So they buy a company for the knowledge and name, they fire the knowledge last year and now they kill the nake... well, when you have too much cash, it's easy to burn it !
Embrace Extend Extingush! Yes they have not changed.
It's a pity, for this last release, then didn't break with the numbering convention and just jump to 3.14.159...
Why do something as pointless as that?
Most current Linux distributions are running a version 4 kernel. My Fedora 24 distribution is running "kernel-core-4.7.2-201.fc24.x86_64" as per the time of me writing, however the initial kernel release was kernel-core-4.5.5-300. I am still running Fedora 24 but the underlying kernel and appropriate packages that needed updating have been updated. So unless you are directly involved with maintaining software who cares if the version numbers have been changed.
Actually, if you do care and are running a Redhat based system (ie. Fedora, CentOS...) you can run the following command to get changelog information about a particular package: (using the kernel as an example) "rpm -q --changelog kernel-core-4.7.2-201.fc24.x86_64". For that package I would suggest a pager since you will get a huge amount of information. For people using Debian distributions (ie. Mint, Ubuntu, Debian...) you can use an alternative command.
Before anyone starts waffling/trolling about the Windows operating system. Microsoft does exactly the same except they don't spell out exactly what they do.
No they will not fully support Windows 7 until the advertised EOL. At least not on Kaby Lake processors, which are due out in a few months. Windows 7 will not be officially supported on Kaby Lake at all. Windows 7 is only supported to the advertised EOL if you continue to run it on pre-Kaby-Lake CPUs.
Thus many corporates have had to adjust their plans to keep running Windows 7.
I run the latest Skylake chipset and my Z170 motherboard only supports Windows 8.and 10 as well as "other OS" which works fine with my Linux (Fedora 23 and now 24) distribution. Even Mint works flawlessly in a virtual machine. I also have Windows 10 genuine malware edition which you can get here also in a virtual machine, however I don't like the way it likes to talk on the internet (Wireshark is your friend here) even though I have locked down the system, hence I don't run it.
When you install a particular Linux distribution it will come with a Linux kernel version number. Over time you should be updating your particular Linux distribution and this means updating the kernel as well so as that distribution reaches "end of life" it's kernel will not be the same kernel the original distribution started with. This is no more different to what Microsoft does with it's products.
Why do you want longer? Linux distribution are normally free unless you wish to play for a service contract and even then the above paragraph still applies. With a Linux distribution you can upgrade from one major version to another or you can do a fresh install of the operating system, it's your choice. Again using a Windows comparison you can upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 for free since you should have a legitimate license for the original software. With Linux distributions it's exactly the same except you don't need a license.
For those people who are going to pull "But I have an old laptop and I need my old operating system". My response is "Well no one is forcing you to upgrade but don't expect support". I actually have a 10-year-old HP dv6000 core duo laptop with 2GB of memory and it runs Fedora 24, KDE spin (released 21st June 2016) flawlessly. I even have a Skylake Core i7 16 GB DDR4 memory desktop which I am currently using and Fedora 24, Mint (virtual machine) and even Windows 10 (virtual machine) all run fine. Ok I don't like Windows 10 genuine malware edition so I don't use it.
For network-connected embedded systems (routers, network-connected printers, IoT, etc.), I would want a kernel that had security-but-patch-maintenance for at least the useful life of the hardware itself - 5-10 years in most cases, longer in some cases like cars, refrigerators, etc.
If the device is under warranty then you would expect support, replacement or reimbursement in the event of failure. Once something is out of support you can continue to use it and even organize third party maintenance but the company is under no obligation to continue to provide support.
Perhaps we need a "Very long term release" with an expectation of least 10 years of security fixes, at least for the architecture-independent systems and for a short list of "VLTS-supported" architectures and devices that are in common use in embedded systems
The software and all the tools are available and well documented. Knock yourself out. Who knows you may make some money.
As someone pointed out already, at least with Linux the source code is available. On the other hand, Microsoft does give 10 years of support for Windows 7/8/8.1 and for the "Long term service branch" mode of Windows 10.
You can get long-term support with Linux if you pay for a service contract and that is the same for Microsoft. Ten year support of MS Windows is only available if you have the requisite service packs and updates in place which means the kernel is not the same as the original. Do you honestly believe you can install a generic MS Windows versions of 7, 8.0, 8.1 or even 10 and expect support?
