Over the last 20 years I have used Linux, BSD and OS X (now macOS) as my primary operating systems. I had an app crash one time in macOS and that was due to trying to use an app that I knew wasn't supported - my bad. Over the past 2 weeks I have been trying to learn Microsoft Windows and I keep running into issues that are fixed by rebooting the PC - I've had to reboot this machine 4 times just today. Going from a Lamborghini to a Volkswagen can be quite frustrating.
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Babysitting an operating system
- Thread starter revmacian
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I dumped it back in 1999, but I've had to learn it again to help with a work project. I was beginning to think that Microsoft Windows had improved over the years, but it's still the same old inconsistent, unstable mess that it's always been. As soon as this project is over I'm going to wipe the hard drive and install GNU/Linux or BSD.
Windows is a horrible horrible OS and the only reason it still exist is because:
1-All the software works only on it
2-its the only OS that you can install on any PC hardware.
Linux/Unix/FreeBSD is a "on-your-own" OS that is made by and for elitist to figure it out for themselves, it does NOT work out of the box, does not have the software, support, or hardware compatibility, and comes with no guarantees.
MacOS is the only middle ground.
1-All the software works only on it
2-its the only OS that you can install on any PC hardware.
Linux/Unix/FreeBSD is a "on-your-own" OS that is made by and for elitist to figure it out for themselves, it does NOT work out of the box, does not have the software, support, or hardware compatibility, and comes with no guarantees.
MacOS is the only middle ground.
Agreed. I actually had fun learning Linux and BSD. It was a lot of work, but I learned so much. I love macOS, it doesn't need any babysitting. Apple definitely got it right.
4 crashes in a day?
Well, I'm very critical of Windows 10 myself. And there are a lot of reasons to be critical, just like there are reasons to be critical of any other OS.
But 4 crashes? I don't consider myself Windows pro user, because I am not. But even I couldn't accomplish 4 crashes in a day. Mind to share what it is you were doing? Logs?
Well, I'm very critical of Windows 10 myself. And there are a lot of reasons to be critical, just like there are reasons to be critical of any other OS.
But 4 crashes? I don't consider myself Windows pro user, because I am not. But even I couldn't accomplish 4 crashes in a day. Mind to share what it is you were doing? Logs?
Well you sure had a bad run, so it seems windows isn't for you - good luck with macOS. My experience has been the polar opposite, but then this is a personal preference. It seems Macs are a better option for you.
Just to clear the air, your experience is an outlighter, I maintain windows PCs, and servers for my job and while not always rainbows and unicorns, windows has largely been a fine. Windows 10 is probably more stable then Catalina at this point, but that's my opinion.
Good luck with your Mac stuff
Agreed, and in all honesty that's why I opted for windows, it provides more hardware compatibility, easier to find and install drivers (heaven help you find a driver for an old epson scanner for macOS), and generally works well.
Yeah, they did, I like windows but doesn't mean I hate macOS. We're not in a world that if I like one platform, I'm compelled to hate the other
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Well if you want an opposing anecdote, I've got an older (HDD based!) gaming laptop, and it works perfectly fine for what I want to do with it... never had a major issue, and considering it's not running on an SSD it's almost suspiciously snappy when it's up and running! The system takes care of updates largely by itself, usually deferring it until after I've finished a game and then running the update. I've had a lot more issues with MacOS crashes, freezes and glitches, though overall I wouldn't say it was a particularly poor experience, and of course this is given I use MacOS a lot more day to day.
I have no idea where to get any logs, and quite frankly this train wreck of an operating system is it worth the effort.
I had the brightness in Microsoft windows set to 65 yesterday when I went to bed. I closed the lid on the laptop last night and opened it this morning to find the brightness setting at 65 but it was so dim I could barely see the screen. I manually set the brightness to 100 and still wasn't as bright as the 65% was when I went to bed last night. So, just for giggles I rebooted the machine and the problem was resolved. And, the auto-brightness was turned off the day I installed Windows 10 "Pro". Keep in mind that I go through every single setting on every machine as soon as I install the operating system.
There are Windows updates every day. While I appreciate the constant care Microsoft is giving this OS, daily updates tell me that they got tons of stuff wrong and they continue to repair things. How long has Microsoft been in business and this list of bugs is still as large as it is?
