polloloco51

What MP3 player(s), did everyone use back then?

Me:

I had the original Zune, and a cheap Philips Mp3 player. The Zune was a superb MP3 player, with so many great features. Some of the best features were the display, the modern interface, the built in FM radio, and much more!

I also currently possess the original iPod classic, Sandisk Sansa, and the Zune. Now, they unfortunately all sit in my desk. My phone has taken over all the duties now. Albeit, I do use both the Zune and the iPod Classic on occasions.

Recently, I bought used Samsung Chromebook plus, to both use as a second laptop, and also try out Chrome OS. It is a beautiful, thin and light Chromebook.

Here is a quick review

Design

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is a Yoga style, convertible laptop. It comes with a pen. It is very thin and light. It can be held as a tablet, and on your lap as a laptop. It is about the same size as a Dell XPS 13. It features a beautiful silver, metal finish. The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is reminiscent of a Macbook, slightly.

Performance

The Chromebook Plus is very snappy! It features an Hexa-core OP1 Arm Processor, 4GB of RAM, and 32GB of storage. Apps and web content run, very nicely. The battery life is very good, and can get 8 hours (depending on use) .

Display

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, features a beautiful 3:2 2400×1600, retina like, touch display. Images and videos look beautiful, as well as web content and apps.

Ports

The Chromebook Plus features a MicroSD port, headphone port, 2 USB-C ports, and a removable pen. There is no regular, full sized USB ports.

Keyboard

The keyboard, is no Thinkpad keyboard, but it is good enough for typing a few sentences.

Trackpad

The trackpad is pretty decent and responsive. It isn’t near the level of a ThinkPad or Macbook.

Above: Notice the Macbook like notch

Software

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, runs Chrome OS with Android apps. It is not Windows or Mac. It can get alot of things done, to an extent, like word processing or light photo editing. It can play tons of different games, and run an ocean of apps. You can install, all the Microsoft apps, and turn this into a pseudo Windows device.

Overall

The Samsung Chromebook Plus, is a superb Chromebook. If you are looking for a second laptop, and don’t mind leaving Windows or Mac behind. I highly recommend this!

For anyone who uses Windows 7 still. What are your experiences in 2018, and also rationale for using it?

Me: I no longer use Windows 7, but my father does. It works pretty well for him, on his old Dell XPS 9100.

For anyone who owns and uses a Microsoft Surface 3 (not Pro). What is your experiences so far?

Me:

It is a great tablet, with a beautiful display and excellent portability. However, the experience reminds me of the Compaq Evo N620C I had. It is pretty sluggish, most of the time. I say, the processor is like a old Pentium M. This is just my experience. I may need to do a Windows reset!

Online shopping is usually a fun, safe and trustworthy experience. Except, the other day, I received an email from Newegg, that read, I had owed sales tax from 2015.

This is a result, from CT aggressively going after unpaid out of state, sales tax. Amazon, usually charges a sales tax right at check out for my state. However, Newegg charges no sales tax, as they don’t have a physical presence here. If you live in CT, you’re supposed to now, know to file a “Use Tax” with every purchase you make.

Newegg went behind my back, and handed my personal details to CT, about the purchases I made. This is a massive, betrayal of trust! If you live in CT or anywhere, buy elsewhere like Amazon. I advise, deleting your Newegg account all together!

Here is a link for more info about this:

www.courant.com/politics/hc-pol-online-sales-tax-20180214-story.html

Hello, I have a Surface 3 with 4GB of RAM. It's been a great Windows tablet, however, the performance lately has been bad. For instance, it has been choking during basic web browsing.

Are there any performance tweaks, that can be made within Windows? Such as, turning off animations or transparency? Would it be better to reinstall Windows from scratch?

A few days ago, I bought a used, Dell Latitude E7370 business ultrabook.  It is basically the sister of the Dell XPS 13, and is a gorgeous lightweight laptop.

Design

The Dell Latitude E7370 is a beautiful, slim ultrabook, and lightweight too. It came with two options, a carbon or a Macbook-esque metal finish. My model has the metal finish, and it is really nice. The body of the laptop is made of high quality materials and feels very sturdy. The laptop is a featherweight machine, and is effortless to pick up. Unlike the Dell XPS 13, this model has no fan, because of the Intel M5 chip, and makes it very lap-able.

