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Author Topic: Want XP instead of Win 7  (Read 11466 times)

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rus

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Want XP instead of Win 7
« on: January 14, 2010, 08:58:26 PM »
I have a Compaq Presario cq60-615DX laptop and I would like to remove Win 7 and install Win XP.
Thanks.

Geek-9pm


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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #1 on: January 14, 2010, 09:40:02 PM »
Welcome to CH.
Many people are here to help you.
we understand that you have a very new laptop because it has Windows 7 on it most likely you just bought it. Does it have the 32-bit or the 64-bit version of Windows 7?
This subject has come up before, in fact many people who had Vista on their laptops wanted to remove it and put XP on it. Many people have done that.
Now before you go any further, please let me share with you some observations and experiences that others have had.
Replacing the operating system on a new laptop presents some serious challenges. In the first place, there is the issue of how much time it's going to take you to do this. And then there is the economic issue. Replacing Windows 7 with Windows XP will cost you some money. You will need to buy a proper copy of Windows XP, unless the manufacturer has offered it to you at a large discount. And your laptop will become devalued if your wish to sell it to somebody else. It is unlikely that a new buyer would want to receive a laptop that does not have the original OS on it.
Likely you have given some thought to this and have decided that Windows XP would be better for you. Now what I'm about to say is not just my own opinion, but also the prevailing thought of many here on this forum. Windows 7 is a good stable operating system. Well, maybe not as stable as Windows XP. But it does remarkably well. Although many have installed Windows XP on laptops, it is not always a happy experience. The big issue is trying to find proper drivers for the laptop since your laptop is now two generations removed from Windows XP it is likely that it has some hardware on it but does not have that perfect drivers for Windows XP. Of course, this depends on what the manufacturer used in creating the new laptop. Some new hardware is not exactly the same as what they used a few years ago. So you might find yourself with a laptop that has perhaps inferior sound or difficulty with network adapters. Or something like that
the best honest answer I could give you would be to buy a used laptop from some vendor that offers the war and the and a reload of Windows XP. You can find them out there rather cheap, not as much performance as with your new
but with Windows XP they old computers were pretty good.
That's my best answer. If you really want to go ahead and do it is quite a few fellows here that will help you out and I've had a little bit of experience trying to do this to, and I have found the side that I would never do that to a laptop. Desktop, fine no problem. But not a laptop.
Please excuse grammar errors, it is hard for me to edit my dictation.
EDIT:
Additional Information.
Here is a website that offers reconditioned laptops and notebooks for under $300. With a warranty. This is not an endorsement, only a suggestion.
http://www.usedlaptops.com/
« Last Edit: January 14, 2010, 09:50:35 PM by Geek-9pm »

Allan

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #2 on: January 15, 2010, 05:43:21 AM »
Download the drivers you need for XP. Then boot to the XP CD and delete the existing partition and recreate it. Format. Then install XP and install all the drivers (starting with the chipset driver).

rus

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #3 on: January 15, 2010, 02:39:43 PM »
My computer has the 64 bit. Do I need to change the HDD to IDE or can I leave it alone?

Allan

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #4 on: January 15, 2010, 02:41:17 PM »
You can leave it alone.

rus

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How Do I Format Win 7?
« Reply #5 on: January 15, 2010, 03:40:24 PM »
I want to install Win XP but when I boot to the XP disc I wind up with an error message. I thought that when the XP disc began it would format the c drive.

I tried to format Win 7 using CMD command but it tells me something is being used and do I want to dismount it. When I enter Y it says it is being used.

Help please.

Allan

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Re: How Do I Format Win 7?
« Reply #6 on: January 15, 2010, 03:41:13 PM »
If you want to install Win 7 why are you booting to an XP disc?

rus

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #7 on: January 15, 2010, 03:41:39 PM »
Thanks for the help. I now have a new problem. I can't format the c drive in order to install XP.

Allan

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #8 on: January 15, 2010, 03:42:37 PM »
You need to provide more information. We're good, but we're not mind readers.

rus

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Re: How Do I Format Win 7?
« Reply #9 on: January 15, 2010, 04:18:19 PM »
If you want to install Win 7 why are you booting to an XP disc?

