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Satisfied with Ubuntu now. I'm refurbishing a couple of vintage PC's to use as a Music center and a data warehouse: My old desktop will have a similar configuration as my actual notebook: Thanks to the great work of MUO. I have 4 laptop computers here that are presently using Win XP. Three of them double boot with various Linux versions. I put off trying Linux for years before trying it out.
I would argue that for the typical computer user who is not a power user, Linux is far easier to install and use than any version of Windows. I have installed XP at least a half dozen times and each time was a horror that consumed a full day by the time all drivers and application software was installed and the machine was ready to use.
For Linux I suggest you start with a half dozen live-cd distributions you can try before installing. Once you have picked one, install it beside your XP install and practice using it for a week. If you don't like it, you still have your sluggish and virus prone Windows XP to fall back on. Linux takes anywhere from 15 minutes to an hour to install, depending on the speed of your computer and the distribution you choose.
I always give myself an hour because I like to play with it for a while after it is installed, to checkout all the bells whistles and free application software. The only downside of installing Linux is that you may end up with bruised shins or backside as a result of kicking yourself for not having switched to Linux earlier. I am in the market for a new PC, but I have not been able to find one with the Windows 7 operating system. Shop at Costco you can get a dell desktop with windows 7 professional, with lots of ram and a good video card for a great price Your original question about where to get cheap Win I hae been using Ubuntu on my laptops for years.
I currently run Ubuntu Ten years ago, it was more difficult, but not now, and i expect if you used Ubuntu It will be slow off a DVD, but there is little or no risk as you arent installing anything on the machine. Not many people generally prefer the old version of something over the new. This should speak volumes of feedback for Microsoft Definitely agree it's a good opportunity to try a Linux variety now as a result.
It certainly opened my eyes. I understand from both you and Henry that using Linux is set up for desktops only. Is there a particular problem with laptops? My husband's laptop has Win XP and it's running slow. I figured if we back up his stuff on an external drive, wipe out his C drive can't even kick Norton AV off and put in my Windows 7 CD retail, not OEM but Linux sounds appealing until I read that laptops struggle with it. Any solution s would be great.. You might run into some problems if your laptop has nVidia graphics but that can be fixed by installing different drivers.
But, truthfully, I had more problems with device drivers when using Windows. I was able to find and buy a full retail version of Windows 7 Ultimate less than a week ago at http: The installation took 8 hours. I was totally stunned, not to mention frustrated. At the end of this exercise, my laptop ran much better with Windows 7.
Like maybe having to have driver install files on hand for all of the other components in the build? They are probably referring to this, a free download of 1. It's also used for making bootable WinPE disks for some utilities.
If, for some reason, you're looking to grab a genuine, legal copy of Windows 7 operating system or if you want to jump on the Windows But if you prefer the familiar Windows 7 interface (or need it for testing and evaluation) you can still find great deals. Here are all the details you.
Free means you can afford to not like it and change if you need to. Using Wine you can run lots of windows software if you don't like the free equivalents , this doesn't apply to many games though. Though for the vast majority of us , email , wordprocessor and browser is all you need and there is an absolute mountain of software to replace Office and many other exotic applications. Go on , have a look When it arrived it was a handwritten key with a burned copy of Windows 7. I complained to eBay and got my money refunded.
Pirates that prey like this need to be made example of. If you can prove you are a student though. But dreamspark is the best way to get license to almost everything. Windows Server R2 is equivalent to Windows 7. You also have Server edition which is basically Win 8. Just need to tweak a lot to make it feel like Win 7, but its worth it if you can't buy the original Win 7. Many machines running XP may be too slow for ease with 7.
Linux has gotten almost easy for newbies, and Windows users will find flavors made especially for them at distrowatch. Linux is free, relatively easy to install for desktops, comes with everything and every program you might need for normal computer activities, and usually updates itself. It is worlds faster on older machines, and faster even on new ones. That comes from a much smaller, more efficient OS kernel, and no need for a virus checker to check everything before you can do or see it. Linux is related to MacOs, but can be made to "look" like Windows.
It will run many Windows programs, but has better free alternative apps for almost everything you do. I said "for desktops" above, because one of the areas of difficulty is on some wireless chip sets, so it might take some help with some laptops. The biggy here is not getting people off Windows, but getting them off the upgrade treadmill.
Most of the hardware out there is very adequate for Linux, and you could have a much faster browsing and using experience, and maybe never buy another machine. Oh, and you can try many flavors on your machine without actually installing them, to see if it likes your machine, and if you like it. My opinion, my experience. It is a mostly free world. Not dissing MS or Apple I use them both , but "free, open, and fast" is nice to consider. Makeuseof should have an open, continuing series on switching to and using FOSS.