Performance

The Dell Latitude I have features a Intel M5-6Y54 processor, 8GB of RAM, and a 128GB SSD. The performance, is very good, and seems comprabable to the Intel I5-5300 in my Thinkpad X1 carbon. I haven’t yet tried video editing or photo editing. I am sure those will be fine. All other tasks on the Intel M5, are a breeze.

The Display

My Dell Latitude E7370, has a beautiful edgeless, 1920 x 1980 display and is an IPS panel. It looks really sharp and beautiful. The E7370 also comes with a 4K display with touch also.

The keyboard

The keyboard on the E7370 is actually very nice to type on. It has very good key travel. The keyboard is slightly tight, and takes time getting used to, especially coming from a Thinkpad keyboard.

The Trackpad

The trackpad on the E7370, is really good, and precise. It is comparable to my Thinkpad X1’s trackpad. The E7370 does have physical buttons, which I appreciate highly.

Ports

The E7370 has lots of ports. It has two USB-C, one to charge the laptop. It has a regular USB port, audio, HDMI, and MicroSD slot. It doesn’t feel lacking in this department.

Portability

The Dell Latitude E7370 is very portable, and lightweight. It’s equally as light as a Thinkpad X1 carbon, weighing 2.7Lbs.

The Webcam

The E7370 has the webcam, placed on the bottom of the sceeen, and is only 720P. If you regularly use Skype, this may not be the best machine.

Audio Quality

The speakers in the E7370 sound alright, but not the best.

Battery Life

So far the battery life is pretty good. It has lasted several hours. It isn’t as good as Thinkpad X1, but is good enough for traveling, business or college work.

Overall

The Dell E7370  is an excellent business ultrabook. It is lightweight, beautiful looking, has a beautiful edgeless display. The performace is decent. If you come across a Dell Latitude E7370 under $500 used, I recommend getting one!

Question!

Could you live daily, only on your smartphone, if push came to shove? Or, you were literally stuck on an island with only it?

Me: Possibly

Web browsing it would be ok, but very frustrating. Especially, needing to pinch to zoom for many things. Also, having to use mobile friendly websites.

Videos, it would be alright, especially with my nearly 6 inch display. I could output videos to a second display through USB- C or Miracast.

Gaming: There are lot of fun, well rounded games like Fallout Shelter, Angry Birds, and even a ported Gran Theft Auto Vice City. You can use a controller to play them. However, gaming on a phone, is not nearly as great, as a laptop, desktop or console.

Word Processing, PowerPoint, and Excel: With a Bluetooth keyboard, it would be ok. It would definitely be a far cry from using my Windows laptop and desktop.

Video Editing and photo editing: There are simple photo and video editing apps, but are woefully inadequate. They are not nearly as feature rich or powerful as premiere or photoshop.

Other professional work like web design: Not possible, unless there was a powerful web design app, equalivilant to Dreamweaver.

Yesterday, I acquired an interesting little device at Savers thrift store for only $3.99. While shopping, I noticed the Android logo on the top, and an array of ports on the rear. I immediately grabbed it, and bought it.

After returning home, I plugged it in, and it worked perfectly. It has Android 4.4.2 installed on it currently. After further research, I found it also has a Quad core processor, and presumably 1-4GB of RAM? It also has 16GB of storage.

The mini Android PC has a wide variety of apps preinstalled, from Netflix, to Google’s apps, to a file browser. All the apps open up, very quickly, without any hesitation.

As for ports, it has two USBs, an optical out, AV out, ethernet, another mini USB port, and a HDMI out for TVs or a computer monitor.

Performance wise; the little computer is snappy, and fast so far. It boots fairly quick also. Apps like Fallout Shelter run smoothly, and web browsing does as well.

For the Design; the little Android PC, is pretty generic looking, with shiny black plastic and matte silver. It is also pretty lightweight too, but doesn’t feel cheap.

Overall

This Android mini computer I bought, for $4.00, is not bad at all. It can be used for either a media streaming device, or as a second mini PC! Overall, it’s an interesting little machine, with tons of potential!