I want to get rid of 7 and install XP.

patio

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #10 on: January 15, 2010, 04:29:46 PM »
Boot to the Win7 DVD and use the same procedure...delete the existing partition and select Install....
This is assuming you have backed up any data you wanted to save and burned it to CD or moved to another drive.
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

Allan

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #11 on: January 15, 2010, 05:28:52 PM »
I want to get rid of 7 and install XP.
Yeah. I got that.

Quantos



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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #12 on: January 15, 2010, 09:04:48 PM »
Make sure that there are drivers available for your laptop for Windows XP.  If there aren't any drivers for it then all of this is worth nothing.
Evil is an exact science.

rus

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #13 on: January 16, 2010, 09:39:46 AM »
I have the necessary drivers for my Compaq. Now all I have to do is find out how to format the c drive so I can install XP.
When I use CMD and type "fromat c:" and tell it yes a new screen comes up and wants to know if I want to force a dismount? When I type "Y" the next line says, "Cannot lock the drive. The Volume is still in use."

What now?

Thanks

patio

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #14 on: January 16, 2010, 09:46:53 AM »
This is done by booting to the Win7 install DVD...you cannot format a drive that is in use.
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

Geek-9pm


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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #15 on: January 16, 2010, 09:59:14 AM »
let me Google that for you   ;D

http://tinyurl.com/yboxzss

Allan

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #16 on: January 16, 2010, 12:49:30 PM »
When I use CMD and type "fromat c:" and tell it yes a new screen comes up and wants to know if I want to force a dismount? When I type "Y" the next line says, "Cannot lock the drive. The Volume is still in use."
Thanks
THAT's what we needed to know!. As patio said, you cannot format from within the OS - every living creature (including Windows OS's) has the instinct of self-preservation. You must boot to the OS cd and start from there - as I told you in my first post in this thread. If you'd pay attention you could have had this problem over and done yesterday.

Geek-9pm


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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #17 on: January 16, 2010, 01:14:40 PM »
Quote
If you'd pay attention you could have had
this problem over and done yesterday.

I tried to warn him.  :-[

patio

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Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
« Reply #18 on: January 16, 2010, 02:45:58 PM »
What his goals are and how he wants to achieve them are diametiically opposed right now,,,
" Anyone who goes to a psychiatrist should have his head examined. "

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    Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
    « Reply #19 on: January 17, 2010, 08:42:00 AM »
    I see trouble myself. My Acer came with XP. The 40GB HDD was partitioned into 20GB C: in NTFS and 20GB D: in FAT32.

    I didn't like the arrangment and wanted one NTFS partition, so I elected to erase the HDD and start over.

    Unfortunately, the System Restore CD set halted due to a scratch on the surface. No options to do anything but reboot. So all I could do was get my old original (as in not even SP1 or Blast Fix) XP Pro CD.

    It loaded in, and then I ran all of the Service Pack and updates, but it was really unreliable in network connections. Downloading all of Acer's XP drivers did not help. I finally solved the problem with Acer's Vista upgrade DVD offer.

    Just sharing this to reinforce Geek's post that generic installations on a laptop are not always successful.

    I further agree with him that XP is getting long in the tooth. The two machines I still have on XP are starting to get applications error messages asking for driver updates, but developers have moved on and the most recent drivers for the critical hardware are 5 years old.

    rus

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    Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
    « Reply #20 on: January 18, 2010, 11:56:19 AM »
    When I put in the Win 7 recovery disc 1 of 3 it begins to format and then asks for disc 2 of 3 and then disc 3 of 3. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I'm not stupid, I'm just not as computer wise as some of you. Please understand.

    Thanks,

    Rus

    jkolak



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      Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
      « Reply #21 on: January 18, 2010, 12:38:44 PM »
      Don't feel bad about inexperience Rus. The main problem is for us to understand what your situation is when you don't have the knowledge to articulate it precisely, so please be patient with us, too.

