My "new" iPhone 5s

Yes, it's an old model. I got a refurbished one from Tracfone for $129.00. I've never had an iPhone before, I do like it, it seems well designed, easy to use with lots of little convenient features. Here is a Youtube video that explains how to use a lot of the basic features:



My sister has one, and she got one for my Dad. I wanted to be able to use FaceTime with them, so I got one too. It may be an older model, but the iOS is version 10.XX, it's up to date, and all things considered, it's both impressive and affordable.

     

The Push to upgrade to Windows 10

It continues:

Microsoft Makes Windows 7 And Windows 8 Support Worse

Think your copy of Windows 7 is supported until 2020? Think your copy of Windows 8 is supported until 2023? You might want to think again because Microsoft MSFT -6.00% has just announced radical changes to how it will treat users of both operating systems…

Talking on its Windows Blog, Microsoft has announced it will now stop support for installations of Windows 7 or Windows 8 if they are on new or upgraded computers running the latest chips from Intel INTC -10.34%, AMD or Qualcomm QCOM -4.44%. Specifically these are listed as ‘Kaby Lake’ (Intel), ‘Bristol Ridge’ (AMD) and Qualcomm’s ‘8996’ (the base for the Snapdragon 820). Between them these chips will dominate sales of all new desktops, laptops, hybrids and tablets in 2016.

In fact Microsoft is going even further than this by also refusing to support Windows 7 and Windows 8 on Intel’s current generation ‘Skylake’ processors, with the exception of a “list of specific new Skylake devices”. This list includes the Dell Latitude 12 and XPS 13; HP EliteBook Folio and G3 and Lenovo ThinkPad T460s and X1 Carbon. Even then support on those devices will only last 18 months ending on 17 July, 2017.

Yes, you read this right: Microsoft is breaking from 31 years of Windows history by refusing to honour its promised Windows lifecycles unless users stick to old hardware. Upgrade your existing Windows 7 or Windows 8 computer to these chipsets or buy new hardware and install Windows 7 or Windows 8 on it and the official Windows Lifecycle dates don’t mean a thing.

All of which begs the question…

Why Is Microsoft Doing This? [...]

Read the whole thing for embedded links, and the links at the end to related articles. I've posted previously about Microsoft plans to
force the Windows 10 upgrade. This also is pressure in that direction.

I've been using Windows 10 on one of my machines. It's not absolutely horrible, and even has some nice features. It is thus far proving to be about 95% stable. Unfortunately, the unstable 5% can kick in when I'm trying to get serious work done. I find such unreliability intolerable to try and run a business with.

I need a RELIABLE computer platform to run business software like QuickBooks. If Windows 10 does not improve it's stability, I will most likely migrate to Apple, because it's a mainstream OS that can provide that stability. At least I hope it is. Can anyone tell me differently? No OS is without some problems, but a certain degree of stability is necessary for business. I use a computer to get work done, not so I can work on the computer to try to get it to work.

     

The Apple Mac turns 30

A Look Back at 30 Years of the Mac
The Apple Macintosh computer turns 30 on Friday; here's a look back at what made the Mac special and how it evolved over the past three decades.

In the early 1980s, the home computer and business PC revolutions were already in full swing. Apple set the template with the Apple II in 1977, while competitors Radio Shack, Atari, and Commodore followed suit. Meanwhile, in 1981 IBM introduced an artificially crippled, open-architecture, 16-bit machine called the IBM PC, which when combined with Lotus 1-2-3, took off in popularity in business environments large and small.

It was the Macintosh, though, that set the course for both kinds of computing for the next several decades. While Apple didn't invent the graphical user interface, with the Mac the company brought it to mainstream consumers for the first time. Microsoft and IBM immediately began copying its various idioms and design language—at first with a kind of hilarious ineptitude, and then in earnest beginning with Windows 3.0 in 1990 and OS/2 2.0 in 1992. The rest, of course, is history.

Today, the 30th anniversary of the Apple Mac is upon us. It goes without saying we wish Steve Jobs were still around to celebrate with all of us. So with a nod to him—and Steve Wozniak, who started Apple with Steve Jobs, and to everyone who worked on the original Mac and what followed, let's take a look back and see how we got to where we are today. [...]

What a different world it was back then. I was a Commodore 64 user at the time; the Mac was just too expensive. And IMO, it still is. Sure, their stuff IS nice, but I just won't pay that much for overpriced proprietary hardware. If they ever reverse-engineer their software to run on regular PC hardware, I'd consider it but I won't hold my breath waiting for that to happen.

(I say reverse-engineer, because the current Mac operating system is about 80% BSD code. BSD is an open source, UNIX operating system designed for the PC platform. They had to re-engineer it to work on their proprietary hardware. Apple could easily reverse-engineer it to make it run on PC hardware if they wanted to.)

But there is no denying the massive impact Apple had on computer operating systems, especially the graphical user interfaces they used. Apple set the standard for the PC GUI. This article is a real Blast from the Past, looking at how it all came together for the first time.
     

