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PC Annoyances
How often do you sit down for a relaxing session at your PC, only to discover you can't find that file you saved six months ago but forgot the name of it. Or to go into Word and realize several dreary tasks could mre easily be put into macros if only you knew how? Or you decide to browse the Web only to be "attacked" by pop-ups and extra windows? AAUGHH!
This book deals with the folk who use Windows and PC's. I realize there are those who loathe Windows ("Linux rools d00d!") and point to the chapter on Windows annoyances as an example of an OS gone terribly wrong. However, until the day comes that everyone uses Linux (or finds a way around Billy Boy's "evil empire"), we're stuck with it. But I digress.
The book's several chapters are divided into specific topics, like E-mail, Windows, the Internet, MS Office, Windows Explorer. Music, Video & CDs, and last but not least Hardware. And yes there's a few suggestions and software for dealing with spam. Spam spam, spam, spam, wonderful spammmmm...not! Also mentioned are items like turning off return receipt (who cares whether or not your sender received your message, it got sent didn't it?), embedded images in email, and so on. There are also sections on dealing specifically with flaws in Outlook Express, Eudora, AOL, and Hotmail.
One thing that bummed me a little personally was that the chapter on Windows annoyances for the most part are for Windows XP. In fact, the author strongly recommends, in fact almost implores you, gentle reader, to switch from Win 98 to XP. In spite of my system running slowly and sometimes crashing (and the fact that I'm rather broke these days), I'll stick with my 98 for now. Of course, one could point out if previous versions of Windows had been created "right" or "ran correctly," there wouldn't be need for a whole chapter (or even reams of books) on Microsoft fixes or how to get it to run properly.
The Internet chapter deals with getting rid of pop-ups while browsing, and introduces a nifty tool for checking dead links on your bookmarks. It's quite annoying to save a page on your favorite band or obscure sport and then discover three months later it's disappeared. Also mentioned are a few "tricks" with using Google and even AOL IMs, like making AOL IM an "ad-free" zone. In fact, several tricks in this book are centered on cutting down the amount of on-line advertising we all seem to be bombarded with.
MS Office ... ah yes, Office. What would we ever do without it? What can we do with it? Among other tips, the author describes ways of "outfoxing" Word's Auto Correct feature (but gee, Mr Word officer, I swear that's the way rutabaga is spelled!) and my personal favorite: getting rid of Clippy -- Yeah! Also mentioned are some nifty tricks for using Excel and Power Point.
Windows Explorer ... ah yes, Windows Explorer. Not bad, but it could be better. And the author points us to two alternatives to Explorer: Power Desk and Total Commander, two inexpensive utilities that do everything WE does and more. However, if you insist on staying loyal to WE, there are some nice tips here about dealing with it.
The last two chapters discuss ways of making it easier to listen to tunes on your PC, watching video streams, and recording audio from any source. But most importantly, the author advises that if you share CDs with others to use 74-minute CDs because not all CD ROMs are created equal. The 80-minute CDs may get cranky if they're put in an old CD ROM that won't read them.
Last but not least, the Hardware chapter touches upon such wondrous things as "The Wonders of a Modem Reset," "tuning up your monitor," and also a way to keep that color ink printing cartridge you just bought to last more than two weeks, just by switching your prints to the lowest quality for most of your work. When you're broke like myself, those $50 printer cartridges add up fast!
I've just touched upon a few tips here ... the book has many more, all designed to be very helpful to the PC user.
The back inside cover has a place where the CD with all these nifty utilities should be, except O'Reilly decided to save a few bucks on the book's cost by pointing to a URL and telling we gentle readers to go there to get the utilities. Alas, I'm lazy and impatient (not to mention being too damn cheap to get a DSL line) so I haven't gotten around to getting most of the utilities yet. My bad. I've gotten used over the years to books that had the CD that I could just slide into my drive and install away. I have however so far gotten SpyBot, AMDeadLink, and MailWasher. Great stuff, and I do plan to download at least a few more of these utilities. Of course, the web site where you download all this stuff is a great plug for PC World.
The "enlightened ones," as I mention, won't need to bother with this book, as they have Linux, or a Mac. But the rest of us, who do battle with our PCs daily, will get a lot of useful information out of this book.