What technology do you regret buying in your life?

Me: It was a cheap $200 Emachines laptop on Black Friday in 2009. It was a pretty good laptop, but had an awful single core processor. Also, the ports began failing after a couple of years.

Over the years, Apple has always been the leader in the innovation. However, lately, Apple has begun faltering in a lot things. Here are the top signs, the "Apple Ship" is sinking.

1. Root, This is a major, absurd flap by Apple, and a one of many cracks forming in their tight ship.
2. The iPhone X. The iPhone X is frankly terrible looking. It has a noticeable notch on the top, and they removed the finger print reader. The iPhone X looks like a prototype phone to be honest
3. Mac OS: Mac OS is stuck in the 2000s with it's dated UI. Many UI elements have not changed in 15 years.
4. It's product lineup. Apple has a frankly lackluster product lineup compared to others. They have the regular iMac, Macbook, iPad, and iPhone. This is the same lineup from 7 years ago. They have not made anything truly revolutionary.
5. The slowing of iPhones. This is definitely a big crack in Apple's ship. To slow down people's phones, without them knowing, is terrible. Isn't iOS a lightweight mobile OS already?
6. The Macbook Pro keyboards. The new Macbook Pro keyboards are truly awful. They offer no tactile feedback or resistance. To implement such a keyboard on a "Pro" device, is another crack in the Apple ship
7. The regular iPhone. Apple is still selling the dated looking iPhone 8, alongside the improved iPhone X with the edgless display. If Apple wants to innovate, they should go all in, and retire the old iPhone design
8. Headphone jack. There is no rationale to remove a tried and true IO port on a phone, like the headphone jack. Especially, if the USB C offers the same audio quality. Also, now users have to buy a dongle to charge their phone and listen to music, simultaneously.
9. The iPad Pro. Apple continues to tout the iPad Pro as a PC replacement. Yet, it can't do a lot of the things a Macbook or Windows PC can, like heavy duty tasks.
10. Value and competitiveness of their products. Back in 2007, the iPhone and Macbooks, were like the Mercedes of tech products. A Dell Inspiron felt like a cheap Hyundai Accent in comparison. Now in 2017, there are so many other excellent laptops and smartphones, that really give Apple's bread and butter products, a run for their money!

Over the years, we only really had two operating systems on PCs, Windows and Mac. Now, we have Chrome OS and Chromebooks, being sold. Chromebooks are pretty good, for casual users. They offer a streamlined, and safe experience, where people can't screw their computers up.

Recently, Chromebooks have begun getting Android apps, apart of the operating system. Chrome OS, originally was just a browser based operating system, with the bare necessities, and a file explorer. Now, it is inching closer to something more useful, especially with Android apps. Albeit, Android Apps are still not nearly as sophisticated as desktop Windows programs, yet.

Imagine, if Chrome OS further matured, and offered tools, that could be found in Windows? Also, imagine if you could run Adobe Premiere, Lightroom, or Photoshop. If Chrome OS, matures to a point, where it maintains it's fast speed, and also usefulness for power/advanced users. Could Chrome OS and Chromebooks, soon challenge Windows and Mac PCs?

What do you think?

10 years ago, if you were Christmas shopping for a gaming or ultra high end laptop. These are what you could get!

Here is one the top of the line, 2007 Dell gaming laptops. These had Windows Vista, that just was released. This laptop (Dell XPS M1730) also could have dual GTX 8700M graphics, which could play Crisis and Fallout 3 later on.

This model, is still selling for a pretty penny on Ebay, despite being 10 years old.

If you were looking for something, sophisticated and cool in 2007. You could get this, for $2,500. This had a detachable keyboard, a external like display, and a freaking handle, for carrying around! Imagine, bringing one of these into work, or college!

Although times have changed quite a bit since 2007. These laptops are pretty nice still!

Back in 2009, I had an Asus EeePC 900A, running Eeebuntu. It was an amazingly portable, little laptop. It wasn't a powerful laptop, by any stretch. It's portability, well made up for it. You could fit the EeePC in a glove box or a purse even.

Above the Asus EeePC 900

Many netbooks back then, were pretty awful for typing on, and many weren't good for a lot of things. Especially due to their small screens, cramped keyboards, tiny track pads, and slow atom processors.

