Month: November 2015

When it comes to Windows systems I find that Bitdefender Internet Security is the best for me. It’s got a great Firewall and Antivirus combination, it’s silent and unobtrusive, it doesn’t bog my PC down, and best of all unlike (choke, gasp!) McAfee it actually prevents malware.

Bitdefender also has excellent online technical and commercial service and can fix most problems in a jiffy. However I recently (and not for the first time) encountered problems where BD antivirus prevented me from doing a legitimate upgrade to my PC. It’s a matter of dueling technologies I suppose.

AMD recently released its newest “Crimson” drivers and since my laptop’s graphics haven’t been updated in a year I decided to download and install the latest AMD software. When I started the installation it got all the way to 2% progress, then the text got gobbledegooky on screen and the window darkened. Finally a message came up that the Installer was not responding. This is scary; if you bork your video driver your computer is in trouble. Fortunately the old driver stayed in place and worked.

It took a couple of days of Internet research to find out that Bitdefender was at fault. Its real time antivirus solution was blocking AMD’s installation. The solution was to completely uninstall Bitdefender, install the video driver software and then reinstall the Internet Security programs. What usually takes a couple of minutes took about an hour.

This is the second time this month I’ve had trouble with Bitdefender. It wouldn’t work after I upgraded to Windows 10 so I had to remove it, install a newer Windows 10 compatible version, and verify my licence. You never find this stuff out in advance, unfortunately.

I suppose I could switch to another Internet Security suite when my licence expires but it seems to me that all of these security products have issues with legitimate changes on your PC. Part of the price you pay for the Windows way of doing things. At least BD keeps me safe (so far.)

If you buy a laptop or desktop computer today, chances are you don’t give much thought to the operating system it runs. And chances are it’ll run Windows. Despite the inroads made in tablets and smartphones by Apple and Android, Windows still reigns supreme in the conventional computer market. About 90% of the so called “x86 based” computers run Windows. Maybe 8% run OSX. And a tiny 2% run something you likely never heard of – Linux. Pity.

For if you thought about it a little, you might conclude that it would be a good thing to use something at home that:

• Supports the majority of hardware and software that makes up the Internet. Linux dominates in the server universe. This blog runs on WordPress, and WordPress depends on Linux. My website provider is likewise dependent on Linux to function and deliver stuff to your (Windows) desktop.
• Can run on anything from a tiny micro-PC like Raspberry Pi up to a huge server farm in the Cloud.
• Forms the basis for Android and Google’s Chromebook O/S and underwrites Google itself, Facebook, and Amazon – giant companies that need Linux.
• Is freely published, distributed and modified. Bugs are easily found and squashed because any programmer who wants to contribute can contribute. Linux is not secret nor proprietary in nature.
• Can do essentially all the stuff you want to do – surf the Web, get email, play and record music and video, do Office work, save files to the cloud, read and save most Windows formats, organize your photos and so on.
• Is relatively safe, secure and free of viruses and malware. You don’t need a suite of CPU sucking security apps to venture out in cyberspace. There are antivirus programs for Linux but they mostly keep your email safe so you don’t send a virus to a Windows user.
• Is absolutely free and can save you $100 just on a Windows licence alone. In addition to the operating system, all the Web browsers, email programs, music players, Office software, photo organizers and editors, website design software and Linux based games are also absolutely free. That could potentially save you hundreds of dollars.

It all seems too good to be true, and when I first learned about Linux in 2007 or so I thought there had to be a catch. But aside from learning a little geekery, or making friends with a Linux geek to get the system installed there isn’t any catch at all.

You can get Linux easily enough – download a copy of Ubuntu or Linux Mint or one of many other possible distributions you can find at Distrowatch. You’ll need to transfer the file to a DVD or a USB stick and then you can try it on your computer as a “Live” system to see how it looks. After that your Linux geek friend can advise you as to how to install. That might be the tricky part, as Linux doesn’t always come with training wheels!

In fact my advice would be to put Linux on a second, older computer that maybe runs Vista or ran XP at one time. Linux is well suited for older hardware and can often resurrect a computer that otherwise is only good for landfill. You blow off the older Windows install and run Linux from now on.

You can set up Linux to run alongside Windows although this might be tricky with certain versions of Windows (like Windows 8 or Windows 10.) Your geek friend will be invaluable here.

If you want to run Linux on a newer machine (it’ll fly) my advice is to build your own box using slightly trailing edge hardware and install Linux from the get-go. I have two machines like this that have run nothing but Linux from the outset. I saved myself all that cash outlined above, and still have powerful and useful equipment. I expect them to last far beyond the normal working life of a Windows based machine.

Linux is not Windows so there is a learning curve – but it isn’t difficult to use. There are certain things you don’t get – Internet Explorer, Outlook, Microsoft Office, or the latest 3D games – but for most practical uses there are Linux based substitutes. However if you are an out and out gamer there’s no substitute for Windows in the computer world. That’s about the only thing you really need Windows for.