You can purchase PC Annoyances from bn.com. Slashdot welcomes readers' book reviews -- to submit a review for consideration, read the book review guidelines, then visit the submission page.
However, until the day comes that everyone uses Linux (or finds a way around Billy Boy's "evil empire"),
:-)
Its here and its called OS X
Visit Jonesblog and say hello.
Or if they're really unlucky, they get the support the Win32 users.
[Or if they're really unlucky, they lose their job right before the holidays and don't even do that any longer. But I digress.]
To be fair, it's not like non-MS software is annoyance-free. =) One nice difference with Linux, Evolution, and all of the other OS software I use is that I can learn about the annoyances before I pony up my increasingly scarce cash for it....
One of my favorite dialogs from Windows is the one saying "This program is not responding". Excuse me but wouldn't it be nice to tell me which one that is? Obviously Windows knows which one it is. Arrrr!
TT
be prepared for annoyances like:
- not being able to open that complex word attachment that your coworker mailed you
- not being able to browse every site online (some are definitely IE specific, others require plugins not available on linux)
- figure out how users, accounts, software installations etc. work (click on a link and the program installs automatically? yeah, right), not to mention the joys of the command line
- become confused by some desktop environments where settings are spread around 3 different menus and where sometimes they inexplicably don't stick etc. etc. in general using software developed by developers with sometimes not much thought given to user friendliness and good UI guidelines.
- not being able to play commercial games (unless you shell out for winex and even then some things don't work)
I could go on and on, I've been using linux on my desktop primarily for more than 10 years now and there's no way that I'd give it to somebody not extremely computer literate...
-- the cake is a lie
The only thing that keeps people stuck on Windows is their attitudes. I have not had the displeasure of using a Windows machine in over a year. Everyone that uses OS X or Linux regularly knows that Windows provides no significant benefits, is overpriced and wrought with drawbacks. Anyone that wishes to drop Windows is free to do so at any time. The resigned attitude that you are stuck with anything is rediculous. You are scared. Be honest, say "I am scared of other operating systems".
TallGreen CMS hosting
Should Slashdot be covering books that are considered "novice books" for windows. I thought the concept here is to discuss a little deeper issues. I can get this same review from "Better Homes and Gardens"
Stay tuned for new sig...
It's all from this whole website dedicated to making the lives of the windows users much easier. I like the animation of clippy getting stomped.
I'd love to have him log on on a non-previleged account, but then he'd call me every time he wants to install stuff, that's even less practical than re-installign him once in a while.
Pathman, Free (as in GPL) 3D Pac Man
Hey, that makes ME classify it as a book for geeks..... .....to give to family members who are relatively computer illiterate, to reduce the number of "come fix my computer!" phone calls.
Doesn't sound useless to me!
Dark Nexus
"Sanity is calming, but madness is more interesting."
I disagree. I would rather have my father try to do things on his own than call me all the time to fix it. Sure he makes mistakes that I have to fix every now and then, but at least he isn't calling me to make tiny simple tweaks every 5 minutes.
This is how I learned, I messed up my PC many o'time but I learned something each time I did it.
Be thankful at least your father isn't afraid of the computer.
500 dollar reward for tip(s) leading to the arrest of the person(s) who stole my sig.
*Installing new apps from the command line
.DLL hell but certainly library hell
*Missing packages and circular dependencies - a wont install without b, b wont install without c, c wont install without a.
*Maybe no
*Plug and play works ok during the initial setup but not very well after that. Try changing your video card after already doing the initial install.
*Cut and paste doesnt work most of the time.
*Crappy fonts - most web pages look like crap, even slashdot. I dont consider stealing fonts from windows a fix to this problem.
*X and Gnome and Kde are just as bloated as XP.
*Everything is a beta. Wheres all the version 1.0+ software?
"How often do you sit down for a relaxing session at your PC, only to discover you can't find that file you saved six months ago but forgot the name of it. "
oh yeah its ANNOYING when i stupidly name files! here i was thinking it was my fault and not the inatimate object that just takes what i give it... duh!
dont get me started on how i can never remember my aol password! why doesnt the computer remember it for me? surely this would save people MILLIONS of hours of time!
come on. i mean, come on.