Riiight, and if you need a part for your Chevy here is some iron ore, you CAN smelt iron...right?
That analogy is for hardware not software. Anyway, why would I want to buy a Chevy in the first place?
And people wonder why MSFT can put out 3 stinkers in a row and get more users in a fricking week than Linux has gotten for their desktop in 22 years
Since you are talking about the Desktop you are quite correct but do you really stop and ask why?
I supposed you have never heard of what most people in the IT industry call the "Microsoft Tax" and the fact that most people think that a PC, tablet or "smart phone" are a commodity and could not care less about the operating system and the underlying kernel. Actually my bad I probably should not have used "smart phones" as an example since most (over 80%) have a Linux kernel.
Riddle me this oh wise one...which do you think would be cheaper, hire an entire fucking kernel development team just to get support beyond 5 years, or pay $200 for a copy of Windows Pro and get 10 years of support?
Well if you had enterprise systems you can pay Microsoft for support if you have MS Windows OS's or you could pay Redhat for Linux 10 year support and at least you get a professional engineer rather than someone who just says "press the reset button".
So you have Windows XP but do you really have the original Windows XP? You should know that three service packs have been released in addition to multiple updates with the kernel being updated many times as well and the only way you will get support is if you have the latest service pack and the later updates. This concept actually applies to all software be it kernel or applications.
BTW. Windows XP - released August 24, 2001 with end of mainstream support April 14, 2009 - not quite 10 years although to be fair extended support was to April 8, 2014.
The bottom line is software normally gets updated over time "get over it".
Reading the article for the first time it was definitely over my head but I have played the PS4 Doom demo. Normally I dislike FPS games and especially multiplayer ones, but with Doom I actually found the story mode (What story? Just kill daemons) great fun to play.
This is really a bizarre move from Sony. I was already surprised they didn't manage to market a stand-alone UHD Blue-Ray player by now (while 4 other companies did), and now, despite the fact that Sony also sells movies, while Micro$oft doesn't, they save a very few bucks on the hardware of their new "premium" console product by putting a non-UHD-capable BluRay drive into it? And despite the fact that the PlayStation 3 back then got a real boost from being an early, affordable BluRay player? I really don't understand that strategy... but Micro$oft will certainly celebrate this evening.
I was expecting for the Neo (now Pro) to have a 4K player although Sony does support streaming (ie. Netflix) hence HDR support. Even though the XB1-S has a 4K Bluray player Microsoft will have to pay the license fees for it since they aren't in the Bluray consortium. Guess who is?
I am assuming the "Pro" and with a firmware update, all PS4's will support HDR10 not Dolby Video HDR. Obviously, you will need a compatible UHDTV and an HDMI 2.0+ cable.
Some people have not upgraded their receiver to one that does hdmi. I connect devices to the tv via hdmi for video, but still use optical for audio to the receiver.
It all depends on your setup. My 7-year-old HDTV has four HDMI's in and one optical out that I connect to my 7.1 sound system which is older still.
The Playstation is really a device for facilitating game DRM. There is no way in heck to do the same thing with a pc.
Yes there is, it's called Windows 10 genuine malware edition and the ISO is available for download here for free. The only thing stopping you from running this piece of software is the fact that you have to agree to the EULA (don't bother reading this it's to much trouble, just trust Microsoft to do no wrong) and enter your license code (you can also use your Windows 7 or 8/8.1 license code) . It is also recommended that you click on the "quick install" icon, afterall Microsoft knows what are best settings for the user.:-)
I don't think anyone disputes that notion. However, there IS a product lifecycle with most, if not all, commercial software. As such, mainstream support for Windows 7 ended January 13, 2015, with extended support for January 14, 2020. Basically, all features were frozen on or before the end of mainstream with security patches still being offered through till 2020.
I don't dispute dropping support after a product's software life cycle is over and in fairness Microsoft has defined them in the URLs that you quite rightly supplied. What I really don't like with Windows 10 is the way Microsoft went about pushing it out to Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users and also their policy settings that were all turned on by default. Even some features in Windows 10 could only be controlled if you edited the appropriate place in the Registry and as you know the average Microsoft OS user has no idea how to do that.
If you look up the definition of malware and then look at the default settings in Windows 10 you will find that there is little if any difference.
After all, while Win10 will have those performance improvements, they will most likely be negated by all the spyware bullshit installed by the integrated adware/data mining system.
