Good to hear. At least you can still post to your own blog.
Speaking of Windows 10, I follow lots of baseball games using ESPN’s game cast tool. Lately they have these over-the-top ads about young children who might possible save the world later on, and how we need to give them Windows 10 now so that they might be empowered to do the great things they are destined to do. I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
3.
Ruckus
@Jerzy Russian: I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
Ahhhhh, so you used a microsoft product then as well.
/couldn’t help myself
4.
Mike J
I view upgrading to Win10 the same way I view making “improvements” to a web site. Unless there’s a specific reason, don’t do it.
If your specific reason is that you’re a geek and like to play with new stuff, that’s an ok reason. I just haven’t seen anything in 10 that I can’t do in 7 with fewer headaches.
I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
LOL. Win.
6.
Amir Khalid
Don’t keep us in suspense. Let us know when the upgrade is complete.
7.
Suzanne
CLICKING DISLIKE BUTTON.
8.
RK
So far so good.
Thanks so much for letting us know. Now I can get some rest.
9.
Steeplejack
@John Cole:
I just did the Windows 10 upgrade on this ThinkPad notebook last night. Somehow I had gotten the idea that I could download the files and then do the actual upgrade later, but once I launched it I saw that it had the same interface as Windows Update—lots of stuff going on under the hood and not much screen information about it—which was nervous-making for screwing around with the process or doing anything else, so I closed everything else and let it roll. Seemed to take about 45 minutes to download on my fairly speedy connection. I did eventually get a prompt asking me whether I wanted to “schedule” the actual installation for later, but at that point I just said go ahead and do it. I watched it for a bit and then went to bed.
It was all finished this morning (Tuesday). I logged on and had to answer some questions about how I wanted certain options set, and then I did some extra fussing to tweak some other minor options. Everything seems to be working fine, except that I had no sound until I rebooted the machine again, which cleared that up.
The only (possible) negative I have seen so far is that I could swear some of the screen visuals are a tiny bit “fuzzier” than they were in Windows 7. Almost imperceptible, but it’s tingling my spidey sense. But not enough so far for me to go into the settings and screw with it. Seems to be mostly in Firefox and (oddly) Solitaire. Go figure.
I got that pleasant glow of spurious semi-accomplishment from the successful upgrade and thought about making an expedition to Micro Center to marvel at the goodies and perhaps pull the trigger on a 4GB RAM chip, which I have been wanting to add to the ThinkPad for a long time. (It currently has 4 GB of memory installed, but I’m sure Windows could use the extra.) But I fed the housecat and did some crosswords and the feeling went away.
@Jerzy Russian: All over MSNBC too. (Guess that figures.)
I’m also bothered by the suggestion that it’ll just take one person w/ a cool OS & some science/technology magic to clean/save/whatever-the-phrase the oceans, rather than a concerted effort by many people doing many different things, yada.
Far as Windows 10 goes, it was worth every penny; I like dicking about w/ new stuff as much as the next dick, so I upgraded from Windows 7 as soon as I could. 10 works just fine, boots & shuts down faster than 7, on a seven-yr. old lap-top.
11.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
When the front-pager’s post is — well, somewhat lacking — it falls to us commenters to make the thread interesting.
12.
Mike J
Just don’t get too carried away with tech, at least if you’re Muslim. Can’t even build a clock in this country. A ninth grader was arrested for building a clock.
13.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: I’ve found Win10 to be much better in memory management than Win7/8.x.
ETA: Though I may add memory 24 to 32 and max out my machine; but that’s due to LR and Photoshop, not Win10.
I did mine and it’s no big effing improvement over w8.1. Your touchpad scrolling will probably be effed up and you will have to reset it every time you reboot. And the windows update thingy is bs.
The only person I know who’s upgraded to 10 so far had a rough time; apparently it broke WoW for her. I’m waiting until some of the guys in my FFXIV free company try it to see how it works.
19.
ruemara
There’s a windows 10? I just don’t want to deal with an upgrade while I’m working on projects. Maybe if I have some down time over the holidays.
@Darkrose: It broke WoW? Keep this swill away from me!
Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I did the upgrade. (Plus it’s free!) I have a friend who does network installations and maintenance for small businesses and is in one of those Microsoft “insider” programs, and he has been raving about Windows 10 ever since the betas. So I felt less fearful than usual going in.
So far, and this is completely subjective, things seem to be slightly snappier (very slightly), which is a good sign. No problems with Word and Excel 365 or Firefox; haven’t tried any of my more exotic apps yet.
Tomorrow I am due to receive a Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard, which is part of my plan to determine whether I can get by with that and a tablet instead of a laptop for travel. I’m going out to Las Vegas in November to housesit for my brother for three weeks, and I also have a few other trips planned. For those where I just need Web browsing, e-mail, Word and Excel, it would be great to lighten the load. But I gotta have at least a pretty good keyboard. I hope this Microsoft one is it.
The other part of the plan is that I am thinking about moving up the tablet food chain from my Nexus 7 to a Nexus 9 or even an iPad Air 2. Any thoughts?
22.
Jerzy Russian
There are two wacky baseball games in extra innings. The Reds and the Giants keeping going back and forth. There were three or four unearned runs. The Reds blew a three run lead going into the bottom of the 8th, now the Reds have moved ahead in the top of the 10th. Likewise, neither Colorado nor the LA Dodgers seem to want to win their game, as Colorado takes the lead at the top of the inning and LA ties it at the bottom of the same inning. At least I am in the same time zone, so it is not super late for me.
I’m also bothered by the suggestion that it’ll just take one person w/ a cool OS & some science/technology magic to clean/save/whatever-the-phrase the oceans, rather than a concerted effort by many people doing many different things, yada.
Yes, exactly!
24.
Sasha
“Upgrading” to windows 10 was a disaster for me. It bogged my computer down to the point where it was useless and we we reverted to Windows 7, my computer stopped working entirely. No fix worked and ultimately we had to re-install Windows 7 after backing up the files through DOS (I guess, I don’t know-my husband did it) because every time we ran windows everything looked fine but it didn’t recognize the keyboard or the mouse. We meant to do a back-up before downloading 10 but it actually started downloading before we were expecting it to. So, kind of a fail for me. It worked fine for my husband but he started with Windows 8.
This is not good advice. The upgrade is absolutely painless. I went from 7 to 10. The new OS works just fine, maybe a little faster to boot up actually. And I imagine support for 7 and 8 will end fairly soon and the free upgrade window won’t be forever. Better to upgrade in my opinion.
26.
mclaren
Since Windows 7 is shite and Windows 10 is rancid diarrhea, I’m just waiting for the cries of swooning delight when you gullible dupes “upgrade” to Windows 11 and your hard drive wipes itself and you get a blackscreen. And you exclaimed: “The new interface is so minimalist! I LOVE it!!!
You’re a nice guy, Cole, but a hopeless patsy. If someone told you the fabulous new Windows 11 upgrade required you to chop your own dick off, you’d be grabbing for the knife drawer before anyone could stop you.
27.
Ruckus
@Jerzy Russian:
It was a lucky guess.
First computer I owned was an Apple II. It replaced a teletype machine we used to punch 1 in tape. First one I used was an IBM main frame that used punch cards. Fun times.
I find that Windows 10 is a mild improvement over Windows 8.1, and really, really wish that I still had Windows 7. Unfortunately, my Windows 7 machine stopped working and it was no longer available.
33.
Seanly
I had gotten a new machine recently & as soon as I went about logging in, it asked if I wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. My wife’s Windows 8.1 laptop downloaded the update a couple of weeks later.
