Windows operating system

Some of us computer users are like C-Dory owners. We want to control the computer and decide on what and how it is used. Others are like Bay Liner owners. They don’t want to have to think or figure out how to use it.

The C-Dory user wants to decide how his computer will operate, what it will run and configure it to operate to the best of his ability, according to his desires. He is willing to learn the basics to accomplish this.

The Bay Liner user doesn’t want to think or make any decision on the best set up of the boat. He wants a package ready to go and just turn the key. Same with his computer, he just wants to turn it on and use the functions available from the manufacture. He is not willing to learn the basics of a computer, so consequently he has a computer that is limited.

I am a C-Dory person so I have a PC.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
. Right now I just push it off the trailer, turn the key and go. When I am finished I turn the seat until it hits the key and turns the engine off. That's about it. In my next life I am going to do all that other stuff, I promise. :roll: Do I have to sell my C-Dory and get a Bayliner?
 
I had to get the above post in because of the Mac/Apple users taking pot shots at us.

Now for the useful information about using a PC.

All the above information from the others is good. I am surprised about the depth of expertise of our members with computers.

For the average user anti virus software is the only software you really need running in the background. The version/brand you have is a personal choice. Kind of like chart plotters. Each has its benefits. All will do the job and not bog down the computer as long as you just install the anti virus portion and not their suite. I use Symantec Corporate version (Norton) on all 600+ of our computers. It allows more customization of the software than other brands, but for the average user, it is not worth the price.

msconfig is a good service to see what starts in the background, but does not always list all programs/services that start. Some programs disabled in msconfig will just start another instance of itself the next time the computer is started. The startup folder is another place to find programs that start in the background. The Services folder which is hidden on most computers is another place to control services running on the computer. For even more control, you have to edit the registry (not recommended unless you know what you are doing or have help from someone that understands the registry)

Deleting temporary files in Internet Explorer when it closes is a must, as far as I am concerned, but there are other temporary files that should also be deleted. Most are in hidden folders that the average person is not aware of.

Most people cause problems for themselves when a window pops up and gives them a choice of clicking on Yes/OK/Continue or No/Cancel. Unless you understand or are willing to spend the time to read and understand what you are agreeing to, click on No/Cancel.

It does not matter what brand of computer you have, what operating system you have, or what kink of protection software you have on your computer, when you click on it’s OK to install spyware -a hijack program – a virus or just a poorly written program on your computer, you will have problems.

I don’t know if this is the right forum to help users on. If it is a chart plotter, radar or something used on the boat, I know it would be OK. Computers are being used more and more on boats but there are other forums that deal with computers, so I am hesitant to get too involved with this topic unless there are enough people interested and it is OK with Mike and Bill.

________
Dave dlt.gif
 
MAC owners are not immune to viruses. I was working with a professor
the other day who's mail kept being deleted because it contained a virus.


Of course, it was a MICROSOFT WORD virus :-)

Mike
 
Sorry, Dave - completely inapt comparison. Mac OSX is built on UNIX, has full access to the Unix shell and is configurable to your heart's content. For those who want to go under the hood, this is the real deal. Windoze was a lame attempt from the start to copy the PARC graphical interface, the only difference is, Apple got it to work, Microsoft never did. Windoze always has been and always will be a house of cards and you know it down deep in your heart. And you are getting this from a guy who has been through DOS from 1984, Windoze 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE and XP. I am just done with it. It is hard for me to think of a boat bad enough to be analogous to Windoze. BTW, the Intel MacBooks can be either Windoze or OSX or both machines - don't confuse the machine with the the OS. No, the boat analogy is that Mac OSX represents quality, like C-Dory, and Windoze represents, well, the opposite, like Bayliner, except that is a bit unfair to Bayliner - at least it floats.


oldgrowth":7prohn2u said:
Some of us computer users are like C-Dory owners. We want to control the computer and decide on what and how it is used. Others are like Bay Liner owners. They don’t want to have to think or figure out how to use it.

