to play in the ultra-cheap POS market, so what? That says nothing about the machines, other than Apple doesn't deal in poor-quality products.

[LiveBrianD]

But they also don't play in the cheap, but quality market. There are LOTS of good machines for $400-500. As I've said, my x120e is a nice machine, and it was $400.

[doslover]

waldojim, on 02 December 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:

Giving a kid a Mac is like saying "First, I don't trust you in the slightest, and I don't really want you to learn usable skills for work either." Sorry, but it's true. Windows drives the workforce, it is also easy enough to use that children around the world learn quickly. If you are having VIRUS problems, you really need to look at YOUR usage. There are too many people out there that DON'T run anti-virus, and never seem to get infected... myself included. A decent hardware firewall, paired with intelligent surfing habits (IE: Don't download porn from screwy sites) result in a happy PC.

As for long boot times, apparently you have never touched Windows 8.

Windows in the workforce is not Windows 8, and in many cases not even Win 7 or Vista, but XP Pro. My old company from which I retired 4 years ago is still using XP Pro in the office and all the sales force use MacBooks. As to anti-virus, office computers automatically load antivirus software and do daily scans whether you want them to or not. My old office PC was utterly useless for the first half hour after it was turned on in the morning as all the security software slowed it to a crawl. Now, as to my personal home computer, it's a PC laptop with Win 7 which works fine, especially now that I've replaced that POS IE browser with Google Chrome, and I have turned off Windows Defender from doing daily security scans to speed things up. Why on heaven's earth would I want to try Win 8 ? It's a tablet OS, right, and my tablet is the iPad mini, which does most of what I need and can do it anywhere there's a WiFi connection.

This post has been edited by doslover: 02 December 2012 - 03:22 PM

[waldojim]

LiveBrianD, on 02 December 2012 - 03:15 PM, said:

But they also don't play in the cheap, but quality market. There are LOTS of good machines for $400-500. As I've said, my x120e is a nice machine, and it was $400.

They don't do cheap. The x120e sacrifices quality (in the display), and performance. The performance hit is enormous compared to the MBA, and is using a CPU that Apple won't touch as well. There are reasons for everything.

[waldojim]

doslover, on 02 December 2012 - 03:20 PM, said:

waldojim, on 02 December 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:

Giving a kid a Mac is like saying "First, I don't trust you in the slightest, and I don't really want you to learn usable skills for work either." Sorry, but it's true. Windows drives the workforce, it is also easy enough to use that children around the world learn quickly. If you are having VIRUS problems, you really need to look at YOUR usage. There are too many people out there that DON'T run anti-virus, and never seem to get infected... myself included. A decent hardware firewall, paired with intelligent surfing habits (IE: Don't download porn from screwy sites) result in a happy PC.

As for long boot times, apparently you have never touched Windows 8.

Windows in the workforce is not Windows 8, and in many cases not even Win 7 or Vista, but XP Pro. My old company from which I retired 4 years ago is still using XP Pro in the office and all the sales force use MacBooks. As to anti-virus, office computers automatically load antivirus software and do daily scans whether you want them to or not. My old office PC was utterly useless for the first half hour after it was turned on in the morning as all the security software slowed it to a crawl. Now, as to my personal home computer, it's a PC laptop with Win 7 which works fine, especially now that I've replaced that POS IE browser with Google Chrome, and I have turned of Windows Defender from doing daily security scans to speed things up. Why on heaven's earth would I want to try Win 8 ? It's a table OS, right, and my tablet is the iPad mini, which does most of what I need and can dot it anywhere there's a WiFi connection.

XP is being removed from the workforce for good reason - because of the lack of updates. Companies sticking with XP do nothing but hurt themselves. You talk about lack of security, then use a 10 year old OS as your crutch? That states more about you than it does anything else.

Again, you cannot blame ANYONE but your company for intrusive anti-virus. Why do you feel the need to blast anyone beyond the retarded administrator?

