Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[wierd]

Microsoft likes to play chicken with this issue too much to give a meaningful answer that will stick.

They change up how that subsystem works, and how the oobe setup wizard does stuff.  Tricks to bypass it from a few months ago no longer work, etc.


Microsoft is VERY gung-ho on this Microsoft Account BS.  They VERY much want to bolt on vertical integration on a platform that historically never had it, in order to harness the microsoft store as a vendor-locked source of income, similar to apple's app store for idevices.

No. Do not want. They can pound sand.

[Schmaven]

If Linux didn't have such a steep learning curve, I would switch over and never go back to Microsoft OS.  But I can't even figure out which distribution would be good for me, which is likely to have long term support, what the differences are between them, and if the commands are the same or if I'd be starting over with each one.  I know people figure it out, and probably if you can learn to play pre-premium DF, you can learn any software, but I had more time back then than I do now.  And my last attempt got stuck with the internet not working, so I've been disheartened and discouraged about my Linux capabilities, despite all its glorious promises of freedom.  If anyone has any good directions to point me in though, I haven't totally given up on the idea of switching to Linux.  Each new Windows version is a fresh kick in the butt to do so.

[McTraveller]

The thing keeping people off Linux isn’t the learning curve - it’s the many applications that are Windows only. Often games, but also “industrial” or niche maker apps. For my mom it’s software to interface with her pro-grade sewing machines. Specifically the embroidery machine - the software it uses to convert images to the stitch format and then talk with the actual machine.

I guess the ROI just isn’t there to support Linux - and it’s UI heavy enough that it’s not trivial to port. Probably also because Windows is too easy to put the core logic in the UI code…

Sadly it’s 2023 and we still don’t have close to a universal development platform.

[Lord Shonus]

The thing keeping me from using Linux is that every time I've tried, there's something ludicrously basic that just straight up refuses to work, and I spend hours tinkering with the OS instead of just using the computer.  Generally the advice I get on dealing with this is "oh, the great thing about Linux is that you can just code up an alternative if you're not happy", and if even if I could code I wouldn't want to spend time trying to code in the ability to sort by video duration or whatever just plain works in Windows.

[Ulfarr]

Which method would you recommend for Windows users to remove the most of the telemetry without going to the point of just installing another OS?

There's always the Adama Method

If Linux didn't have such a steep learning curve, I would switch over and never go back to Microsoft OS.  But I can't even figure out which distribution would be good for me, which is likely to have long term support, what the differences are between them, and if the commands are the same or if I'd be starting over with each one.  I know people figure it out, and probably if you can learn to play pre-premium DF, you can learn any software, but I had more time back then than I do now.  And my last attempt got stuck with the internet not working, so I've been disheartened and discouraged about my Linux capabilities, despite all its glorious promises of freedom.  If anyone has any good directions to point me in though, I haven't totally given up on the idea of switching to Linux.  Each new Windows version is a fresh kick in the butt to do so.

I don't have any actual experience on Linux yet but I've been planning on setting a drive and give them a try. From what I've learned/watched so far, my understanding is that I should just pick one of the more noob-friendly distributions and just go from there as the needs arise. Mint is often quoted as a good choice for beginners.

I've found this youtube channel which, while I can't really evaluate the quality of their info/opinions, I like the way the present stuff.

[LordBaal]

Linux doesn't have such big steep curve anymore. Sure you can still have or move around using commands if that's what makes your boat float, but since quite a lot of time there are distros that setup everything from you and work with extremely comfortable and efficient graphical user interfaces. As McTraveller and Lord Shonus states, is ironically software. Not all people make their apps for Linux and even when they do then the variety of distros can make things not work in certain ones give issues. And sadly when working or playing people rather want practicality over hardware/software efficiency.

On the subject of shutting down Windows 10 telemetry found this: https://github.com/Sycnex/Windows10Debloater

[Starver]

(A bit ninjaed, as I tried to reduce tue waffle, and probably failed.)

In general, the major difference between Linux dists are not in the 'commands' (i.e. anything you'd do with shells, saving perhaps precisely what shell-based install command to use), but in the 'skinning' of the GUI. The package-manager interface[1] may vary a bit, but within broad 'wizard'-style bounds that make adding (and removing) functionality not really an impediment for most[2].

Once installed, GIMP is GIMP, LibreOffice is LibreOffice and that Asteroids-like game is that Asteroids-like game, no matter what wm you have (by necessity, default or choice). KDE/Gnome/whatever-based might change some of the support issues you encounter (basic apps might be KDE-specific or Gnome-specific, which might mean hoops to jump through on a basic system install), but being (potentially) as simple as Tom's/Motif or going into the Ice/Xmonad/xfce/etc is mostly bells-and-whistles (like the trend to go for the fancily rendered 'desktop furniture'). And you really don't need glorified "scrollable horizontal ribbon toolbars", a la Apple, when a (now) basic "Start button on a toolbar" gives you much the same (whichever edge/corner of the screen it inhabits) in a way long-time Windows users should be comfortable with.