I like Windows 10. Both of our machines are touchscreens which was almost a requirement in Windows 8.1, but on my main machine I don’t use the touchscreen too much. It works well and I look forward to my next work laptop being Windows 10.
I haven’t had any issues with it so far. My one complaint is that Edge catches viruses & malware very easily and most of the anti-spyware, etc isn’t set up for it yet. Protip – if your Edge is infected, go offline & then open Edge. This will allow you to actually clear it out.
34.
Thoughtful Today
RK
I’ve got a dozen legal Microsoft XP licenses I could sell you ;)
Linux is on those machines now and some ran better after installing Linux.
There won’t be a Windows 11. Windows 10 is the final version. From this point forward there will only be updates and patches to the OS done automatically. People will only purchase the OS when they purchase a new device from this point on.
You can still get Win7 Pro at Micro Center for $140.
37.
magurakurin
@RK: I’m not a tech person, but I imagine anyone running XP has trouble when online at this point. Using any other older version surely must be nearly impossible. It seems to me that this upgrade is very different from everything in the past. People who don’t do the upgrade may end up regretting in the future. Just my opinion though and it isn’t worth all that much. But, the upgrade is free, so if there are problems down the line with 7 and 8, I don’t think Microsoft will feel the need to do a whole lot since they offered the new and currently maintained version to everyone for free.
38.
BillinGlendaleCA
@mclaren: There will never be a Windows 11, Windows 10 is the last version of Windows.
@magurakurin : Yeah, I think Microsoft support for 7 and 8 in the way of updates will continue for several years. As to what older OS versions will be able to handle and operate in the future that’s usually not too much of a problem.
41.
Mike J
@magurakurin: I didn’t say to never upgrade. I said don’t upgrade unless you have an actual reason to. In a year or two when support for Win 7 stops[1], that would be a reason. If saving a few seconds once a day on boot time is a reason to bother with it, then you should upgrade.
[1] Don’t expect MS to kill off support for older systems as quickly as they threaten to. They make the same threat with every new release, and then corporate customers who really don’t want the hassle of updating 5,000 desktops flat out refuse to upgrade
42.
NotMax
Have mentioned multiple times previously that Win 10, while a fine and stable OS, is an intrusive and snoopy bugger. Nothing wrong with installing it if one has reason to, but tweak those privacy settings (and there are a LOT of them) to tamp down its busybodiness.
My workplace won’t leave windows 7 for a long time – we clung to XP for so long we bypassed Vista entirely (which was actually a great thing.) Lots had to do with internal networks and networking – they won’t drop 7 support for a while.
My home computer is 8.1 – also its a laptop w/touchscreen. I wouldn’t install 8/10 without a touchscreen and I’ll upgrade to 10 when I get around to it. If you have 7 without a touchscreen I wouldn’t update.
A couple of years ago I had reason to do business with a small firm here – they were using Windows ME.
44.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike J: I believe that the free upgrade to Win10 ends July 29, 2016. I blame Obama.
45.
Bart
Ahmed Mohamed — who makes his own radios and repairs his own go-kart — hoped to impress his teachers when he brought a homemade clock to MacArthur High on Monday.
Instead, the school phoned police about Ahmed’s circuit-stuffed pencil case.
So the 14-year-old missed the student council meeting and took a trip in handcuffs to juvenile detention. His clock now sits in an evidence room. Police say they may yet charge him with making a hoax bomb — though they acknowledge he told everyone who would listen that it’s a clock.
The only (possible) negative I have seen so far is that I could swear some of the screen visuals are a tiny bit “fuzzier” than they were in Windows 7.
I had this problem with the programming environment I use, which has been around in one form or another since the dawn of the PC. What fixed it was to open the properties for the shortcut, go to the Compatibility tab and check “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”. I’m not sure if this will help with Firefox, which looks just fine after the upgrade.
52.
SmallAxe
Take a walk with me online Balloon-juice other liberals are too chicken
53.
SmallAxe
Neil J Bisson
54.
SmallAxe
Even when waking with #Rocky
55.
Baud
I got Win 10. Works fine.
56.
Randy P
That reads so much like the old joke about the optimist who falls out of the 10 story window and 9 stories down says “so far so good!”
57.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’ve got it on 5 computers(2 desktops, 2 sticks, and one tablet).
58.
Maxwel
My computers use Media Center, so no 10 until I decide on an alternative.
What a horrible, horrible story. Poor kid just wanted to invent good things.
62.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Maxwel: After you’ve found an alternative, make sure you uninstall media center before you start the Win10 upgrade. That’s the one thing I had a problem with my primary machine.
63.
BillinGlendaleCA
Morning Joe is still pushing Handsome Joe Biden to get into the race. I guess over 20 horses aren’t enough, sigh.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, Hillary is DOOMED.
64.
Randy P
Random thought when reading yet another Kim Davis story (I know her 15 minutes are up, but the conversation on the topic, especially among Republican politicians and nutcases, is illuminating).
Every time I read the rhetoric about how poor Kimmy is being persecuted because of her religion, I wonder how every other non-jailed Christian in Kentucky, especially those who hand out marriage licenses, feel about being told by their heroes that they aren’t Christian, that Kimmy is the only Christian in Kentucky. Has anybody heard any grumbling along those lines?
I vaguely remember a bomb scare in high school (late 1980’s) rumored to be caused by some kids Walkman’s cassette tape hitting the end of its side and “clicking” the way cassette tapes would do, when they were done on a side. I believe the Walkman was in his locker and I guess someone heard the noise.
I can’t remember what happened to the kid, but it was not so whacked out to make it into the local news.
In short, bomb scares in high schools have been a thing for awhile. The overreaction by authorities seems to be new.
I feel sorry for Ahmed. He seems like a really bright and enterprising student and some authoritarian racist dipshits are hurting his ambition instead of nurturing it.
Upgraded pretty much hands-free on the old Dell GX280/Win7 box. Now it boots faster, loads apps quicker, and all of the existing programs, every single one, work just fine. The objective was to test the process, time the workstream, and suss out wacky drivers after upgrade. Not only did it see the printer share off the main Win7 box, it even knew to load the substitute driver to make it work – this printer was new in 2002, and the original driver doesn’t work beyond XP. Any OS that breathes new life into old hardware is a hands-down winner in this house, but after the Ubuntu scare of aught-nine, we are wedded to The Will of Redmond.
Even though the user community is already groaning about it, everyone in the tribe is getting this one tout de suite.
That sounds better than the segment they are doing on Syria. No, we don’t have to do something. Doing something often makes thing worse.
I also love the way they are making what is happening in Syria something that started because PresO didn’t invade 5 years ago.
FFS doesn’t the Iraq war they all championed have something to do with this mess? They never ever learn.
68.
qwerty42
@Jerzy Russian: … I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
When I was a kid OS/360 was still a theory, so, makes sense; no telling what I might have done with a decent OS. Of course, the punch cards were another problem.
So Windows 10 is looking OK? I really, really wanted to like 8 (actually 8.1) but was never able to (and it has some great stuff, the server mngr is great though am sure most have no interest in it) .
69.
HeartlandLiberal
All who are upgrading, please be sure to search Google on questions of privacy settings in Windows 10, and how to TURN OFF all of the intrusive stuff Microsoft is doing by default.
Do a Google search on something like “how to turn configure privacy in windows 10” and you will get page after page of hair curling exposure to how completely Microsoft invades your privacy, including pretty much spying on everything you do online and recording it in their cloud.