However, there were very good netbooks, like the Thinkpad X120E, and the later Asus EeePCs, that improved upon many things.

Above: ThinkPad X120e

Now, with the new Windows on ARM laptops coming out, that offer 20 hours of battery. Also, 'always on' technology, like we have in our smartphones. Could netbooks make a successful comeback? Would you buy a modern ARM based netbook?

What do you think?

Hi Paul,

I greatly enjoy reading your articles on Thurrott.com. I noticed an uptick in premium articles recently. Will all articles in the future, be premium-tized, this frequently? Especially about noteworthy subjects like this below?

Thanks!

10 years ago, 2 or 4 GB of RAM was decent and very good. Over the years, applications have become bigger, and so has the need for more RAM. Now, 16GB is not even enough for some. People are putting 32GB or even 64GB of RAM, which is crazy!

Now, with Windows becoming less resource intensive. PC manufacturers have been shipping lower end PCs with only 2GB of RAM. This has to end, now! PC Makers should be putting a minimum of 4GB of RAM in low end PCs. 2GB of RAM just will not cut it anymore. Even with web browsing, having multiple tabs, will consume a lot of memory. Some (small) Windows tablets had a shocking 1GB of RAM, which is inexcusable. I still see some new Windows tablets, with only 1GB of RAM.

Just imagine, someone who bought a brand new laptop, last black Friday, with only 2GB of RAM, loaded with crapware. Then they try, web browsing. Then down the road, install other programs. It would be horrible experience.

Manufacturers need to stop shipping out 2GB of RAM, in low end laptops. How much does it truly cost, to add 2GB more of RAM? Many laptops have RAM soldered in, so something with so little RAM, is old right out of the gate. There is really no excuse to shortchange PC buyers with such measly RAM installed. If adding 2GB of RAM increases the price by $20, so be it..

Even though Windows now can technically run on 2GB RAM, and run acceptably for web browsing. Microsoft should increase the requirements of Windows to 4GB, to make for a pleasurable, and flawless computing experience. By increasing the requirements, it will force PC manufacturers, to stop offering 2GB of RAM in low end $200 laptops.

Laptop keyboards over the years, have always been a step or two below, a regular desktop keyboard. They all offer different, feels, layouts and responsiveness. ThinkPad keyboards for instance, are one of the best, and offer an excellent typing experience. Whilst, laptops with, cheap, flimsy chiclet keyboards, are the worst typing experience. It really all is subjective, when it comes down to it.

Recently, I went to Best Buy, to look around. I walked over to the Apple section to take a gander. I tried out one of the new Macbooks Pros. After typing on the keyboards. I was shocked, how horrendously, bad it was. It felt like, I was typing on a hard table.

The Macbook keyboard, is the worst keyboard, I have ever used. It has no key travel, no tactile feedback, nothing. You minus well, just type on a rock, for writing essays. How can Apple sell so-called, premium laptops, with such awful keyboards?

Although, laptop keyboards are all subjective. The Macbook keyboard is just objectively bad. I could not imagine owning a Macbook, and having to type anything longer than 2 sentences on it.

What is Apple thinking?

What are your thoughts about the Macbook keyboard?

With all the recent Call of Duty WWII hoopla. I decided to play, one of my favorite computer games of all time, Call of Duty 1.

Back in 2003, Call of Duty 1 came out. It was a revolution in World War 2 shooter games. It mixed an excellent story and game play together. It taught players about all various the weapons used in the war, and so much more.

In the mid 2000s, I had a fairly good Windows XP PC. It had Athlon XP 3200 processor, 512MB RAM, and a Radeon 9250. It played Half Life 2 and Call of Duty 1 and United Offense very well.

A day ago, I decided to go through the (long process) of install Call of Duty 1 on Windows 10.

1. I had to install Call of Duty, and change CDs, which is pretty old school. First I had to insert the product key of course! Installing the game took several minutes.
2. After installing, COD refused to launch, because of Secure CD. I tried compatibility mode, but still didn't work.
3. Upon some research, I found I needed to download a patched "No CD" exe and replace the original. This worked perfectly, and the game launched.
4. Then, I went into the COD folder, and opened up the config file, and changed the resolution to 1920x1080.

