OSX and Linux have XP beat too (if what you want is a slick interface).
There are a million of these on youtube, here's one chosen at random:
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Actually, for real geeks, the level of control goes much deeper than what you see with Firefox of Thunderbird.
Can't agree, just about anyone can install and configure Firefox.
Not sure what you mean here. I don't use Windows myself, but from what I've seen, Firefox and Thunderbird are configured exactly the same way as IE and Outlook, thru the menu dialogs.
If you really want something unusual you go into "about:config". The same as IE and Outlook, except for them it's the registry.
The docs for about:config aren't too hard to find either:
I had some problems in the past with McAfee AV as apparently my comp was catched by a virus that first attacked the AV program :-( Then I installed the free version of Avira AntiVir and since one year I never had a problem with a virus attack again. It=B4s really worth to give it a try.
The program can be downloaded here:
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An other page that is worse to visit is
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you can browse in a database of 260,000 clerical/office administrative job offers to find what you are looking for.
Consumers Union uses classical methods and practices to gather and analyze reliability data, and indeed many other organizations do the same, most notably the U.S. government whose military standards and MTBF/MTTR methods shaped a large portion of this country's engineering development approach. Detroit and other manufacturing centers for appliances and electronics have done so for many. decades as well. Indeed CU uses traditional and well accepted methods. Fundamentally they gather, record, and statistically analyze a wide range of detailed failure modes for automobiles in particular but also for other products, deriving failure probabilities which they then portray in a simplified format for the average consumer to digest. They typically use a 5 point scale with such headings as (Much Better than Average, Better than Average, Average, Worse than Average, Much Worse than Average), a bar chart, or some other graphically compact notation. Most notable is their very large and statistically meaningful sample sizes, and their surveying methods which have been refined over (at least) the 38 years I have been a subscriber and survey participant.
If your point is that JD Powers is another legitimate database for some consumer data related to reliability, I agree, but I strongly contend that their scope and their sample sizes are smaller, vastly smaller in the case of automobiles for example, despite their concentration in such products, and vastly smaller in many areas where CU traditionally does its research and they do not.
It is also no small coincidence that CU aggressively prevents advertising and other patently obvious exploitation of their published results by manufacturers to lure buyers. You will NEVER see a car or other product ad which claims: "Selected as the best/most reliable/etc. by Consumers Report" since CU has made it entirely clear that they will litigate and prevail if such attempts are made.
JD Powers, on the other hand, is about as much "in bed" with Detroit and other sources as one could imagine. They actively encourage their endorsements to be used as selling tools. It doesn't take a genius to figure out how this influence peddling cycle works.....
I'm having the same problem with Norton that you described, completely removing all traces of their product. Did you find a way to do it? If so, I would really appreciate hearing what you did to get rid of all the pieces of this product.
Most think Linux is some wild ass system that is all command line. I'm with you. Let them suffer their fate. Keep buying proprietary crap ware.
My Linux runs if I never shut it down. It stays up to date within hours of a problem. Not weeks that run into years without repair like the most popular system that has these folks trapped with malware. I don't waste time constantly doing maintenance of scanning and defraging. If I break it, which I would have to try to do any more, I can repair the damage. When a newer version comes out I just install it and don't loose everything that has been saved in the past.
Basically the computer has to have the house fall on it to ruin it but the software will work if I can salvage just the hard drive. I don't use it as a windows server so I don't need virus software because we both know the true key is a unique password that protects /, and a proper firewall. (c;\\=
Anyone can install Firefox or Thunderbird. So far as configuring them goes, depends on how far you take "configuration". A lot of settings are available in the Account Settings and Options menus, true, but I doubt most users would even venture so far as the about:config settings you mention below. Probably less than 5% of users would be my guess.
That's part of what I'm talking about. F'rinstance, when you install Thunderbird, one of the settings makes it want to automatically dial an Internet connection if you're on dialup, something I *don't* want to happen. It took quite some digging to discover the config item (network.autodial-helper.enabled) to change this behavior.
And then there's the stuff that can only be had through editing userpref.js and "chrome" files. A user with working knowledge of Javascript and CSS would have few problems with this. How many users have that knowledge, or even *want* it?
