Lenovo B50-30

[Andy Burns]

^^^^^^^^ klaxxon

^^^^^^^ klaxxon

[T i m]

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And that could still be the case. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[T i m]

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Translation to fit the question: 'Does Linux have a Word compatible Word processor. ;-)

Do you mean Libra Office was previously Open Office or you are now recommending LO over OO?

I though LO was spun out of OO and both carry on?

Windows, Linux and Apple OS's. ;-)

But to answer the OP's question of is it / are they MS Word compatible, that can depend ...

In general and for most straightforward things then I would say yes.

You can open and edit a MS Word document and produce a document that can be opened and edited by MS Word.

Just how well the formatting carries across can be an issue, especially if it's a big document that may need some work to tidy (as it can between different versions of Word to some degree of course).

Cheers, T i m

[John Rumm]

Malwarebytes anti malware is one of the best IME. Hitmanpro another good one.

(Note these are for getting rid of genuine malware rather than dealing with factory supplied bloatware as such)

Indeed, and most are at best useless, or in many cases malicious themselves.

Much like riding your bike gets round the problem of a non working car.

Of course... you can get MS Word as a free download for Android and probably IOS as well. You use use the online versions from any supported browser on most platforms also. Then there are plenty of workable file compatible office suites including Libre Office or Kingsoft office etc.

[John Rumm]

IME the Win10 AV software is quite good at stepping out of the way if you have other software installed.

That doe snot really make sense. The quantity of files will have no real impact on the preprocessing overhead of "on access" scanning. Something that by definition only happens when a file is accesses.

Lots of files will mean that a schedules background scan will take longer. However background scans are designed to run at lower priority and consume minimal resources, and not compete with full screen applications (e.g. games)

Although if you are going to disable automatic checks, make sure that you have an effective patching routine to ensure you are not running applications with known critical vulnerabilities for extended periods of time.

[The Natural Philosopher]

More like driving a new car gets round the problem of the chain having fallen off your bike :-)

[alan_m]

I take it you have never had the misfortune of working on a project and when close to the deadline an automatic update results in a GUI change?

[tabbypurr]

maybe for folk without a clue. Not anyone else.

[tabbypurr]

Floppy Office :) All 1.4M of it last time I looked.

NT

[John]

Update. Did a Google on slow Windows 10 laptops. I have a Lenovo 310 Ideapad, whic is excellent. Much comes up on the web, with most saying the same thing, like get rid of start up apps, get rid of clutter on the disk, defrag disk, go into some parts of OS to enhance performance, remove AVG anti-virus using only Defender, etc. I did, making a difference with it now workable, but still a lot slower than when new. I only use the browser and OpenOffice, no games or other apps. Also it is still slower booting up even before Windows has booted, so this indicates it is not a Windows problem alone, although I am sure Windows is the prime culprit in everyday running.

Some say fit an SSD as this will make it faster. An SSD will. However the underlying problems still are there, with the SSD sort of papering over the cracks. I want the root cause eliminated.

I have little faith in Windows considering installing Linux, as being UNIX it is more stable, professional and less prone to attacks. I am thinking of an SSD and Linux, so with my fibre broadband I assume it will be lighting fast to what I have now. A new Unix OS, SSD and fibre Internet access will be like buying a new laptop.

I asked if Linux word processors are "Word compatible". I know there are many free suites available. I am any new word processor to read and edit my old files and not ruin the document format. Professional word processing software these days are give away items.

Is Linux free or do you have to buy it? It needs to be downloaded onto an USB stick or come on a USB stick.

[The Natural Philosopher]

It is pretty good provided you have at least 1GB RAM, 2GB is fine for just one or tow apps at the same time.

Libre office can read most word docs, and write nearly compatible ones. Chief problem is that unless you install all the windows fonts, formatting wont be identical.

As far as Ca;lc/Excel goes some of te more recondite functions will not be avaialable in lbre office, but 99.99% of te common stiff is, o its usually fine to pp[en a spreadsheet.