I have a new MoBo, CPU, and RAM, and will be building a new Win 10 box soon, using MS Developers Network license, since I have a subscription. Not planning to upgrade my Win 8.1 box, which I have configured to ignore all the horrible tiles and everything bad, and is a very stable platform for work and some advanced games, until I feel comfortable with defanging the many bad things regarding privacy Microsoft is doing in Windows 10.
Also just purchased an OEM Windows 2012 R2 server license, need to rebuild my public facing server when the new hardware arrives for it arrives. I always buy in in the last 18 months projected lifespan of a server generation, knowing it will be supported for another 4 – 5 years, and has reached a good, stable point in life cycle.
Andrea Mitchell was pushing the same talking point yesterday.
71.
OzarkHillbilly
@Bart: In Texas, white people are encouraged to walk around with fully loaded weapons and darkly complected children with funny sounding names are arrested for carrying home made clocks. I am incensed.
72.
JPL
@Bart: Wow .. “He said, ‘It looks like a movie bomb to me.’” (the principal) wtf
I signed up for Windows 10 but after hearing from friends who had issues with it, including several who said that it wouldn’t or couldn’t recognize peripherals like printers, I decided not to do it yet. As it is, Windows 7 Pro at home works just fine. If it ain’t fixed, don’t break it.
74.
JPL
The Irving School System needs to send home notes stating, NO INVENTIONS ARE TO BE BROUGHT TO SCHOOL BECAUSE OUR TEACHERS, MIGHT MISTAKE IT FOR A BOMB.
ALL SCIENCE FAIRS ARE CANCELED.
@Steeplejack: I love the iPad mini I got for my birthday, if that helps. But all my devices are Apple except my dumb phone.
For me, it’s not so much the keyboard as the way the screen formats, such as editing items with WordPress. But I agree that a keyboard is necessary for real inputting.
With that combo, I think I could do just fine, trip wise.
‘I was building a fire with my nephews when a bomb fell. They were killed instantly. My lower leg was injured. A stranger put me in his car and took me to a hospital. I was still there when there was a chemical attack on our neighbourhood. My brothers and sisters were dead. When my father heard the news, he had a heart attack and died, too. I fled to Lebanon with my mum, who decided to go back. Now I live with my uncle and Ibrahim, who is my best friend. We still make fires every day’
Tragic photos. I don’t know how the world will get itself out of this.
85.
Elizabelle
From article about the Irving, TX kid enterprising enough to build a Muslimy bomb clock:
[14 year old Ahmed Mohamed] showed it to his engineering teacher first thing Monday morning and didn’t get quite the reaction he’d hoped for.
“He was like, ‘That’s really nice,’” Ahmed said. “‘I would advise you not to show any other teachers.’”
He kept the clock inside his school bag in English class, but the teacher complained when the alarm beeped in the middle of a lesson. Ahmed brought his invention up to show her afterward.
“She was like, it looks like a bomb,” he said.
“I told her, ‘It doesn’t look like a bomb to me.’”
The teacher kept the clock. When the principal and a police officer pulled Ahmed out of sixth period, he suspected he wouldn’t get it back.
They led Ahmed into a room where four other police officers waited. He said an officer he’d never seen before leaned back in his chair and remarked: “Yup. That’s who I thought it was.”
… “We have no information that he claimed it was a bomb,” [police spokesman James] McLellan said. “He kept maintaining it was a clock, but there was no broader explanation.”
Asked what broader explanation the boy could have given, the spokesman explained:
“It could reasonably be mistaken as a device if left in a bathroom or under a car. The concern was, what was this thing built for? Do we take him into custody?”
Police led Ahmed out of MacArthur about 3 p.m., his hands cuffed behind him and an officer on each arm. A few students gaped in the halls. He remembers the shocked expression of his student counselor — the one “who knows I’m a good boy.”
Ahmed was spared the inside of a cell. The police sent him out of the juvenile detention center to meet his parents shortly after taking his fingerprints.
They’re still investigating the case, and Ahmed hasn’t been back to school. His family said the principal suspended him for three days.
… An Irving [school district] statement gave no details about the case, citing student privacy laws.
“He just wants to invent good things for mankind,” said Ahmed’s father, Mohamed Elhassan Mohamed, who immigrated from Sudan and occasionally returns there to run for president. “But because his name is Mohamed and because of Sept. 11, I think my son got mistreated.”
Mohamed is familiar with anti-Islamic politics. He once made national headlines for debating a Florida pastor who burned a Quran.
Suspend that principal and make an example of the teachers and cops who persecuted this kid and refused to believe him.
On the good side, at least no one is contesting that he built the clock. Those wicked Muslims are fiendish good with their hands, aren’t they, unlike our teleprompter-needing brown president.
Thanks, I’ll take a look at that. The other thing that occurred to me overnight is that Windows 10 may be throttling back on some of the eye-candy visuals on my machine (ThinkPad X130e) either because of RAM (I’ve got 4 GB installed) or the (built-in) graphics processor. I’ll have to see if there’s a setting or panel somewhere that sheds any light on that. I do note I’m not seeing a lot of “transparent” or “translucent” in the Windows user interface. But I don’t have another machine with which to compare.
The only thing I’ve noticed about Firefox is that after the Windows upgrade the Firefox title bar and menu bar background color has changed, from dark blue to blue-gray. That may be something to do with Classic Theme Restorer or Stylish, two add-ons I have installed.
@debbie: Actually, I took that to mean the engineering teacher knew how unintelligent some of the other teachers were, and the misconclusions they would draw. Not to mention the principal.
91.
Elizabelle
Caught the tail end of Brokaw appearance. He’s quite the parody these days. Scoffing about government overreach that is unpopular “across the board.”
And then Mika closing with an anti-politician sneer. Smear them all.
When problem is GOP Congress — their appalling reputation is why the GOP base is sworn off of politicians — and this is when their party controls congress.
Democrats aren’t seeking salvation from carnival barkers and grifters. That’s party-specific.
When I first logged on yesterday morning on after finishing the upgrade, Windows 10 did present me with a few screens’ worth of settings to approve, many having to do with privacy and “feedback,” presented in a sort of “Nothing to see here, just accept the defaults and move on” manner. I neutered them all, and one of my tasks today is, as you suggested, to check and see what other “helpful” settings I need to turn off.
I feel sorry for Ahmed. He seems like a really bright and enterprising student and some authoritarian racist dipshits are hurting his ambition instead of nurturing it.
I hope his next invention involves getting the hell out of that place. I wonder if there’s anything one can do to help …
Thanks for the input. I have avoided the Apple ecosystem (mostly by accident), but the Air 2 is in the sweet spot of features that I’m looking for. I came by a little extra money recently and have been thinking maybe I would treat myself. But first I’d like to go to the store and actually fondle it (and the Nexus 9).
How so? A smartphone would cost me and then my monthly cell phone bill would double — all bucks I do not have.
If I traveled a lot… if I talked on the phone more than I do… if I was often away from wifi… I could justify it. But I have an iPod touch which is like an iPhone without the phone, and now an iPad mini. I have all the fun without the monthly data bill.
All who are upgrading, please be sure to search Google on questions of privacy settings in Windows 10, and how to TURN OFF all of the intrusive stuff Microsoft is doing by default.
Or skip this insanity and use a better product instead.
But don’t you think the engineering teacher could have elaborated a bit to the kid as to why it could be a problem? I don’t know that 14-year-olds should be expected to understand that the atmosphere in most schools is to presume deadly danger in practically every object.