Windows 8 is faster than Windows 7, uses fewer resources, results in longer battery life - does not require a table (yes I have to make fun of that one) and while touch FRIENDLY does not require a touch display. In other words, it is a superior OS in many ways - once you manage to get past the interface changes. Some people will get stuck there simply because they have no desire to change, and those people are not the ones that need to be handing out advice: "I don't want to change, use what I think works because I have used it for 50 years!".

[doslover]

Nice rant. Well, I'm nonplussed by it, since I'm all for using good modern technology provided it is really an improvement over what I am currently using. I use Win 7 at home, not XP, which is hardly unsupported or antiquated. But Win 8 has the same shortcomings of all its predecessors, including the registry and the need for constant updates. Can you just power it down like you can a Mac w/o having it start up in safe mode. Does MS and the PC maker provide the kind of instant support that Apple does ? Anyway, you need to take a chill pill and stop calling everyone that doesn't see things with your brilliant viewpoint as morons.

[waldojim]

doslover, on 02 December 2012 - 04:02 PM, said:

Nice rant. Well, I'm nonplussed by it, since I'm all for using good modern technology provided it is really an improvement over what I am currently using. I use Win 7 at home, not XP, which is hardly unsupported or antiquated. But Win 8 has the same shortcomings of all its predecessors, including the registry and the need for constant updates. Can you just power it down like you can a Mac w/o having it start up in safe mode. Does MS and the PC maker provide the kind of instant support that Apple does ? Anyway, you need to take a chill pill and stop calling everyone that doesn't see things with your brilliant viewpoint as morons.

Actually, mainline support ended for XP some time ago. IE will never be upgraded in XP. Direct X will never be upgraded in XP. Windows Media player will never be upgraded in XP. WHY? Because MS moved on. Those aren't the only software titles, just the largest ones.

How many Apple users just pull the plug on their Mac? I am going to take a wild shot in the dark and say next to none. Not that it matters, as you are wrong. Windows 8 will make an attempt to start normally first, then if it fails again (within a short time frame) it will give you the OPTION to use a safe boot. Did you try Windows 8 before making any of these claims? I use it on my media center and server....

This has nothing to do with you not seeing the same view as I, but you need to quit blaming others for your own shortcomings. I also tend to call out BS when I see it. Everything has a pro and con to it. The trick is, not coloring it with your own short-sightedness. Meaning, if you actually have something against the OS that is a real issue, then go for it. Otherwise, don't make something up.

Quote

My PCs are constantly running slowly due to virus scans and firewall programs, updates, and long boot up and shutdown times

Those are your exact words. Firewalls themselves do so very little, they can hardly be a problem for anyone (EDIT: I should also note that OS-X and Linux both default to using a firewall as well. I should hope that you are smart enough to leave it in place...). Long boot and shut-down times? NOT the fault of Windows, your crap software maybe, but not Windows. Your machine running slowly due to A/V software? Again, how is this a Windows problem?

You made the claims that could not be backed up, and in the end were all proven to boil down to two things: 1. The use of antiquated software, and 2. The use of overly-aggressive virus protection. Neither of which are Windows problems, they are user problems.

This post has been edited by waldojim: 02 December 2012 - 04:24 PM

[doslover]

Hey guys, my PC crashed and when it rebooted I was unable to log onto this forum using either IE9 or Google Chrome, getting some server error. So now I'm back on my iPad mini in Safari writing this message with no problems. yes, both my PC and the iPad are on the same home wifi network. Yeah, PCs are awesome and iPads are useless, right ? Anyway, gotta go watch the Cowboys gets beaten again.

This post has been edited by doslover: 02 December 2012 - 06:14 PM

[waldojim]

doslover, on 02 December 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

Hey guys, my PC crashed and when it rebooted I was unable to log onto this forum using either IE9 or Google Chrome, getting some server error. So now I'm back on my iPad mini in Safari writing this message with no problems. yes, both my PC and the iPad are on the same home wifi network. Yeah, PCs are awesome and iPads are useless, right ? Anyway, gotta go watch the Cowboys gets beaten again.

That is more likely the forums than the PC. Quite frankly, these forums have been a mess lately.