Normally you would download and burn a DVD. Its free.

My advice would be to buy an SSD and a caddy to make the current disk into an external USB drive.

Fit these, then download and burn a MINT DVD.

Boot that, follow instructions ) and install.

[tabbypurr]

The root cause is inevitably software (all of it, including OS). But you can still much improve performance with an ssd, whether you sort the software or not. Especially if the lappie only has 2G RAM and is therefore swapfiling - HDDs are abysmal at that.

I gather linux WP is about as compatible as Win WP is. I'm not a power word user though, there's probably more to it than I know. Use compatible file types of course.

Free, download it. Mint is a very popular place to start, but pick a LTS version & avoid fat versions eg cinnamon. There are substantially faster lighter linux distros that you might prefer if you want to get the best out of it.

NT

[John Rumm]

While I have had updates result in changes to UI features, I have not had any show stopping incidents. I have however had machines in effect deny service by deciding to do updates at unexpected times. Not so much of an issue on a quick machine, but can be an issue if working on ancient kit belonging to a customer etc.

None of that is an argument for disabling updates permanently though. Getting a machine completely hosed by a known and patched critical security vulnerability is even more annoying I would expect.

With earlier versions of windows electing to automatically download but

*not* install until instructed was usually the safest way forward. With 10, go for the pro version and you still have some control over when updates are installed, and can also postpone installation for a period of days if you are mid project.

IME the most annoying problems of that nature I experienced was with a third party graphics / publishing app, that decided to cease working at a critical moment one Friday night, and required a re-install to fix it.

After that it refused to work completely without reactivation, and there was no way of doing that online (this was some years back), but insisted on needing a phone call or email to the publisher. The call had to be during (US) business hours, which needless to say, would not be until a day after the job had to be complete! That application got relegated to don't bother using again pile!

[John Rumm]

In most respects the "cracks" are just the natural progression of software getting bigger and slower. IMHO it really is pointless running a spinning rust drive for OS and apps these days, given the massive speed boost of a decent SSD.

It does depend a bit on what you mean by word compatible... If you mean just at the file interoperability level, then "mostly". Note that there is also no hard and fast guarantee that even different versions of word will round trip a document without some subtle alteration to the format or layout. Even opening a doc with a different default printer driver selected can alter it.

If however you mean compatible in that it has the same UI, then no (although that is not a bad thing IMHO!).

If you mean will it play nice with third party applications that use word as an embedded editor for handling their data, then again, usually not.

Can be either. You can get paid for supported versions and free equivalents. Most home users would opt for a non paid one. Larger corporates will often go for the paid versions because they have far more proactive support and patch management (and the cost of the license is only a small part of TCO in the bigger picture).

You can usually download as a disk image or .ISO file and make your own installation media.

[The Natural Philosopher]

Linux is always free. You may elect to pay for a support contract, however.

[John Rumm]

A semantic argument. You want RHEL or similar, you pay for it.

[The Natural Philosopher]

A legal point. It is not Linux you are paying for.

[Roger Hayter]

If you want RHEL and no support contract you get Centos for free. The only things you don't get are paid-for services of one kind or another.

[John]

I have 4 GB RAM.

It has been suggested that I install an SSD in the DVD drive slot, make that the run drive with the existing HDD as the slave or a USB? That so? Easy to do in set up?

Fitting the SSD is easy enough with a caddy frame for it, however it is the setup that is always gives problems.

Will the drivers work un a Linux (UNIX) type of OS. etc?

Also what version of Linux as there are many?

I have had a belly full of this Windows tripe. I have never had any version of Windows work properly over any length of time - they are all wonderfully fast when new, with performance becoming unworkable over time. All versions quickly became bad.

I suppose using Linux some apps can't be used, like WhatsApp web, etc. A small penalty though for a fast usable laptop.

[John]

Also, what is the best version of Linux for a Lenovo 310 laptop as there are so many?