Do you still use Windows sometimes? And why?

Puppy related raves and general interest that doesn't fit anywhere else
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vanchutr
Posts: 438
Joined: Sat 05 Aug 2006, 12:04

#31 Post by vanchutr »

Continuing to use Win$ for:

1. Playing games (Hard to install in Puppy Linux)
2. Downloads some big packages with idm (slow in Puppy Linux)

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recycler
Posts: 120
Joined: Thu 26 Jul 2007, 02:19
Location: New Zealand

still using windows....

#32 Post by recycler »

Interesting posts and choice of topic. To add my bit....I edit video at home and so I installed windows xp professional and adobe premier elements 4. Very happy with that. I used to think windows was slow - I hate waiting for a computer to catch up with what I am asking it to do - until I ran it on a P4 1.8mhz cpu with 1gig of ram. Now it seems really fast and I like it lots. I should add that my way of doing windows is to ignore all the automatic updates - too much hassle. I want to be in control of the computer not waiting on it. So far I have not found this to be a problem. It's just a question of learning not to panic when told you have close to 1000 security issues!

I run a project to reuse old computers here in New Zealand and tried installing puppy on several machines. It usually runs fine but I found that if there is a power cut it doesn't come back. Today I wiped a copy of windows 98 - it's way too out of date now - and tried a stripped down version of Xubuntu. Seems to work well with 256mb of ram and a 500mhz processor.

I like the minimalist approach of puppy and enjoy using it. It means can use this laptop without a HD and go on the net without worrying about viruses etc. I love the speed, the way it looks and the selection of applications is excellent. I think Microsoft is an evolutionary dead end so I am eagerly following developments in the open source world.

ndujoe1
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Joined: Mon 05 Dec 2005, 01:06

windows use

#33 Post by ndujoe1 »

"The continual updates and disk activity use to drive me nuts."

As was quoted earlier.

I have helped with Windows based machines. And this update process even on broadband speeds takes forever. A waste of time.

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Aitch
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Joined: Wed 04 Apr 2007, 15:57
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK

#34 Post by Aitch »

@recycler
Interesting posts and choice of topic
2nd that

@MU

yes, and what has surprised me most is the shattering of an illusion that
I didn't realise

I thought many of the regulars whose names I'd gotten used to seeing,
were total puppians, including your goodself!

just goes to show, you never know till you know, eh?

and if things didn't change, they'd stay the way they are

good, innit :wink: :D

and without your help and the others

well, this attachment about sums it up


Aitch
Attachments
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d4p
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#35 Post by d4p »

It is true: "Why Linux will not displace Windows"(Read somewhere in this

forum). Just simple, Linux is not END-user friendly.
I miss too many good windows-applications in linux.

MathRose
Posts: 6
Joined: Fri 01 Jun 2007, 01:49

#36 Post by MathRose »

To add to the general consensus, I too use windows for Video Editing, Printing, MSAccess (work) and the occasional game.

My linux test PC (frugal puppy, full puppy, xubuntu, MSDOS6.11, etc, etc) used to have XP on it until it destroyed the HDD. I only really use the full puppy install. Boots in 1min 30sec and normally I just want to get on emails, web and skype and not get annoyed at windows trying to update everything.

Basically, I only use windows because I have to.
"Love that Puppy"

[color=blue]Desktop - 1.8GHz, 750MB Ram, 10GB HD, NVidia Gforce FX5500 128MB, Puppy 2.14 full install
Laptop - 333MHz, 192MB Ram, 4GB HD, Wi-FI, Puppy 2.14 full install[/color]

can8v
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#37 Post by can8v »

Well I am using Win$ less and less everyday. I occasionally miss Dreamweaver, but since I built my own custom Content Management System with MySQL and PHP I have found I can use it to build and maintain websites faster and easier than with dreamweaver anyway. The only thing that currently prevents me from dumping XP is College. Occasionally I need Word to meet stringent formatting requirements that Abi and OO can handle, or I need to install and use some obscure software quickly and efficiently (last time it was Diet Analysis 8) Most of these applications could probably run in Wine with some effort, but they are applications I use for a semester or two and not worth the effort. I never have time for video games, so I don't share that concern and I have always been able to get me printers to work in puppy even prior to the inclusion of cups, though cups has made is simpler.

furryfriend
Posts: 56
Joined: Sat 21 Jul 2007, 16:55

#38 Post by furryfriend »

Only as a punishment !.

jonyo

#39 Post by jonyo »

Tell me about it. :roll: Rest of my fam (4) are on win. :cry: Maintenance, maintenance etc..