For those that are interested you can get Windows 10 - genuine malware addition here . It is also recommended that you do the quick setup because Microsoft knows what settings are best for you. Yes, you to can bare your soul to the world. Afterall it's for your own good.:-)
Well Linux started supporting the new CPU features six months ago. Probably earlier inside Intel - when you're wanting to test your new CPU features before you release the CPU, you can either wait for Microsoft to use them in Windows, or do it yourself in Linux.
I know that was done with x64, AMD ported Linux's existing 64 bit support, then a few years later Microsoft released 64 bit Windows.
I have been running Fedora on my Skylake desktop since December of last year. Initially, it was Fedora 23 and now it is Fedora 24.
The only issue I had was the HDMI support for my Z170 motherboard in that if I switched from my PC's HDMI to my PS4 via my monitor and then back again the board dropped the HDMI signal. This was fixed in a firmware release that in hindsight I should have put on before I even installed my operating system. Other than that everything just works.
I would have got a Kaby Lake CPU if one had been commercially available six months ago, however Skylake was only released commercially in August/September of 2015.
The only thing preventing HEVC/H.265 from being supported natively in browsers is the patent license terms. The developers of x265 have made a proposal to fix this situation. See http://x265.org/proposal-accel...
The Edge browser does support H265 but surprise surprise it does not support many open formats. If you go to this site and do an intercomparison between Chrome, Firefox, Edge and your preferred browser, with particular emphasis on the Video and Audio support you can see this.
BTW. That link was an interesting read although I don't think patents are really going to stop the home user from using the particular codecs. It is surprisingly easy using tools like Handbrake (it really does hammer your PC though) to convert from one codec to another as well as converting 8bit to 10bit or even 12bit. The main reason to convert H264 to H265 is the fact that you can get a reduction in file size from 55% to 65% and in some cases much better than that, especially if you convert to 10 to 12 bits as well.
Clearly though, the image produced by mpeg2 is much superior to h265 much like records sound better than CDs.
Have you ever done an intercomparison?
If you take a 600MB plus H264 8bit anime or movie and use Handbrake to convert it to H265 8bit you will get a 55% to 65% reduction in size without reducing the quality of the file. If you convert from 8bit to 10bit you may get a 5% reduction and if you convert from 8bit to 12 bit you may get a 7% reduction although it usually is not worth converting to 12bit since you limit the video players you can use and it usually takes two to three times as long to do the conversion.
Note: VLC for Linux will play many different codecs as well as 10bit, however it won't play 12bit so you can use "mpv Music Player" also for Linux which does not have the pretty front end of VLC but it does work quite well.
BTW. Comparing records (I assume you mean vinyl) to CD's is rather pointless. Since CD's are digital and are easier to keep in good condition because the reader does not contact the media. Vinyl, on the other hand is analogue and as such requires a stylus contact to read the grooves which will eventually wear out the media. As for which is better, that depends on the person who's listening and the equipment used to play the particular media. Even on the best equipment most people can't tell the difference although they will be able to pick up a worn stylus or record.
If you want to discuss lossless formats how about flac which is patent free, unlike mpeg2 which is patent encumbered till next year at the latest (yes it is confusing).
I am not sure everyone understands that we totally depend on viable bee populations for our own survival. We're abstracted from it but it's real.
Plants --> Animals -->People eating.
^
System cut off at the knees by destabilizing bee population, a process that's already started so more pressued isn't the right input.
Unfortunately, some businesses don't seem to learn from history. Take DDT and Thalidomide as examples.
Didn't Google claim Microsoft was wrong and Edge was not better than Chrome, and now they have closed the gap?
Lovely mismatch of messages from PR and from actual engineers.
You can do the HTML5test and Chrome should get 499 (this is for Fedora 24) out of 555 compared to 485 for Microsoft's Edge browser.
Numbers don't really mean anything unless you look at the fine print and by that take a look at what each browser supports since you can do a side by side comparison of different web browsers. As an example, I am also going to use "QupZilla" (score: 480/555) which comes standard along with "Firefox" if you install Fedora 24 KDE spin.
If you do an intercomparison on what each browser supports then you will see that Chrome, Firefox and QupZilla (you can add others if you wish) all support open codex standards while Microsoft's Edge browser supports proprietary codecs and almost completely ignores open codecs. So much for Microsoft supporting open standards.
