Eccentric Flower talk:201005/Unboxing

Jette:

I like Open Office just fine for opening Word docs. Chip has a beef about PDFs because apparently they are a bit of a pain to deal with on Linux-based systems.

I can absolutely believe the 4 hours. When I get a new computer, Chip messes with it for an hour or so (removing software, installing firewall, etc.) and then I spend a few hours tweaking everything as well. We do our new computer stuff sitting next to a laptop that is already on the network so we can type names of weird prepackaged shit into Google and see what they really are.

Defender is actually not bad.

I wish this entry had photos.

-- 21:29, 10 May 2010 (BST)

Columbina:

I thought about bringing the camera down but if I had stopped to take photos, it would have been even longer. As it was, going back and forth between the computer and the pad where I was writing notes was a pain. Anyway, photographically there's nothing very exciting except the cute spirals on the case. Maybe I'll photograph them later.

-- 21:35, 10 May 2010 (BST)

Columbina:

P.S. I actually don't have a problem with either Office or OpenOffice per se; I have used both, and I can live with either. However, since I will need neither on this machine, the key point was that I wished I didn't have to uninstall something that shouldn't have been there in the first place.

-- 21:36, 10 May 2010 (BST)

Iain:

You got the HP Touchsmart of some model, right? (I have a computer entry coming that will be a wondrous piece of neurosis, so I'm curious.)

Can you tell that my ideal setup would be to unpack a completely blank system with nothing installed on it, and a Windows CD whereby I could run the install myself and choose not to put a lot of crap on in the first place? Do you have any idea why virtually no major computer manufacturer will sell you one this way?)

Really, now.

Actually, I seem to recall that Dell will, or used to, at some point when they got extra cheesed at Microsoft about something. They started offering the option of Windows of some species, Linux of some species, or completely blank. (Except that you still had to pay for an OS, even if you didn't want one. It was very strange.)

Defender turns out to be its home-grown antimalware tool. I have no idea if it's any good. I prefer third-party software anyway, that way I'm not at Microsoft's mercy for protecting my computer.

Defender is allegedly a shockingly good malware intercepter. Not so good at getting it off your system once it's there, but good at keeping it off there. I think, however, it's no longer updated.

Are they virtual? Are they partitions?

They're partitions. (My old computer is more or less set up the same way, except that they also have a software setup section on the C drive partition itself, which is weird. There's also a chunk of unformatted space which I've never been able to figure out or do anything with.)

No sooner do I connect than Windows begins downloading and installing updates. Now I will restart.

I point out that, as you seem to intend to use this as a network appliance, Windows Updates are A Good Thing, usually. Not automatic, of course -- never automatic, at least not on any computer I have control of. (Work has other opinions on the matter, especially as they've stopped managing updates themselves.)

Run the dreaded Internet Exploder for the one URL I will ever fetch in it voluntarily: http://www.firefox.com/ Have to take IE off "kill" and onto "stun" just to download the Firefox installer.

Huh. When I can, with new systems, I tend to download installers on another system to either an external hard disk or flash drive or optical thingummyjobber first, then attach that and work from there.

While downloading DDO, also download emacs, because I don't run a system without emacs.

Huh. Didn't realize they made emacs for Windows. Not that it matters at this stage; it's been so long since I used it that it would take ages to get back into the swing of it. Notepad++ will do me for most things.

If they'd just ship these things exactly the way I want them, I could save at least a couple of hours;

You realize, of course, that if you got the installation DVD/CD, you could just stick that in an optical drive, delete the partition, and start from scratch, right?

...you did get the installation DVD/CD, right?

Word is not a common-coin format

...Except, of course, for the 90% or so of computer enabled people who use it, or something like Open Office that can read it. (Yes, even the Mac peoples! Mind, if you're talking strictly in terms of portability, that's a slightly different thing. Slightly. But then, this isn't meant to be any sort of office work computer, right?)

Anyways, have fun with the new computer!

-- 21:40, 10 May 2010 (BST)

Columbina:

Iain, it is a TouchSmart tm2, as fully loaded as I could make it, notably with a better video card than stock.

My comment about Windows updates was not meant to imply I consider them a bad thing; it was more like wry amusement that even Microsoft considers updating its system to be Job One As Soon As We Have Internet. Which is probably sound of them.

I did NOT get the installation DVD because this machine has no onboard DVD drive. If, at some point, I buy an external drive for it, perhaps I shall buy a DVD. I'm sure HP will sell me one.

As for Word, I realize that ninety percent of the offices of the world use it. However, it is not portable, and it is not a good format for the internet, which is where I live and do most of my work. I can't tell you the amount of trouble I've had from people who try to paste blocks of Word text into text that will become web pages. I think a lot of people don't realize what a crufty, proprietary format it is, and that kind of annoys me.

-- 21:53, 10 May 2010 (BST)

ProfRobert:

Everyone raves about Firefox, so when I started at my new job, I made it my browser. And then got the first virus I've ever gotten (endless ad pop-ups, which seemed to happen when I went to LJ). Tech support cleaned them out, I've gone back to IE and not had a single problem since. I have no idea why people complain about IE (other than it's from Microsoft, which is teh EVEL), as it does everything I want it to do and has never caused me a problem.

-- 00:12, 11 May 2010 (BST)

Shmuel:

A few unrelated points:

On laptops, I prefer having a tap on the touchpad count as a click; it's not something I'm likely to do accidentally, and I don't like having to move my finger to a different button. I've never used a tablet, though.

Regarding OpenOffice.org, as long as you don't work in publishing (or another industry involving heavy use of documents from other people), it's a fine alternative. If you do, it's not quite compatible enough.

(Today's fun fact: as of last summer, if you inserted comments into a file in OOo and saved it in RTF format, the comments would get silently deleted, and you'd have to do it all over again.)

Having a DVD drive probably wouldn't have made things any easier. The HP computer I bought earlier this year (a refurbished desktop system) didn't come with an installation DVD; part of its unboxing process was burning my own restore discs.

-- 07:18, 11 May 2010 (BST)

Settsimaksimin:

Cat will always reinstall itself, so i usually just leave it where it is. i do wish you could adjust the frequency of checks for food updates...

-- 16:32, 11 May 2010 (BST)

Ysabel:

There's a reason I just do a wipe and reinstall from a vanilla Windows disk. Much, much faster. (And not that hard even on a system with no internal drive -- you can install Win7 from a 4G USB key.)

-- 03:28, 12 May 2010 (BST)