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Hesh said:



Ahhh, The good old days of Commodor Vic 20's and C64's... When Al Gore hadn't yet invented the Internet and it was called ARPANET... Hesh, we must me about the same age because I was doing about the same things you were. That is when hacking wasn't against the law because they didn't even know we were doing it.

We have come a very long way since those days haven't we?

I don't get viruses, trojans or malware anymore and I don't run virus protection or use a firewall.

I made the switch to Linux a number of years ago and have never looked back at Windowz... I don't run virus protection or a firewall and have never had a virus, Trojan or Malware. They don't even make full tiime virus protection software for Linux so even if I wanted to run it, I couldn't. It comes with a firewall but it is disabled because it isn't needed.

Considerring all people that are writing viruses are running Linux why would they target their own? Windowz is such an easy target since the programmers at MS don't know how to write a secure line of code it is no wonder why Windowz is like a flea ridden dog.

I just bought a new computer that had Windowz 8 installed on it and just for a grin I decided to give it a try... I couldn't bieleve the End User License Agreement... 10 pages of crap you can't understand, it won't let you install it if you don't agree to it and then the information they want you to give over to them. I think they even wanted a rectal exam... All for and OS that you don't own and can't install on another PC??? And after it was installed all I got was a operating system that was designed for a phone!!!! What a joke... and for only $200....

Just wait until they switch to their subscription service. Then you get to pay to use it and if you don't pony up they will disable your computer. Yes that really is their plan...


About 20 minutes I formatted the drive and installed Linux Mint... The only question Linux wanted to know what what ID I wanted to use. And I can take that same DVD and install it on as many computers as I want.

OK... I will get off my Windowz bashing soap box now...

But if anyone is seriously interested I would be happy to offer my advice, just send me a PM. I have been using Linux since it came out in 92 and have been using it full time for the past 5 years. I would be happy to help you free yourself from the evil grips of Bill Gates.

Oh well Robert my friend you know that old Al Gore is not the brightest bulb in the pack.... after all he actually went to a legit massage therapist....... But you are correct, before Al invented the Internet.... it was a good time back in the day.

I've run linux before and love it with the only issue for me being I am a fan of Call of Duty and love getting on-line and blowing away snot-nosed brats the world over..... Although this is not in keeping with my bleeding heart Ann Arbor persona it's a great time! Might be the Joseph Conrad Heart of Darkness thing for me but still a great time...

I hope to meet you at our gathering in several month Robert - you sound like good people!

Problem is some of the programs I run are not available in Linux per my computer guru

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

My god man, we do have a lot in common... I have owned all the version C.O.D. except the last one. My favorite is Pacific Island. I do have a gaming machine that I have Win7 installed but I don't use it too much anymore since I started learning how to build guitars. For 12 years I was doing 3d graphics for racing simulations but then the economy got so bad I couldn't make a living anymore. So I am a huge fan of shooter and racing games.



I will be there for sure. You never know, I may even see you sooner than that...




You should check out Wine for Linux. It will let you install Windowz programs and run them as if they were in windowz. The suppoorted programs keeps getting bigger and bigger.

I have been playing around with something called Pupy Linux which is really COOL! It installs on a USB stick and runs the entire OS from it. You can save data back to it so you litterally carry your complete OS in your pocket. Just stick it in any computer and boot up your OS with all your data.

This is really worth checking out if you want to be amazed. (it will also run from a CD or DVD) And it runs fast, you would never know you were running it from a USB or DVD.

http://puppylinux.org/main/Overview%20and%20Getting%20Started.htm

This is absolute Bull puckie. Windows is an order of magnitude more secure that Linux. That is why 75% of enterprise servers run Windows Server. No one writes desk top version of viruses for Linux as it is not worth bothering with the ten or so users running it on a PC.

Android a Linux mobile system is littered with viruses and Windows Phone has no viruses for the opposite reason I mentioned above.

I just find Windows bashing on this site distasteful.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

I just find Linux bashing on this site distasteful.

I am sorry I spent 25 years working on the core Windows operating system. I just do not like to see my work trashed on a guitar forum that I am a member of.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

well getting butthurt isn't going to change the perception of the vocal minority who don't use windows...chillax.