After all these steps. Call of Duty 1 ran perfectly, and I could relive the good old days. The game looks actually very good for 14 years old. Overall, Call of Duty plays well in Windows 10, despite needing to modify/adjust some things.

Here’s some Screenshots I took playing.

22 years ago, in an age of huge desktops, and thick laptops, Windows 95 came out. It was a truly revolutionary Microsoft OS, in that it introduced the desktop with the start menu. It made using Windows, so much better, especially from Windows 3.1!

Today I decided to resurrect an old 1996 Dell XPS P200S, and install Windows 95. It was actually pretty easy, almost as easy as Windows 10. I did notice some similarities, 22 years later.

First, I stuck in the boot disk, and booted Windows 95 right up.

It then went to formatting the hard drive, to install Windows 95. This went relatively quickly.

Then, it went into the Windows 95 setup screen. It is a pretty looking splash screen!

After that, I went through the process of inserting the license key.

I agreed to the license agreement

Now, it began copying the files for Windows 95

Windows need to restart

Now, getting Windows 95 ready for the first time. Just like Windows 10 does with the changing colors :).

Windows 95 boots up now.

Finally, on the Windows 95 desktop greeted by the Welcome Screen!

In the end, I still have to scour the internet for drivers, for the old Matrox video card. I have to say, going back 22 years and installing Windows 95. It wasn’t a bad experience! It brought back many memories of the old days of Windows!

Today, I noticed Microsoft updated the Windows Store icon, to something more colorful!

Here is a screenshot!

5 years ago today, October 26th, 2012, Microsoft released Windows 8 to the general public! I did the full icy plunge back then, and installed it on every computer I owned. Including my desktop, and laptops.

Windows 8 was not a horribly bad Windows OS, especially under the hood. However, design wise, it was very tablet-centric. It took some time to get used to Windows 8, especially with charms, the start screen, hot corners, etc.

It can be argued, without Windows 8, we would not have Windows 10. Also, any of the highly innovative hardware we have today. Most especially, the Microsoft Surface Pro tablets, and any of the Yoga style laptops!

Recently I acquired a used 2011 Lenovo Thinkpad X220 Tablet, for only $70. This is like the Swiss Army Knife of Lenovo Thinkpads!

In 2011, a time before Windows 8 came out, computer companies were gradually starting to come out with convertible laptops. A lot of them, were slightly different than today. For instance Dell had a Inspiron Duo laptop, where the screen flipped over in place. Others were like this too. Eventually, manufacturers moved onto either detachable laptop convertibles, or the Yoga style ones.

The ThinkPad X220 uses a convertible style, where the screen twists around a folds flat. I personally feel this is the best "Yoga" design. Rather than how the new laptop tablet convertibles are today. Where the screen flips over, with the keyboard exposed on the bottom.

Design

The ThinkPad X220's design is very rugged, and utilitarian. The computer weighs 4.4 pounds. The laptop is made of very durable plastics. There are lots of ports like VGA, USBs, Ethernet, and an SD card slot. Many computer manufacturers don't put these ports on laptops anymore, especially Ethernet.

Having an Ethernet port, can be advantageous. Especially if you are at place like a hotel or business with only Ethenet available.

Display

The display of the Thinkpad X220 tablet, is vibrant and beautiful. It is only 1366 x 768, which by today's standards, is sub-par. However, the deep rich colors, of the IPS display, are really good. The viewing angles are excellent. The screen is also multi-touch, and comes with a ThinkPad pen for drawing (haven't tried yet).

Performance

The X220 Tablet, has a Intel I5-2520M and a HD 3000 graphics chips. In comparison to my 2015 Thinkpad X1 carbon. I see no differences in performance, especially when browsing the web. I haven't tested applications, I suspect, Lightroom should be equal performance. Perhaps, Adobe Premiere too? As for gaming, as like the Thinkpad X1 carbon or anything with Intel graphics, it probably wont play a lot of graphically intensive games.

Keyboard

The Thinkpad X220 Tablet's keyboard, is amazing to type on! The key travel and resistance is excellent. There is no flex when typing. I easily could type on the keyboard forever. While my ThinkPad X1 carbon's keyboard is best in it's class. I think the X220's keyboard is in some ways better.