I remember when I tried to find documentation for about:config, it was pretty hard to find. Perhaps that's been fixed since.
I have Trend Micro for years but the reviews haven't been so good lately. I also heard that Kaspersky is excellent. I downloaded their trial version but had a terrible time configuring it. They just came out with there new version and I tried to download the trial version of that. I kept getting errors and finally said f- it. Their cusomer service is paultry. I heard Bit-Defender is good but haven't looked into it yet.
While I still search for one, I'm using Avira's Antivir free.
I am also using Online Armour as a firewall which is free and very highly rated.
Well, GNU is not an OS. And there are no GNU , Linux folks, no more than there are hammer, screwdriver or skill saw folks. If you would care to look around would see only people who use different tools when they need them. I use Linux, Windows and Mac OS X.
Please try to be gentle with folks such as Chris. They are extremely frustrated already by their poor choice of an obtuse and arcane operating system. They now have to fiercely defend that poor choice, which stresses them out even further. They are, as a group, very thin skinned, and if you persist, poor Chris's head may well explode. You wouldn't want to be responsible for a tradgedy like that, would you? WOULD YOU???
They only survey subscribers, who are by definition not regular consumers, but rather people who consider themselves smart shoppers.
What reply rate do they get on their surveys? I'd be real surprised if it is over 20-30 percent. Again, self selected.
I'm no expert, but I have written or evaluated a few customer surveys over the years. I found 2 clusters of typical replies- people who are pissed, and people who are still trying to justify their purchase (to themselves, spouse, whatever. I dunno.) People who bought something to do a job, and find that it works, are seldom motivated to report on their experience, IMHO. What do you do with the pop-up surveys on vendor web sites? You made your purchase already, or sent in your trouble ticket, or whatever. What is the motivation to fill out the survey, unless you still want to vent?
In this age of disposable products and essentially meaningless warranties, I don't think there ARE any valid indicators of quality and reliability for consumer goods, other than the shadow indicator of overall/ongoing sales figures and repeat business. It isn't like industrial or commercial equipment, where every service call and warranty claim are logged by vendor and customer, and problem brands and vendors do not get the repeat business. When I buy 20-30 K worth of hardware from a vendor, he REALLY wants me to be happy, so I'll come back. Something doesn't work, I get a swapout shipped overnight, or they send a tech out. When I buy a 20 dollar item at Wally World, neither the manufacturer or reseller really care- they already have my money. Any further contact with me is just an expense to them.
How do I judge quality of consumer items? School of hard knocks, mainly. I look real hard at the demo unit in the store, run my hands over it, see if it feels like flimsy junk, look at the fit, finish, machining and plating quality, so on and so forth. Once you have been buying things a few years, junk usually announces itself pretty well, as does quality. (Best example is hand tools- if it feels wrong in your hand, it is probably crap.) If I an buying remotely, like on line, I'll go by what brands have served me well in the past, as well as the informed opinions (however anecdotal) of people I know and trust who have purchased from that manufacturer before.
Let me say first that I'm not picking a fight over which OS is better. I concede that Linux is probably better than any of the "proprietary" OSes.
But you're missing the points, one of which is that the "superior OS" is only used by a tiny fraction of computer users, despite it being so all-fired better, but more importantly, that's really the OS of choice of computer geeks, not most users.
Let me ask you in all sincerity: do you think the average user could (assuming they knew about it, and assuming they wanted to) successfully install Linux on a computer and keep it running? I ask out of ignorance, having never installed it myself.
And even if they could do that, I doubt if they have the knowledge you have which would let them recover from problems as easily as you do.
It may be a great OS, but face it, it's never going to be used by anything but a tiny minority of those with computers.
I received a 1 year subscription to Consumers Reports as a wedding gift in the late 1960s when I got married. Ever since then, I have renewed the subscription, and used their reviews to assist me in making shopping decisions. I have purchased many major items over nearly 40 years with their input, and in many if not most cases, found their comparisons and data to be accurate and generally valid. In cases where I have been disappointed, I can often find a good reason which really explains why their choice and my experience differ, typically my false assumption that they will compare products using much the same discriminants which I would.