"They that can give up essential control of the PC to obtain a little temporary comfortability deserve neither control nor comfortability." -- Benjamin Franklin v.2.0
I'll just use my special getting high powers one more time...
about windows are the themed 'schemes' that people can load.
i am doing an install at a clients PC today, and I absolutely hate wagging around the "reigndeer" pointer that goes with the X-mas scheme. This feature should be disable on "windows professional", and be relegated to home users.
Gag - this is worse than Clippy.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
Oh yes. I love the holidays. Food, presents, and fixing everybody in my family's ill PCs (they bring them, I set 'em up in a row, and type 'till triptophane/ cheap scotch does me in).
Besides being a poor review; as in no real insight into the book.... The reviewer doesn't seem to be a reliable source. I don't put much faith into someone who is unwilling to upgrade to XP when they are having terrible problems with 98. It wouldn't have surprised me if he was running ME. ;-) I get tired of people complaining about a six year old operating systems.
If he doesn't want to pay for Windows, he could easily use SUSE, Fedora, Mandrake, Debian, Gentoo, etc...
You forgot this benefit:
- being the customer of a giant corporation intent on locking you onto their platform while extracting every penny from your pockets.
A computer is a tool, nothing more, nothing less. I've got no emotional attachment to it whatsoever.
I actually had a fondness for my old TRS-80. It was a tool, but it was a *FUN* tool.
Modern x86 Windows boxes arn't much fun - you just maintain them and if you're lucky, you can get some work done.
Linux and Mac useres tend to actaully *like* their tools - sort of how a good woodworker likes his hand-made chisels.
Moneyed corporations, non-working 'poor' and criminal prisoners are turning productive citizens into tax-slaves.
- being able to enjoy those cute "I love you" and "Anna Kurovina" messages automatically forwarded from your best friends, co-workers, and total strangers.
Anyone with half a brain and/or access to someone that can take the time to teach them a bit will be perfectly safe from such things.
- The ability to browse every site online, at least every one selling X10 cameras and pictures you wouldn't want your boss to see.
Funny, I don't see any ad pop-ups at all while i'm browsing with Firebird's blocking on, and everyone I know that's still using IE (even my computer-cluelesss grandma) has a pop-up blocker installed. I'll let you in on a little secret, too - those ads and porn pop-ups aren't limited to only Windows.
- Software so advanced it installs automatically while you browse, no user intervention required. Uninstalling is as simple as wiping your main partition and re-installing Windows.
This is a legitimate gripe. Again, however, anyone with half a brain or access to a help desk minion/techie friend or family member will be able to remove such software through programs like Ad-Aware or Spybot. I'm sorry, but if someone thinks the only way to get rid of ad/spyware is a complete wipe of the drive, then they're an idiot. Even for the stuff that can't be auto-removed somehow, there's almost always a fairly easy way to fix it in the registry, found through Google.
- Enjoy desktop environments where settings are spread around 3 different menus and where sometimes they inexplicably don't stick etc. etc. in general using software developed by investors free from the limiting boundaries of friendliness and caring about your users.
Way to generalize. And settings spread out in Windows? I think not. 99.9% of anything you need to change can be accessed through the Control Panels or a simple file search for something to edit.
- A wide swath of available content, all provided to your trusted platform ensuring that your purchased programs will run forever... Until you lose the disk, upgrade your system, ban the program from spying on your browsing habits, or the producer decides to turn the software off remotely.
True for some software, not true for the vast majority. I won't claim to know exactly what you do for a living, but you sound like the type that uses only (in Windows) MS Office, and maybe some development apps, along some small utilities - and you draw your opinions on Windows software behavior soley from that base. Please, feel free to respond and prove me wrong, though.
Don't get me wrong, i'm not saying Windows is perfect, i'm just saying that your perceptions seem to be a bit off as well.
What you say may very well be true, that for a newbie it isn't all that more complicated to start with Linux instead of Windows. However, if we are talking about reasonably experienced computer users, then I think the situation is different. I believe that the single most important factor that is holding back the spread of Open Source programs is the fact that Open Source developers are too proud to adopt a user interface that makes it easy for experienced Windows users to switch.