      Regarding your last post, we need to clarify the difference between recovery disks and the factory supplied System Restore disk. A recovery disk is something that you make yourself so you can get your computer running again in case of a system crash or corruption. If you haven't done this, you won't have any recovery disks.

      The System Restore disk that the computer manufacturer provides with new computers will wipe your computer clean and restore it to the same condition it was in when it left the factory. So if you are running this process, of course it will ask you to keep inserting the CDs until the process is finished. I think my Acer had a 6 disk System Restore. If this is what you are doing, you will end up with Windows 7 on your computer when you are finished.

      This is probably not what you wanted to do, unless you changed your mind and want to keep Windows 7. I'm guessing that you tried to follow the advice above about booting with your Windows 7 DVD so you can reformat your hard drive in preparation for installing Windows XP. The Catch 22 here is that it sounds like your computer manufacturer gave you a System Restore disk instead of a Windows 7 DVD.

      But that's okay, because the same thing can be accomplished with the Windows XP installation CD. If you still want to switch to Windows XP, just boot the computer with your XP installation CD and follow the onscreen instructions to erase your hard drive and start with a fresh XP install.

      rus

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      XP wanted instead of Win 7
      « Reply #22 on: January 18, 2010, 03:16:43 PM »
      When I initially turned on my Compag CQ60-615DX computer I created three restore discs. I don't have a recovery disc.
      When I boot to my OEM XP DVD it begins loading all the files until it displays a blue screen with an error message that says it can't continue because it will mess up the current operating system. I'm using my Acer to communicate here so I can't quote the error message exactly.
      My OEM XP disc never asks me what I want to do before it starts loading files.
      I hope this is a better explanation of what I'm attempting, which is to get rid of Win 7 and install XP as my OS.

      Rus

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        Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
        « Reply #23 on: January 18, 2010, 03:23:33 PM »
        Right. That's curious about your OEM XP disc. I'm also surprised it doesn't offer to let you continue after detecting the existing OS. So you don't have an actual XP installation or even XP upgrade disc.

        It sounds like you need to find a proper CD or you need to download some kind of live CD that will allow you to erase your hard drive before you can proceed with the XP disc you have.

        You might do a forum search. I've read some recent recommendations here for sources for such a utility, but don't remember off hand where. Or maybe someone else will come in and post in this thread.

        rus

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        Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
        « Reply #24 on: January 18, 2010, 04:02:31 PM »
        I went into my BIOS and there is no access to make any changes to the HHD to IDE or anything else. I suspect the HHD is restricted to Win 7 only, if that is possible.

        Rus

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          Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
          « Reply #25 on: January 18, 2010, 04:08:04 PM »
          No, you are barking up the wrong tree, so to speak. There is nothing you need to do in BIOS. You need the right installation CD, or you need a utility CD that will erase your hard drive so you can use the install disk you have.

          ImnoGuru



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            Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
            « Reply #26 on: January 19, 2010, 03:05:52 AM »
            Rus thank you for posting this question here.

            I had reservations about using vista and wanted to change back to XP because I was more familiar using XP. I didn't want to change or move ahead to Vista and was very resistant to it.

            BUT after seeing the drama you have caused, I have decided to move into the future, leave my laptops with Vista and learn something new.

            Geek-9pm had some sound advice, early in the thread and I took that onboard.  :o 8)

            I wish you every success with your endeavours and congratulate you in particular for enlightening me about the challenges, that going backwards would present to myself.
            It takes 15 years to become an overnight success & Windows 10 will add another 10 years to it.

            jkolak



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              Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
              « Reply #27 on: January 19, 2010, 03:52:04 AM »
              I've spent a few days debating the issue myself. I have 5 computers on my LAN, 2 XP, 3 Vista. Interoperability issues as well as XP and Vista issues have had me researching the question, with even a thought or two cast towards Mac OS and Linux.

              What I have learned is that Win7 is the best Windows made yet and generally upgrading from Vista will solve whatever problems Vista has been causing on your machine. I will upgrade all 5 at once as soon as I get a couple of more product keys.

