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posted by martyb on Thursday November 01 2018, @06:49AM   Printer-friendly
from the against-my-will dept.

tl;dr: Directing the wind is not possible, being compelled to adjust my sails. How can I transition to Windows 10 and not suffer extreme loss in productivity.

Windows Classic Theme: How do I get something like this. I assume other Soylentils are like me and the first thing they do when logging onto a Windows XP/7 computer is change the theme to classic. Has anyone done this yet on Windows 10? In my very brief experience dealing with 10 I was unable to find a way to do this, I presume that they removed this because they are awful people.

Specifications: How powerful of a computer do I need to do the same thing I am currently able to do without any lag. I was compelled to do testing using an i7 laptop with 8gb of ram from a couple of years ago, I found I was unable to do any testing because it was bogged down at 95% CPU capacity just running the base OS. What should I be running to make this thing bearable. My job function is to review, build, maintain reports which can involve files large enough to bog me down on my current system (i7-5600U with 8gb), what hardware should I have, how much ram should I have.

Experience: What lessons did others here learn the hard way as they went though this process. I am aware of the updates causing data to be non exist and things of that nature. What are things that I need to know about in this new age of 10.

I am sure there are some other things I should ask, just can't remember ATM.

Just run Linux XD: I am not allowed to withdraw consent from Windows 10, but I am pushing off implementation as long as possible.

[For information about issues with Windows' updates, see Ask Woody. --Ed]


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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @12:50PM (2 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @12:50PM (#756436)

    What I found:
      - Use known, verified set of software, preferably open source.
      - The "Apps" are more buggy than Linux appimage-like solutions - in many cases they just don't work Just try to install anything if user's directory is not in it default location - it will happily install, clog the directory and then fail starting. Use portable versions extracted to proper directories to avoid littering libraries and settings directories. It did not end with Win98, only directories have changed.
      - Avoid connecting Win10 machine to the Internet or any other network. I did this once and it started some connections in so enormous amount that automated system shut it down!
      - Get at least 8GB of RAM and try to make it not swap by disabling it. Seriously, Win10 swaps all time and I have no idea why. When there is no swap, it starts to settle around 6GB RAM usage, at least in my case (i7-3770, 8GB, Dell Vostro 470).
      - Use Classic shell for menu start which works.
      - Get used to any other explorer than Windows. Even DoubleCmd written in Pascal seems to be faster if it comes to large directory.

    But Linux will get the same oversimplifying. Although, as with Linux, it will be later but it slowly creeps in. What we have with the latest versions is training user to fit in another profiling engine.
    Usually paths are long and it's normal. We have home directory, projects directory, then maybe a category, year and project name. There may be versions or subprojects. And what Linux GUI software devs did? They disabled a way to quickly type the path in or to quickly copy it out. There is some esoteric and hard to remember vi-like shortcut for calling the path field, but it does not contain current path. So instead of typing a few characters, selecting from drop-down and doing it for next directory, "productivity" ends with clicking through a long set of directory listings which may load for hours. The same thing MS did a few times to make users use their cloud solutions, and the first one was probably some download accelerator Explorer extension in early 2000s. This looks like training users for supplying better data to profiling engines. Linux here becomes like Windows: You can write here, cannot there, and there only malware can r/w, but of course it is enforced a bit softer, you can always do it but it will suddenly take a longer time. And more and more software uses this stuff.
    I would not argue with it at all if there would be a replacement solution, like a support for filesystem metadata like was in BeFS - this would cause a revolution in general file management. But there isn't any.
    Another example: MS is known for breaking bookmarks compatibility. My friend upgraded Win7 to 10 and his links in assorted directories got bonked (modern solution seems to have this 1200W desktop PC continuously on with lots of tabs eating CPU or just having a piece of paper). Most browsers are financed by search engines, so search engines have their word in its development to force users to use search engines instead of their notes. Support for frequently used links is worse and worse each release of IE, Firefox or Chrome. Breaking creation of .desktop files with Firefox made me use PM, which is also a suspicious thing but at least it allows me to write an URL somewhere else than in a text file.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @10:27PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday November 01 2018, @10:27PM (#756642)

    Going to swap is not necessarily a bad thing. Even linux has params to tune it (like most OS's).

    Usually if you find windows is swapping out (with 8GB no less!) you have something large running. You can find it in task manager.

    My windows box currently sits at ~100 meg swap used. My linux box (same hardware) is sitting around 600MB used. That is *not* a bad thing.

    Do not bother with classic shell. Just use the new one. You will find yourself in much better shape later on. Instead of sitting in front of someone else's computer and looking like a whiny brat that your favorite toy is not around.

    but it does not contain current path
    That is an option of your setup. You can customize it per user you will find it in your home directory. You can also set it globally you will find the setting somewhere in etc.

    1200W desktop PC
    wtf... Are you running a folding rig or a gaming rig 100% or something?

    • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:23AM

      by Anonymous Coward on Friday November 02 2018, @12:23AM (#756678)

      In Linux I can at least configure swappiness at desired value. Then I can set when I want it to swap.
      And if You have 600MB of swap used from start and there is a modern amount of RAM, something IS wrong. My setup for 2GB machines at boot has only a few MBs of swap used and lots of RAM directed to buffers (read: free for programs). Maybe check for "update manager"-like processes? They are common in some distros and they may try to cram a whole package lists to memory. Or some hand-built program is made with debug symbols?
      And about the default shell: This is also very confusing, different in each computer. Searching for programs, especially using Windows built-in search box, causes launching wrong programs in such cases. If I want to work in other PC, I constantly use Win+R dialog. This works in many Linux desktops too. It is almost like Windows search box, but launches what user wants, not what is close enough.

      About path: Unfortunately no, that's an unchangeable option of GTK version 3, WONTFIXed. I can force default path for some applications, and for unknown reason still not all (in other I end in a "recently used" thing, maybe OK for office work, but useless for multitasking), but even when I click to other directory and use the boss key, the path will not pop in there. This is a known error.

      About 1200W PC: This is a typical set-up for running simulation-related computations. Bursts of 100% CPU and GPU usage are fortunately only about one third of a total run time, and hard disks rarely go all three on a high usage.