Windows 10

[Narj]

After a lot of frustration I have finally got annoyed enough to dump windows 10 on my laptop in favour of Ubuntu 18.04 LTS.

Bit frustrating to start with given I'm a RHEL type person but now I have everything working.

Just over 1GB memory usage idle and no more annoying situations where I can't use my PC for long periods because it wants to do whatever on startup or shutdown. I'd recommend it to anyone who values their productivity. Also no more dependency on VMWare for me now given native virtualisation is a thing.

Install a nice theme and you'll forget it's Linux

 

[Rroff]

Wish I could do that - my workflow depends too highly on software where the only realistic option is Windows. (I do use Ubuntu and Debian a fair bit - mostly Debian, so not like I'm unfamiliar - infact I'm reasonably proficient with the nuts and bolts of the OS).

 

[Narj]

Wish I could do that - my workflow depends too highly on software where the only realistic option is Windows. (I do use Ubuntu and Debian a fair bit - mostly Debian, so not like I'm unfamiliar - infact I'm reasonably proficient with the nuts and bolts of the OS).

It's not perfect, I have issues with it, but in all honesty, I'm far happier now working with an OS that I control rather than the other way around.

In fact I have been so impressed that I actually donated more money to the Ubuntu project than I would have paid for an OEM Windows 10 product key on Amazon because I have my sanity back.

EDIT: I just installed Steam out of curiousity and almost all my light gaming library plus some big titles are available on Linux. This is a bit of a shock but obviously a plus. Everything I have tried runs great. Why is this not publicised more???

 

[darael]

Microsoft changes how Windows 10 disconnects USB storage devices - ZDNet

Microsoft plans to modify the way Windows 10 handles the operation of disconnecting a USB or Thunderbolt storage device. This includes USB thumb drives, external hard drives, flash drives, and even USB data transfer connections established between PCs and smartphones.

The change, which is predicted to cause some problems, will take effect with Windows 10 version 1809 -Microsoft's next major Windows 10 version (the May 2019 Update)- scheduled for an official release in the coming weeks.
Why does it matter?

Until now, the default policy in all previous Windows versions when disconnecting a USB storage device was the "Better performance" setting.

Starting with Windows 10 v1809, this will become "Quick removal."

The difference between the two is significant.

"Better performance" means that Windows manages data transfers and storage operations in a manner that improves performance. This includes caching data while it's being transferred, opened, or in preparation for certain operations.

This constant readiness on Windows' part meant that any user who wanted to disconnect a USB or Thunderbolt-connected storage device had to go through the "Safely Hardware Removal" process, which meant triggering a manual Eject.

So basically this nimbyism from Microsoft means that, unless we change the policy, our USB storage devices will be slower to use because somebody can't wait a second to remove their USB device.

 

[Double07]

EDIT: I just installed Steam out of curiousity and almost all my light gaming library plus some big titles are available on Linux. This is a bit of a shock but obviously a plus. Everything I have tried runs great. Why is this not publicised more???

It sort of is to an extent but only really those that are considering linux would probably cone across it.

Also its a bit of a catch 22. Not many people, comparatively speaking, want to game on linux so the incentive to improve drivers, etc isnt quite there. Also your average punter would still be terried of linux even though its generally a doddle for the fundamentals.

But yeah if people had a clue just how much better gaming is on linux these days they might give it a go. We all know windows is largely a pile of poo but its what we have.

 

[ED209]

if people had a clue just how much better gaming is on linux these days they might give it a go. We all know windows is largely a pile of poo but its what we have.

This could be tempting, All I do is game and internet.

How do you go about installing stuff on Linux (also what version as there is loads out there) as from my understanding exe files do not work and you had to install a bit of software called Wine (this may have changed as its been a very long time since I tried any of this lol)

 

[andshrew]

Microsoft changes how Windows 10 disconnects USB storage devices - ZDNet
So basically this nimbyism from Microsoft means that, unless we change the policy, our USB storage devices will be slower to use because somebody can't wait a second to remove their USB device.

The change was already made in 1809. I had no idea and haven't noticed a performance penalty.

Nothing stopping you switching it back to performance mode if you actually notice a real world performance hit.

 

[Pighardia]

Been trying to reset my PC all day as it is running slowly, but it won't work. Tried every fix I have found. I always get the message "There was a problem resetting your PC, no changes were made". Frustrating

 

[Double07]

This could be tempting, All I do is game and internet.