I will continue with win though I focus mainly on linux. Most win folks new to linux are not ready for a cold switchover & will run into win linux issues.

Providing info for a transition, or even running with win, is important for a distro & to many out there.

Win is easy to hook up peripherals.
Last edited by jonyo on Fri 21 Mar 2008, 19:09, edited 1 time in total.

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malderson
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Location: Wisconsin, USA

#40 Post by malderson »

Yes. Mostly for my Palm apps and for CAD. Those are my "killer" apps.

Jpilot handles the built in Palm OS apps, but none of the third-party conduits. I use Documents-to-Go, Mobile DB, and Natura Bonsai on my Palm, and none of them have Linux conduits.

For CAD, I use Vectorworks at work (on a Mac) and have it on my Windows XP laptop so I can work at home as well. I'm a theatre technical director and lighting designer, and use CAD almost daily. I once asked the Vectorworks folks at a trade show if there were plans to port it to Linux. They said they had some Linux fanatics on staff who had tried, but could not make it work. I suspect it is also a market-share thing. Linux just doesn't yet seem to have a CAD program that fits my needs. Qcad is about where Windows CAD programs were a decade or so ago.

I've become very fond of Puppy as a hobby, and it's a great safety net should a virus kill my Windows installation, but for serious work my next laptop will likely be a Mac.

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prit1
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Location: Los Angeles

#41 Post by prit1 »

I use Windows for
- Video editing (This is the main thing - no good program in Linux yet that can completely replace Windows based apps)
- Using Citrix and logging onto the Mainframes at work. Can do this through Linux, but windows work smoother.
- My wife likes Windows better.

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Billwho?
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Joined: Tue 06 Dec 2005, 09:28
Location: still "In The Dog House" East Coast Oz
Trialing 4.20

#42 Post by Billwho? »

furryfriend wrote:Only as a punishment !.
Tell me about it!!
I am currently about half way through the latest six-monthly reinstall of XP. Even using the Ghost image I made immediately after the last reinstall couldn't fix the latest problem. So it is wipe the partition, install window$, remove what default applications are not wanted, install replacements for applications removed, install third party applications, configure everything, reboot-defrag-reboot-defrag-reboot-defrag-etc, connect to the net download and install m$ updates while praying that they don't break things again. Then if all goes well make a new Ghost image and hope it will work next time.
Linux = Learning through doing :shock: :? :D
The learning curve may be steep but there is a light at the end of the tunnel.
You just have to pass the occasional oncoming train to get there.

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pch.shot
Posts: 24
Joined: Fri 21 Mar 2008, 20:35
Location: Chippawa, Ontario, Canada Puppy 3.01

#43 Post by pch.shot »

I only use Windows xp sp2 for dowloading video from the web and video editing and encoding. I have not found linux replacements yet. Oh, I forgot, I use word to make labels, that's about it. Windows is really more for office work. At home your much better off using a flavour of Linux(there are so many to choose from these days). I use Puppy on my PIIIs(320 megs p100 ram) because it is just so fast(faster than xp on a core 2 duo p4 with 2 gigs of ram!!). I have Ubuntu Ultimate Edition 1.7 on one PIII(as well as Puppy 3.01 using a save file and booting from the disc) another Puppy on another PIII and Windows xp on my P4. I like the variety, and the two Linux distros I use recognize all my hardware. Having 3 systems has me covered for everything I like to do. pch

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bobnutfield
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#44 Post by bobnutfield »

A couple of years ago, because of illness and life changes, I was away from any computer activity at home. I was able to resume my "hobby" in January of this year.

