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This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3
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Topic: Windows 7 ??
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-25-2014 06:01 AM
If you go for the business gear instead of the consumer/home stuff, you most often still have the option to downgrade to Windows 7. That saves you tons of hassle if Windows 8(.1) isn't what you want.
And, although it's not yet a common problem, with a new PC you need to make sure that the necessary drivers for your PC are available for Windows 7. Maybe you could also wait for Windows 9, which will become available in a couple of months. Windows 9 brings back the start button and start menu, without the need to install some third party plugin and should feel a whole lot more like Windows 7.
And like Steve already mentioned, you need a proper Windows 7 license, including working license key.
Usually, I disable not only the automatic updates, but also the automatic downloads (as they can pile up, slow down your computer while downloading in the background), so I only get the notifications. If you use your computer on the Internet (which is almost a rhetoric question), it's still quite important to keep up with them, as most updates are indeed security updates. There's tons of nasty stuff out there, just waiting to exploit some unpatched thingy on your computer...
Microsoft programs like Office work together with Windows Update, but many independent software products, like Firefox, iTunes, Chrome, Adobe products, etc. operate on their own update "frameworks" and you need to configure the settings for them individually. Usually it's more important to get the latest updates for your browser than for your OS though, at least if you're behind a halfway decent firewall and don't automatically click on any attachment that flies into your inbox.
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Bobby Henderson
"Ask me about Trajan."
Posts: 10973
From: Lawton, OK, USA
Registered: Apr 2001
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posted 09-25-2014 02:17 PM
Things are really getting out of hand with regards to computer security. I saw a news report showing how people can hack into a car's computer system and do all kinds of harmful things to it, things that can only be fixed by a very expensive, instrusive overhaul of the vehicle. Various retailers have been stung by major security breaches, compromising personal info of millions of people. Obviously the computing industry and Dept. of Justice is simply not taking this issue seriously enough. It's probably going to take something more serious than the credit card data of several million people getting hacked for them to step up their game.
quote: Marcel Birgelen
Microsoft programs like Office work together with Windows Update, but many independent software products, like Firefox, iTunes, Chrome, Adobe products, etc. operate on their own update "frameworks" and you need to configure the settings for them individually. Usually it's more important to get the latest updates for your browser than for your OS though, at least if you're behind a halfway decent firewall and don't automatically click on any attachment that flies into your inbox.
The frequent updates to Windows ("patch Tuesday" and what not) are annoying. It's particularly annoying when a new patch breaks a feature in the OS or makes a particular application inoperable. I had to walk a customer through an undo of a Windows update that broke is LED message center sign software a couple weeks ago. I had to roll back one patch broke Postscript Type 1 font compatibility. It took months for Microsoft to correct that one.
Firefox and Chrome seem to be updating constantly. Chrome is up to version 37 and Firefox is on version 32. It's annoying, but probably good for security (and they're improving their HTML5 test scores). Meanwhile Internet Explorer remains so far behind that I wonder why Microsoft doesn't just kill IE already.
I don't know the numbers, but I'm willing to bet far more desktop computing software is sold via download than in a retail box. Now it's all trying to transition into a subscription based model -such as Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft Office 365.
Adobe's Creative Cloud applications do seem to have somewhat frequent updates, but that's only if you have a bunch of those applications installed. If you run only what you need the update notices will be less frequent. Acrobat Pro is the only one I have that tries to automatically update itself. The others just let me know updates are available in the apps tab of the Creative Cloud control panel.
I guess the more annoying thing to me is how Microsoft has changed Windows enough in its past 2-3 versions that lots of older 32-bit compiled software no longer works. When you buy a new computer you have to not only think about the price of that hardware, you must also budget a LOT of software upgrades. Some industry-specific software can be very expensive.
quote: Mark Gulbrandsen
Also... Demand a copy of the OS be included with your laptop. Some manufacturers including Dell use the excuse that the OS is on the rescue partition. That's not going to get you going again if the drive fails.
I'll second the recommendation, if the option is even there with Dell anymore. I got an OS disc with my Win 7 notebook. I couldn't get OS discs for the newest two Dell desktops at my work. I created OS back-ups on DVD-R and USB memory sticks using the recovery software Dell bundles with systems now. It has flaws, but I suppose it's better than nothing. Even if you have an OS disc, I still recommend creating an additional back-up. DVD discs can suffer laser rot, get lost or broken.
Lately Dell has been goofing up in the pricing and configuration options of their systems. The last PC we bought, a 17" notebook for my boss, was a Toshiba loaded with Win 7 Pro.
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Marcel Birgelen
Film God
Posts: 3357
From: Maastricht, Limburg, Netherlands
Registered: Feb 2012
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posted 09-26-2014 03:48 AM
Yes, you can turn it off for any Windows version up until now, but you're a total douche if you never install updates.
There, I said it. It's about the worst advice you could give anyone and blissfully ignorant if you keep such a policy yourself.
While I totally agree that the current update cycles for all those different software packages are getting out of hand, security updates are there for a reason and using a computer that's two years behind on updates on the Internet is just the epitome of ignorance.
quote: Bobby Henderson
The frequent updates to Windows ("patch Tuesday" and what not) are annoying. It's particularly annoying when a new patch breaks a feature in the OS or makes a particular application inoperable.
That's the reason why I don't automatically put any update on any computer. Stuff occasionally breaks and remains unfixed for months or never gets fixed... Or you have to call Microsoft to get a specific patch and sometimes they even demand money for it.
The problem with Microsoft is that their update descriptions are so vague, it's often hard to discriminate from those alone if the patch is a fix to an imminent security hole or something that can wait until later.
quote: Bobby Henderson
Firefox and Chrome seem to be updating constantly. Chrome is up to version 37 and Firefox is on version 32. It's annoying, but probably good for security (and they're improving their HTML5 test scores). Meanwhile Internet Explorer remains so far behind that I wonder why Microsoft doesn't just kill IE already.
Yes, Firefox adapted roughly the same update scheme as Chrome. Personally, I find those version numbers somewhat ridiculous, but the old "waterfall" model of development is out those days, it's all about "frequent delivery" and "short release cycles". While this might fly with web-applications, it doesn't work for stuff that actually needs an install base on any device.
Everything is now constantly begging for updates. The motto should still be: Make it good and only update if you've got some important security issues to address or a whole new set of features.
Adobe is somewhere stuck in the middle. After most users didn't really bother anymore to upgrade from CSn to CSn+1, since none of the new features really mattered to them, Adobe also joined the subscription-only bandwagon. Now they're forced to release new features every now and then, to keep their subscribers somewhat happy. The same goes for Office 365. Personally, I'm still stuck on CS6 and Office 2010. Both seem to do the job quite fine at the moment and I'm not forced to pay for them on a monthly basis...
Furthermore, Microsoft should work out a decent central update delivery mechanism that other could hook up to. Others should, maybe, let go their pride and also start using it. It's far easier to manage your updates for all your applications from a single environment (a lot like a mobile phone/tablet) than via a dozen of those update managers and popups that keep nagging for attention...
Also, both Adobe and Oracle deserve to be punished for their evil tactics of trying to push some stupid toolbar or "free antivirus" down your throat with updates for Flash and Java...
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