(Really minimal distros might not even have a 'classic toolbar', instead you pop up a menu by right-click on the desktop, but even Puppy/Damn Small Linux (both JWM?) these days seem to include the toolbar/'start button' setup.)

If it really needs to be reconfigured to work, any half-decent thing (under open-source development) probably has had someone do the necessary work just so that it works for them.

Of course, closed-source products may be beyond use (unless WINE/etc helps). And when you're dealing with someone who gets confused when a "small icon" view is changed to a "details" one[3] then it can be a bit of a hill to climb to get used to a more widely revamped appearance and having to switch away from MSOffice to Libre and/or Photoshop to GIMP (advantages to both aside). Even if OOTB or trivially-reconfigured-OOTB functionally does exactly the same.

Horses for courses. Dists for lists (...of highly personal pros and cons).


[1] Assuming you didn't go straight to one with negligable out-of-the-'box' GUI, and even then you tend to get 'ASCII-rendered' pseudo-GUI setup and package installation tools so you don't need to do more than click-or-tap your

[2] In fact, my past tendency has often been to go "I want that, and thst, and that, and definitely that. Let's also try that, and I can always remove that later...", which was always a developing problem when disk space was a premium.

[3] Actual experience of that... If I switch it, e.g. to sort/examine by file-size, I need to remember to change it back before handing back..m

[dragdeler]

I dont like linux because when it doesn't work out of the box, the suggested solutions never work either...  It wouldn't take an outrageous improbability, for you to simply try out a solution you dont understand and screw up your OS install in the process. You hear a lot of good about pop and mint until you don't. Personnally I think debian is the most tolerable distro not because the UI comes most naturally to me, but because it seems to be the least broken. It is generally advised that if you want to use linux, you don't buy an nvidia gpu, iirc.



Well win10 is gonna hit end of support soon... Here's me hoping they keep updating "definitions for viruses" for another decade, and stop fucking messing with the system, then there won't be a thing I don't like about w10 anymore. Tho I've rarely bothered with making any changes that are known to be futile anyway.

[Starver]

Well, October 2025 is "the end-point of Windows 10 support". Which is not to say you can't continue with it, with caveats. (I've still got a Win2K machine[1] in constant use!) But might be complicated by the inbuilt "windows as a service"/semi-subscription model.

Also interesting to read the (now historic) reports about how Windows 10 "would be the last version". There's a bit of interesting "forward analysis" in the likes of this report (dated 2015) - though the first run-through I just did of it crashed my browser (probably a specific ad badly reacting with my system/connection), just to warn you - which may be useful to compare with what we see now.


But I digress. As usual.


[1] The hardware was originally Win98ed, so you can imagine that I couldn't even consider "reWindowsing" it, these days. But it's all happily registered through the mechanisms and standards of the day, so I'm sticking with it until it actually[2] breaks. (Tempting fate by mentioning it, yet again.)

[2] Irrevocably. The fan in the PSU actually did break free of its spindle, more than 20 years ago, shortly after I 2Ked it. Replaced it, and the new one (fan, that is, in otherwise original PSU) has been spinning ever since. ...the place I bought the fan from has long since gone out of business, actually, but I doubt it's for specifically having sold far too good spare parts! :p

[Lord Shonus]

Note that that "last version of Windows" was never an official claim from Microsoft. It all stemmed from one guy who worked there and included the line as a throwaway comment in an interview.

[Ulfarr]

I dont like linux because when it doesn't work out of the box, the suggested solutions never work either... 

For what it's worth, I've never seen a suggested solution for any windows problem that work either 

Frequency of problems aside, it seems to me that for the last ~5 years, whenever I had to look for solutions all I found was the "same" copy-pasted answers that either didn't work or straight up told you to reinstall the OS.

Speaking of problems, excel decided to fuck itself once again. For some reason it started crashing whenever I try to import data from txt. All I know is that it doesn't do it to all files, so maybe some of them got corrupted? Googling it (even with the error code I found through the event viewer) didn't bring up anything useful, so any suggestions are welcome.

[Starver]

Speaking of problems, excel decided to fuck itself once again. For some reason it started crashing whenever I try to import data from txt. All I know is that it doesn't do it to all files, so maybe some of them got corrupted? Googling it (even with the error code I found through the event viewer) didn't bring up anything useful, so any suggestions are welcome.

If you re-save the .txt in different encoding (perhaps going from on or other UTF-16 to UTF-8/ASCII/whatever, possibly even going the other way?) does it import nicer (or at least not crashy)?

Have you also tried cutting it down? See if sequential chunks of (say) a hundred lines will import, individually[1], identifying "safe" bits and narrow down "unsafe" bits until lines (and perhaps fractional lines) of data are identified as your problem, perhaps where a problem with your chosen combination of delimiters (tab, comma, semicolon, space, etc) might be. Unexpected string delimiters (e.g. “”s (inter?)mixed with ""s), or issues with a form of Scientific Notation of values, might also trip it up (though shouldn't/oughtn't!)... Once identified, you might be able to work round it, or prepare your source(s) better in a simple(ish) extra step.

