"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 2/3/2014 5:20 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 15:02:20 -0500, wrote:

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 13:48:52 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/3/2014 11:13 AM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
On 2/3/14, 10:04 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
Maybe I'll stick with XP even after the support stops.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...are-in-january


Or you could buy an upgraded motherboard with a fast 80286 CPU.



Windows XP is still used in many non-personal computer applications like
gas station pumps, ATM machines and other "transparent" applications.
XP may be retaining a market share because the cost of upgrading both
software and hardware to support Win 7 or 8 is expensive for these
applications.

As a user of XP, Windows 7 and 8 (and now an iMac) I think XP was (is)
a very good and stable OS but Windows 7 has it beat hands down.
Even this Vista machine runs faster and has more capabilities than XP,
as good as it is.


Who cares if it is faster, as long as the XP machine is going as fast
as it needs to go?
Most of the delay is in "calling home" on those applications, not
handling the local transaction.
Games and video processing are the main power hogs on a PC. If you are
just "computing" your old 4.77 mz PC/XT went as fast as you needed to
go. (Visicalc spread sheets etc)
We ran a quarter million dollar business on one.

I can't type faster than my machine can display. I figure that's good enough.



If you browse and shop on the Internet XP's age will begin to show.
Actually it has already. Graphic displays on websites are getting more
and more complex and Win 7 and 8 simply handle them better. I could see
that on the Compaq I had running XP before it died. I had this Vista
and the Win 7 also when it worked. All three were basically the same in
terms of CPU speed and RAM and all three were/are "Multimedia" models,
supposedly optimized for multimedia, something a computer guru suggested
to me when I was buying the XP machine years ago. He said that a
computer optimized for multimedia (what the optimization is ... I don't
know) would generally run faster and better for all applications and
uses. I can't verify that except my laptops run a heck of a lot faster
than my wife's Dell desktop. Then again, I am not sure how her Dell is
populated in terms of CPU and RAM.

If all you use your computer for is email and newsgroups, Win 3.1 would
probably still work. :-)

I think part of the problem with Win 7 was if you picked to run 64 bit and
not 32 bit. Prevented a lot of legacy programs from running. Was a major
shortfall for MS. If you ran Win 7 Professional, you could get an XP
emulator, but not the Home version.

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 2/3/2014 7:20 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
"F.O.A.D." wrote:

Apple offers incremental improvements to its OS, not do-overs, and its
price is right. Mavericks, the latest, costs $0.00. I was going to put
Win 7 on my Macbook Air, but for $100+, I simply decided not to waste the money.


True, Mavericks was a free upgrade but not without some disappointments.
It will not run some popular programs that previous versions of the Apple OSX ran.

An example is Pro-Tools 9. I had a brand new, unopened box with
Pro-Tools that I was looking forward to installing in the iMac once I
became familiar with it. Pro-Tools is a professional grade audio
recording software package.

Pro-Tools isn't cheap. The current version is $699. I decided to install
my copy only to find out that Mavericks (which I upgraded to a month ago)
won't run it. My options are to revert back to the older, 10.8.5 OSX
(whatever they called it) or go out and purchase the newer version.

I'll stick with the full Garage Band for now.

That all said though, I like the iMac. Nice display and is faster for
some of the things I like to do with audio and video. For many purposes
though I still think it's an overgrown, high priced iPhone. :-)

There isn't one windoze app I used to use that I haven't found a better
replacement for on my macs. Even the Mac version of ms office suite runs
better. The photo apps are better. The big database manager I use is
better. I am sure there are better windoze apps out there but I don't use
them.

P.s. My new Mac is "preparing for shipment" but from where I don't know.
Could be china, the USA, or Ireland .


When Mrs.E. bought the iMac for me she also bought the MS Office Suite.
I haven't installed it yet. She also bought one for herself and installed it on her iMac.

My next purchase will be a decent printer. I've had no need for one for
years. Anything I needed to print I would just send to my wife and she'd
print it on her laser printer. However, I have been recently retained to
do some consulting work related to the business I was in and will need to
get a printer. Her laser printer is not wireless, (I don't think) so I
can't use it on the home network. I should check that though.

I noticed most people now are using Adobe PDF files for most things. All
the communications and documents I've received so far from the company I
am working with use it. I noticed you can now subscribe to it's use for
something like $19/mo. Might do that rather than buy the software.

You can share the printer through her iMac.

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 2/3/2014 5:49 PM, Boating All Out wrote:
In article , says...


Apple is giving away its OS to users with five and six year old
computers. It's hardly bundled for those users. Oh, and I recently
perused the web pages of two large Windoze computer suppliers for a
laptop similar to mine and a desktop similar to what I ordered. There
was less than $100 price difference either way, and what I saw from Dell
and HP were rather clunky desktops or all in ones and laptops that are
two generations behind in design. And of course, they run Windoze.

Unless you get specific, this means nothing.
If you want the Apple logo, you have to pay up for it.
Simple as that.