Here, some parents are objecting to training (developed by Ohio’s GOP AG) kids to throw books to distract a gunman during a school shooting. Parents object, saying that only makes their kids targets. Of course, their proposed solution was a lockbox for a teacher’s weapons (like there’d be enough time for that). Kids have been pulled out of school and the parents (of course) are considering filing a lawsuit.
@Cervantes: Or skip this insanity and use a better product instead.
Indeed. The path I have taken.
I got into computers in the punchcard days, and it has continued to be at least half of my professions since. On a personal level, I have moved up from the Commodore VIC 20 to the Amiga and then onto the Apple line of products.
I’ve deliberately avoided the PC because of Microsoft deciding to bigfoot competing products out of existence. They thought that was a better path than simply making a better product.
Also, every single time I use one, no matter what configuration or OS it was using, it does something so incredibly bone-headed and frustrating and disrespectful of my status as a thinking person I am sometimes driven to lean close to the screen and declare how much I hate it for existing.
There’s nothing else in the world that drives me to such depths.
Also, it’s not stated in the story that the cops and principal called the engineering teacher in to evaluate the device. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t.
That school brought the world down on its own head.
I guess if it was just the usual white kid shooting up the school and his classmates, we’d be hailing the principal and brave teachers for their valor on the scene.
But don’t you think the engineering teacher could have elaborated a bit to the kid as to why it could be a problem? I don’t know that 14-year-olds should be expected to understand that the atmosphere in most schools is to presume deadly danger in practically every object.
Would have been nice if that teacher could have talked to the other teachers before things got out of hand — after all, he or she had an inkling of what would happen — but perhaps there was no opportunity to do it.
108.
Elizabelle
@WereBear: I pay more for Apple because I love the genius bar. No more having to talk to “Ben” in Bangalore.
Also planning to get rid of the smartphone and use a dumb phone and iPad for future travels. Don’t use the iPhone features enough to pay for the bells and whistles.
I feel like Bill Gates, and the rest of the tech big shots should get together and rescue this poor kid. Although the kid did say he likes robotics so he could be the one who creates skynet and ushers in the age of robot overlords.
I too am devoted to Apple products. Unfortunately, work is PC-based and it sucks. Just last week, my PC laptop crashed and when I logged back in, even though they had been saved and closed before the crash, a couple really crucial files were damaged beyond repair. I hate Microsoft!!!
It would be good for the Universe if the boy could see more of his own intelligence reflected in it.
Amen.
114.
Elizabelle
New thread! All righty!
115.
CB
When I ‘upgraded’ my Surface Pro 3 from Win8.1 -> Win10 the wifi broke utterly.
Fortunately, I was able to revert to Win8.1, but that wasn’t w/o problems either (had to tinker with a BitDefender setting, turning off, after restoring Win8.1, a setting that had been on before the attempted ‘upgrade’ to Win10).
Searching turned up plenty of similar stories – Win10 on SP3 means loss of wifi – but no definitive causes or resolutions.
Too bad — I like Win10 on my desktop, and would prefer it on the SP3.
I would love to see a gofundme account for this boy to pay tuition to a private school.
120.
Reformedpantysniffer
My windows 10 upgrade did not go too well. My PC is about 6 or 7 years old (HP). Windows 10 installed everything correctly but wiped out my USB ports and my CD/DVD drive. Could not get them back (I’m something of a Luddite with computers), so I reverted back to Windows 7. Still have not seen a workaround or fix on some of the web sites I looked at for help. Not sure if others have the same experience. I’ll update my wife’s laptop but leave the man cave machine alone for now. I did not like all the privacy issues around the upgrade and I did not like losing IE either. So I’ll wait on a second attempt if ever.
There will be Windows 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, Windows Shitstain Edition, Windows Blackscreen of Death Edition, Windows Bluescreen Edition, Windows Media Crash, Windows Can’t Mount HD0, Windows Unexpected Application Error, Windows Death Squeal, Windows Flames Shooting Out, Windows Strange Grinding Noises From Hard Drive, Windows VGA Edition, Windows CGA Edition, Windows Monochrome Screen Special Edition, Windows File Not Found Edition, Windows NTLDR Error, Windows Registry Dump, Windows Hex Dump, Windows Fuck You Asshole Edition.
Windows will change for the sake of change, just because. In one version of Windows you’ll open files by holding your nose and pirouetting three times, in another version of Windows you’ll open files by hitting CRTL-ALT-SHIFT-META-FN-T-5-%. In another version of Windows you’ll launch programs by holding your arms out and flapping like a bird while shouting “Doggy bed!” In another version of Windows you’ll launch programs by maneuvering a joystick.
Nothing will quite work (in one version of Windows if the USB ports show up the ethernet port won’t, in another verion of Windows if the ethernet port is detected and configured the video controller isn’t), nothing will ever make sense, there will be no unified paradigm for the desktop, the START button will disappear, then reappear, then disappear, then it will come back but in the upper right hand corner of the screen and labeled “ELECTROLYTES,” then it will vanish again but you’ll be able to conjure it up by chasing a pac-man icon around the screen.
Meanwhile, those of us who use linux will continue to find that everything just works, and it all makes sense.
Good luck with your Microsoft death march, lusers.
122.
JohnM
@Steeplejack: It’s free because Microsoft is collecting a shitton of personal information from your computer now. Fun things include where you go on the internet and what you do while you’re there. Also, info about the files on your computer will be sent to Redmond. Microsoft 10 is not really free; the price is an all but complete lack of privacy on your computer.
one of my tasks today is, as you suggested, to check and see what other “helpful” settings I need to turn off.
Handy links for that provided in #42 above.
124.
Pete
@Mike J: I upgraded from 8. Bad move. Didn’t like 8 but I’d finally figured out how to make it look like 7. I have a Lenova Yoga 2. 10 has mostly disabled the 2-finger touchpad scroll, touchscreen is now glitchy, function keys no longer work, every now and again random glitches happen (e.g. random shutdown) as though I’d accidentally clicked on something I know I didn’t. DO NOT LIKE WIN10. Wish I could uninstall.
I want to hear how the Windows 10 upgrade finished out.
I know that most ppl with Windows 7 had some problems with the monitor drivers being out-dated during the upgrade but that Win 8 users were relatively okay.
Just remember when you upgrade to Win 10 your security and user preferences are going to switch back to a default setting (likely ON). Check your Settings to re-configure.
Omnes Omnibus
Least interesting post ever. Congrats.
Jerzy Russian
Good to hear. At least you can still post to your own blog.
Speaking of Windows 10, I follow lots of baseball games using ESPN’s game cast tool. Lately they have these over-the-top ads about young children who might possible save the world later on, and how we need to give them Windows 10 now so that they might be empowered to do the great things they are destined to do. I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
Ruckus
@Jerzy Russian:
I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
Ahhhhh, so you used a microsoft product then as well.
/couldn’t help myself
Mike J
I view upgrading to Win10 the same way I view making “improvements” to a web site. Unless there’s a specific reason, don’t do it.
If your specific reason is that you’re a geek and like to play with new stuff, that’s an ok reason. I just haven’t seen anything in 10 that I can’t do in 7 with fewer headaches.
Steeplejack
@Jerzy Russian:
LOL. Win.
Amir Khalid
Don’t keep us in suspense. Let us know when the upgrade is complete.
Suzanne
CLICKING DISLIKE BUTTON.
RK
Thanks so much for letting us know. Now I can get some rest.