I know that this is swearing in the Linux church, but I'll say it anyway: If Linux is ever going to have a chance on the desktop, it will have to become as similar to the Windows user interface as is humanly possible. Why? The answer is extremely simple:
90% of all computer users are used to Windows
You can feel that it shouldn't be like that, and you can make hundreds of snide and clever remarks to the effect that Windows users are too stupid to recognize their own best interests, but you can't change the facts: at least 90% of the people who are using a computer today are using Windows.
It is not every day that a court of law makes an official market survey and releases it freely on the net, in line with the finest traditions of the Open Source movement. Yet it seems that the very people who really believe the most in the benefits of free and open information, are remarkably reluctant to use it when it's available. Think what you will in private, but please please listen to judge Jackson: if Linux is going to have any impact at all in the desktop market, it is Windows users that will have to be converted.
There are a number of good reasons to make the switch to Open Source --- open file formats, control over future license costs, etc., etc. --- but if it means that you have to spend six months cursing all the little things that are different, so that you can't focus on what you're supposed to be doing because you have to relearn all your automatic reflexes, how many people will decide that it's worth the effort?
A lawyer might perhaps consider switching from MS Word to StarOffice simply to make sure that all the files that he creates today can be opened and read on another computer ten years from now, when the case has finally reached the Supreme Court or whatever. But how may chargeable hours is he prepared to let it cost him in the first six months?
It somehow seems that a lot of the people who develop Open Source applications take a special pride in inventing amusing little pitfalls for the Windows user who might be prepared to switch camps. In StarOffice, the keyboard combination to insert a non-breaking space is "Ctrl-Space", rather than Word's "Ctrl-Shift-Space". Please, somebody, why? Of course this is something that one can relearn if one has to, but what's the point of it? The first time a would-be convert, who has been using non-breaking spaces in Word, tries to insert one in a text in StarOffice, it won't work. Whether he decides that non-breaking spaces are not available and that the product does not fulfill his needs, or interrupts what he was originally trying to achieve and starts exploring the help system to find out what it is that he has to do, he will not feel more favorably disposed towards Open Source programs for having tried one. And so unnecessarily.
I could recite any number of examples: if you type "Ctrl-A Ctrl-Return" to mark all posts in a newsgroup as read, Mozilla will instead choose to open a couple of hundred windows (one for each post in the newsgroup), which will cause the system to freeze, so that it has to be rebooted. Excellent marketing ploy.
To change some settings in Mozilla you should of course look under "Edit" in the menu system, and not under "Tools" like in all other programs in the Windows world. Brill
Christian Engström, Former Member of the European Parliament 2009-2014 for The Pirate Party, Sweden
So by the time you make windows reliable and usable, you've invested as much time and energy as using linux?
Fair enough...
Let's go back in time a bit.
.Net framework for FreeBSD being one. But there they were trying to build an even bigger replacement monopoly, so it made some sense).
A while ago, Microsoft released IE for Solaris. Sparc solaris. Not x86 Solaris. It wouldn't have cost them anything but typing 'make' on a Solaris x86 box, but they would not do it.
If Microsoft were to release software for non-Microsoft x86 operating systems, then they'd be helping to validate the proposition that Microsoft is not the only game in town. They simply cannot afford to do that (there are a couple cases where they have done so - the
If Microsoft releases Linux office on Monday, Dell will start selling Linux desktops on Tuesday.
Maybe if Microsoft actually loses its monopoly status in operating systems, we might start to see them port their software, but they're working very, very hard (and playing very, very dirty) to make sure that won't happen. Ever.
And every product of theirs anyone uses (note I didn't say "purchases" - even users who pirate their shite help keep them in control) helps make it possible.
Anyone with half a brain and/or access to someone that can take the time to teach them a bit will be perfectly safe from such things.
The windows world is not proliferated with users like you though.
By knowing what to do with something that you didn't ask for, and file types you don't recognize, you can automatically count yourself in the top 95th percentile of the smartest windows/PC users.
Windows thrives on people who know nothing about computers.
__
Thou hast besquirted me, O leotarded one.
Anyone with half a brain and/or access to someone that can take the time to teach them a bit will be perfectly safe from such things.
Again, however, anyone with half a brain or access to a help desk minion/techie friend or family member will be able to remove such software through programs like Ad-Aware or Spybot.
While both of these arguments may be true, they seem to run counter to reality. Most people are blissfully unaware of just how much garbage their machine is collecting - and spewing. I always enjoy reading my firewall logs right after new worm comes out.