Unlike others who have posted here on this thread, I am not involved with computers or computing as a profession and can be considered just an average home user. But as I mentioned, it is my hobby, soi I have a number of computers in my home (6 to be exact) ranging from old to new, desktops and laptops. All of this just to pursue my hobby.

I first discovered Linux in 1997 with a retail copy of Red Hat. I installed it on a AMD K-5 and was fascinated. Of course, I couldn't get anything to work, but I continued to play with it, though Win95/8 remianed my main system for work. Gradually, I began migrating to Linux, so that by 2003, I was using it most of the time. But there were still things I needed to do in Windows to pursue another hobby, video editing. Others have mentioned video editing as an area where Linux is still sadly lacking, so I have contiunued using Premiere Pro.

In January, when I turned on my main computer which had not been fired up in two years, it blew up (hard drives fried, mobo fried, etc.)
So I built a new one with the limited budget I had (AMD64, 1.5gb mem.)
I no longer had a copy of Windows, so I bought an OEM copy from a computer fair, installed it along with three Linux flavors on the the same 160gb hard drive. Went on the net to update all, and as soon as XP was updated, the Genuine Advatange software informed me that my copy of Windows WAS NOT GENUINE! No chance of tracking down the scoundrel who sold it to me, I just wiped the hard drive and started over. I reinstalled the Linuxes, updated, and on that machine I have been Windowless ever since.

The point is this: while I thought that I HAD to have at least one copy of Windows available, I found that not to be true. I have been able to every thing I ever did with Windows on Linux, and have been learning Cinelerra quite well. OK, not as good as PremierPro, but it will suite my needs when I have learned it. Puppy is being used on two laptops and will soon be installed on another. It is the only distro I use on my portable computers.

So, except for my wife's company owned work laptop, THIS HOUSE IS CLEAN!

Bob

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rarsa
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#45 Post by rarsa »

I use Windows every day at work but very infrequently at home.

I work for a very large corporation where all the computers, including servers, are Windows. Period.

If I had LotusNotes for Linux, my usage of Windows at home would be even more infrequent as I just run windows when I need to check my company's mail.

Normally if I need to VPN to the office I VPN from Puppy using the CISCO IPSEC client and use RDesktop to remote to the servers.

At home my multi-boot desktop my sons usually boot in Linux (Fedora) as it allows me to do X over SSH to that computer to use GnuCash and other Gnome apps.

I normally run Puppy from a USB on "my" company's laptop.

Professionally, Windows is my main OS

But personally Puppy is my main OS.
[url]http://rarsa.blogspot.com[/url] Covering my eclectic thoughts
[url]http://www.kwlug.org/blog/48[/url] Covering my Linux How-to

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Aitch
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#46 Post by Aitch »

@rarsa
If I had LotusNotes for Linux
Can't you adapt this?

http://www.nsftools.com/NL7/

IBM put it out in July 06, for REHL
the new Lotus Notes for Linux client is available for download to anyone with a current Lotus Notes entitlement.
I don't know if you can supply the necessaries?

Just a thought

Aitch

jonyo

#47 Post by jonyo »

rarsa wrote: If I had LotusNotes for Linux, my usage of Windows at home would be even more infrequent as I just run windows when I need to check my company's mail.
Not sure what you mean? Can't say I've heard or know much about lotus notes?

sojourner
Posts: 15
Joined: Fri 07 Mar 2008, 16:43

#48 Post by sojourner »

Love the elegance and quickness of Puppy, but still use Windows for Quicken and Microsoft Reader. Microsoft Reader is loaded on my laptop and my IPAQ pda. Allows me to carry numerous books from Project Gutenberg that I have created using Reader Works (win) software.

Wolf Pup
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#49 Post by Wolf Pup »

Have to use windows at the college, needed for mathxl, cant get internet explorer running in wine. :(
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MU
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#50 Post by MU »

Wolf Pup wrote:Have to use windows at the college, needed for mathxl, cant get internet explorer running in wine. :(
ies uses an own version of wine, it can be installed beside wine:
http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?t=16246

Maybe that helps :)
Mark
[url=http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic.php?p=173456#173456]my recommended links[/url]

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