BTW. Look at what is supported for Video and Audio for all Browsers of interest and you will see exactly what each one supports.
Now, if only I could find a liquid hand soap that doesn't contain moisturizers...
Well, you could do it yourself (especially with foam soaps) and there are plenty of Youtube videos that will show you how. The only downside is that it could take a few minutes out of your life per year but you will get exactly what you want and in the process save quite a bit of money.
While anti-bacterial soaps are pointless for most people, there is no reason or justification for the FDA to regulate them since these active ingredients are otherwise safe and widely used.
I can't prove that one way or the other but it is amazing the number of people buying foam soaps and kids seem to like them over normal soaps.
Personally, I have no objection to foam soaps but did you know that if you use them you mainly paying for water since the most important part is actually the foamer bottle. Basically, people are ripping themselves off for something that is incredibly easy to make.
When your foam soap bottle is empty instead of throwing out the bottle or refilling it with the "approved" brand of foam liquid, fill the bottle about one-quarter full of normal hand soap (you can even use the same brand) not the foam soap refill. Now add water and you may (this is optional) add a half/quarter teaspoon of glycerine or even some perfume. Shake slowly to avoid too much foam although it will settle. Mixing in a larger container is a better solution. There are plenty of Youtube videos on how to do this as well.
By doing the above you save well over 400% on the price of the so-called pre-mixed foam soap but then again people do pay for so-called convenience over do it yourself (in this case stupidly easy) even though it costs considerably more.
All this complaining about Windows 10 is getting really old and tired.
I do agree with you and I personally don't run any Microsoft products. Unfortunately, what you have said has no effect on people who have been effectively locked into using Microsoft products even though there are alternatives. What is even sadder is the fact that most people can't even see or comprehend that they are being screwed over even when they are told.
A big source of trouble that is most overlooked is simply clean a.c. power. SO MANY PROBLEMS without ready explanation can be solved by providing clean u.p.s. power to the computer and yet too many home and small business users carelessly don't bother.
If it's a laptop or battery-operated handheld device that is not an issue, but for traditional desktop machines it certainly is.
Having a UPS is important if you have machines that are deemed mission critical, however, you also have to ask the question "How long do you want the UPS to stay up after the main grid power goes out?" The answer can result in hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on a UPS infrastructure.
As for home use a UPS is not really necessary if you live in town or city where the normal power supply is clean and reliable (read most first world countries). Sure there is always the possibility of a rare power outage but pretty much all desktops can handle that. What may be a problem is the operating system and pretty much all Linux and BSD OS's can handle a forced outage easily.
As a consultant I was once asked by management how do they test failover on a cluster. My solution was to go to one of the machines and flip it's power switch. That is what we call a "Kodak moment" but it was an excellent demonstration because the whole idea of a cluster it to allow for catastrophic failure and all computers unless you are willing to spend millions and even then there is no 100% guarantee will eventually fail. In case you are interested the cluster performed perfectly and there were no issues just some shocked managers but it was a good test.
BTW I have also seen expensive (read over one million dollars) UPS fail so there is no such thing as 100% possibility of providing clean and reliable power.
You forgot checksumming and verification after transfer.....You have something on the other drive after the transfer, you wont know what until you verify it.
It is usually a good idea to have a decent file-system on your backup disk. FAT and ExFAT are just not good enough and have you ever read the the disclaimer on NTFS?
Personally, I would rather use ext4 which is actually used for professional databases and data that you don't want to see corrupted. Of course, you are quite right in stating that you should always check your backup data by doing spot recoveries or checks using checksums such as md5.
I have actually seen so called professional backups that were written by, well "hacks" and while all the database infrastructure was backed up correctly the most important thing the database was not. Needless to say when the hard disk failed (yes they did not use RAID) it was very easy to get back the infrastructure although that could easily be got back from first principles but the most important part, the database was missing.
I always think the most important question to ask when people want to backup their data is "How much do you think your data is worth?"
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So they buy a company for the knowledge and name, they fire the knowledge last year and now they kill the nake... well, when you have too much cash, it's easy to burn it !
Embrace Extend Extingush! Yes they have not changed.
It's a pity, for this last release, then didn't break with the numbering convention and just jump to 3.14.159...
Why do something as pointless as that?