Steeplejack
@John Cole:
I just did the Windows 10 upgrade on this ThinkPad notebook last night. Somehow I had gotten the idea that I could download the files and then do the actual upgrade later, but once I launched it I saw that it had the same interface as Windows Update—lots of stuff going on under the hood and not much screen information about it—which was nervous-making for screwing around with the process or doing anything else, so I closed everything else and let it roll. Seemed to take about 45 minutes to download on my fairly speedy connection. I did eventually get a prompt asking me whether I wanted to “schedule” the actual installation for later, but at that point I just said go ahead and do it. I watched it for a bit and then went to bed.
It was all finished this morning (Tuesday). I logged on and had to answer some questions about how I wanted certain options set, and then I did some extra fussing to tweak some other minor options. Everything seems to be working fine, except that I had no sound until I rebooted the machine again, which cleared that up.
The only (possible) negative I have seen so far is that I could swear some of the screen visuals are a tiny bit “fuzzier” than they were in Windows 7. Almost imperceptible, but it’s tingling my spidey sense. But not enough so far for me to go into the settings and screw with it. Seems to be mostly in Firefox and (oddly) Solitaire. Go figure.
I got that pleasant glow of spurious semi-accomplishment from the successful upgrade and thought about making an expedition to Micro Center to marvel at the goodies and perhaps pull the trigger on a 4GB RAM chip, which I have been wanting to add to the ThinkPad for a long time. (It currently has 4 GB of memory installed, but I’m sure Windows could use the extra.) But I fed the housecat and did some crosswords and the feeling went away.
M. Bouffant
@Jerzy Russian: All over MSNBC too. (Guess that figures.)
I’m also bothered by the suggestion that it’ll just take one person w/ a cool OS & some science/technology magic to clean/save/whatever-the-phrase the oceans, rather than a concerted effort by many people doing many different things, yada.
Far as Windows 10 goes, it was worth every penny; I like dicking about w/ new stuff as much as the next dick, so I upgraded from Windows 7 as soon as I could. 10 works just fine, boots & shuts down faster than 7, on a seven-yr. old lap-top.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
When the front-pager’s post is — well, somewhat lacking — it falls to us commenters to make the thread interesting.
Mike J
Just don’t get too carried away with tech, at least if you’re Muslim. Can’t even build a clock in this country. A ninth grader was arrested for building a clock.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Steeplejack: I’ve found Win10 to be much better in memory management than Win7/8.x.
ETA: Though I may add memory 24 to 32 and max out my machine; but that’s due to LR and Photoshop, not Win10.
BillinGlendaleCA
@M. Bouffant:
Well, it was a free upgrade from Win7.
Omnes Omnibus
@Amir Khalid: Yeah, well. I am going to bed. So there.
Amir Khalid
@Omnes Omnibus:
Gute Nacht. Schlaf gut.
amk
How does this merit science, technology tag?
I did mine and it’s no big effing improvement over w8.1. Your touchpad scrolling will probably be effed up and you will have to reset it every time you reboot. And the windows update thingy is bs.
Darkrose
The only person I know who’s upgraded to 10 so far had a rough time; apparently it broke WoW for her. I’m waiting until some of the guys in my FFXIV free company try it to see how it works.
ruemara
There’s a windows 10? I just don’t want to deal with an upgrade while I’m working on projects. Maybe if I have some down time over the holidays.
@Darkrose: It broke WoW? Keep this swill away from me!
Jerzy Russian
@Ruckus:
I think the first computer I used while in junior high (circa 1980) was running DOS.
Steeplejack
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Yeah, that’s one of the reasons I did the upgrade. (Plus it’s free!) I have a friend who does network installations and maintenance for small businesses and is in one of those Microsoft “insider” programs, and he has been raving about Windows 10 ever since the betas. So I felt less fearful than usual going in.
So far, and this is completely subjective, things seem to be slightly snappier (very slightly), which is a good sign. No problems with Word and Excel 365 or Firefox; haven’t tried any of my more exotic apps yet.
Tomorrow I am due to receive a Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard, which is part of my plan to determine whether I can get by with that and a tablet instead of a laptop for travel. I’m going out to Las Vegas in November to housesit for my brother for three weeks, and I also have a few other trips planned. For those where I just need Web browsing, e-mail, Word and Excel, it would be great to lighten the load. But I gotta have at least a pretty good keyboard. I hope this Microsoft one is it.
The other part of the plan is that I am thinking about moving up the tablet food chain from my Nexus 7 to a Nexus 9 or even an iPad Air 2. Any thoughts?
Jerzy Russian
There are two wacky baseball games in extra innings. The Reds and the Giants keeping going back and forth. There were three or four unearned runs. The Reds blew a three run lead going into the bottom of the 8th, now the Reds have moved ahead in the top of the 10th. Likewise, neither Colorado nor the LA Dodgers seem to want to win their game, as Colorado takes the lead at the top of the inning and LA ties it at the bottom of the same inning. At least I am in the same time zone, so it is not super late for me.
Jerzy Russian
@M. Bouffant:
Yes, exactly!
Sasha
“Upgrading” to windows 10 was a disaster for me. It bogged my computer down to the point where it was useless and we we reverted to Windows 7, my computer stopped working entirely. No fix worked and ultimately we had to re-install Windows 7 after backing up the files through DOS (I guess, I don’t know-my husband did it) because every time we ran windows everything looked fine but it didn’t recognize the keyboard or the mouse. We meant to do a back-up before downloading 10 but it actually started downloading before we were expecting it to. So, kind of a fail for me. It worked fine for my husband but he started with Windows 8.
magurakurin
@Mike J:
This is not good advice. The upgrade is absolutely painless. I went from 7 to 10. The new OS works just fine, maybe a little faster to boot up actually. And I imagine support for 7 and 8 will end fairly soon and the free upgrade window won’t be forever. Better to upgrade in my opinion.
mclaren
Since Windows 7 is shite and Windows 10 is rancid diarrhea, I’m just waiting for the cries of swooning delight when you gullible dupes “upgrade” to Windows 11 and your hard drive wipes itself and you get a blackscreen. And you exclaimed: “The new interface is so minimalist! I LOVE it!!!
You’re a nice guy, Cole, but a hopeless patsy. If someone told you the fabulous new Windows 11 upgrade required you to chop your own dick off, you’d be grabbing for the knife drawer before anyone could stop you.
Ruckus
@Jerzy Russian:
It was a lucky guess.
First computer I owned was an Apple II. It replaced a teletype machine we used to punch 1 in tape. First one I used was an IBM main frame that used punch cards. Fun times.
Steeplejack
@mclaren:
Still using Windows 2000, I presume?
RK
How are you defining “support”?
Thoughtful Today
Remember the days when you almost had to buy a new computer if you wanted to upgrade?
Ever consider Linux? It’ll revive an old machine.
(I’ve an old machine’s running Mint Linux and video streams are (usually) flawless.)
RK
@Thoughtful Today: How will it revive an old machine?
Tissue Thin Pseudonym
I find that Windows 10 is a mild improvement over Windows 8.1, and really, really wish that I still had Windows 7. Unfortunately, my Windows 7 machine stopped working and it was no longer available.
Seanly
I had gotten a new machine recently & as soon as I went about logging in, it asked if I wanted to upgrade to Windows 10. My wife’s Windows 8.1 laptop downloaded the update a couple of weeks later.
I like Windows 10. Both of our machines are touchscreens which was almost a requirement in Windows 8.1, but on my main machine I don’t use the touchscreen too much. It works well and I look forward to my next work laptop being Windows 10.