I agree, thank you, and I am sorry I responded.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

i think everyone here will agree that almost all responses are welcome- but getting offended about other's opinions, no matter how misguided or downright incorrect they may be, ain't gonna accomplish much.
for the record, i am a lifelong windows user, and i won't be buying ridiculously overpriced/elitist Mac products for home usage, ever.

nothing wrong with me that a mac vs. windows debate can not prolong.

_________________
member of the guild of professional dilettantes

Hey I don't care if u trash any OS. As long as yer not driving a Chevy or playing an ovation. We're good !

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

Wud download the free version of malwarebytes. Great at removing these malware threats...Mike
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

_________________
Another day, another dollar.

+1 Filippo

That is why I only replied with the same quote that was pointed at me... I see no reason to provoke someone with actual facts when they only can see one side.

BTW, I also have 25+ years working with Windows, I am certified in WIn95, Win98, NT Desktop, NT Server, Cisco Routers and Fiber Optics Installation and maintenance. so I know Microsoft products and networking very well and am not just speaking from a Linux fan-boy point of view.

Again I apologize for making any remark. I admit I took the comment "programmers at MS don't know how to write a secure line of code it is no wonder why Windowz is like a flea ridden dog." personally.

I was one of 18 developers that started the NT project in 1988. I am very proud of it. I will admit putting in process user installable active X controls into IE running on a system where most of the users run as admin was not the most secure architecture. But from Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista Sp1 especially the 64 bit editions Windows is very secure from viruses. NT Desktop and NT Server go way back to before XP, Microsoft has made some improvement between then and now.

It is a fact that even today 95% of exploits are targeted at Windows, as it is still gives the most bang for the buck. It is also true that 1 in 36 MACs have MAC specific malware. Few know it because they do not run antivirus. 1 in 5 MACs have PC viruses (in this regard they are only carriers). The number of MAC and Android exploits and infections have been rising. Android especially as the number of phones are growing. As I said earlier you never hear about Windows Phone malware ... I could claim that it is more secure than Android ... It is because the installed phone numbers are so low there are not very many exploits developed. It is not worth the effort.

If one is really nervous about malware, Windows 8 and 8.1 X86 systems ship with Hyper-V, the virtualization hypervisor. One could work in a VM for most of the more dangerous online activities, If the VM gets a virus, just shoot it and start another VM. For the most part the VMs run at 93-95% of the performance of the base system. You could even run your Linux systems in the VM.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

ah more of that OLF hypersensitivity. apologies.
i call it like i see it; maybe that's just the chicago Democratic way. i've dated graphic designer chicks and i have frequented big city coffee houses, so i stick with my opinion- and i see yet more bolstering evidence in this thread. as far as "personal" derogatory comments, no.

I have used Windows for years and have been hit twice both times probably my fault . I do however wish that Microsoft would keep and support Windows Xp Pro as far as I'm concerned " my opinion" it was best OS I have used I am not nearly as happy with the later ones and really dislike W8. That having been said. I will continue to use Windows

_________________
The Shallower the depth of the stream , The Louder the Babble !
The Taking Of Offense Is the Life Course Of The Stupid One !
Wanna Leave a Better Planet for our Kids? How about Working on BETTER KIDS for our Planet !
Forgiveness is the ability to accept an apology that you will probably NEVER GET
The truth will set you free , But FIRST, it will probably Piss you Off !
Creativity is allowing yourself to make Mistakes, Art is knowing which ones to Keep !
The Saddest thing anyone can do , is push a Loyal Person to the point that they Dont Care Anymore
Never met a STRONG person who had an EASY past !
http://wiksnwudwerks.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/groups/GatewayA ... rAssembly/

I agree with Todd it comes down to preference and use. I think all three the of operating systems in discussion are very good.

The current Mac OS uses a Mach micro kernel from CMU with UNIX (FreeBSD) utilities. We looked at the Mach kernel when starting NT, but found it too encumbered (IP related issues). By the way, the developer of the Mach kernel Rick Rachid has been with Microsoft since 1991. Macs have traditionally run on very constrained hardware platforms and made little effort to maintain software compatibility version to version. These design decisions allow them to make a very nice controlled environment for their software development. This decision limited their market opportunity, but they have been able to sell their systems at non commodity prices and make a profit. Traditionally Microsoft has made as much money on Mac as Apple has. This was the reason Microsoft bought a bunch of preferred stock and rushed out a new version of Office when Apple was hurting in 1997. In terms of real capability the only area I think Mac beats Windows hands down is real time audio processing.