Most current Linux distributions are running a version 4 kernel. My Fedora 24 distribution is running "kernel-core-4.7.2-201.fc24.x86_64" as per the time of me writing, however the initial kernel release was kernel-core-4.5.5-300. I am still running Fedora 24 but the underlying kernel and appropriate packages that needed updating have been updated. So unless you are directly involved with maintaining software who cares if the version numbers have been changed.
Actually, if you do care and are running a Redhat based system (ie. Fedora, CentOS ...) you can run the following command to get changelog information about a particular package: (using the kernel as an example) "rpm -q --changelog kernel-core-4.7.2-201.fc24.x86_64". For that package I would suggest a pager since you will get a huge amount of information. For people using Debian distributions (ie. Mint, Ubuntu, Debian ...) you can use an alternative command.
Before anyone starts waffling/trolling about the Windows operating system. Microsoft does exactly the same except they don't spell out exactly what they do.
No they will not fully support Windows 7 until the advertised EOL. At least not on Kaby Lake processors, which are due out in a few months. Windows 7 will not be officially supported on Kaby Lake at all. Windows 7 is only supported to the advertised EOL if you continue to run it on pre-Kaby-Lake CPUs.
Thus many corporates have had to adjust their plans to keep running Windows 7.
I run the latest Skylake chipset and my Z170 motherboard only supports Windows 8.and 10 as well as "other OS" which works fine with my Linux (Fedora 23 and now 24) distribution. Even Mint works flawlessly in a virtual machine. I also have Windows 10 genuine malware edition which you can get here also in a virtual machine, however I don't like the way it likes to talk on the internet (Wireshark is your friend here) even though I have locked down the system, hence I don't run it.
There is. 2.6.32 had around 6 years of support. Looks like 3.16 will be supported until 2020. Longer would be nice, sure, but 5-6 years for long term seems reasonable for a not-paying-for-it product.
When you install a particular Linux distribution it will come with a Linux kernel version number. Over time you should be updating your particular Linux distribution and this means updating the kernel as well so as that distribution reaches "end of life" it's kernel will not be the same kernel the original distribution started with. This is no more different to what Microsoft does with it's products.
Why do you want longer? Linux distribution are normally free unless you wish to play for a service contract and even then the above paragraph still applies. With a Linux distribution you can upgrade from one major version to another or you can do a fresh install of the operating system, it's your choice. Again using a Windows comparison you can upgrade from Windows 7 or 8.1 to Windows 10 for free since you should have a legitimate license for the original software. With Linux distributions it's exactly the same except you don't need a license.
For those people who are going to pull "But I have an old laptop and I need my old operating system". My response is "Well no one is forcing you to upgrade but don't expect support". I actually have a 10-year-old HP dv6000 core duo laptop with 2GB of memory and it runs Fedora 24, KDE spin (released 21st June 2016) flawlessly. I even have a Skylake Core i7 16 GB DDR4 memory desktop which I am currently using and Fedora 24, Mint (virtual machine) and even Windows 10 (virtual machine) all run fine. Ok I don't like Windows 10 genuine malware edition so I don't use it.
For network-connected embedded systems (routers, network-connected printers, IoT, etc.), I would want a kernel that had security-but-patch-maintenance for at least the useful life of the hardware itself - 5-10 years in most cases, longer in some cases like cars, refrigerators, etc.
If the device is under warranty then you would expect support, replacement or reimbursement in the event of failure. Once something is out of support you can continue to use it and even organize third party maintenance but the company is under no obligation to continue to provide support.
Perhaps we need a "Very long term release" with an expectation of least 10 years of security fixes, at least for the architecture-independent systems and for a short list of "VLTS-supported" architectures and devices that are in common use in embedded systems
The software and all the tools are available and well documented. Knock yourself out. Who knows you may make some money.
As someone pointed out already, at least with Linux the source code is available. On the other hand, Microsoft does give 10 years of support for Windows 7/8/8.1 and for the "Long term service branch" mode of Windows 10.
You can get long-term support with Linux if you pay for a service contract and that is the same for Microsoft. Ten year support of MS Windows is only available if you have the requisite service packs and updates in place which means the kernel is not the same as the original. Do you honestly believe you can install a generic MS Windows versions of 7, 8.0, 8.1 or even 10 and expect support?
Riiight, and if you need a part for your Chevy here is some iron ore, you CAN smelt iron...right?
That analogy is for hardware not software. Anyway, why would I want to buy a Chevy in the first place?