              I, too, have spent the last 7 or so years coming to somewhat of a familiarity with XP and resist the need to master a new OS. It isn't much different from Vista, but I haven't dug into Vista as much as XP. I felt the same way with my smartphone - didn't want to be troubled with mastering a new technology, but time marches on and the future is here. I have to accept that XP is not up to the demands of the present and move up.

              BC_Programmer


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              Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
              « Reply #28 on: January 19, 2010, 03:57:57 AM »
              I started using vista extensively now that I don't have XP on anything but my Virtual machines (windows 7 on my laptop, Vista on my desktop). I've found it can be a interesting learning experience for backwards compatible programming; I have a few routines that are nearly 2 or 3 pages of code to perform the same task that some built-in Vista Functions do. So I just say, "if we're running < windows vista, use these functions I wrote, otherwise, use the API functions) and it works great on both platforms. Certainly has improved my consciousness with regards to the "proper" location to store INI files; not in the programs folder, but rather in appdata. (turns out this has been the standard in nearly all NT versions, just only now being enforced with permissions).
              I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

              jkolak



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                Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                « Reply #29 on: January 19, 2010, 04:21:26 AM »
                I think protection of the OS is a big issue in today's security environment. Coming from the early days of computer where you were the master of your OS and hard drive, I first resented all the permissions problems, but since everyone else on the net wants to be master of my computer, I see that XP is more vulnerable.

                BC_Programmer


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                Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                « Reply #30 on: January 19, 2010, 05:52:12 AM »
                I think protection of the OS is a big issue in today's security environment. Coming from the early days of computer where you were the master of your OS and hard drive, I first resented all the permissions problems, but since everyone else on the net wants to be master of my computer, I see that XP is more vulnerable.

                Yeah, I think a lot of people think of it like "protecting the user from themselves" like for changing settings; in fact it is protecting the user from, as you say, other programs and malware that wants to take control of the system.

                Actually, Linux has been a strong proponent of the same thing Vista is only introducing now; basically, you don't run the desktop as root (heck, you try to avoid running anything as root if you can get away with it) of course the Linux and Windows markets are are far different demographic and will be until the developers behind linux start adding serious features rather then making things they think might be fun to implement.
                I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                jkolak



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                  Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                  « Reply #31 on: January 19, 2010, 06:01:20 AM »
                  Right. I've explored migration to Linux and find it still a long way from being a serious end-user tool in spite of it's dominance in professional IT work.

                  Linux also touts itself as malware resistant, but I can't help but wonder on all the recent press on malware attacks on commercial and government systems which are bound to be a high percentage of Linux based networks.

                  BC_Programmer


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                  Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                  « Reply #32 on: January 19, 2010, 06:10:53 AM »
                  Linux also touts itself as malware resistant, but I can't help but wonder on all the recent press on malware attacks on commercial and government systems which are bound to be a high percentage of Linux based networks.

                  With Vista I'd say they are on a pretty even tier malware wise, excepting that there is far more malware created for Windows solely because the idea of malware is basically to infect as many machines as possible.

                  Many Linux lovers who bash windows complain that UAC is the same as something on Linux called "graphical Sudo" of course, they forget the mention which of the kazillion distributions each of which can use one of around 10 or 20 different desktop environments Microsoft copied from. Not to mention that before Vista these same Linux heads were complaining that XP by default ran everybody as admin; now MS fixes that and they still complain.

                  Same goes for compatibility; with XP, they worked harder on making sure win9x programs and even 3.1 apps ran alright; in fact, they patched around issues with popular programs, just to get them working. Since if you upgraded from win98 to XP and suddenly your word processor or something didn't work, you would blame the OS, not the crappy programmers of the word processor. This was essentially the "bloat" that people were complaining about for so long; so they pretty much removed all that for Vista, and people still complain.