The new iPad. So what is it? Is it any good?

Looking at the iPad From Two Angles

In 10 years of reviewing tech products for The New York Times, I’ve never seen a product as polarizing as Apple’s iPad, which arrives in stores on Saturday.

“This device is laughably absurd,” goes a typical remark on a tech blog’s comments board. “How can they expect anyone to get serious computer work done without a mouse?”

“This truly is a magical revolution,” goes another. “I can’t imagine why anyone will want to go back to using a mouse and keyboard once they’ve experienced Apple’s visionary user interface!”

Those are some pretty confident critiques of the iPad — considering that their authors have never even tried it.

In any case, there’s a pattern to these assessments.

The haters tend to be techies; the fans tend to be regular people. Therefore, no single write-up can serve both readerships adequately. There’s but one solution: Write separate reviews for these two audiences.

Read the first one if you’re a techie. (How do you know? Take this simple test. Do you use BitTorrent? Do you run Linux? Do you have more e-mail addresses than pants? You’re a techie.)

Read the second review if you’re anyone else. [...]

Read the rest for the two reviews, it will give you the essentials you probably want to know.

I won't be buying one. I think the concept is fine; we are going to be seeing a lot more of such hand held internet "devices" in the future. And since this is new, there are bound to be some glitches or drawbacks. But I find Apple products generally to be over-rated, and over-priced. I prefer hardware that's more generally available using generic off-the-shelf parts, and software that's less restrictive and proprietary.

That may put me in the "Techie" category the reviewer is talking about. So be it; that works for me. If other people want to go gaga over this, it's their business. I'm not saying that Apple products are awful; just that they are too limiting and too expensive for my tastes and needs. To each his own.
     

Is Windows Vista as bad as some are saying?

Does Vista suck? I think it depends. When you buy Vista already installed, say on a new home PC, the manufacturer has taken some steps to insure that it is compatible with all the hardware. If it also happens to be compatible with all your hardware peripherals, or devices you add to it later, you would likely have a good impression. But if it's not compatible with peripheral devices you used previously with XP, or new things you bought, you would think differently.

The greatest criticism seems to come from people who have tried to upgrade existing Win XP computers to Vista. Here is one example from Steven J. Vaughan Nichols at Desktoplinux.com, who talks about his friend, and avid Windows user, who is uninstalling Vista from all his machines:

Second-rate Vista has Windows fans looking to Linux

[...] I'm now editor at large for Ziff Davis Enterprise, which means I get to stick my nose into just about any technology that interests me, and Jim's just left being the editor in chief of PC Magazine to take over Revision3, an Internet television network focused on developing programming for the on-demand generation. When it comes to operating systems these days, I'm now using SLED (SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop) 10 SP 1 and MEPIS 6.5 on my work desktops and Jim's switching back from Vista to XP on his workday machines.

Yes, that's right. A loyal Windows user of more than 15-years is throwing in the towel on Vista. You can read his story for why he finds Vista so annoying, but I'll sum it up for you: Vista sucks.

The drivers don't drive, running programs won't run or won't stop running, applications don't apply and networking won't net. I feel his pain.

I keep two copies of Vista Ultimate up so that when I want to compare Vista with a Linux desktop I'm able to actually use Vista so I can make a fair comparison between Vista and its Linux competition. Vista just doesn't cut it. [...]

(bold emphasis mine) Yikes! Read the whole thing for more details. Is it any wonder so many people are saying this a window of opportunity for Mac OS and Linux to make big inroads in the Desktop market?


I think Microsoft has always been too content to release buggy software, and too willing to expect people to just put up with it. I know one friend, a business woman, who is wanting to buy a new PC, but is putting it off, because she doesn't want to deal with Windows Vista.

Apparently many people feel that way. Have you noticed how cheap the price of computer memory is lately? That's because a surplus was manufactured, in anticipation of people wanting to upgrade to Vista. But the rush they anticipated hasn't materialized, so they are cutting prices and selling memory cheap.

I once worked for an accountant, who advised "Never buy the first version of ANYTHING by Microsoft. Let other people be the guinea pigs first." I have found that to be sensible advice. I only got Windows XP after it had been out for a while. I got it already installed on a new computer I bought, and service pack 2 had just come out.

My experience with XP has been mostly positive. It helped that many of the bugs had been corrected by the time I started using it. Perhaps this will become true for Vista too; only time will tell. But in the meantime, alternatives like Linux, BSD and Mac OSX may find lots of new customers.



Windows Vista is the best thing to happen to Apple

[...] I do work on both an Apple and a PC – but haven’t yet upgraded my PC to Windows Vista as of yet; don’t know if I ever will. I am consulting with a start-up in northern Virginia and their entire team upgraded – I’ve heard nothing but endless complaints since. I thought it was funny that Vista has so many options and all seems to miss the mark. [...]

It will be interesting to watch how this all unfolds. More viable choices in the marketplace could only be a good thing for everyone in the long run, IMO.