Not necessarily. Here's the Windows Vista laptop I am using right now .... :-)

http://i802.photobucket.com/albums/yy303/Eisboch/DSC_8888.jpg?t=1391469190

LOL,

On 2/4/14, 1:04 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
Who uses fax anymore?


My banking/investment client in Baltimore. That's it, for me, at least.
He sends corrections and changes for what I write for him on documents
he faxes in. Grrrrrrr.


--
There’s no point crying over spilled 4-Methylcyclohexanemethanol.

On 2/4/2014 1:00 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/4/2014 11:45 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 08:36:40 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:



My wife, on her Vista machine, lost all her icons on the desktop. Any
idea what caused that? I don't
like the idea of playing with her Vista machine.

That is the insidious "desktop cleanup" wizard.
Right click a blank spot on the desk top, click properties, then
desktop, then customize desktop and uncheck the cleanup wizard box.

I think your icons are gone tho.

I am not sure why Bill Gates decided we needed a clean desk top.
I had the same problem with IBM management. ;-)



I doubt it. I'll betcha someone simply unchecked the "Show Desktop
Icons" in the preferences for the Desktop. Right click on the desktop,
select "View" then make sure the "Show Desktop Icons" box is checked.


I think that wizard has to be invoked. Also it doesn't clear the
desktop. You are correct,,, again.

"Mr. Luddite" wrote:
On 2/4/2014 12:38 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 09:16:42 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/4/14, 8:45 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:44:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/3/2014 7:20 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
snipped
My next purchase will be a decent printer. I've had no need for one for
years. Anything I needed to print I would just send to my wife and she'd
print it on her laser printer. However, I have been recently retained
to do some consulting work related to the business I was in and will
need to get a printer. Her laser printer is not wireless, (I don't
think) so I can't use it on the home network. I should check that though.

I noticed most people now are using Adobe PDF files for most things.
All the communications and documents I've received so far from the
company I am working with use it. I noticed you can now subscribe to
it's use for something like $19/mo. Might do that rather than buy the
software.

Got this for Christmas:

http://tinyurl.com/kffxlzj

Here's what Consumer Reports had to say about it:

CR's Take
For an all-in-one black-and-while laser printer, this Samsung is not
only cheap to buy, but it's
also inexpensive to operate and print. It's a bit short on features,
but it has outstanding overall
performance.
Highs
• Excellent text quality
• Very fast printing black text
• Very good monochrome graphics quality
• Excellent copy quality
• Auto feeder can scan or copy a stack of pages
Lows
• Less versatile than most
Detailed test results
PRINTING. The Samsung SCX-3405FW prints using laser technology, which
picks up powdered 'toner' on a
roller and fuses it to the paper with heat. It prints black-and-white
text with excellent quality,
as we've come to expect from a laser printer. Text printing was very
quick, 12 pages per minute,
costing 4.4 cents per page. Its black-and-white graphics printing is
very good for reports,
newsletters and web pages.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning performance was very good, fine for
general-purpose scanning. Copying
performance was excellent, producing copies very close to the
original. There's an automatic
document feeder to let you copy or scan a stack of pages in one operation.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has no display screen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. You can connect directly to a PC with a
USB cable, or to your network
router either wirelessly with Wi-Fi or with an Ethernet cable. This
model has built-in faxing, can
store incoming faxes if the paper runs out, and can send faxes from an
attached PC. You can print
directly from smart phones and tablets (Android apps or Apple
AirPrint) over your Wi-Fi network.


That's an amazing price for a laser printer that also scans and faxes.

What do you pay for branded toner carts and how many prints do you get
from each?

http://tinyurl.com/kkmz8yj



The Samsung *is* a good deal but unfortunately I'll need a color laser
printer. They are not all that expensive either but probably lack the
copy and fax features. Who uses fax anymore?

I'll be making presentation material for handouts and will color to fancy them up a bit.

I was surprised at the low costs. Samsung does have all in one laser
printers, but did dot say anything about Apple wireless compatible.

On 2/4/2014 1:04 PM, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 2/4/2014 12:38 PM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 09:16:42 -0500, "F.O.A.D." wrote:

On 2/4/14, 8:45 AM, Poco Loco wrote:
On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 19:44:53 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 2/3/2014 7:20 PM, F.O.A.D. wrote:
F.O.A.D. wrote:
snipped
My next purchase will be a decent printer. I've had no need for
one for
years. Anything I needed to print I would just send to my wife and
she'd
print it on her laser printer. However, I have been recently retained
to do some consulting work related to the business I was in and will
need to get a printer. Her laser printer is not wireless, (I don't
think) so I can't use it on the home network. I should check that
though.

I noticed most people now are using Adobe PDF files for most things.
All the communications and documents I've received so far from the
company I am working with use it. I noticed you can now subscribe to
it's use for something like $19/mo. Might do that rather than buy the
software.

