[Tutor] OT: need computer advice from wise Tutors

[Steven D'Aprano]

On Sun, 27 Jun 2010 04:55:13 am Sithembewena Lloyd Dube wrote:
> Richard, I think you may go ahead without trepidation. I am not a
> Windows fan at all, I prefer Ubuntu. But I started using Win. 7 at
> work about a month ago, and I have to say it hasn't given me cause to
> grumble.

I don't think Richard is asking whether Windows 7 is worth using. I 
think he's asking, is it painful to upgrade from Vista to Windows 7.


> Of course, a month is hardly sufficient time to have a strong
> opinion, but I can tell you that it works just fine.

Apart from:

having no default email client (what sort of two-bit operating system 
doesn't have an email client in 2010?);

the automatic upgrades that run silently in the background with no easy 
way to turn them on or off (always fun when your Internet download cap 
is completely used up TWO DAYS into the month -- especially when you 
don't know because you can't read the email from your ISP due to not 
having an email client, and you can't download one because all the 
available bandwidth is being consumed by the updates);

the gratuitous UI changes (am I missing something, or does Internet 
Explorer no longer have a menubar?);

the use of third-party applications like Adobe Acrobat Reader which have 
become overloaded with *stupid* security vulnerabilities *by design* 
(years after Microsoft themselves got burnt, time and time again, by 
allowing the web-browser and mail client to execute random code found 
on the internet, somebody at Adobe apparently thought it would be a 
good idea for the PDF reader to do the same thing *facepalms*); and

consequently the proliferation of adware and spyware (even 
the "legitimate" anti-malware companies fill your browser with ad-laden 
toolbars and try terrifying the user with "your computer is 
unprotected" warnings -- no wonder the average user can't tell the 
difference between legitimate anti-malware and trojan horses).

On the other hand, it is quite pretty.

(Yes, I am speaking from experience. Everything I have mentioned I have 
seen with my own eyes.)


-- 
Steven D'Aprano