I haven’t had any issues with it so far. My one complaint is that Edge catches viruses & malware very easily and most of the anti-spyware, etc isn’t set up for it yet. Protip – if your Edge is infected, go offline & then open Edge. This will allow you to actually clear it out.
Thoughtful Today
RK
I’ve got a dozen legal Microsoft XP licenses I could sell you ;)
Linux is on those machines now and some ran better after installing Linux.
magurakurin
@mclaren:
There won’t be a Windows 11. Windows 10 is the final version. From this point forward there will only be updates and patches to the OS done automatically. People will only purchase the OS when they purchase a new device from this point on.
Steeplejack (phone)
@Tissue Thin Pseudonym:
You can still get Win7 Pro at Micro Center for $140.
magurakurin
@RK: I’m not a tech person, but I imagine anyone running XP has trouble when online at this point. Using any other older version surely must be nearly impossible. It seems to me that this upgrade is very different from everything in the past. People who don’t do the upgrade may end up regretting in the future. Just my opinion though and it isn’t worth all that much. But, the upgrade is free, so if there are problems down the line with 7 and 8, I don’t think Microsoft will feel the need to do a whole lot since they offered the new and currently maintained version to everyone for free.
BillinGlendaleCA
@mclaren: There will never be a Windows 11, Windows 10 is the last version of Windows.
Major Major Major Major
@BillinGlendaleCA: That’s like saying OS9 will be the last version of Mac OS.
RK
@Thoughtful Today: Okay. Was just curious.
@magurakurin : Yeah, I think Microsoft support for 7 and 8 in the way of updates will continue for several years. As to what older OS versions will be able to handle and operate in the future that’s usually not too much of a problem.
Mike J
@magurakurin: I didn’t say to never upgrade. I said don’t upgrade unless you have an actual reason to. In a year or two when support for Win 7 stops[1], that would be a reason. If saving a few seconds once a day on boot time is a reason to bother with it, then you should upgrade.
[1] Don’t expect MS to kill off support for older systems as quickly as they threaten to. They make the same threat with every new release, and then corporate customers who really don’t want the hassle of updating 5,000 desktops flat out refuse to upgrade
NotMax
Have mentioned multiple times previously that Win 10, while a fine and stable OS, is an intrusive and snoopy bugger. Nothing wrong with installing it if one has reason to, but tweak those privacy settings (and there are a LOT of them) to tamp down its busybodiness.
See, for example, here and here
@magurakurin
Win 7 support has already been announced as continuing through at least 2018.
Maeve
So not like this upgrade?
http://whatever.scalzi.com/2015/07/29/the-upgrade-from-hell/
My workplace won’t leave windows 7 for a long time – we clung to XP for so long we bypassed Vista entirely (which was actually a great thing.) Lots had to do with internal networks and networking – they won’t drop 7 support for a while.
My home computer is 8.1 – also its a laptop w/touchscreen. I wouldn’t install 8/10 without a touchscreen and I’ll upgrade to 10 when I get around to it. If you have 7 without a touchscreen I wouldn’t update.
A couple of years ago I had reason to do business with a small firm here – they were using Windows ME.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Mike J: I believe that the free upgrade to Win10 ends July 29, 2016. I blame Obama.
Bart
Texas, obviously.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Maeve:
Win10 works pretty much the same as Win7 without a touchscreen, using just a mouse and keyboard.
tybee
@NotMax:
yup.
and never buy/install an even numbered release of anything.
BillinGlendaleCA
@tybee:
That’s malarkey, Windows NT 4.0. (Drops mic).
Ivan X
@Ruckus:
Believe it or not, there is still an annual Apple II users & developers conference that’s been going on 25+ years, which, strangely enough, I attend.
(And one of the things that came out this year was an update to the Apple IIgs operating system.)
And if you want to relive your punch card youth, there’s always the Vintage Computer Festival.
NotMax
@tybee
At the time Netscape 4 was the bee’s knees.
The Golux
@Steeplejack:
I had this problem with the programming environment I use, which has been around in one form or another since the dawn of the PC. What fixed it was to open the properties for the shortcut, go to the Compatibility tab and check “Disable display scaling on high DPI settings”. I’m not sure if this will help with Firefox, which looks just fine after the upgrade.
SmallAxe
Take a walk with me online Balloon-juice other liberals are too chicken
SmallAxe
Neil J Bisson
SmallAxe
Even when waking with #Rocky
Baud
I got Win 10. Works fine.
Randy P
That reads so much like the old joke about the optimist who falls out of the 10 story window and 9 stories down says “so far so good!”
BillinGlendaleCA
@Baud: I’ve got it on 5 computers(2 desktops, 2 sticks, and one tablet).
Maxwel
My computers use Media Center, so no 10 until I decide on an alternative.
Cervantes
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Is it contagious?
BillinGlendaleCA
@Cervantes: Actually, unless you change some setting, yes.
MomSense
@Bart:
What a horrible, horrible story. Poor kid just wanted to invent good things.
BillinGlendaleCA
@Maxwel: After you’ve found an alternative, make sure you uninstall media center before you start the Win10 upgrade. That’s the one thing I had a problem with my primary machine.
BillinGlendaleCA
Morning Joe is still pushing Handsome Joe Biden to get into the race. I guess over 20 horses aren’t enough, sigh.
ETA: Oh, I forgot, Hillary is DOOMED.
Randy P
Random thought when reading yet another Kim Davis story (I know her 15 minutes are up, but the conversation on the topic, especially among Republican politicians and nutcases, is illuminating).
Every time I read the rhetoric about how poor Kimmy is being persecuted because of her religion, I wonder how every other non-jailed Christian in Kentucky, especially those who hand out marriage licenses, feel about being told by their heroes that they aren’t Christian, that Kimmy is the only Christian in Kentucky. Has anybody heard any grumbling along those lines?
gene108
@Mike J:
I vaguely remember a bomb scare in high school (late 1980’s) rumored to be caused by some kids Walkman’s cassette tape hitting the end of its side and “clicking” the way cassette tapes would do, when they were done on a side. I believe the Walkman was in his locker and I guess someone heard the noise.
I can’t remember what happened to the kid, but it was not so whacked out to make it into the local news.
In short, bomb scares in high schools have been a thing for awhile. The overreaction by authorities seems to be new.
I feel sorry for Ahmed. He seems like a really bright and enterprising student and some authoritarian racist dipshits are hurting his ambition instead of nurturing it.
BruceFromOhio
Upgraded pretty much hands-free on the old Dell GX280/Win7 box. Now it boots faster, loads apps quicker, and all of the existing programs, every single one, work just fine. The objective was to test the process, time the workstream, and suss out wacky drivers after upgrade. Not only did it see the printer share off the main Win7 box, it even knew to load the substitute driver to make it work – this printer was new in 2002, and the original driver doesn’t work beyond XP. Any OS that breathes new life into old hardware is a hands-down winner in this house, but after the Ubuntu scare of aught-nine, we are wedded to The Will of Redmond.
Even though the user community is already groaning about it, everyone in the tribe is getting this one tout de suite.
MomSense
@BillinGlendaleCA:
That sounds better than the segment they are doing on Syria. No, we don’t have to do something. Doing something often makes thing worse.
I also love the way they are making what is happening in Syria something that started because PresO didn’t invade 5 years ago.
FFS doesn’t the Iraq war they all championed have something to do with this mess? They never ever learn.
qwerty42
@Jerzy Russian: … I know when I was a kid the only thing holding me back was the lack of a good OS.