The nVidia drivers came with this laptop.. but didn't work with davinci resolve. So, I downloaded the nVidia drivers directly from nVidia and davinci resolve is now working perfectly.. the best video editor I've ever used. Why did I have to remove Microsoft's version of the nVidia drivers and manually install nVidia's version of the nVidia drivers..
Microsoft has been making operating systems for a long time.. Far too long to still be making newbie mistakes.
Did you know that the top 50 super computers in the world run Linux as their operating system? I haven't seen any of the super computers running Microsoft windows.
I'm using Linux as well. Booting into Windows only when I need to.
But your anecdote about nVidia drivers could be said about Linux as well.
Just a few weeks ago, I've tried eGPU setup with PopOS. Razer Core X + 5700 XT.
Well, it was a fun ride. First I found out I need to move to newer kernel, and newer version of MESA. Ok, done that.
But some apps worked with 5700 XT, while some used built in Intel card. Why? Couldn't find out to be honest. Probably drivers mess, since AMD is waiting for 20.04 Ubuntu for their own driver release.
In MacOS and MBP16 AMD GPU will use 18W+ while connected to external display, even if you aren't doing anything. If you go to bootcamp, you can easily solve this. But under MacOS it's impossible to solve.
Does Mac OS suck because of this? I personally don't think so. But Apple is in this game for 30+ years. I guess it's reasonable to expect some solution given their experience. But they offered none.
Just come here to bellyache?
Anyways, your problems sound like the only problems I've ever really had with Windows; a laptop where the OEM did a piss-poor job with the image. My Dell XPS was a nightmare. Every other computer I've built or bought with Windows has been just fine.
And for the record, I'm pretty sure Windows only gets updates once a week and it's usually pretty transparent about it. Meanwhile, I've had more problems with Catalina than I'd like but both my gaming PC and MacBook work basically fine - and Windows is far snappier in general use anyway. They both have some issues that are head scratchers but ultimately, I can do what I need to get done on both.
Anyways, your problems sound like the only problems I've ever really had with Windows; a laptop where the OEM did a piss-poor job with the image. My Dell XPS was a nightmare. Every other computer I've built or bought with Windows has been just fine.
And for the record, I'm pretty sure Windows only gets updates once a week and it's usually pretty transparent about it. Meanwhile, I've had more problems with Catalina than I'd like but both my gaming PC and MacBook work basically fine - and Windows is far snappier in general use anyway. They both have some issues that are head scratchers but ultimately, I can do what I need to get done on both.
indeed, though with PopOS, things seem a bit better or at least that's been my initial experience. Sadly some of the apps that I absolutely need are windows only, so that largely prevents me from going any further.
Actually its once a month, i.e., patch Tuesday, though they will roll out zero day updates if the need arises.
To be honest I haven't had to do anything with drivers in Linux in many years, Linux has definitely improved over the years. One of the things I like about Linux is that you can get into it and change just about anything.. that doesn't hold true very often for Windows.
Apple operating systems? I'm somewhat of a newcomer to Apple operating systems, having only started on Macs in 2012, but I haven't had to do much babysitting on my Macs.
I agree completely. Reason why I love Linux so much is speed, versatility, customization and being able to fix most problems by myself. I would say not being locked up is great for user who knows what he is doing. Or is at least willing to learn.
I don't believe you. Windows having daily updates is factually not true, what are you trying on here?
I don't recall you sitting in my living room watching my computer.. therefore, you lack all of the facts. Don't you think it's best to reserve judgment until you have ALL of the facts?
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Agreed. I used Windows for years and didn't learn much. I began using Linux and learned so much.. I was writing my own apps in pyGTK and compiling my own kernels just a year after installing Debian. Linux is definitely a learning platform.
It's a fact that Windows updates aren't daily despite what you claim.
Yep, that's my experience as well. My work bought me a $2600 Dell XPS 15 two years ago and ... I've had more bluescreens on that thing than I can count, more than ALL the years of my Windows usage combined - and I was using Windows 3.11 as a kid...
Dell's BIOS firmware updates did help the bluescreens become less frequent, but the laptop was a MESS. Things didn't work like they should, updates failed, etc.