I'm sorry, but if someone thinks the only way to get rid of ad/spyware is a complete wipe of the drive, then they're an idiot.
That may be, but that idiot is often just doing what the "knowledgable" tech support rep told them to do!
Read your post!
The same person with half a brain or someone to teach them can use Linux.
Never been bit by the Windows Messenger Popups? You must have a firewall or you know enough to disable the Messenger service. Starting to look like a Linux candidate to me.
Again, anybody with the brains and energy to go through this ritual could easily handle the "fun" of installing Linux.
Let's see, in Windows, settings can be changed by using the control panel, customizing the start menu, using the registry editor or searching for files to edit. In modern Linux distributions, settings can be changed by using the desktop manager's control panel, using the DM menu builder or searching for config files to edit. Guess which one sounds easier.
Not yet, but it's becoming more and more prevalent. When the OS manufacturer starts heading down this path, others follow.
Nor am I a Linux zealot. But I wanted you to see that your post does a much better job of arguing in favor of Linux than you might have thought.GreyPoopon
--
Why is it I can write insightful comments but can't come up with a clever signature?
As one of those tech support reps, I can tell you it's a lot cheaper for the user to wipe and reinstall, than to go through the process of cleaning it out. I can't spend the time [painfully] walking them through the process over the phone, and they don't want to spend the money on a long house call.
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Anyone with half a brain and/or access to someone that can take the time to teach them a bit will be perfectly safe from such things.
Sounds like you expect the user to know something. And there certainly is a lot of people who do not seem to fit that bill.
Funny, I don't see any ad pop-ups at all while i'm browsing with Firebird's blocking on, and everyone I know that's still using IE (even my computer-cluelesss grandma) has a pop-up blocker installed. I'll let you in on a little secret, too - those ads and porn pop-ups aren't limited to only Windows.
Again, above and beyond the average user level (installing Firebird or a popup blocker). Atleast with Firebird/Mozilla you will get a popup telling about the feature the first time you install it, instead of needing to know there is such a thing as a popup blocker.
This is a legitimate gripe. Again, however, anyone with half a brain or access to a help desk minion/techie friend or family member will be able to remove such software through programs like Ad-Aware or Spybot. I'm sorry, but if someone thinks the only way to get rid of ad/spyware is a complete wipe of the drive, then they're an idiot. Even for the stuff that can't be auto-removed somehow, there's almost always a fairly easy way to fix it in the registry, found through Google.
Auto installed software/adware means the machine has been compromised. Period, you reinstall. Ad-aware is a hack to fix a problem, and as such cannot be fully trusted to remove 100%. I feel the same way about anti-virus removal utilities, how does the developer know they found every variant and their utility works correctly for all variants?
And you expect mom to look into google for a registry edit? Get real.
Way to generalize. And settings spread out in Windows? I think not. 99.9% of anything you need to change can be accessed through the Control Panels or a simple file search for something to edit.
So, tell me where do I edit my database connections? And where do I turn off "personalized menus?" Where do I change my machine/network name? Where do I change my ipaddress/dns? Everyone of those are in different places.
Now, I am not saying windows or linux is the solution. But my argument is that like cars, some people work on their cars in the garage, but most bring them to a mechanic. I think the same thing applies to computers. If you do not know how to use a computer, pay someone else to administrate it. And for your admin's sake, bring your machine to his place too, just as you do for your mechanic. I have the proper tools to work on a machine at my place, they do not travel well (internet connection being one of the best tools). Now, there are times I do not mind helping a friend out with their computer, like my sister in law had a problem with linux loading a sound driver. Well, I sshed into her box (from my home to hers) and played around. Sure enough, it was up and working once I was finished. I cannot do that with windows, so I will not support windows over the phone, if you want support, bring it to me.
Norris/Palin 2012
Fact: We deserve leaders who can kick your ass and field dress your carcass.
it's a rant against Microsoft. I'd suggest criticizing the book from the context in which it was written.
By far the most annoying and ridiculous thing in Windows (and it's STILL in W2k and AFAIK XP) is when you do a large file operation, like moving or deleting a large group of files, it gives you an error because one of the files is locked or something and when you hit OK it stops.
I still want all the other files that aren't locked to move. What idiot thought that up?