And people wonder why MSFT can put out 3 stinkers in a row and get more users in a fricking week than Linux has gotten for their desktop in 22 years
Since you are talking about the Desktop you are quite correct but do you really stop and ask why?
I supposed you have never heard of what most people in the IT industry call the "Microsoft Tax" and the fact that most people think that a PC, tablet or "smart phone" are a commodity and could not care less about the operating system and the underlying kernel. Actually my bad I probably should not have used "smart phones" as an example since most (over 80%) have a Linux kernel.
Riddle me this oh wise one...which do you think would be cheaper, hire an entire fucking kernel development team just to get support beyond 5 years, or pay $200 for a copy of Windows Pro and get 10 years of support?
Well if you had enterprise systems you can pay Microsoft for support if you have MS Windows OS's or you could pay Redhat for Linux 10 year support and at least you get a professional engineer rather than someone who just says "press the reset button".
So you have Windows XP but do you really have the original Windows XP? You should know that three service packs have been released in addition to multiple updates with the kernel being updated many times as well and the only way you will get support is if you have the latest service pack and the later updates. This concept actually applies to all software be it kernel or applications.
BTW. Windows XP - released August 24, 2001 with end of mainstream support April 14, 2009 - not quite 10 years although to be fair extended support was to April 8, 2014.
The bottom line is software normally gets updated over time "get over it".
Very detailed indeed. Definitely over my head.
Reading the article for the first time it was definitely over my head but I have played the PS4 Doom demo. Normally I dislike FPS games and especially multiplayer ones, but with Doom I actually found the story mode (What story? Just kill daemons) great fun to play.
This is really a bizarre move from Sony. I was already surprised they didn't manage to market a stand-alone UHD Blue-Ray player by now (while 4 other companies did), and now, despite the fact that Sony also sells movies, while Micro$oft doesn't, they save a very few bucks on the hardware of their new "premium" console product by putting a non-UHD-capable BluRay drive into it? And despite the fact that the PlayStation 3 back then got a real boost from being an early, affordable BluRay player? I really don't understand that strategy... but Micro$oft will certainly celebrate this evening.
I was expecting for the Neo (now Pro) to have a 4K player although Sony does support streaming (ie. Netflix) hence HDR support. Even though the XB1-S has a 4K Bluray player Microsoft will have to pay the license fees for it since they aren't in the Bluray consortium. Guess who is?
I am assuming the "Pro" and with a firmware update, all PS4's will support HDR10 not Dolby Video HDR. Obviously, you will need a compatible UHDTV and an HDMI 2.0+ cable.
Some people have not upgraded their receiver to one that does hdmi. I connect devices to the tv via hdmi for video, but still use optical for audio to the receiver.
It all depends on your setup. My 7-year-old HDTV has four HDMI's in and one optical out that I connect to my 7.1 sound system which is older still.
The Playstation is really a device for facilitating game DRM. There is no way in heck to do the same thing with a pc.
Yes there is, it's called Windows 10 genuine malware edition and the ISO is available for download here for free. The only thing stopping you from running this piece of software is the fact that you have to agree to the EULA (don't bother reading this it's to much trouble, just trust Microsoft to do no wrong) and enter your license code (you can also use your Windows 7 or 8/8.1 license code) . It is also recommended that you click on the "quick install" icon, afterall Microsoft knows what are best settings for the user.:-)
I don't think anyone disputes that notion. However, there IS a product lifecycle with most, if not all, commercial software. As such, mainstream support for Windows 7 ended January 13, 2015, with extended support for January 14, 2020. Basically, all features were frozen on or before the end of mainstream with security patches still being offered through till 2020.
I don't dispute dropping support after a product's software life cycle is over and in fairness Microsoft has defined them in the URLs that you quite rightly supplied. What I really don't like with Windows 10 is the way Microsoft went about pushing it out to Windows 7 and 8/8.1 users and also their policy settings that were all turned on by default. Even some features in Windows 10 could only be controlled if you edited the appropriate place in the Registry and as you know the average Microsoft OS user has no idea how to do that.
If you look up the definition of malware and then look at the default settings in Windows 10 you will find that there is little if any difference.
After all, while Win10 will have those performance improvements, they will most likely be negated by all the spyware bullshit installed by the integrated adware/data mining system.