                  Yes, Vista installs are going to be bigger then XP installs. IS this surprising? Should we all call XP and win98 and win95 bloated because we can compare them to the 15MB it takes to install windows 3.1? Not really. I mentioned before that the actual "cost" of the space being used by Vista or 7 on a modern PC as opposed to to the cost of space on an older PC was less; we now have more disk space and it costs less then it did, and the OS install takes up a smaller fraction of a less expensive disk.
                  I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                  jkolak



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                    Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                    « Reply #33 on: January 19, 2010, 08:13:14 AM »
                    All good points. I certainly don't want to return the (dis)favor and bash Linux - I can certainly respect anyone with the determination to master a complex OS just as being an OS operator has taught me to respect the intelligence and higher education of computer engineers, and being a successful home mechanic has taught me to respect the same in automotive engineers.

                    And being on a budget, a free OS was certainly appealing - And with the Mac-like talk of Windows malware being a good reason to switch, I certainly considered it. I certainly have tried many times over the years. I bought Linux for Dummies around 1998 or so, but couldn't see learning new terms for the things I had already learned in DOS. I came into computers in 1984 and caught the tail end of DOS and the beginning of WIMP and started the latter with an Atari ST, called "Jackintosh" (after Jack Tramiel) since it was seen as an improvement over the Mac of 1985. OS on a ROM chip seemed like heaven at the time for user-friendliness. But you didn't learn till later that the rest of the OS was left out, and when GDOS came out it had to be loaded on the hard drive, and by the time all the boot-time utilities came out, it was just as hair-pulling as Windows on DOS, especially when the net got started and you had to write all the networking protocol scripts manually.

                    After taking a good look at Linux and thinking M$ was getting too much of my budget, I had to admit that the thing about Windows is that 99% of the time, things just work without having to be a guru. In Linux when something didn't work, I submitted a bug report. Then someone from customer service would email me and ask if I had installed the flash plugin, and another if I had installed the mp4 codec. In Windows, if you are missing something, it will usually tell you and ask if you want to install it. So I suppose M$ deserves their compensation for bringing this degree of usability to the masses - yet as the help boards on this site show, computers of any kind are still a long way from being a true consumer appliance like a dishwasher or television.

                    My personality is split between the need for an appliance that doesn't need attention, that I can operate without getting under the hood and do my tasks without distraction on the one side, and then the closet geek side of me wants to dig in and understand all of this. All of these thoughts are beginning to gel in my mind in a firm direction, and I am set to commit to Win7 on all machines. Exploring Linux and back-support for XP are going to be in VirtualBox. So there I am....

                    BC_Programmer


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                    Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                    « Reply #34 on: January 19, 2010, 09:20:13 AM »
                    I like to explore different Operating Systems as well, but I always seem to encounter issues installing linux on my older machines (to be fair I also have issues with most versions of windows on them too; I just am not very good with Linux, at least not quite enough to know all the ins and outs of the various commands.

                    Back in the DOS days when CLI was the main interface and the real debate was really between Command.com and the various Linux shells, one thing that was hotly debated by the geeks on both sides was nearly a exercise in triviality; the way that wildcards were expanded.

                    Most linux shells expanded, for example, * to be all files in a directory <before> it passed it to a program; so the program would never actually see any wildcards at all. This had a benefit in that the program only had to handle lists of filenames, and not actually parse wildcards.

                    However, the problem with this is that the program cannot really know when a wildcard was used; when you use, for example, del *.* on DOS, you get a warning (well, actually, that wasn't until DOS 5, IIRC) but with most linux shells, rm * gave no warning and deleted everything.

                    Now, of course, this isn't really a bad thing in and of itself; just be sure of what your doing. the problem is that many seemingly minor typos in commands can cause an errant * to get into a destructive command, and POOF! the files are gone.

                    Either way, it was extremely trivial and certainly not debated by the masses, just the hardcore nerds, and it was really not something that could be won for one side; they both had their strengths; Linux is mostly for the programmer, so making the creation of C programs easier is a pretty easy choice.