Not quite knowing what data or format you're handling, this is just a generic suggestion. Perhaps it includes something you haven't considered (even though I imagine you have done most of it already).


[1] Slice and resave externally, or perhaps use the "From row:" to skip a given number of original-file lines, if the issue isn't with LineFeed/NewLine stupidity itself...

[dragdeler]

I dont like linux because when it doesn't work out of the box, the suggested solutions never work either... 

For what it's worth, I've never seen a suggested solution for any windows problem that work either 

Wdym whenever I stumble upon a solution that involves editing the registry I'm like "aw yiss somebody knows their stuff this is going to work", diskpart and diskmgmt.msc are great, the old control panel for the most part pretty good. Problems other than that relate more to software than OS... About the most annoying problem you could have on windows is a version of .net or c redist refusing to install because of the state of your system updates... Which yeah that's not great, and the solution usually involves ignoring a bunch of offical MS pages that have been long erased, but you will up finding it anyway because the knowledge has been formalised and copies are plenty. IMO every linux problem is that but worse: you dont know what dependancies are stopping you from doing a thing and to find out you're not simply navigating a relatively obscure update version history, but this... And usually it wont refuse to install something incompatible that could brick your OS, windows will probably just tell you: yeah no that's not for me.


How the fuck would you go about installing a retro linux computer... I'm completly ignorant but like if the solution involved typing something into you terminal and downloading some dependancy in 2006... How is that stuff not gone by now, tell me I'm actually curious.





Aw good old win2000 machine. I love win9x... it's been a while I stopped looting computers at work that aren't at least DDR3/DDR4... but one thing I'll allways take with is computers and parts that use the AGP port. God I love my retro shit.

[Ulfarr]

Speaking of problems, excel decided to fuck itself once again. For some reason it started crashing whenever I try to import data from txt. All I know is that it doesn't do it to all files, so maybe some of them got corrupted? Googling it (even with the error code I found through the event viewer) didn't bring up anything useful, so any suggestions are welcome.

If you re-save the .txt in different encoding (perhaps going from on or other UTF-16 to UTF-8/ASCII/whatever, possibly even going the other way?) does it import nicer (or at least not crashy)?

Have you also tried cutting it down? See if sequential chunks of (say) a hundred lines will import, individually[1], identifying "safe" bits and narrow down "unsafe" bits until lines (and perhaps fractional lines) of data are identified as your problem, perhaps where a problem with your chosen combination of delimiters (tab, comma, semicolon, space, etc) might be. Unexpected string delimiters (e.g. “”s (inter?)mixed with ""s), or issues with a form of Scientific Notation of values, might also trip it up (though shouldn't/oughtn't!)... Once identified, you might be able to work round it, or prepare your source(s) better in a simple(ish) extra step.

Not quite knowing what data or format you're handling, this is just a generic suggestion. Perhaps it includes something you haven't considered (even though I imagine you have done most of it already).


[1] Slice and resave externally, or perhaps use the "From row:" to skip a given number of original-file lines, if the issue isn't with LineFeed/NewLine stupidity itself...

Thanks for the suggestions, I think I solved it for now, though I'll have to figure out a more elegant/permanent solution.

My data are just rows of text {"mean value" ±"sd" }, I'm basically using the import function, because I found it easier/faster to just paste into a txt, format it a bit and then import them as separate cells for {mean value} and {sd}, so I can use them for calculations.
Since I don't really care about the "source" txt file, I've been using the same one for all files, sometimes for multiple uses within the same excel file.

Now I don't understand what's happening, but for whatever reason, that messes with excel's data quarries and causes the file to crash at the end of the import.  The fix is to delete the, automaticaly, saved data quarry after every import..which is quite a convoluted thing to do manualy everytime, but I haven't found how to disable it yet (if at all possible at my version).

I dont like linux because when it doesn't work out of the box, the suggested solutions never work either... 

For what it's worth, I've never seen a suggested solution for any windows problem that work either 

...

I'm not sure if I just misunderstood you, but as I said a  few posts ago , I've got no experience on linux. My comment was purely intended to shit on windows..or rather the current state of windows troubleshooting.

[blitz4]

Advice to those with a CPU less powerful than a 5700x, play vanilla premium and have $20/month to kill to rent a 5700x. Don't use mods or dfhack and don't care about using an existing save.

Check out GeForce NOW if you meet the minimum requirements.

https://nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/5225
https://www.nvidia.com/en-us/geforce-now/system-reqs/


I do try to remain unbiased. The service has issues. But unlikely what you're worried about. The #1 worry of most is input latency. That's unlikely an issue if you live near one of their servers. I get 8ms ping, <20ms input latency from my server on PC and about 40ms input latency on a 5G connection on my phone when I'm stationary. You just have to try it and if you can't afford an better CPU, it's there. If you've questions I've answers.

Specs: 4080 24GB/5700x/32GB RAM