True enough, but some games don't work on linux, would have love to migrate my system on it if games work well with it without using wine.: Buying software in shrink wrap doesn't mean a thing. Any video store will shrink wrap an item for you But also MS aren't keen to sell you Win7, they'd rather you took v8 but they know that whilst thay can bully retail buyers, businesses will be insisting on Win7 - hence if you want Win7 look at business PCs rather than those aimed at SOHO users.
I'm running Win 7 pro 64 bit bought from Germany on ebay UK. I'm just about to buy another ten licenses from them. There is some Eurozone or German law that allows them to sell these OEM discs without having to comply with MS rules to supply hardware with them. Ebay seems to have no issues with them either.
Well I suppose you can buy a Windows 8 laptop and use your downgrade rights as well. Well did this about 8 months back.
I have the same question. I have Win 8 and I really don't like it. It might be ok if I had a touchscreen computer, but I don't. Back up your data, such as your docs, pictures, music, videos, Favorites, bookmarks, e-mail data if not using an online service , and financial data if it isn't already stored in your docs.
Then format your drive you can do this during the install and install Windows 7. One thing I would do first is identify all my drivers accurately, and download them in advance. Save them with your data. And of those, the most important is your network drivers whether hard wired, wireless, or both. It's beyond my level of comfort, I will look for a firm to do that for me. Problem only arises with the drivers, as they are hard to come by especially if you bought a pre-built system running on win8, especially motherboard resources Why not install a program to make 8 look like 7?
I think that Bob's suggestion, while helpful, misses the main point. It's not so much what 8 looks like though I agree that is a problem , but more how unstable and bug-ridden it is. Office is worse! I question whether Microsoft know the meaning of the words 'regression testing', since 8, 8. And shipping apps that consume all of your screen and have no 'off' button - so the only way to kill them is with the 3-finger salute and task manager - should be a criminal offence! Ubuntu is also an option too. That is my favorite thing about being a student in computer science The amount of free software I am able to get.
Reddit softwareswap, cheap way to get a windows 7 key or any other software for that matter normally you can get windows 7 for 20 dollars Retail keys at that. You can then use KMS to check validity hasn't failed me. People should look into some type of linux like Ubunntu, Limux Mint or Fedora just to name a few! They are getting better and their FREE! They would get better faster if more people used them.
Not many Virus' either! You might also look into student discounts through Microsoft. I've bought copies of Win 7 and 8 using this excellent service. I paid less than fifty bucks for each of these complete packages. I just had to show that I had a school email addy. I'm not sure that MS still offers this program, but it's definitely worth checking into! I was looking at Ubuntu because Windows 8 is driving me nuts. I'm not a techie, but it seems I can't use any of my existing software that I rely on 3D Studio, Photoshop, etc.
So pretty unhappy now, looks like I have to pay Microsoft more money to get windows 7. Any advice on alternatives welcome People use Windows because they don't want to deal with Linux's hang-ups. They want software that just works, they want software that compatible with a majority of the market and more importantly they don't want to have to jump through hoops to do anything on it. Until Linux is more friendly, it's just not an option for Windows users to transfer over to Linux. In some situations like Android smart phones and tablets, it works perfectly fine because the OS is friendly, condensed and easy to use.
People want to click a button and go, not have to program their own god damn drivers. This is the one thing that can be risky on ebay, I bought some windows 7 keys cheap, they were emailed to me, I installed the OS and registered the key, it worked fine for a few months then my windows said it was an unauthorized key and I had to buy a new one. I am not sure if this seller was using a unauthorized keymaker, or if he sold the same keys over and over or what.
Email Facebook Whatsapp Pinterest Twitter. I mean I really, really got my money's worth with XP! I think we're all getting lulled by silly 99 pence "apps" to do little bits of things and play games. Many people spend lots of money on games, mega graphics cards, powerful i7 machines and many Gb of RAM. Windows runs "programs", monumental tomes of code like Adobe CS5 which also cost big bucks. The real world runs on Windows, things like traffic lights and power stations and the stock exchange.
If you only want the internet for Facetube all you need is Linux and Firefox or a Chromebook. Yet many people own a Mac Powerbook to do that.
You have four choices available. Scroll down for the next article. And shipping apps that consume all of your screen and have no 'off' button - so the only way to kill them is with the 3-finger salute and task manager - should be a criminal offence! I am not trying to encourage attempts by anyone to get away with something you're not entitled to. Not many Virus' either! Looking for your product key? As I have discovered, Microsoft does not have all of this information organized in one convenient location.
If you want to run proper programs, the latest games or just run country sized control systems then pay MS its due. It really is a small fraction of the cost of all the other stuff you buy and you will hammer Windows 24 - 7 - At the end of the day it's actually more important than your fridge! There are hundreds across the world. But here are two examples that spring to mind:. The London Stock Exchange's Windows-based system was a famously unmitigated disaster and a custard pie in the face to Accenture and Microsoft who boasted about its supposed reliability.