                    Ubuntu and it's various desktop variants (Ubuntu itself uses GNOME; Kubuntu uses KDE, and there are a few others) are excellent operating Systems and would be even if they were near the price point of windows itself; the fact that it's free is just a great bonus. But when speaking of Linux, one cannot forget that Ubuntu isn't the only one; there are a lot of distros, and honestly I think this is the greatest weakness. It's hard to really know exactly what a distro is without a good explanation; heck, even I'm not 100% on the differences, like wether they are really different operating systems or wether they can run a number of different programs, etc. Seems like it's more or less a choice of what kernel, desktop environment, and what programs are included, rather then anything that would be seriously different amongst them; once you get past that, it really just boils down to ease of install; most distro's have a super-easy installer wizard.

                    All good points. I certainly don't want to return the (dis)favor and bash Linux - I can certainly respect anyone with the determination to master a complex OS just as being an OS operator has taught me to respect the intelligence and higher education of computer engineers, and being a successful home mechanic has taught me to respect the same in automotive engineers.

                    Yes, this hits upon an important point; while lots of Linux evangelists, open source zealots and so forth seem to think that the open source route is best for everyone, that really is painting everybody with the same brush; not everybody finds editing config files with vi to get their display driver working as an effective use of their time; It certainly can be rewarding, but when all you want to do is get something done it's in the way. Basically; not every enjoys the whole configuration venture; many people just want to use their computer to write their reports for their job. And honestly, the Linux devs are catching onto this, and I think they are certainly trying (well, some of them, there are still those that go "wouldn't it be cool if" and then go on to describe an essentially useless feature). Many distros are certainly hitting the "no need to be a expert" level of usability. they still have a way to go, though. Not that windows is perfect in this regard.

                    It's really a function of complexity; sure, MS-DOS isn't really user friendly, but it had pretty easy to understand syntax, rules, and so forth. Windows at first was just an additional level of complexity on top of that, and things kind of snowballed from there; Sure it's pretty easy to use; which is the point. but the learning curve from being a run of the mill user to being "in control" and knowing what's going on is far steeper in windows then DOS.
                    I was trying to dereference Null Pointers before it was cool.

                    jkolak



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                      Re: Want XP instead of Win 7
                      « Reply #35 on: January 19, 2010, 10:28:33 AM »
                      When I was doing my recent research, I stumbled across The UNIX-HATERS Handbook. Skimming through it I saw a lot of the kinds of things you are talking about. Wikipedia says the book is semi-humorous. Some of the complaints seem quite legitimate, and others seem extremist, and others more clearly tongue-in-cheek.

                      I read a review, too, that said that Linux needs more consolidation before it can make more inroads into the masses. While Linux freedom is nice, like democracy, too much freedom is anarchy. I tried to take some cues from Linux users on the distros and ended up with Ubuntu on one of my drives. Successfully loading to a desktop is a serious issue because of the ones I have tried, only it and Freespire will do that, and, again, the issue is not important enough for me to get it running if it doesn't install right on the first shot. If it was mission critical and my life depended on it, that would be a different story. So I have a collection of CDs laying around from different distros that didn't work out.

                      This one got me thinking:

                      Quote
                      It's really a function of complexity; sure, MS-DOS isn't really user friendly, but it had pretty easy to understand syntax, rules, and so forth. Windows at first was just an additional level of complexity on top of that, and things kind of snowballed from there; Sure it's pretty easy to use; which is the point. but the learning curve from being a run of the mill user to being "in control" and knowing what's going on is far steeper in windows then DOS.

                      I realized that you are really right. In the name of user friendliness, we have ended up with quite a complex piece of technology! Well, it would be an easy way to run a computer if the under-the-hood stuff worked right all the time and didn't send beginners over here looking for help. The other factor is that Windows today is a feature-rich set of complex technology, so that even if things always work right, there are a multitude of places to explore and find things you are trying to do. It's like the complexity of modern word processors. When I first learned how to use one, I was in heaven just being able to cut and paste to save on excessive retyping. Bold, italic, underline and all that were icing on the cake. And I really thought I had it made when Word Perfect 4 came out with automatic indexing. I thought I'm going to keep this program around for when I write my books. Well, I haven't written any books yet, and besides not having that copy of Word Perfect anymore, it won't run on any of my current computers!