Opuscula The “wisdom” Of Microsoft

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.

LibreOffice has just about everything MS Office has:

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.

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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.

Comments on MicroStupid

Opuscula B.P. Richfield Is alive & well In Redmond WA

Back IN THE EARLY 90s (1991-1994) there was a tv program called “Dinosaurs.” Some people compared it to “The Simpsons,” but thought it funnier and more relevant. (See http://tinyurl.com/ybqs8byz.)

The story line was about a dinosaur family and its domestic life. Rather like the “Dick Van Dyke” show with Mary Tyler Moore, only with cartoon dinosaurs instead of humans.

The father of the family, Earl Sinclair (think Sinclair Oil) worked for B.P. Richfield (BP & Richfield Oil) at a company called – here is the Redmond connection – WeSaySo Corporation.

Read about all the characters at http://thefw.com/cast-of-dinosaurs-now/ A number of actors provided voices for the characters, including Stuart Pankin (Earl Sinclair) and Sherman Hemsley (B.P. Richfield).

As the company name, the WeSaySo Corporation, makes plain, it knows what is best for everyone, even when it is not.

Just like Microsoft.

Microsoft makes fairly decent products. No question. Millions of MS Office users can’t be wrong – can they? Microsoft products are so popular on Macintosh computers that Mac apps are a poor second.

It seems, however, that Microsoft has decided, a la WeSaySo Corporation, that it knows better than the people who buy and (try to) use it products.

For example: Updates.

Unlike Hewlett-Packard (HP) or the “old” Microsoft of Windows 7 and earlier, the “new” Microsoft downloads updates whether the user – the person who paid for the operating system (OS) -- wants the updates or not. HP also provides updates, but HP – thankfully lagging behind the Giant of Redmond – still allows the people who bought their Made-In-China hardware to see what the upgrade is all about and to decide to install or ignore the upgrade.

Not so Microsoft.

In the “old” days, Microsoft gave customers at least a hint of the reason behind the upgrade. Likewise, a user could opt to forego installing the upgrade.

Today, with Win 10, Microsoft pushes out the upgrade sans reason for the patch and offers the customer the option of installing it now or tomorrow … or until the user gets tired of being nagged.

For many people – those of us who use only the minimal features of the applications, e.g., Access, Excel, Word and whatever else Microsoft decides we need, there should be no problems when WeSaySo Corporation tells us to upgrade.

If you prefer a different simile, think of a tough non-com in the military; the non-com tells the junior “do this” and the lower ranking person does it without asking why. Because I said so is sufficient reason. (Trust me, the non-com really does have a good reason for the command, it just may not be obvious to the junior following the order. Been there, done that.)

There ARE people who bought Microsoft’s operating system who do things other than use Microsoft Office. These folks don’t want upgrades that might impact other applications on their computers.

But Microsoft, in its WeSaySo Corporation mode, basically tells these customers to shut up and accept that we (Microsoft) want you to have. Some customer push-back, albeit useless, can be read at http://tinyurl.com/y762bc3u

If a customer – that is a person who spent good money to have Microsoft's operating system installed on a new machine or who purchased and installed the OS on an existing computer wants to install another (or several) additional OSs on the computer with Windows 10, the customer has to spend time trying to find out how to disable Microsoft’s Secure Boot. Mucking about with the UEFI (nee’ BIOS) is not for the novice nor faint of heart, and Microsoft does not make it easy.

I found instructions to disable Microsoft’s Secure Boot on HP’s web site and on the Fossbytes.com web site.

I did what I was told when I was a young airman, but I am neither young nor in the Air Force. As a newspaper reporter, I asked questions and expected transparent answers. Microsoft’s heavy handedness is unacceptable.

Fortunately, there are options, many of them free, that let me accomplish everything I can do with Microsoft’s products, from its operating system to its applications.

This blog entry originated, and was spell checked, using the free Libre Office Writer Ver. 5.4.4.2 on a Win 10 operating system. Hopefully in the near future, I will replace Win 10 with a free OS from Linux or Ubuntu.