How do you go about installing stuff on Linux (also what version as there is loads out there) as from my understanding exe files do not work and you had to install a bit of software called Wine (this may have changed as its been a very long time since I tried any of this lol)

ubuntu and mint are both a doddle for windows users. Steam is available for linux which you can download and install like steam on windows to see what works natively. Just open up steam in Windows > goto store page > Gmes Dropdown > SteamOS & Linux at the bottom. Other games you can run through WINE yes but obviously this isnt going to be like running it on Windows and Im not pretending its just as easy to play games on Linux as it is in Windows but its improving a lot and Linux really is interesting to use and play about with if that is your kind of thing.

 

[Rroff]

not pretending its just as easy to play games on Linux as it is in Windows but its improving a lot and Linux really is interesting to use and play about with if that is your kind of thing.

Still a lot of games that just go nope though - often due to DRM.

 

[Infidelus]

You can also enable Steam Play in your settings. That will enable Proton - see https://github.com/ValveSoftware/Proton. You can then try any and all of your games and will likely find some Windows only games that now work on Linux without you having to mess around much with Wine. There's also a list of games that have been tested at ProtonDB - https://www.protondb.com/

 

[Double07]

Still a lot of games that just go nope though - often due to DRM.

Yeah of course, it really does depend on what you are after but given how easy it is to try linux now and the low impact of isntalling in terms of HDD space, etc then it can be fun just to try it out and mess around just to see if its of any use to people now. Its a much easier experience these days for your average Joe to have a go at was all I meant.

 

[Dirk]

This weeks updates force updated my old version of Chrome! I use a standalone Chrome that has no update engine. Rebooted after 'Patch Tuesday' and Chrome had been replaced with the latest build. Had to clean install my preferred version again.

 

[ChrisD.]

Why are you using an old version?

 

[Rroff]

Why are you using an old version?

Could be all sorts of reasons i.e. at one point I had to keep an older version of IE installed despite using Firefox due to some banking site features not working on more recent versions of any browser (long since fixed now) and for a few months I had to run Firefox on a couple of versions back as it would cause BSODs in combination with certain other software due to a bug in the rendering engine.

Another annoyance with the way Windows 10 behaves and its lack of real life context awareness.

 

[Dirk]

Why are you using an old version?

The list of reasons grows by the week. Rather than list them all, i'll mention the latest. The ability to disable Hyperlink Auditing, (Link Tracking), is being removed in Chromium. Already removed in Canary, i believe.

The strange thing is that the standalone Chrome installs to a different directory than regular Chrome. After the forced update, the new build had installed to the Standalone Directory. Update folders and executable had been added, as well as Startup entries for updates, as you might expect.

This must have taken a bit of work on the part of MS. Imagine if you were using a Portable version of Chrome off of a Thumbdrive, only to find that MS had updated it for you without your consent. It's unacceptable really.

 

[kisserik93]

Hi!


I want to reinstall windows 10 on my computer.
I have a lot of experience with windows installation, but I had a question when I created the installer.
Is it necessary to run a full antivirus scan before creating the installer? For example, Kaspersky Rescue Disk.
Can an installer be infected by a malware?
I'm currently using the Emsisoft Antivirus, but after reinstalling the windows I switch to Kaspersky Internet Security 2019.


Thank you very much for your help and apologies for my bad English.

 

[Rroff]

The list of reasons grows by the week. Rather than list them all, i'll mention the latest. The ability to disable Hyperlink Auditing, (Link Tracking), is being removed in Chromium. Already removed in Canary, i believe.

The strange thing is that the standalone Chrome installs to a different directory than regular Chrome. After the forced update, the new build had installed to the Standalone Directory. Update folders and executable had been added, as well as Startup entries for updates, as you might expect.

This must have taken a bit of work on the part of MS. Imagine if you were using a Portable version of Chrome off of a Thumbdrive, only to find that MS had updated it for you without your consent. It's unacceptable really.

It is more than unacceptable if the OS is doing that it is obnoxious and the devs with that mentality need talking to.

 

[james.miller]

Can link auditing not be disabled with a stylish script then? I mean, they are just attributes added to hyperlinks, a script should be able to remove them if required?

 

[ChrisD.]

The list of reasons grows by the week. Rather than list them all, i'll mention the latest. The ability to disable Hyperlink Auditing, (Link Tracking), is being removed in Chromium. Already removed in Canary, i believe.

The strange thing is that the standalone Chrome installs to a different directory than regular Chrome. After the forced update, the new build had installed to the Standalone Directory. Update folders and executable had been added, as well as Startup entries for updates, as you might expect.

This must have taken a bit of work on the part of MS. Imagine if you were using a Portable version of Chrome off of a Thumbdrive, only to find that MS had updated it for you without your consent. It's unacceptable really.

Can't you disable hyperlink auditing with a plugin such as uBlock?