Post by RS WoodOn Fri, 16 Mar 2018 21:34:00 +0000 (UTC)
Microsoft is trying a new brute-force tactic to boost adoption of
its Edge browser. In the latest preview version of Windows 10,
Microsoft's Mail app will automatically open web links in Edge, even
for users who've set a different browser as their default.
So, the year is 1998 again?
Doing so, Microsoft says, will ensure "the best, most secure and
consistent experience on Windows 10 and across your devices."
And we're using the same excuses?
So sick of companies "ensuring me the best experience" by prioritizing
their other crap. On the other hand, I've already ensured myself the
very best experience by avoiding MS products. Your turn, smart guy!
I really like Win7. Too bad it's the end of an era.
You hung onto MS windows for *that* long? :-)
For me, it was win2k that represented the epitome of MS OSen. I only let
go of it when my last major hardware upgrade almost three years ago, left
it high and dry of driver support (that and the fact that I needed a 64
bit OS), leaving me with the only option but to move to a Unix based
distro (Linux Mint 17.1 KDE 64 Rebecca in this case) to avoid the win10
trap MS had been baiting the previous 12 months or so.
The move was a bit of a 'culture shock' notwithstanding my having run
Ubuntu based testing systems with VBox with win2k and winXP VMs during
the preceding three years off and on to soften the impact of the
inevitable demise of win2k that was obviously going to occur with my next
five yearly major hardware upgrade.
Even so, subscribing to the alt.os.win-10 (?) news group was a smart
move on my part since it helped maintain my resolve to "Suck It Up" and
adapt to the weird and wonderful world of "Linux" by witnessing the
wailings and gnashings of teeth going on in that group which kept me
informed of the ever more extreme exploitation of MS's customer base that
I had witnessed the start of with their introduction of winXP to a
customer base who remained largely ignorant of win2k and therefore to
what a desktop OS should have remained.
My only real criticism of Linux developers is that they too seem to have
been equally as ignorant of win2k's excellence and have fallen into the
trap of aping the later windows desktop GUIs. "Fashion Is as Fashion
Does.", to paraphrase Forest Gump, seems to be the best descriptive for
this syndrome. Just because MS robbed it first, is no reason to ignore
any excellent principles behind the purloined UI. :-(
Post by RS WoodThe last Win product I really don't have a great solution for is Access,
as a forms front-end to a Postgresql database. It's really pretty
damned good at what it does, and for data entry and rapid searches, it's
been a good friend.
Luckily for me, my useage case is more of a pastime than to serve a hard
commercial need but even so, I'm glad to be able to run a winXP VM under
VBox for just a few requirements not easily met by native linux apps
(searches, file renaming and converting the odd MPG TS recording into MPG
PS media files using MpegStreamClip which still hasn't been ported and
for which there is no unix equivalent).
Post by RS WoodMS Outlook is a festering dungheap, and I'm sick to death of Word and
Excel. I use Softmaker products to replace both, and they work great.
Can someone please produce an Access clone for Linux, please? Rekall
was on its way to being good when it choked on a couple-too-many crazy
pills and went off the tracks. Knoda was decent but is no longer
developed. Kexi has all sorts of limitations that piss me off, like you
can't use it to access an already-created postgresql database, you can
only create a new one. What's the point?
That, it seems to me, is the problem with "Free Software", a lack of
'polish' and 'completeness' with most of the non-trivial unix apps on
offer, often compounded by poor to almost non-existent documentation.
Since it's "free", it seems somewhat churlish to criticise the efforts of
the developers (often a one man effort) leaving the mere user somewhat
frustrated. All I can say is thank goodness for virtualisation as a
compromise solution to address such shortcomings.
Post by RS WoodMeanwhile, I have just made a note to never buy/use Microsoft's mail
app. Not that there was much chance of it anyway.
In my case, no fekin' chance, ever! :-)
--
Johnny B Good