Having done my homework, I know that the non-Microsoft applications currently running under Win 10 can be replaced by similar (free) applications for Linux and Ubuntu.

One final thought

Microsoft’s help is becoming (has become?) arrogant – as expected for a WeSaySo Corporation – while there are active User Groups (UGs) for Linux, Ubuntu, and the applications that run under these OSs. Most of the answers to newbie questions are answered by a person who has “been there and done that.” The answers are (generally) given with consideration and understanding, no WeSaySo Corporation’s on the UG sites.

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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.

Comments on BP Richfield

Opuscula The wisdom of Microsoft(Did I write "wisdom"?)

 

The Spouse needs her Skype "fix" 6 days-a-week.

In the past, her employer allowed her to use a company computer to Skype with her daughter and grand-daughter on her break.

But things change and the microphone on computer to which she has access now for some reason doesn't work. The tech support people are over-burdened with other, critical problem so she won't ask anyone to troubleshoot the faulty system.

We have to MS OS machines in the house - a Vista budget OS (my Toshiba Satellite) and a Win 7 OS on the Spouse's Toshiba Satellite. Both are "big" screen machines.

I suggested she take her machine to work with her, connect to the workplace Wife and use that machine to Skype.

"No, it's too big. Let me use the 'little' computer."

Ahh, you mean the Compaq/HP machine that's gathering dust in the closet. "That's the one."

It's a little smaller than the Toshibas, but I think heavier. It came with XP Pro.

Still, whatever Lola - sorry, The Spouse - wants . . .

So, I pull out the Compaq/HP machine and fire it up.

XP loaded OK, but I couldn't get into the desktop; apparently The Spouse had password protected it (or maybe I did it for her) and no one remembered the password.

NOT A PROBLEM. Back in XP days, the OS was provided on several CDs. I had the CDs - all except for Service Pack 3 which was still available on the WWW.

I reinstalled XP Pro, thereby eliminating the password problem; downloaded SP 3 and installed that, then installed Chrome and made it the default browser, and then installed Skype. Skype insisted XP have SP3 installed which is why I looked, found, and downloaded it.

Because I didn't know better - or maybe I did and just wasn't thinking - when I used the Compaq/HP device with the battery installed when it was new, the battery's charge time was "short."

Somehow, in setting up the machine I discovered a utility to "calibrate" the battery. The utility discharges the battery to 0, then charges it to (what the battery thinks is) 100%. It then calibrates the battery. I'm not sure what that means, but in the end, the machine's battery is 30-some percent. assume that means it is at 30-some percent of its original capacity.

I figure that gives the machine maybe 15 minutes useful battery life, which may be just fine for my Spouse's Skyping. 'Course the machine seems terribly slow to load and that will cut down her chat time. (Alternatively she can take along the power unit; she's already having to carry the external camera and microphone.)

So - old XP had a utility to discharge the battery to 0; used often enough, the battery's could be recharged to almost 100% rather than losing more and more capacity with each use. (Having learned the lesson, I now remove the batteries from notebook computers that normally operate on household AC.)

MODEM, TOO

The Compaq/HP device included a fax program. That was back in the day when TuCows listed a number of free fax software applications. Those seem to have disappeared. MS does have a utility it calls Fax and Scan for many of its operating systems. (Vista Basic is NOT one of them, although Win 7 is - but our Toshiba with Win 7 lacks an internal modem or, as far as I can tell, a connection for an external modem. The Vista machines is supposed to have a modem, but the OS lacks the Fax and Scan utility. (Can it be downloaded? Next challenge.)

In this age of email, WHO CARES if you can receive and send faxes from a computer? Well, anyone who deals with HIPAA-cowed medics, many financial institutions, and some government agencies.

Many - perhaps most doctors' offices forbid email, fearing that some patient information might be jeopardized. A good concern, but it as easy to misdirect a fax as it is an email. Faxes are the preferred "nearly instant" communications method for the medically inclined.

Sometimes progress is painful.