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So it's happened; mom's venerable Dell has bit the dust and I'm being called on to find her a new laptop. Everything I've seen here and elsewhere says Windows 10 is a privacy nightmare and we're trusting Microsoft's forced automatic updates to not break the computer. Dell is still offering computers with Win 7 and 8.1, but Microsoft is pushing the OS upgrade hard and heavy. I'd love for her to let me set her up with Linux but she's devoted to Google Picasa (Google not porting their apps is another rant) and I'm not sure how often she's going to be calling me with some Windows only program she needs. And then there's Apple, which makes my fingers itch to type, but it's looking better and better. So, what is the collective wisdom of the Soylentils*?
- Is windows 10 really not that bad and just roll with it.
- Is Linux finally ready for Grandma?
- Stick with 8.1 and turn off all the updates?
- Shell out the cash for a Macbook?
*Irony duly noted.
(Score: 2) by TrumpetPower! on Tuesday November 03 2015, @03:18PM
Only slightly off-topic.
I personally run OS X an OpenBSD. There is exactly one Windows-only application that I actually need, that I've up to now run in a VM: TurboTax for business. It does all the capital depreciation stuff and what-not that would be kinda crazy for me to do myself in a spreadsheet and much more expensive to hire an accountant to do.
For various reasons, I've no longer got a readily-available VM with Windows in which I can run TurboTax.
The Wine compatibility list says that Wine won't run TurboTax.
So...I'd really like some alternative to buying a copy of Windows (and which version?) in a few months just to run TurboTax, but I'm not really aware of any. Can anybody offer any suggestions?
Thanks,
b&
All but God can prove this sentence true.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 03 2015, @06:48PM
Why not just get win10 home oem then you are done for a few years? And since you have a business just write it off as an expense... In fact MS said this is 'the last windows the rest are upgrades'. So you are pretty much set for awhile...
This is a one time cost. Dont sweat it. Its 60-90 bucks. Probably less in a few months... windows home OEM is the key words.
If it is windows 7 already just let it upgrade and that is a free to you monetary cost?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday November 03 2015, @09:22PM
Get Windows XP license, use it in VM without NIC (offline) and run your sw. For bonus points torrent ThinXP, when you're licensed.
(Score: 3, Informative) by Non Sequor on Wednesday November 04 2015, @01:46AM
Have you tried the online versions? I've used the Premier version and it seems pretty solid, and from what the feature lists say, it looks like the online version of the Home & Business version does the same stuff as the offline version. Plus you can get chat based support with the online version (without losing the option of phone support).
Write your congressman. Tell him he sucks.