_Always_ do memtest86 before defragging. I learnt that the hard way. Also get rid of the famous bloatware apps.
The above works fine for a win install thats mostly in good shape, but with win98 its better to reinstall, it deteriorates too much over time.
NT
in windows instead of msconfig I use
ps
pps my avg slowdown was it battling threatfire and other such
One part of work: virtually all instrument and control valve vendors can provide stand-alone programs for calculations and selection (they are often also available online, but in some situations, the only available PC doesn't allow access to the outside world). Just about all of these programs are Windows only.
Another part: Certain clients want particular PLCs controlling their systems and the development systems may also only run on Windows.
There may be no fundamental need for these systems to be written for Windows, but as the vast majority of end users are using it, there is little point in the vendors changing their practices and ditching their existing code base, libraries and experience (not to mention the extreme costs of industry re-validating the development software to ensure that it doesn't introduce any bugs when maintaining existing systems) and as such the end users must also continue to use Windows. Basically a case of it may not be the platform we'd choose, but this is where we are and to change would entail a vast cost in upheaval, retraining, etc. that is just never going to be worth it.
SteveW
That's something that I've never doubted or indeed tried to claim otherwise. However as it starts to percolate through to such vendors that they can create LWAs that are platform independent and be free of Microsfot tyrannies I suspect that many of them will start to develop software that doesn't care if it runs under Windows or some other windowing system.
It's already happening with enterprise computing. Lightweight Web Applications are rapidly becoming the standard.
That's my point really. The app drives the OS. Its not a free choice. But IIRC it depends where in the marketplace you are.
Not in my experinece. MOST specific chargeable packages are on PC bases. Apple less so, because its harder and more expensive, and there is less chance of it working with AN other package that wants windows.
BUT it doesn't contradict the point which is the application drives the OS decision.
AS long as I cant cure developers of that bad habit, I cant get away from it.
I'm now giving Microsoft Security Essentials a try out - have read some promising things about it recently, but will also scan monthly with AVG or Avast just to make sure its not missing something that they would have picked up.
Matt
Until time moves on, and windows fades away.
I have had Linux, windows and MAC OSX as desktops.
Nothing on the Mac that was Really Useful (TM) came free, and the programs I needed didn't run on it.
Most of what I wanted as basics, came on all platforms, but it was the necessity for 4 specific programs that drove me to retaining windows, and when I finally flung the mac away (too old, too slow, too expensive to replace) I stuck in Linux, and Vmware.
So now it still IS windows, and runs those 4 programs, at least if it all crashes hopelessly, I just shut it down and do 'revert to snapshot' and whatever crap its managed to install without my knowing, is all wiped away and I am back to the fresh installation I did a few months back.
The windows bit never goes near the net anyway. Its there to do design work on, pure and simple. It only needs the network to store its data files OUTSIDE of windows, where a complete 'reinstall' of windows wont wipe them pout..
Indeed. I write em. BUT even so, you can get into trouble with browser issues. It tends to be 'runs best on IE7/Firefox or WHY'
In this context, the browser IS the operating system, by and large. Some quite major applications are written in Javascript..
Also, you can write in JAVA.. If you must ;-(
Its catch22. As a developer I get asked to write software for Windows PC's, usually with very specific requirements for each business / organisation. I'd be happy to write applications for Linux but nobody has ever asked - besides they would likely want the software free of charge which seems the norm for that OS - unless you count vague maintenance / support fees. I write software for a living; have done so for the last thirty years. There are lots of things I dislike about Microsoft but they are a fact of life in the business world - for the moment at least. It isn't my job to convert anyone, I just give them what they ask for.
My test for when Linux is truly mainstream* is when vendors stop advertising their products for PCs and start advertising their products for Windows instead; it's incredible how many still seem to think that if you own a PC, you must be running Windows on it (Netflix were the most recent culprits that I noticed). Of course, sometimes I think about wasting a salesperson's time in that regard, dragging things out for as long as possible before telling them I need their non-existant Linux version - but of course it'd waste as much of my time as it would theirs, so it's just not worth it.
cheers
Jules
Agreed. The Gimp is usable, but if life gets sticky I swap straight into Corel photopaint.
SANE is insane, and I've never had to try inkscape. Corel is de-facto what I need for that anyway.
Inkscape's nice enough - it just hasn't really progressed any further in a few years. I'm not sure if that's due to the code being an unmaintainable mess, or if people have moved onto some other equivalent that I happen to have not heard about. The name still seems to get thrown around a lot, so I get the impression there's a healthy interest in it still.
I've not used sane for years, and the last time I did it was with a SCSI scanner, so perhaps there was a lot less buggering about than with scanners connected via other means.
I think the last time I used Corel (on a Windows machine, obviously) was in the early 90s. I suspect it's moved on a bit since then :-)
cheers
Jules
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