When I retrospectively look back upon items I have purchased for which they collect and report reliability, my experiences are very much correlated with their data. Obvious examples would be extreme satisfaction with my current car's repair history, which matches their data to an uncanny extent, as well as dissatisfaction with the repair history of a few home appliances which they now report in the lower ranking repair data.
My only other connection was a single opportunity to perform certain testing which fell under a non-disclosure agreement whose duration I cannot accurately recall as a hired consulting engineering company employee in the early 1990s. They impressed me tremendously with their very thorough, very well informed, and very meticulous approach to the specific testing which required lab facilities which they lacked and my employer possessed.
You asked a full disclosure and this is about all I can offer. There are, and have been, specialized test facilities and labs whose opinions and evaluations I would value as superior to CU. For many years as an avid (rabid?) audiophile, I would not especially trust my selection of audio gear to CU when better evaluations were being offered in the audiophile magazines and from some distinguished engineers whose opinions I valued. To this day, I would put more stock and value in reading lens evaluations and camera evaluations from others on the Internet and elsewhere rather than depend on CU. I do sincerely believe, however, that they act with integrity, very good technical judgment, impartiality, and mostly correct metrics.
Incidentally, I have been briefly involved with the CPSC, the Consumer Product Safety Commission, in a consulting role. I won't elaborate except to say that they are an extremely poor excuse for a testing organization.
I haven't missed that point. I concede that there are more people running Windows.
I don't see how it's all that important to be using what everyone else is using.
Yes. Linux installs have gotten easier and easier. If you can install XP, you'll find installing Linux is even easier (without all the reboots).
If you can't install XP, you can run Linux without even doing a proper install. There are "live CDs". Just put the CD in the drive and reboot. You don't install anything it just runs Linux. If you have a machine that can boot from USB there are versions that run from a USB device.
How do you deal with Windows problems? Same technique works with Linux.
For many people, it's not an either or type choice. Many people run both. They set up their machines for dual boot. If you've got to get something done and you can't figure out how to do it, boot into the other OS. Many people claim they switch back and forth and eventually find they don't need Windows after a while. For some it goes the other way.
If your goal is to run what everyone else runs, Linux isn't a good choice.
If you have any curiosity burn a live CD and see how far you get. It won't hurt anything.
I think what surprises most people is the massive amount of free software available. The "Add/Remove Programs" feature really works. In Windows, all it's good for is removing stuff. With Linux there are thousands of free applications to install and have fun with.
I may be entirely atypical, but I consistently submit their survey each year with the good, the bad, and the ugly all reported as honestly as I can. I don't personally subscribe to the opinion that only self-selected and highly opinionated replies with disgruntled consumers comprise their results. The Lexus survey shows their car to be nearly perfect in terms of its aging characteristics, and the opposite is true for some other brands, with every type of good and bad in between.
I think there ***ARE*** valid indicators of quality and reliability, and I, for one, would much rather buy a mattress which has withstood tens of thousands of testing impacts without collapse rather than buy one which falls apart in the same testing sequence. Ditto for most other items they test. If anything, I would argue that a world of crappy products and even crappier warrantees ***DEMANDS*** that consumers apply whatever selection methods they can to make an informed decision. I categorically reject the notion that complex and expensive items should be purchased ad hoc, or by any "dumbed-down" method which entirely overlooks intrinsic design or build quality.
For many items, the methods you recommend make a great deal of sense to me, and I too use all of my own powers of observation to make the right choice. The look, the feel, the heft, the fit, the finish, etc........ This inspection approach is very useful, necessary, but not sufficient in many cases however, since they are often far too superficial. I will entrust somebody with good instruments to measure my future tires, mattresses, cars, and many other items where the observations from eyes and hands are not enough. Anecdotal opinions and past experience are both also very useful, but again not enough to really answer the question for most purchases. As an engineer, I will admit that I tend to sweat a lot of details and worry a lot of nit-picking points, so I don't presume others have the time, inclination, or technical interest / background to dissect and analyze some of this stuff. And they are clearly entitled to their choices no more or no less than I am.
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