The Windows NT OS was developed from the start as a portable (can run on different processor types), multiprocessor, Micro kernel architecture. For portability reasons it was designed to run on top of a hardware abstraction layer and allowed installable hardware drivers. This allowed for a lot of good things like the number of computer manufactures, graphic card vendors, network card vendors and the like that have been able to independently develop hardware and have Windows run on it. The same was true for software. The core OS and even IE were developed as open platforms allowing other company to extend the base functionality. This architectural choice while very good for Microsoft in terms of customer reach, did run into issues in that Windows and IE are only as good or only as secure as the third party software, both the PC manufacturers and users install on their systems. Starting with Vista Microsoft has made extraordinary efforts to secure the system from third party software and the user. Windows NT now runs on, phones, Xbox, PCs, Tablets and giant 1024 processor, several terabyte main memory systems with nearly flawless scalability.

If I was going to make a targeted device I would strongly consider Linux as the embedded OS. Linux is being developed by very professional salaried programmers from the computer industry, including Microsoft. The ability to build just the system I wanted and the availability of open software for the majority of functionality I required would push me to use it. Besides small constrained devices like lab instruments I would include devices with nearly full server functionality like network routers and load balancers. The last project I was involved with at Microsoft included developing an open source management infrastructure component for Linux. While I have not been impressed with the Linux projects that attempt to mimic Windows, corporately supported distributions like android and now chrome as a tablet OS are very impressive.

_________________
http://www.Harvestmoonguitars.com

@johnparchem,
No need to apologize to me, I understand your passion over MS products. I have seen it over and over with people I have worked with in the past. I had my own business setting up and administering networks for small business, mainly doctors and dentist offices. I also was a contractor with one of the main hospitals here. When I pointed out to my manager that their system wasn't safe because people were leaving their computers on, his reply was "No problem... they are logged out of the system". That night when I got home I hacked into one of my co-workers computers and planted a fake virus warning and then signed it "Dread Pirate Roberts" which was my hacker name back in the 80's. The next day I watched the action and after the fun I went into my manager and told him that I hacked in just to prove there was a problem. The next thing I knew I was in the Lan department talking with the security guy explaining how I did it. They threatened me with ending my contract but within a couple of weeks they offered me a job. I managed and maintained over 40 offsite facilities doing all of their site administration including servers, routers desktops and network admin. That is where I gathered all of my certificates (which I don't really put much value in)

Most of the people I worked with in IT were very passionate about Microsoft just like you so I get it. It is the old saying "You can't see the forest for the trees" I don't see things that way. I guess it is my background in the early days of computers where there were no rules and few boundary's. I had my first computer (Vic 20) for well over a year and didn't own a single program because I wanted to be the guy writing them. I also was fascinated with viruses and had a collection of over 1500 of some of the worst ones out there. I was just curious... so I learned as much as I could. I also have run almost every operating systems that has been made. One of my most favourite was IBM OS/2 and Warp. Outstanding security and was pretty much bullet proof (yet another fatality of the Bill Gates monopoly).

So it sounds like we have similar backgrounds with the exception I didn't make my living from Microsoft and never bought into the Bill Gates theory of one OS for the world.

Nothing I like more than a good debate about computers and operating systems.

So there is absolutely no reason to apologize for your passion (even if it is one sided...((he said with tongue in cheek))


@Todd Stock



Exactly.


I would make a challenge to anyone running Windows with all the "protection" of virus scanners, malware scanners, and firewalls.

Shut all the crap off and see how fast your computer actually is... and then Google "Port Scanners" it is a test to see how many holes (ports) are open in your OS.

I can do a scan on my Linux with no virus protection and no firewall and it will come up with Zero.

Here is a scan I just did: (the list is much longer but it reads all the same)




Give it a try with your Windows box with and without virus protection and firewall. I think you will find you have a large number of open ports (just like leaving a window or door open in your house). That is how hackers get in as well as some exploits that can lead to viruses, trojans and malware.


DId I say I love a good debate about operating systems?