When I was a kid OS/360 was still a theory, so, makes sense; no telling what I might have done with a decent OS. Of course, the punch cards were another problem.
So Windows 10 is looking OK? I really, really wanted to like 8 (actually 8.1) but was never able to (and it has some great stuff, the server mngr is great though am sure most have no interest in it) .
HeartlandLiberal
All who are upgrading, please be sure to search Google on questions of privacy settings in Windows 10, and how to TURN OFF all of the intrusive stuff Microsoft is doing by default.
Do a Google search on something like “how to turn configure privacy in windows 10” and you will get page after page of hair curling exposure to how completely Microsoft invades your privacy, including pretty much spying on everything you do online and recording it in their cloud.
I have a new MoBo, CPU, and RAM, and will be building a new Win 10 box soon, using MS Developers Network license, since I have a subscription. Not planning to upgrade my Win 8.1 box, which I have configured to ignore all the horrible tiles and everything bad, and is a very stable platform for work and some advanced games, until I feel comfortable with defanging the many bad things regarding privacy Microsoft is doing in Windows 10.
Also just purchased an OEM Windows 2012 R2 server license, need to rebuild my public facing server when the new hardware arrives for it arrives. I always buy in in the last 18 months projected lifespan of a server generation, knowing it will be supported for another 4 – 5 years, and has reached a good, stable point in life cycle.
Baud
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Andrea Mitchell was pushing the same talking point yesterday.
OzarkHillbilly
@Bart: In Texas, white people are encouraged to walk around with fully loaded weapons and darkly complected children with funny sounding names are arrested for carrying home made clocks. I am incensed.
JPL
@Bart: Wow .. “He said, ‘It looks like a movie bomb to me.’” (the principal) wtf
Mustang Bobby
I signed up for Windows 10 but after hearing from friends who had issues with it, including several who said that it wouldn’t or couldn’t recognize peripherals like printers, I decided not to do it yet. As it is, Windows 7 Pro at home works just fine. If it ain’t fixed, don’t break it.
JPL
The Irving School System needs to send home notes stating, NO INVENTIONS ARE TO BE BROUGHT TO SCHOOL BECAUSE OUR TEACHERS, MIGHT MISTAKE IT FOR A BOMB.
ALL SCIENCE FAIRS ARE CANCELED.
Baud
@OzarkHillbilly:
Well, that’s just common sense.
WereBear
@Steeplejack: I love the iPad mini I got for my birthday, if that helps. But all my devices are Apple except my dumb phone.
For me, it’s not so much the keyboard as the way the screen formats, such as editing items with WordPress. But I agree that a keyboard is necessary for real inputting.
With that combo, I think I could do just fine, trip wise.
Baud
@WereBear:
That’s… unusual.
OzarkHillbilly
@Mustang Bobby: You and my wife.
Mustang Bobby
@OzarkHillbilly: Good company, then.
debbie
@BillinGlendaleCA:
NPR’s been pimping Carly all morning.
OzarkHillbilly
@Baud: They are all gonna get an earload of HillBilly sense today.
Baud
@debbie:
Sounds like the name of a new reality TV show.
OzarkHillbilly
‘I was building a fire with my nephews when a bomb fell. They were killed instantly. My lower leg was injured. A stranger put me in his car and took me to a hospital. I was still there when there was a chemical attack on our neighbourhood. My brothers and sisters were dead. When my father heard the news, he had a heart attack and died, too. I fled to Lebanon with my mum, who decided to go back. Now I live with my uncle and Ibrahim, who is my best friend. We still make fires every day’
–Seif (left), 10, from Damascus,
debbie
@OzarkHillbilly:
Tragic photos. I don’t know how the world will get itself out of this.
Elizabelle
From article about the Irving, TX kid enterprising enough to build a
Muslimy bombclock:Suspend that principal and make an example of the teachers and cops who persecuted this kid and refused to believe him.
On the good side, at least no one is contesting that he built the clock. Those wicked Muslims are fiendish good with their hands, aren’t they, unlike our teleprompter-needing brown president.
linky: http://www.dallasnews.com/news/community-news/northwest-dallas-county/headlines/20150915-irving-ninth-grader-arrested-after-taking-homemade-clock-to-school.ece
debbie
@Elizabelle:
Absolutely unbelievable that his engineering teacher couldn’t relate to building a clock for a clock’s sake.
MomSense
Up next, Brokaw is going to tell the kids what they need to do to become a great generation.
Hey Brokaw, leave those kids alone.
Steeplejack
@The Golux:
Thanks, I’ll take a look at that. The other thing that occurred to me overnight is that Windows 10 may be throttling back on some of the eye-candy visuals on my machine (ThinkPad X130e) either because of RAM (I’ve got 4 GB installed) or the (built-in) graphics processor. I’ll have to see if there’s a setting or panel somewhere that sheds any light on that. I do note I’m not seeing a lot of “transparent” or “translucent” in the Windows user interface. But I don’t have another machine with which to compare.
The only thing I’ve noticed about Firefox is that after the Windows upgrade the Firefox title bar and menu bar background color has changed, from dark blue to blue-gray. That may be something to do with Classic Theme Restorer or Stylish, two add-ons I have installed.
Baud
@MomSense:
Step 1: Crash the economy.
Step 2: Start WWIII
Step 3: ???
Step 4: Greatest generation 2.
Elizabelle
@debbie: Actually, I took that to mean the engineering teacher knew how unintelligent some of the other teachers were, and the misconclusions they would draw. Not to mention the principal.
Elizabelle
Caught the tail end of Brokaw appearance. He’s quite the parody these days. Scoffing about government overreach that is unpopular “across the board.”
And then Mika closing with an anti-politician sneer. Smear them all.
When problem is GOP Congress — their appalling reputation is why the GOP base is sworn off of politicians — and this is when their party controls congress.
Democrats aren’t seeking salvation from carnival barkers and grifters. That’s party-specific.
Away from MSNBC. Manufactured consent.
Steeplejack
@HeartlandLiberal:
When I first logged on yesterday morning on after finishing the upgrade, Windows 10 did present me with a few screens’ worth of settings to approve, many having to do with privacy and “feedback,” presented in a sort of “Nothing to see here, just accept the defaults and move on” manner. I neutered them all, and one of my tasks today is, as you suggested, to check and see what other “helpful” settings I need to turn off.
OzarkHillbilly
@Elizabelle: I did too.
Baud
@Elizabelle:
I have a feeling all the antiestablishment fervor vanishes as soon as it becomes clear that a white guy will be the next president.
Cervantes
@MomSense:
I’ll say.
@gene108:
I hope his next invention involves getting the hell out of that place. I wonder if there’s anything one can do to help …
Steeplejack
@WereBear:
Thanks for the input. I have avoided the Apple ecosystem (mostly by accident), but the Air 2 is in the sweet spot of features that I’m looking for. I came by a little extra money recently and have been thinking maybe I would treat myself. But first I’d like to go to the store and actually fondle it (and the Nexus 9).
Fester Addams
@Suzanne:
UPVOTING THIS COMMENT
WereBear
How so? A smartphone would cost me and then my monthly cell phone bill would double — all bucks I do not have.
If I traveled a lot… if I talked on the phone more than I do… if I was often away from wifi… I could justify it. But I have an iPod touch which is like an iPhone without the phone, and now an iPad mini. I have all the fun without the monthly data bill.
Baud
@WereBear:
Ok, fair enough. But the iPhone is far and away Apples most popular and profitable product.
Cervantes
@HeartlandLiberal:
Or skip this insanity and use a better product instead.