[LiveBrianD]

waldojim, on 02 December 2012 - 07:11 PM, said:

doslover, on 02 December 2012 - 05:51 PM, said:

Hey guys, my PC crashed and when it rebooted I was unable to log onto this forum using either IE9 or Google Chrome, getting some server error. So now I'm back on my iPad mini in Safari writing this message with no problems. yes, both my PC and the iPad are on the same home wifi network. Yeah, PCs are awesome and iPads are useless, right ? Anyway, gotta go watch the Cowboys gets beaten again.

That is more likely the forums than the PC. Quite frankly, these forums have been a mess lately.

I've been getting a server 500 error a lot lately as well.

[rgreen4]

Doslover - you can't log on directly to the PC World Forums - that log in simply does not work. Instead log into the main PC World web site and then scroll down to the bottom of the page (the gray area) and click on the word forums. That should take you to the main index page.

[LiveBrianD]

rgreen4, on 03 December 2012 - 08:49 AM, said:

Doslover - you can't log on directly to the PC World Forums - that log in simply does not work. Instead log into the main PC World web site and then scroll down to the bottom of the page (the gray area) and click on the word forums. That should take you to the main index page.

As I recall, the default theme (PCW 2012 or something) has a functioning logon button (took them a while to do that), and the logon button in the absolute right corner of the PCW 314 theme works, but the lower one in the latter theme doesn't.

[doslover]

rgreen4, on 03 December 2012 - 08:49 AM, said:

Doslover - you can't log on directly to the PC World Forums - that log in simply does not work. Instead log into the main PC World web site and then scroll down to the bottom of the page (the gray area) and click on the word forums. That should take you to the main index page.

Just wanted to let you know that I still can't access the pcworld forums from my PC in either IE9 or Chrome. I tried going to the home page, logging on and then clicking on the forums at the bottom of the page and still get HTTP Error 500. I am writing this in Safari on my iPad, which for some strange reason works fine w/o any problems.

[orlbuckeye]

nsiebold, on 28 November 2012 - 10:05 AM, said:

My 12-year-old nephew is getting a laptop for Christmas that has Windows 8 on it. I'm just wondering if you think that that is a good OS for a novice. He hasn't had much experience with computers (except to play games on my brother's XP machine). Even I only got a Windows 7 machine last June. From what I've read online, most people say that Windows 8 will be hard to get used to for both novices and veterans alike. As the family techie, I just fear that, come Christmas morning, I'll be troubleshooting my nephew's computer instead of enjoying my holiday.

Windows 8 isn't any harder to learn then any other Windows if you've never used Windows before. The biggest complaint is by people that used other versions of Windows and Windows 8 is so different there is a learning curve. I have used windows since 3.1 and I love windows 8.


So If not influended by earlier versions of Windows 8

1 . get him a book about Windows 8.
2. Get him a Windows 8 machine and use the book as a reference but make sure the book is level isn't above a 12 year old.

If he has used Windows before maybe Windows 7 would be better. Plus someday windows 7 will expire and he will have to learn a new version and futre version will be more like WIn 8 then Win 7.

This post has been edited by orlbuckeye: 20 December 2012 - 10:39 AM

[FascistNation]

nsiebold, on 28 November 2012 - 10:05 AM, said:

My 12-year-old nephew is getting a laptop for Christmas that has Windows 8 on it. I'm just wondering if you think that that is a good OS for a novice. ....

For a novice, yes. He has to learn something, might as well be the latest and greatest that came with the laptop.

For a 12 year old, heck yes. Have him PM me a couple of weeks after he gets the laptop as I could use some explanations on how to use Win8 from an expert.

This post has been edited by FascistNation: 23 December 2012 - 10:02 AM

[HetfieldJ]

Win 8 for sure. I believe there are no genuine reasons to hate win 8. It surpasses win 7 in all of the benchmarking tests. You cant be hating it just cause of metro!

[LiveBrianD]

As far as I can tell, metro only makes things harder, unless you actually want to use your computer as a tablet. (yep, I can remember all 0 of the times I've wanted to do that) A novice isn't likely to be concerned with benchmarks either. (or even know what those are)