I have an HP laptop with Windows 10.
Shortly I will have an HP laptop WITHOUT Windows 10.
In fact, it will be “Microsoft free.”
Why? Read on.
Because my computer is in a protected environment (now that the grandchildren have left) and no one uses it except this scrivener, I removed the log-on password – long ago.
This evening, when I went to log on to check email, MicroStupid demanded a password.
OK, MS – remember, the “S” is for “Stupid” – offered to help me reset the password that was not set.
How was MS going to do this?
It was going to send an email.
Brilliant.
I don’t have (nor do I want) a “smart” phone.
The ONLY way I can access my email is via this machine.
The term “Catch 22”1 comes to mind.
Fortunately my second born is a geek and equally fortunately he was on the phone as I tried to access the computer.
Could I start the machine in Safe Mode?
Doubtful.
Try pressing a specific Function key once every second until the system shows something.
I did.
After the HP logo –about as necessary as web feet on a crow – the MicroStupid background (that I once managed to bypass) displayed and, after a brief trip for a required break, I returned and found I could see the desktop.
- Yes, I did thank my son for his expertise.
What is the solution?
There are several options.
Throw out the HP and buy a Mac. My geek son loves his Macs.
- I used Macs at a couple of companies. Old Macs; single floppy Macs.
The problem with Macs is the cost. To my mind almost everything from Apple is over-priced, and if the Mac computers are anything like the Apple cell phones, they are updated frequently to enhance the company’s ROI.
- Two of my many complaints about Windows is that (a) it changes the UI with every iteration and (b) it obsoletes some really good applications while replacing them with garbage.
The other option, and one I prefer, is the Linux operating system. Ubuntu is Linux-based.
The Linux OS is – brace your self – F R E E.
It has a wealth (and variety) of applications, including several F R E E excellent replacements for MicroStupid’s Office.
- This blog is created using LibreOffice Writer. It does everything Word does, including reading Word files and saving in Word format as well as its native OpenOffice format. I’ve been using LibreOffice Writer for several months and, once past the initial learning curve – about the same as moving from one Word version to another – it has been most satisfactory; as good as, or better than, Word.
LibreOffice has been updated several times without changing the UI and without any additional cost to the still free OpenOffice software.
OpenOffice is mostly volunteers with a few salaried personnel. It “lives” on donations. OpenOffice is a worldwide cooperation among developers and users. Consider OpenOffice as one monster User Group. (Actually, there are several specific user groups, but I have yet to see any reluctance to share information. It reminds me of the early days of HTML.)
One often overlooked advantage of Linux is that because it has a relatively small user base, compared to MS or Mac, it is less a target of malicious code.
- Access = Base
Excel = Calc
PowerPoint = Impress
Paint = Draw
Word = Writer
LibreOffice also includes “Math,” an equations and formulas editor.
There is a line-by-line, in-depth feature comparison of LibreOffice and MS Office at
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/Feature_Comparison:_LibreOffice_-_Microsoft_Office
What LibreOffice lacks – Outlook and Calculator, both of which are Windows applications (vs. MS Office applications) – can be made up by selecting from numerous Linux applications that do the same job.
- As an aside, LibreOffice has a version that can run on a Windows platform so potential users can try it on their Windows boxes. It uninstalls exactly as any other program running under MicroStupid’s operating system. LibreOffice also can share drive space (if it is available) with Windows’ OS.
I was a Microsoft fan since Word for DOS was introduced in 1983 via PC World magazine. I suffered through the expensive upgrades that complicated and redesigned the UI through Office 2007. Likewise, I moved along with Windows as it passed through the well thought out XP to Win 10, now on the “laptop.”
However, since MicroStupid’s last stunt – telling me I have a password when I don’t and then telling me to check my email that I cannot access for a code to change a non-existent password, I know it is time to cut the cord and move on to a grown-up's OS.
Sources
1. A catch-22 is a paradoxical situation from which an individual cannot escape because of contradictory rules. The term was coined by Joseph Heller, who used it in his 1961 novel Catch-22. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.
Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.
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