After 2 years of numerous unplanned outages and maintenance downtime, it was replaced by a Linux-based system. Prior to that, it ran on Sun Solaris It has never run on Windows. The problem with Windows is to do with its simplistic origins. It was invented as a standalone fancy typewriter and spreadsheet machine, nothing more.
In essence, it was invented for secretaries and accountants. It had little to no networking capability, no concept of multiple programs running at once multi-tasking , no concept of multiple user accounts and many using the same computer simultaneously.
The other problem is the way in which the graphical UI is so tightly bound to the operating system. There is no way to run Windows in a "headless" configuration like you can with a Unix or Linux system. Even if you could, the Windows command line is incredibly primitive and cannot perform all administrative tasks. The networking, multi-user, multi-tasking you see in Windows today was bolted on as an afterthought.
By contrast, Unix was invented from day one as a network-based, multi-user, multi-tasking operating system. Consequently, Unix had been tackling the fundamental security problems associated with many people sharing the same resources years before Windows was even born. On a Unix System, there isn't a single task you cannot accomplish from the command line.
In fact, it's the opposite to Windows, in that some of the most advanced tasks can ONLY be carried out at the command line. Why is this an advantage?
Well, in the business world, you might be carrying out maintenance on a system the other side of the World, over a relatively poor link. A command-line interface that only has to send ascii characters back and forth is orders of magnitude more efficient than one where you have to send graphical artifacts. I currently work for one of the largest Data Storage companies in the world. A huge number of very substantial and highly professional systems run on Linex distributions or on Linux derived operating systems, including all of the World's fastest supercomputers.
Windows is great for consumer level use, it's ubiquity, and user familiarity ensure it's popularity in systems with non specialist users as it keeps training costs low and so higher costs elsewhere are balanced out. Overall, I think Windows pricing would be completely within the bounds of sanity at about half the price that it normally commands. It's actually fairly typical for me to deploy new business machines with a higher portion of their value found in software licenses than hardware.
I also think that the majority of home PC users, given Linux configured for their hardware and access to a modern web browser, probably wouldn't give a second thought to what OS they may or may not be using as long as they could get to Facebook and Youtube. I do understand the pricing for the business versions of Windows. Getting remote desktop and simple server-based management tools really are worth substantially more than just being able to play games. I'd like those features to be cheaper as well, but it's the cost the market will bear.
I thought windows wasn't even worth considering anymore because the Apple software was so magical? I got 5 W8. OS X is more expensive than Windows because you have to buy a Mac to begin with. No wonder Apple can afford to give their latest updates away for free when they're forcing consumers to pay through the nose for hardware. You don't have to buy a mac to use OSX. You can install it on most intel based PCs. I believe they are called Hackintoshs. Installing OSX is pretty similar to installing windows on an Hackintosh just without the requirement of of adding a product key.
But I do concede for the non technical folk it does seem like the only way to use OSX is to buy a mac. Apple is a hardware vendor, first and foremost, and they don't force anyone to buy their products. OS X is written specifically to work on that hardware, the advantage being that it's very easy to guarantee a certain level of quality. If you want easy, frustration free home computing, then Macs are an attractive choice, but what you sacrifice is the ability to upgrade or tinker with the hardware - if you're that kind of hobbyist, a Mac is completely the wrong thing to buy.
Think of it more like buying a PlayStation or Xbox.
You switch it on, and it just works, but to get the latest hardware has to offer, you're going to have to buy another complete computer. Console yourself with the fact that the resale value of Macs is very high Microsoft are a software vendor first and foremost - they certainly don't manufacture desktop PCs. Windows is expensive because it's one of Microsoft's primary revenue streams, and the effort involved in trying to get a decent level of quality across almost infinite possible combinations of hardware is enormous.
The fact that Microsoft get Windows to work as well as it does is little short of miraculous. The advantage with PCs is that you can tinker around with the hardware to your heart's content However, resale value is almost non-existent. Also worth noting, if you're a small business, you can lease an Apple Mac for a monthly fee, and they will replace your machine every two years with the latest model. As a freelance software developer, this is how I afford the top of the range models, as I can charge the cost to my private company, tax free.
So true, I've studied Macs vs PC for years. I used to travel everywhere too, It has been to over a dozen counties. This is typical, tablets android and desktops are the same way. You pay times as much for Apple products but Apple Sheep buy them!! We have 4 desktops, 3 laptops, 3 smartphones, 4 tablets They all work excellent. I don't mind paying for windows if needed. People who continue to buy Apple are simply crazy or out of touch or really don't mind wasting hundreds if not thousands of dollars!
I have TONS of free cloud storage, free software, etc I pay donations for the software I like.
Why do people buy apple again??? Luckily years later Apple was about to lost, or lost Class action lawsuit on Itunes in-app purchase scams, and offered refunds!
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