Trackpad

The X220's trackpad is quite tiny, but it is very responsive and accurate. There is also the track point and touchscreen, which make up for it.

Portability

The ThinkPad X220 Tablet has a 12 inch display and weights 4.4 pounds. It is not the lightest laptop, it is light. The battery on the rear is a bit bulky, but doesn't totally take away from the portability.

Storage

The X220 tablet I have, comes with a 120 GB solid state drive. While it is not a lot, is sufficient, considering I keep a lot of things in the cloud.

Operating System

The Thinkpad X220 tablet, previously had Windows 7, but Windows 10 makes the computer better than new. With the lower resources in Windows 10, it makes the X220 a more efficient machine. Also, with the deep touch integration of Windows 10, drastically improves the touch aspect.

Battery life

I have not tested the battery thoroughly enough, but it does seem to last a long while. It should last a couple of hours.

Overall

The ThinkPad X220 Tablet, is the Swiss Army Knife of Thinkpads. It can be used for so many different applications, from drawing to much more. While it is not as thin or portable, like a Surface Pro, or the newer Thinkpads. It is an excellent, ThinkPad tablet.

If you ever come across a X220 tablet or the regular X220, for cheap. I highly recommend grabbing one. For the typing experience alone, it is worth it!

For the longest time, I have been an enormous Gran Turismo fan. I played every game they released, and spent hours and hours playing each game over the years!

Gran Turismo was the king of racing simulation games back then. They had the best physics, a massive amount of cars, tons of tracks, and also great music. They even had Snoop Dogg create a custom track in Gran Turismo 3!

Gran Turismo 1 Above

Now, with the release of Gran Turismo Sport. All that was great about Gran Turismo is gone. There is no offline simulation mode or any offline mode at all, there is no wide selection of cars. None of the original tracks are in the game from the beginning days, like High Speed Ring, Deep Forest, Grand Valley. There is not even Autumn Ring, which was a beautiful track with fall foliage.

Above: Autumn Ring in Gran Turismo 6

Gran Turismo Sport is not a Gran Turismo game, at least the one I remember. Yes, Polyphony Digital pointed the game in a new direction. In doing so, they got rid of a tried and true formula. The formula, where you buy a crappy slow car (Toyota Yaris), win races, earn money, buy faster cars, and advance in the game. This is what made the series fun and addictive.

The only thing that Gran Turismo Sport has going for it, is the ultra realistic driving experience and the FIA association. Also, the improved life like graphics, that could easily con anyone to thinking it was a real life race. That is really about it.

Above: Gran Turismo Sport

For the first time ever, I am not buying Gran Turismo. I might never buy it again. I feel very sad about this. Gran Turismo was apart of my blood. It taught me everything about cars and the different models.

Gran Turismo additionally, made me a better driver in real life, especially braking more effectively.

Maybe, down the road, if Gran Turismo Sport gains an offline career mode, a significantly wider selection of cars, the original tracks. I might reconsider the series again.

For now, I say Rest in Peace Gran Turismo Series (1997-2017).

Windows 10 currently has one visual style, which is still called Aero! There is however, another visual style, carried over from Windows 8. It is called Aero Lite.

Aero Lite was originally in Windows 8. I am not entirely sure, what the purpose was of it. It still exists in Windows 10 today, but is just disabled.

Here are a few steps, on how to enable it.

1.   First step, go to Local Disk (C:), then the Windows folder, then Resources, and click on Themes. 

2.   Now, select the theme called Aero, and copy it to the desktop.  

3.   Then rename it to, aerolite.theme  

4.   Now, right click on “Aerolite.theme”, and open it with Notepad. Here you will just change the two things in the circles. The “DisplayName” to Aero Lite, and [Visual Styles] directory path from Aero.msstyles, to aerolite.msstyles. 

5.   Now, save and close the Notepad window. Then, double click on the theme that is now called, ‘Aerolite.theme’ on the desktop. You should have, what it looks like this! 

If you want to get your regular Windows 10 theme back you had before. Simply, just go to personalization in Settings, then themes, and select the theme you had previously. 