The C-Dory user wants to decide how his computer will operate, what it will run and configure it to operate to the best of his ability, according to his desires. He is willing to learn the basics to accomplish this.

The Bay Liner user doesn’t want to think or make any decision on the best set up of the boat. He wants a package ready to go and just turn the key. Same with his computer, he just wants to turn it on and use the functions available from the manufacture. He is not willing to learn the basics of a computer, so consequently he has a computer that is limited.

I am a C-Dory person so I have a PC.
________
Dave dlt.gif
Click to expand...
 
Perhaps MIke or Bill could move this to "That's Life" where no topic is off topic.

BTW, not pot shots at YOU, pot shots at Windoze...the "average user" is completely unequipped to get - or keep - Windoze running well, and it is Microsoft's fault not the user's fault. And this is not really a pot shot, it is just the truth.


oldgrowth":2lkr73da said:
I had to get the above post in because of the Mac/Apple users taking pot shots at us.

I don’t know if this is the right forum to help users on. If it is a chart plotter, radar or something used on the boat, I know it would be OK. Computers are being used more and more on boats but there are other forums that deal with computers, so I am hesitant to get too involved with this topic unless there are enough people interested and it is OK with Mike and Bill.

________
Dave dlt.gif
Click to expand...
 
Dave and Pat,

Thanks for the information about computers.

This web site is made possible by computers and the C-Brats would not exist without computers.

I think we should have a place to discuss computer stuff here on the C-Brats. Perhaps a separate forum could be created just for computer discussions and those who are not interested can ignore it.

I have a lot of experience and knowledge about boats and motors, but I am still learning about computers, and I would appreciate the opportunity to learn more.
 
Both operating systems and companies have prospered over the years.

I started with Fortran and a mainframe in college moved to Apple II+ and DOS 3.0. Their was no GUI on these PCs and dont miss the punch cards nor the fatal errors and learning curve was steep. One problem I have whens buying a new WIN PC and deleting all of the demos, trial versions and misc software I do not need. I dont know about a new Mac. I bought used ones from Ebay.

Thanks for all of the postings. It is great b/c of the kidding going on and everyone laughs it off.
 
Larry H":2nmi2req said:
This web site is made possible by computers and the C-Brats would not exist without computers.

I think we should have a place to discuss computer stuff here on the C-Brats. Perhaps a separate forum could be created just for computer discussions and those who are not interested can ignore it.
Click to expand...

I've thought about this a few times...not just for the OS and browser conversations, but site tips and tricks, as well as the PC side of electronics, i.e. Garmin/Raymarine software, etc.

The Nerd Shack is now active, and this thread has been moved.
 
Pat Anderson":3q20exl4 said:
Windoze always has been and always will be a house of cards and you know it down deep in your heart. And you are getting this from a guy who has been through DOS from 1984, Windoze 3.1, 95, 98, 98SE and XP. I am just done with it.
Click to expand...
Pat – I don’t want to sound as I am picking on you, so this may be the last I will have to say about a Windows PC verses a Mac.

Anybody’s computer that takes five minutes to start has too many things starting in the background or he has a computer that is too old for the OS, not enough memory, a virus, spyware, hardware problems or he just does not know how to configure and use the computer.

If the Mac is so much better than a PC, why did Apple's market share drop from well over 50% to 4% and still dropping and Windows is now 94%? I do not have anything against the Mac. I have worked in environments with all Mac’s all PC’s and a mix of PC’s and Mac’s. Both have their good and bad points.

A properly configured PC with Windows on it will work just as well as a Mac that is properly configured. A Mac that has junk, not enough memory, too old, has spyware or viruses will behave just as badly as a PC with the same. I am not trying to sell one platform over the other. If you want a Mac get it. If you want a PC get it. I just thought this could be a good thread to help users that are having a computer problem, with either a Mac or PC.