My work provided Dell Latitude 5590 - brightness doesn't work, Word refuses to open, and it can take 15 minutes to boot fully and get to where I can run apps.
Compare this to:
I finally went back to Windows for my personal PC after doing Apple 2011-2020. I built a custom PC last month ... right before the stay at home orders happened (I just happened to build one before then, lucky me).
I've had 0 bluescreens on it, 0 crashes, 0 problems. It cost me $1300 to build and is the fastest thing I've ever used to date - Windows 10 Pro flies on it beautifully. Boots near instantly and updates take seconds with the 2 1TB NVME drives.
I'll give you this - Manufacturers that put Windows on their laptops do a PISS poor job at it. But it isn't the OS' fault in my humble opinion.
Yep, I don't think any company will roll out a daily update.
Here's what the google found to support the idea that Microsoft indeed takes things more methodical then a daily update cadence.
Source
There's also this wiki
Windows 10 version history - Wikipedia
Yep it's all down to terrible drivers and any issues you might have rarely get fixed as these OEMs usually have a dozen different models on sale at any one point. If I ever need to get a Windows laptop it will be a Surface.
Yep, I don't think any company will roll out a daily update.
Here's what the google found to support the idea that Microsoft indeed takes things more methodical then a daily update cadence.
Source
View attachment 906827
There's also this wiki
Windows 10 version history - Wikipedia
en.wikipedia.org
Well, there it is. On average we're looking at 2 updates a month on Windows 10, last month was an outlier.
I'm seeing daily updates in the Settings window on Windows 10 Pro on my Surface Book. If this is different than what you folks are finding online, then you folks really need to come over to my house and look at my computer.. the Internet is not always right. Obviously you folks don't have all the facts.. and speaking without having all of the facts is negatively impacting your credibility. Your opinion does not alter reality.
revmacian out.
revmacian out.
I think you're confusing updates to the OS and virus definition updates. To confirm either way, go to your windows update settings, and click on view update history. There you'll have a nice little history of updates.
What I didn't notice or even realize is that windows does roll out new definitions to Windows Defender. Tbh, I was shocked that it was doing it so often, but not for nothing Windows Defender does a very good job at this point
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I completely agree. That's why I too left macOS's fisher price behind and moved to Windows, a working man's OS!
Seriously though. You never did tell us, what hardware are you using? I'm going to parrot some of the other posters, and guess you went and bought some low end HP or Toshiba laptop, and are blaming Microsoft for the OEM's poor implementation.
Like BigMcGuire, I also spent around $1000 on a PC, and I've never had any issues that weren't related to some just-released hardware with immature drivers. Really, Windows 10 is one of the most stable OS's I've used - far superior to Catalina or iOS, IMO.
That's the freedom of choice right? I love Mac OS. I switched to it after a lifelong usage of Windows (I still programed/worked in Windows professionally) -- I used Mac OS 2011-2020 for personal computing. I still have my MBP but I went back to Windows 10 this year with a custom built PC.
I still use my iPad, iPhone, and Macbook a lot - so I'm in the "both" camp for now. Mac OS is great, stays out of my way, and reading text on it for hours and hours is so pleasant vs Windows. The apps for Mac OS are also very user friendly.
I would / could never pay for a Windows Laptop these days - just too many problems with them (as you're seeing) - especially if the laptop is under $2k (even those above!) - just seems like a mess. That's why built my own PC.
I love Windows 10 with my screaming fast machine and I'm happier than heck right now. I love that I can grab my MBP if I want Mac OS and I love my blazing desktop with my 4k Samsung monitor.
I still use my iPad, iPhone, and Macbook a lot - so I'm in the "both" camp for now. Mac OS is great, stays out of my way, and reading text on it for hours and hours is so pleasant vs Windows. The apps for Mac OS are also very user friendly.
I would / could never pay for a Windows Laptop these days - just too many problems with them (as you're seeing) - especially if the laptop is under $2k (even those above!) - just seems like a mess. That's why built my own PC.
I love Windows 10 with my screaming fast machine and I'm happier than heck right now. I love that I can grab my MBP if I want Mac OS and I love my blazing desktop with my 4k Samsung monitor.
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