Got this for Christmas:

http://tinyurl.com/kffxlzj

Here's what Consumer Reports had to say about it:

CR's Take
For an all-in-one black-and-while laser printer, this Samsung is not
only cheap to buy, but it's
also inexpensive to operate and print. It's a bit short on features,
but it has outstanding overall
performance.
Highs
• Excellent text quality
• Very fast printing black text
• Very good monochrome graphics quality
• Excellent copy quality
• Auto feeder can scan or copy a stack of pages
Lows
• Less versatile than most
Detailed test results
PRINTING. The Samsung SCX-3405FW prints using laser technology,
which picks up powdered 'toner' on a
roller and fuses it to the paper with heat. It prints
black-and-white text with excellent quality,
as we've come to expect from a laser printer. Text printing was very
quick, 12 pages per minute,
costing 4.4 cents per page. Its black-and-white graphics printing is
very good for reports,
newsletters and web pages.
SCANNING and COPYING. Scanning performance was very good, fine for
general-purpose scanning. Copying
performance was excellent, producing copies very close to the
original. There's an automatic
document feeder to let you copy or scan a stack of pages in one
operation.
CONTROLS and DISPLAY. The printer has no display screen.
CONNECTIVITY and NETWORKING. You can connect directly to a PC with a
USB cable, or to your network
router either wirelessly with Wi-Fi or with an Ethernet cable. This
model has built-in faxing, can
store incoming faxes if the paper runs out, and can send faxes from
an attached PC. You can print
directly from smart phones and tablets (Android apps or Apple
AirPrint) over your Wi-Fi network.


That's an amazing price for a laser printer that also scans and faxes.

What do you pay for branded toner carts and how many prints do you get
from each?

http://tinyurl.com/kkmz8yj



The Samsung *is* a good deal but unfortunately I'll need a color laser
printer. They are not all that expensive either but probably lack the
copy and fax features. Who uses fax anymore?

Banks..


I'll be making presentation material for handouts and will color to
fancy them up a bit.

On 2/5/2014 1:09 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:15:58 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:

On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 11:45:45 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 08:36:40 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:



My wife, on her Vista machine, lost all her icons on the desktop. Any idea what caused that? I don't
like the idea of playing with her Vista machine.

That is the insidious "desktop cleanup" wizard.
Right click a blank spot on the desk top, click properties, then
desktop, then customize desktop and uncheck the cleanup wizard box.

I think your icons are gone tho.

I am not sure why Bill Gates decided we needed a clean desk top.
I had the same problem with IBM management. ;-)

No, Dick got it right. They're all back.

OK that must be another "Vista" experience that Bill thought you
needed to have.




It's retained in Win 7 although the process is a little different. I
haven't checked Win 8. It's just a simple option to either display all
the icons on your desktop or not.

With:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvbgi6zq2cxjt3w/with%20icons.jpg

Without:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tkg0qjl2wf3oebf/without%20icons.jpg

In article , says...

On Mon, 03 Feb 2014 10:04:24 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:

Maybe I'll stick with XP even after the support stops.

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/...are-in-january

Microsoft has not given their business users any compelling reason to
switch.
If your mission is not significantly changing, why should you change
your hardware and software?
99% of all real business applications ran just fine on Windows 3.1 on
a 396. If you are just doing bookkeeping, inventory and point of sale,
you don't need that much computing power.
All of these flashy graphics do not actually add much to the average
business man's operation.
Hardware is pretty stagnant these days so I am not really sure why
they need a different OS.

Most applications are now moving into the Cloud/Web, there is no real need for lots of horse
power on the average business users system. Also, the cost of developing a web/cloud based
application is that it is immediately executabe on any OS that supports the browser.

Fat PC's are dead.

On Wed, 05 Feb 2014 06:06:42 -0500, "Mr. Luddite" wrote:

On 2/5/2014 1:09 AM, wrote:
On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 13:15:58 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:

On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 11:45:45 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 04 Feb 2014 08:36:40 -0500, Poco Loco
wrote:



My wife, on her Vista machine, lost all her icons on the desktop. Any idea what caused that? I don't
like the idea of playing with her Vista machine.

That is the insidious "desktop cleanup" wizard.
Right click a blank spot on the desk top, click properties, then
desktop, then customize desktop and uncheck the cleanup wizard box.

I think your icons are gone tho.

I am not sure why Bill Gates decided we needed a clean desk top.
I had the same problem with IBM management. ;-)

No, Dick got it right. They're all back.

OK that must be another "Vista" experience that Bill thought you
needed to have.




It's retained in Win 7 although the process is a little different. I
haven't checked Win 8. It's just a simple option to either display all
the icons on your desktop or not.

With:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/kvbgi6zq2cxjt3w/with%20icons.jpg

Without:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/tkg0qjl2wf3oebf/without%20icons.jpg

It would seem unnecessary. Except for a few, most are placed there by the user, and if placed there
during a program installation, they're easily removable. For my wife, it was a 'nightmare' when she
lost all her icons (almost literally). She woke me about 1 AM, telling me she still couldn't fix the
problem. I told her to wait until morning...we'd fix it. The next morning I right clicked everything
I could think of, but somehow missed the 'Blank Spot'!