Note: If you look at the Aero Lite Theme, it is definitely unfinished or slightly broken. The start menu has a border around it, and the modern settings window, has the regular Windows 10 theme, rather than the Aero Lite version

I am a strictly Windows user, and have used it for countless years. Recently, I began testing out Linux, and exploring it. I tested various distros, from Ubuntu, to Linux Mint, Elementary OS and Fedora.

I was very surprised at how good they were.

Here is a quick run down of my experiences.

Installation

Installing each distro was as easy as installing Windows. There were no extra steps needed. The installations automatically formatted and partitioned the hard drive. Updates were downloaded and installed, during the installations. The hardware was all detected automatically, such as the graphics, WiFi and Ethernet, etc. Overall, a very good experience.

Above: Set up screen for Ubuntu

Booting Linux for the first time

Logging in and booting to the desktop for the first time in each distro, was painless! No additional set up was required, like configuring or installing drivers. The desktop environments were quite easy to learn right from the start.

The desktop environment

Each distro has a slightly different desktop environment. Ubuntu and Elementary OS, are reminiscent of Mac OSX. While Fedora and Linux Mint are more similar to Windows. Each desktop has familiar icons, folders and apps. It was very easy overall to adapt, using each one. I especially liked how clean the desktop environments were.

Above: Screenshot of Linux Mint 18.2

Above: Sceenshot of Fedora, and the Gnome desktop environment.

Pre-installed Programs

Each Linux distro has (most) all the preinstalled programs, that Windows has, and more. For instance, calculator, a notepad etc. Linux Mint, and Ubuntu, unlike Windows, comes with an office suite installed (Libre Office), which a plus for many people. Also, FireFox comes with each distro, except Elementary OS which comes with the Midori browser. There are of course, all the system utilities that you need, within the system folders, like task manager and more.

Program availability

This is the Achilles heel of Linux. While there is a wide selection of software available, from Google Chrome, to Steam for games. Linux still is missing big name software like Adobe Creative Cloud, for some reason. This can be easily circumvented, if you dual boot Windows and Linux together. Software availability for Linux is improving, but slowly.

Usability

Linux distros, most especially Linux Mint and Ubuntu, can be used by nearly anyone. The desktop environments are very familiar, and can take no time for someone to adapt. However, there is some learning, like any other operating system, if you switch. It is very good to know commands in the terminal.

Above: Elementary OS desktop.

Overall

As of 2017, Linux has greatly matured and gotten to a point where I think it is comparable to both Windows and Mac. There are some caveats, like missing big name programs like Adobe, but that may change eventually. Software support is again, gradually improving, especially with now Chrome and Steam being available.

If you are looking to experience something different, and take a break from Windows or even Mac. I highly recommend taking, either Linux Mint, Ubuntu or Elementary OS for a spin. You can either dual boot or just try Linux via a live USB. If you want to go for the full plunge, you can do a complete install of Linux and wipe away Windows.

Side Note:

There are of course, a lot of of Linux distros available, like Debian, Manjuro, Arch. Ubuntu, Linux Mint and Elementary are great for starting out with and offer a great out of the box experience.

Windows 7 was arguably one of the best Windows, Microsoft made. When it came out in 2009, it was fresh, fast and overall perfect. It ran on less memory, it was faster than Vista (especially booting), and introduced a lot of new features. Now Windows 10, is like the new Windows 7, its fast, sleek and modern.

If you miss the days of Windows 7, and want the look of it for nostalgia reasons. Here is a quick tutorial on how to make Windows 10, look like Windows 7.

1. The background. You can get the Windows 7 background, very easily, just by Googling it. Just download it, and set as the desktop wallpaper! Just make sure the location of the wallpaper is reputable first. 
2. The logon screen. You can get the login screen of Windows 7 also, by simply Googling or binging it! First download it, then right click and set at lock screen image. 
3. Last but not least, colors! You can change the colors in Windows 10 to look like Windows 7, by going to settings > personalization > colors. Then, select automatically choose color based on wallpaper, and also show color on the titlebars, and start. 

Presto!

Your computer now looks just like Windows 7! Enjoy :D

According to my Facebook “On this day”. It was 5 years ago today, Windows 8 was made available for pre-order. I bravely pre-ordered it, and later installed it when came out on October 26th.