For those that are interested you can get Windows 10 - genuine malware addition here . It is also recommended that you do the quick setup because Microsoft knows what settings are best for you. Yes, you to can bare your soul to the world. Afterall it's for your own good. :-)
Well Linux started supporting the new CPU features six months ago. Probably earlier inside Intel - when you're wanting to test your new CPU features before you release the CPU, you can either wait for Microsoft to use them in Windows, or do it yourself in Linux.
I know that was done with x64, AMD ported Linux's existing 64 bit support, then a few years later Microsoft released 64 bit Windows.
I have been running Fedora on my Skylake desktop since December of last year. Initially, it was Fedora 23 and now it is Fedora 24.
The only issue I had was the HDMI support for my Z170 motherboard in that if I switched from my PC's HDMI to my PS4 via my monitor and then back again the board dropped the HDMI signal. This was fixed in a firmware release that in hindsight I should have put on before I even installed my operating system. Other than that everything just works.
I would have got a Kaby Lake CPU if one had been commercially available six months ago, however Skylake was only released commercially in August/September of 2015.
The only thing preventing HEVC/H.265 from being supported natively in browsers is the patent license terms. The developers of x265 have made a proposal to fix this situation. See http://x265.org/proposal-accel...
The Edge browser does support H265 but surprise surprise it does not support many open formats. If you go to this site and do an intercomparison between Chrome, Firefox, Edge and your preferred browser, with particular emphasis on the Video and Audio support you can see this.
BTW. That link was an interesting read although I don't think patents are really going to stop the home user from using the particular codecs. It is surprisingly easy using tools like Handbrake (it really does hammer your PC though) to convert from one codec to another as well as converting 8bit to 10bit or even 12bit. The main reason to convert H264 to H265 is the fact that you can get a reduction in file size from 55% to 65% and in some cases much better than that, especially if you convert to 10 to 12 bits as well.
Clearly though, the image produced by mpeg2 is much superior to h265 much like records sound better than CDs.
Have you ever done an intercomparison?
If you take a 600MB plus H264 8bit anime or movie and use Handbrake to convert it to H265 8bit you will get a 55% to 65% reduction in size without reducing the quality of the file. If you convert from 8bit to 10bit you may get a 5% reduction and if you convert from 8bit to 12 bit you may get a 7% reduction although it usually is not worth converting to 12bit since you limit the video players you can use and it usually takes two to three times as long to do the conversion.
Note: VLC for Linux will play many different codecs as well as 10bit, however it won't play 12bit so you can use "mpv Music Player" also for Linux which does not have the pretty front end of VLC but it does work quite well.
BTW. Comparing records (I assume you mean vinyl) to CD's is rather pointless. Since CD's are digital and are easier to keep in good condition because the reader does not contact the media. Vinyl, on the other hand is analogue and as such requires a stylus contact to read the grooves which will eventually wear out the media. As for which is better, that depends on the person who's listening and the equipment used to play the particular media. Even on the best equipment most people can't tell the difference although they will be able to pick up a worn stylus or record.
If you want to discuss lossless formats how about flac which is patent free, unlike mpeg2 which is patent encumbered till next year at the latest (yes it is confusing).
I am not sure everyone understands that we totally depend on viable bee populations for our own survival. We're abstracted from it but it's real. Plants --> Animals -->People eating. ^ System cut off at the knees by destabilizing bee population, a process that's already started so more pressued isn't the right input.
Unfortunately, some businesses don't seem to learn from history. Take DDT and Thalidomide as examples.
Flash is dying and i cannot wait to witness its rotten, fly-ridden corpse.
You realise that we will have to get a twelve gauge shotgun for when it rises again and the smell will be terrible.
Incineration is the only way to be sure.
Of course Edge is better, it doesn't fucking work.
Well to be fair it does but it completely ignores the MS Windows host file.
Didn't Google claim Microsoft was wrong and Edge was not better than Chrome, and now they have closed the gap?
Lovely mismatch of messages from PR and from actual engineers.
You can do the HTML5test and Chrome should get 499 (this is for Fedora 24) out of 555 compared to 485 for Microsoft's Edge browser.
Numbers don't really mean anything unless you look at the fine print and by that take a look at what each browser supports since you can do a side by side comparison of different web browsers. As an example, I am also going to use "QupZilla" (score: 480/555) which comes standard along with "Firefox" if you install Fedora 24 KDE spin.
If you do an intercomparison on what each browser supports then you will see that Chrome, Firefox and QupZilla (you can add others if you wish) all support open codex standards while Microsoft's Edge browser supports proprietary codecs and almost completely ignores open codecs. So much for Microsoft supporting open standards.