Pat – I don’t mind you or anyone else picking on me and I know you did not mean it as a personal attack, just like I don’t mean this as a personal attack on you or other Mac users.
________
Dave dlt.gif
 
I'm using a dual core MacBook. I'm running both the Mac OS X and, with the help of Parallels application software, Windows XP. It gives me the best of Mac and access to the wide base of PC applications.

The Parallels software is amazing and getting better - I'm running the latest Beta version - vis a vis seemlessly moving between operating systems.

Phil
 
Aha! And will we now hear why Linux is better than the other two put together?
Da Nag":osvrb4ae said:
I've thought about this a few times...not just for the OS and browser conversations, but site tips and tricks, as well as the PC side of electronics, i.e. Garmin/Raymarine software, etc.

The Nerd Shack is now active, and this thread has been moved.
Click to expand...
 
Pat Anderson":2zvzco04 said:
Aha! And will we now hear why Linux is better than the other two put together?
Click to expand...

When I have time, you bet.

Every time I hear the Windows/Mac debate, it reminds me of a crow and a coyote fighting over a dead skunk. And the winner is...who cares?

:tux True enlightenment comes from the Penguin. :tux
 
Pat - The neat thing about the Parallels application program is that you can also run Linux on the Mac - so equipted with enough ram and disk space you can run all three! :lol:

Of course you still can't get spell check to work on this site if you're posting from the MAC OS side of the partition :cry :cry

Phil
 
I was briefly introduced to Linux by a nerd (who shall remain un-named). I have my computer dual-booted for Linux, (Ubuntu 6.10) and WinXP.
It's a free operating system that I installed myself on my computer and I use Linux most of the time (as in right now).
It gives the best of all worlds, like Mac OSX it is derived from Unix but unlike OSX and Microsoft Windows its programs are open source and non-proprietary (GPL).
All programs (thousands I think) are FREE! All have been worked over by a thousand Linux geeks worldwide (aka developers) and when they hit the distributions are bug free to a large extent.
So far I am very favourably impressed with the Linux OS.
As an afterthought, the MacOSX devotees exercised remarkable restraint but did eventually end up slagging on the Windows users!!

One day Linux will rule!!!

Cheers - Dave
 
oldgrowth":11n2j0c4 said:
Some of us computer users are like C-Dory owners. We want to control the computer and decide on what and how it is used. Others are like Bay Liner owners. They don't want to have to think or figure out how to use it.

The C-Dory user wants to decide how his computer will operate, what it will run and configure it to operate to the best of his ability, according to his desires. He is willing to learn the basics to accomplish this.

The Bay Liner user doesn't want to think or make any decision on the best set up of the boat. He wants a package ready to go and just turn the key. Same with his computer, he just wants to turn it on and use the functions available from the manufacture. He is not willing to learn the basics of a computer, so consequently he has a computer that is limited.

I am a C-Dory person so I have a PC.

________
Dave dlt.gif
Click to expand...

As a C-dory person who has extensive programming experience and a group that includes other programmers AND as a person who owns BOTH macs, PC and several servers running various flavors of Unix, I can tell you Dave that I used to think the same way as you - when I just had a PC. Then I got a Mac and said - why am I wasting all my time worrying about the OS B.S. when I really want to get work done? I am intimately familiar with a number of operating systems andI do my primary work on a Mac (as do the most computer savvy people in my research group).

So here's my boating analogy -

The wooden boat owner has a thing of beauty. He get's a bigger wooden boat so he can have more of that beauty. He loves boating but the boat takes a lot of work to keep running. He spends nearly all his time sanding, varishing and replacing various parts. It's a really lovely boat but he hardly ever uses it.

The C-Dory owner also has a thing of beauty but it is a different kind of beauty. His (or her) boat is a low maintenance boat, mostly fiberglass, NO exposed wood of any sort. The design is simple and elegant. While the wooden boat owner is spending all his time doing maintenance, the C-Dory owner is out boating.

I'm a C-Dory owner so I use a MAC
 
Back
Top