Anything you do with a browser can easily be accomplished with Google Chrome or Firefox in Linux. You probably should be using those browsers in Windows, to be honest.

Fast, safe, secure, versatile, flexible, customizable, and free. What more could you ask? Linux is really too good to be true – and it is true.

If you’ve had a personal computer around home for more than 10 years, chances are it started out a desktop with separate screen, speakers, and keyboard. It likely had an wired printer attached and ran Windows XP. You probably had a desk setup for it and plugged a cable into the desktop directly from your ISP’s modem.

If you are an Almonte senior you have likely replaced that machine with a newer slower laptop, a wireless printer, a wifi gateway and maybe you now have a tablet and smartphone you connect to your wireless network.  All these have increased complexity and given you more headaches if something goes awry. But you may still sit at the same desk and maybe even plug in the old desktop screen and keyboard. Go figure.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense to me, frankly. Although it is often said in the media today that a desktop computer is a dinosaur waiting for extinction, if you aren’t traveling outside the home to do most of your Internet stuff a desktop is by far your better choice. I”ll explain why.

I have 3 (count ’em) desktops on the go right now at my place. The major computer both my wife and I use is a Windows 10 desktop in our upstairs den. I have a second wifi equipped desktop in the basement that runs Linux and that I built from scratch. That’s the one you see in the photo. A third Linux desktop plays music in the work room in the basement. They all do their jobs well and have advantages over a laptop, as follows:

1. Longevity
   My oldest desktop still in use is now 7 years old. The newer units have 2012 technology but work just great. I have a 10 year old desktop sitting in the junk room that I could still use if needed. The older machines run Linux, so they aren’t obsolete or insecure and they still run fast. Compare that to the average laptop which is usually ready for replacement after 4 years.
2. Performance
   Desktop processors become obsolete much more slowly than laptop processors. In fact the last few generations of die shrink and processor development have lowered power consumption and size but have done little to boost speed and performance. A 2012 era quad core processor on a desktop will still do the job impressively, even if you’re running games on your machine. Desktops use a bit more power but it isn’t really that big a deal when you see how much faster they run.
3. Fans and Cooling
   Heat is the enemy of any computer system. In a desktop you can add as many cooling fans as you need to keep hard drives, video cards, processors etc. cool and effective. A laptop will have all its components scrunched into a tiny chassis and with one wimpy fan to keep things cool. I recently had a Dell laptop die because eventually heat destroyed the connection between the motherboard and the video chip.
4. Upgradeability
   You can do just about anything you want with a desktop system if you have a large enough case. Add more storage, put in a solid state drive for your operating system, change the power supply, add a video card, increase memory capacity – it’s up to you to decide. With a laptop generally what you see is what you get. Also it’s a lot easier to work on a desktop as the case is generally easy to open. With a laptop you might have to tear it apart just to replace the hard drive, or add memory.
5. Peripherals Flexibility
   You might want to get a bigger or sharper video screen and you can do that with a desktop. Try that with a laptop if you don’t want to plug in a secondary screen. On the other hand, you can re-use your keyboard, speaker system, even an old wired printer if you want. It’s all good.
6. Want Linux?
   It’s much easier to set up Linux only on a desktop when you build it yourself. You don’t have to pay for Windows, figure out how to boot Linux alongside Windows, worry about any of that stuff. Just install Linux and you are in business. You will find it very difficult to get a laptop with Linux installed or with no operating system at all.
   An older desktop system that might not run Windows today can be re-purposed with Linux. One of my “clients” bought an new but slow Windows 7 laptop to replace a fine XP based desktop system. I put Linux on the desktop and it gives him fewer problems than his new laptop does – especially since he upgraded the laptop to Windows 10. The old PC even runs an 2005 era old genealogy program that Windows can’t use any more.

If you decide to eschew a laptop and go with a desktop, you have to be careful what you buy today though. Many low cost consumer grade desktops – especially those in “small form factor” i.e. tiny cases – are little more than laptops in disguise. They have mobile processors, small motherboards, laptop style power supplies, and limited space for upgrades or additional cooling. If you plan to buy a desktop, I would advise getting a full width commercial grade desktop from a good manufacturer. You might still have to upgrade the power supply if you want to add in a better video card – I had to do so with my Acer Veriton desktop. Otherwise it has excellent specifications and quality components.

If you are building your own desktop you can spec it out to suit yourself. I did that with my Linux box and even with a supposedly inferior AMD quad core processor at the heart of the machine, it flies.

My desktops do everything you’d expect – surf the Web, do office work, play videos, music and games, and they do so with power and speed. They are better in every way to a laptop except if I want to travel. I do have a laptop to take away with me, but I could probably get by with a tablet for those occasions. As a senior I do probably 95% of my computing from home and a desktop is the obvious solution. The big keyboard,  23 inch screen and the excellent speaker system featured on each desktop are just icing on the cake.