BTW. Look at what is supported for Video and Audio for all Browsers of interest and you will see exactly what each one supports.
Now, if only I could find a liquid hand soap that doesn't contain moisturizers...
Well, you could do it yourself (especially with foam soaps) and there are plenty of Youtube videos that will show you how. The only downside is that it could take a few minutes out of your life per year but you will get exactly what you want and in the process save quite a bit of money.
While anti-bacterial soaps are pointless for most people, there is no reason or justification for the FDA to regulate them since these active ingredients are otherwise safe and widely used.
I can't prove that one way or the other but it is amazing the number of people buying foam soaps and kids seem to like them over normal soaps.
Personally, I have no objection to foam soaps but did you know that if you use them you mainly paying for water since the most important part is actually the foamer bottle. Basically, people are ripping themselves off for something that is incredibly easy to make.
When your foam soap bottle is empty instead of throwing out the bottle or refilling it with the "approved" brand of foam liquid, fill the bottle about one-quarter full of normal hand soap (you can even use the same brand) not the foam soap refill. Now add water and you may (this is optional) add a half/quarter teaspoon of glycerine or even some perfume. Shake slowly to avoid too much foam although it will settle. Mixing in a larger container is a better solution. There are plenty of Youtube videos on how to do this as well.
By doing the above you save well over 400% on the price of the so-called pre-mixed foam soap but then again people do pay for so-called convenience over do it yourself (in this case stupidly easy) even though it costs considerably more.
If you don't like it, don't use it.
All this complaining about Windows 10 is getting really old and tired.
I do agree with you and I personally don't run any Microsoft products. Unfortunately, what you have said has no effect on people who have been effectively locked into using Microsoft products even though there are alternatives. What is even sadder is the fact that most people can't even see or comprehend that they are being screwed over even when they are told.
A big source of trouble that is most overlooked is simply clean a.c. power. SO MANY PROBLEMS without ready explanation can be solved by providing clean u.p.s. power to the computer and yet too many home and small business users carelessly don't bother.
If it's a laptop or battery-operated handheld device that is not an issue, but for traditional desktop machines it certainly is.
Having a UPS is important if you have machines that are deemed mission critical, however, you also have to ask the question "How long do you want the UPS to stay up after the main grid power goes out?" The answer can result in hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars being spent on a UPS infrastructure.
As for home use a UPS is not really necessary if you live in town or city where the normal power supply is clean and reliable (read most first world countries). Sure there is always the possibility of a rare power outage but pretty much all desktops can handle that. What may be a problem is the operating system and pretty much all Linux and BSD OS's can handle a forced outage easily.
As a consultant I was once asked by management how do they test failover on a cluster. My solution was to go to one of the machines and flip it's power switch. That is what we call a "Kodak moment" but it was an excellent demonstration because the whole idea of a cluster it to allow for catastrophic failure and all computers unless you are willing to spend millions and even then there is no 100% guarantee will eventually fail. In case you are interested the cluster performed perfectly and there were no issues just some shocked managers but it was a good test.
BTW I have also seen expensive (read over one million dollars) UPS fail so there is no such thing as 100% possibility of providing clean and reliable power.
Ah! C is for kids, real man program in assembler, becouse optimizer is for lazy people, that waste precious cpu clock cycle.
Obligatory xkcd is obligatory: https://xkcd.com/378/
What do you mean assembler? That's for wimps. Now coding in binary using dip switches that's real programming. :-)
You forgot checksumming and verification after transfer.....You have something on the other drive after the transfer, you wont know what until you verify it.
It is usually a good idea to have a decent file-system on your backup disk. FAT and ExFAT are just not good enough and have you ever read the the disclaimer on NTFS?
Personally, I would rather use ext4 which is actually used for professional databases and data that you don't want to see corrupted. Of course, you are quite right in stating that you should always check your backup data by doing spot recoveries or checks using checksums such as md5.
I have actually seen so called professional backups that were written by, well "hacks" and while all the database infrastructure was backed up correctly the most important thing the database was not. Needless to say when the hard disk failed (yes they did not use RAID) it was very easy to get back the infrastructure although that could easily be got back from first principles but the most important part, the database was missing.
I always think the most important question to ask when people want to backup their data is "How much do you think your data is worth?"