Steeplejack
@tybee:
Well, this is the first version since 8.1, so maybe you can think of it as 9.
WereBear
@Baud: Rightly so… because I know a lot of Youngs for whom it is their only device. In such cases, having one makes utter sense, even economically.
debbie
@Elizabelle:
But don’t you think the engineering teacher could have elaborated a bit to the kid as to why it could be a problem? I don’t know that 14-year-olds should be expected to understand that the atmosphere in most schools is to presume deadly danger in practically every object.
Here, some parents are objecting to training (developed by Ohio’s GOP AG) kids to throw books to distract a gunman during a school shooting. Parents object, saying that only makes their kids targets. Of course, their proposed solution was a lockbox for a teacher’s weapons (like there’d be enough time for that). Kids have been pulled out of school and the parents (of course) are considering filing a lawsuit.
WereBear
Indeed. The path I have taken.
I got into computers in the punchcard days, and it has continued to be at least half of my professions since. On a personal level, I have moved up from the Commodore VIC 20 to the Amiga and then onto the Apple line of products.
I’ve deliberately avoided the PC because of Microsoft deciding to bigfoot competing products out of existence. They thought that was a better path than simply making a better product.
Also, every single time I use one, no matter what configuration or OS it was using, it does something so incredibly bone-headed and frustrating and disrespectful of my status as a thinking person I am sometimes driven to lean close to the screen and declare how much I hate it for existing.
There’s nothing else in the world that drives me to such depths.
MomSense
@Baud:
Step 3: PROFIT
Elizabelle
@debbie: Yeah, perhaps.
Also, it’s not stated in the story that the cops and principal called the engineering teacher in to evaluate the device. Maybe they did; maybe they didn’t.
That school brought the world down on its own head.
I guess if it was just the usual white kid shooting up the school and his classmates, we’d be hailing the principal and brave teachers for their valor on the scene.
Cervantes
@debbie:
Would have been nice if that teacher could have talked to the other teachers before things got out of hand — after all, he or she had an inkling of what would happen — but perhaps there was no opportunity to do it.
Elizabelle
@WereBear: I pay more for Apple because I love the genius bar. No more having to talk to “Ben” in Bangalore.
Also planning to get rid of the smartphone and use a dumb phone and iPad for future travels. Don’t use the iPhone features enough to pay for the bells and whistles.
MomSense
@Cervantes:
I feel like Bill Gates, and the rest of the tech big shots should get together and rescue this poor kid. Although the kid did say he likes robotics so he could be the one who creates skynet and ushers in the age of robot overlords.
Cervantes
@WereBear:
You haven’t lived with me.
Cervantes
@MomSense:
I will ask around.
It would be good for the Universe if the boy could see more of his own intelligence reflected in it.
debbie
@WereBear:
I too am devoted to Apple products. Unfortunately, work is PC-based and it sucks. Just last week, my PC laptop crashed and when I logged back in, even though they had been saved and closed before the crash, a couple really crucial files were damaged beyond repair. I hate Microsoft!!!
MomSense
@Cervantes:
Amen.
Elizabelle
New thread! All righty!
CB
When I ‘upgraded’ my Surface Pro 3 from Win8.1 -> Win10 the wifi broke utterly.
Fortunately, I was able to revert to Win8.1, but that wasn’t w/o problems either (had to tinker with a BitDefender setting, turning off, after restoring Win8.1, a setting that had been on before the attempted ‘upgrade’ to Win10).
Searching turned up plenty of similar stories – Win10 on SP3 means loss of wifi – but no definitive causes or resolutions.
Too bad — I like Win10 on my desktop, and would prefer it on the SP3.
WereBear
@Cervantes: Well, I have a choice about that :)
Work-wise, PC was all there was for many years.
NobodySpecial
@Darkrose: It broke WoW?
Sounds like Microsoft is really trying to be good citizens.
Cervantes
@WereBear:
Not really!
Sasha
I would love to see a gofundme account for this boy to pay tuition to a private school.
Reformedpantysniffer
My windows 10 upgrade did not go too well. My PC is about 6 or 7 years old (HP). Windows 10 installed everything correctly but wiped out my USB ports and my CD/DVD drive. Could not get them back (I’m something of a Luddite with computers), so I reverted back to Windows 7. Still have not seen a workaround or fix on some of the web sites I looked at for help. Not sure if others have the same experience. I’ll update my wife’s laptop but leave the man cave machine alone for now. I did not like all the privacy issues around the upgrade and I did not like losing IE either. So I’ll wait on a second attempt if ever.
mclaren
@BillinGlendaleCA:
Ahahahahahaha!
There will be Windows 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, Windows Shitstain Edition, Windows Blackscreen of Death Edition, Windows Bluescreen Edition, Windows Media Crash, Windows Can’t Mount HD0, Windows Unexpected Application Error, Windows Death Squeal, Windows Flames Shooting Out, Windows Strange Grinding Noises From Hard Drive, Windows VGA Edition, Windows CGA Edition, Windows Monochrome Screen Special Edition, Windows File Not Found Edition, Windows NTLDR Error, Windows Registry Dump, Windows Hex Dump, Windows Fuck You Asshole Edition.
Microsoft will just keep going and going, changing Windows every year or two, nothing will work right, the interface will constantly change — and you’ll have to pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, pay, every time you get a new version of Windows.
Windows will change for the sake of change, just because. In one version of Windows you’ll open files by holding your nose and pirouetting three times, in another version of Windows you’ll open files by hitting CRTL-ALT-SHIFT-META-FN-T-5-%. In another version of Windows you’ll launch programs by holding your arms out and flapping like a bird while shouting “Doggy bed!” In another version of Windows you’ll launch programs by maneuvering a joystick.
Nothing will quite work (in one version of Windows if the USB ports show up the ethernet port won’t, in another verion of Windows if the ethernet port is detected and configured the video controller isn’t), nothing will ever make sense, there will be no unified paradigm for the desktop, the START button will disappear, then reappear, then disappear, then it will come back but in the upper right hand corner of the screen and labeled “ELECTROLYTES,” then it will vanish again but you’ll be able to conjure it up by chasing a pac-man icon around the screen.
Meanwhile, those of us who use linux will continue to find that everything just works, and it all makes sense.
Good luck with your Microsoft death march, lusers.
JohnM
@Steeplejack: It’s free because Microsoft is collecting a shitton of personal information from your computer now. Fun things include where you go on the internet and what you do while you’re there. Also, info about the files on your computer will be sent to Redmond. Microsoft 10 is not really free; the price is an all but complete lack of privacy on your computer.
NotMax
@Steeplejack
Handy links for that provided in #42 above.
Pete
@Mike J: I upgraded from 8. Bad move. Didn’t like 8 but I’d finally figured out how to make it look like 7. I have a Lenova Yoga 2. 10 has mostly disabled the 2-finger touchpad scroll, touchscreen is now glitchy, function keys no longer work, every now and again random glitches happen (e.g. random shutdown) as though I’d accidentally clicked on something I know I didn’t. DO NOT LIKE WIN10. Wish I could uninstall.
PaulW
I want to hear how the Windows 10 upgrade finished out.
I know that most ppl with Windows 7 had some problems with the monitor drivers being out-dated during the upgrade but that Win 8 users were relatively okay.
Just remember when you upgrade to Win 10 your security and user preferences are going to switch back to a default setting (likely ON). Check your Settings to re-configure.
PaulW
@mclaren:
you’re just trying to get us to buy into RedHat, aren’t you.
Poptartacus
windows 10 is better then pos windows 8.