Windows 8 was not a totally bad Windows operating system, especially under the hood. However, design wise, it was a rude awakening, and took time to get used to.

I did install Windows 8 on all of my machines back then. It worked perfectly fine, and the Start Screen was the only inconvenience really (maybe the boot to start, charms, and the corner gestures also).

Many years ago, Windows Phone came out, to offer users a choice. It tried to be different, with colorful live tiles, apps, and much much more. There was excellent hardware like Nokia Lumias, that had some of the best camera on the market.

Windows Phone tried, and tried to stay up. but ultimately, could not compete with the two giants.

Rest in Peace Windows Phone

Over the years, computers have become increasingly more affordable. You can now buy a desktop for under $400, and a laptop too. Albeit, you'll have to spend more to get more performance, especially gaming or video editing.

Here is a Dell ad, on the back of a Windows magazine I have, from 1998! This appears to be a high end computer, but still pretty expensive by today's standards.

What keyboard and mouse does everyone use here (if you use one)?

I use a EagleTec KG010 mechanical keyboard, with Outemu blue switches (like Cherry Blue). The build quality, typing and key feel is excellent, especially for a budget mechanical keyboard.

I also use a Red Dragon M801 Mammoth mouse. It is very responsive, and has a nice feel to it. For it’s price, it is a superb mouse. The only complaint I have, it had a plastic smell for a few days, but went away eventually.

Windows Phone over the years, hasn’t been overly successful, and this obviously due to Android and iOS! Windows Phone had a big swing around when Windows 8 came out. It also has had a lot of great hardware, especially the Nokia Lumia line.

The biggest fault with Android and iOS, is they have a lot of powerful hardware. Some to not at all, can become computers, by being plugged into a monitor, and used with periphreals. Now with everyone carrying a phone around, why not use it as your desktop too? Why have such a powerful computer in your pocket, that can’t be fully utilized?

This leads to, the biggest reason, Microsoft should not give up on Windows Phone, is the Continuum feature! Although Windows Phone is lacking in apps and popularity. The biggest asset it has is Continuum. Continuum allows a phone to be plugged in, and be used as almost, a full fledged PC. For many people, this would be a huge plus. Especially that they don’t have to switch between devices. Also, can keep everything on one device.

Microsoft is already known for Windows on the desktop, laptops, tablets. Why not be known for the Windows that can flex between a phone, and desktop?

Which Windows Weekly intro does everyone here prefer? The old one, or the new one?

I much prefer the old one, it had sophistication and character to it. The new one is simpler and not as good.

Here is the old intro

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPjs4fw1C2U

While the Iphone X is a gorgeous, innovative new phone Apple released, it has some design flaws and other issues.

1. It has a glass plate on the back. While this is aesthetically nice, it will break easily. Especially if dropped, even on a counter top.
2. Apple certainly could have kept the finger print button on the rear, for redundancy, or back up measures. This way, if the face recognition fails. You could use the fingerprint for turning it on also.
3. It is VERY expensive. For the same price of the base model iPhone X. You can get an i7 desktop or laptop, that can do far many things than it can, and will certainly last much longer, without having to upgrade. Also, with all the accessories, the iPhone X will cost as much as a used Hyundai.
4. The black bar on the top, takes away slightly from it's beautiful end to end display. Apple could have worked harder to make it blend in better.
5. It is running the same iOS graphical user interface, that came out in 2007. Apple should have redid the entire UI, and made it fresh as the iPhone X is.
6. No expandable storage. Yes, this is widely debated issue. It is really nice to expand the storage in your phone, especially if you take alot of photos or have alot of music.

Overall, the iPhone X is a gorgeous new iPhone. It offers a beautiful display and a different styling than any of the phones they produced. Apple did make some questionable decisions, in making the phone. If it had, most especially, a fingerprint reader on the rear. The iPhone X would have been perfect.

Me, for some reason.

I always thought (from reading his articles) Paul would look like Richard Attenborough (Prof John Hammond) from Jurassic Park for some reason. lol

Perhaps it was Paul’s in-depth, knowledgeable articles on Windows and Microsoft?