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The problem with Linux is that it doesn't have Visual Studio.
Not because I use Visual Studio, but because so many others do.
I do use VS myself, but the important thing is that VS has enabled countless developers to create equally countless software tools - from super-complex software suites to nifty little applications. That is what makes me stick to Windows as my main platform.
In several rounds, I have provided some *nix installation for myself, parallel to my Windows installation. Every time, I have ended up returning to the Windows machine for this and that and that. Photoshopping, video and sound editing, even text editing, sound/video capturing (/ripping), email, household accounting, sound / video playback and archiving, ...
And hobby software projects using VS, because I share them with Windows based friends. Because they, like me, have concluded that that is where to find photo, video, sound, and archiving tools they can handle. I guess that there are *nix tools out there that I could use for building Windows applications usable for my friends, but will any of them claim to be significantly better than VS?
Whenever I have had a *nix machine in active operation, my use of it has been used for what a *nix machine is best at: Building software for other *nix machines. For that, it is unsurpassed. The last few years, I haven't had a single such hobby project, so currently I have no operational *nix machine. I know of no utility outside the realm of *nix software development, of interest to my daily life, provided in so much better way (or at all better!) that it is worthwhile switching over to the *nix machine for running it there.
I am in the process of designing a software structure for managing various home aspects (call it "home automation", but that's a long discussion!) where *nix aficionados would claim "But that is a server function! Servers are better run under *nix!" Or maybe not... Having to relate to utilities/libraries maybe handling 7-bit ASCII only, requiring one of umpteen different quoting conventions for handling file names and argument strings, inability to handle multiple-stream files, ... And so on. For a few single point, *nix servers might be better. But the extra effort of adopting them to interact with user-friendly front ends, and to handle data from front ends without problems, creates so much bother that I need good arguments for accepting it.
Today, running a Windows service, or server, really is straightforward. Thirty years ago, you were comparing smoothly running *nix servers with MacGyver Windows solutions - That is old history, and no longer an argument for spending resources on making gateways into the *nix world. *nix must offer something of value by its own - must provide a convincing answer to "What's in it for me?" ... Where "me" is something else than another *nix software developer.
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If I buy the computer how I am thinking to buy it a Windows VM running under Linux will still have more resources available as my current main computer.
I will buy it with Windows 10 professional, then format and clean reinstall, do an image... and then give it a try.
If it annoys me as I am already experiencing with support at my relatives... I think I try Linux pretty soon, and then decide what I do with my main OS.
But for all what you say... I think a VM will do it.
M.D.V. 
If something has a solution... Why do we have to worry about?. If it has no solution... For what reason do we have to worry about?
Help me to understand what I'm saying, and I'll explain it better to you
Rating helpful answers is nice, but saying thanks can be even nicer.
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One of the solutions I tried, years ago, was running Windows in a VM. Virtualization technology was less mature than it is today, the hardware support not like on modern CPUs. So some drivers wouldn't run. And performance was sluggish - maybe not for lengthy, CPU-intensive processing; it was more a problem of latency: immediate response like keyboard echo on screen and mouse handling felt as if signaling through a rubber band.
A few years ago, we introduced VMware at work (as a test configuration management tool, to be able to run exactly the same test setup ten years later, without regard to underlying hardware) - I guess most people consider VMware as "mature" technology. All drivers relevant for our setup did work, but we experienced significant latency in the USB handling - so bad that the test driver had to be modified to handle it. When going from USB2 to USB3 (we needed the higher capacity; the software/firmware to be downloaded to the device under test had increased by orders of magnitude in a few years), we dropped the virtualization and searched for other ways of test configuration management.
I may be setting up a VM machine at home. Every now and then, I pick up some old Win16 software that won't run on a 64-bit Windows 10, but I can run it on my old Windows 98 license. Another VM can run some *nix, for the few things where *nix software can do things significantly better. But for my everyday tools, I will avoid driver issues and latency/performance issues by running directly on physical, non-virtual hardware. I sure recognize that VMs today are different from what I tried to make work 10+ years ago, but the more recent experiences at work tells me that I am far safer if the hardware is real, not only something pretending to be hardware, especially when doing low level programming.
If the majority my everyday tools were *nix based, I guess I would opt for running on a *nix base, with Windows in a VM. That is not the case. I leave VMs for the less used tools. For me, that includes Win98 and *nix.
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Quote: I leave VMs for the less used tools. For me, that includes Win98 and *nix.
Me too - plus DOS 6.22 and a Vista license which is still good.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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That's a suboptimal solution, your computer will need to be updated every now and then to stay secure.
At least if you're connected to the internet.
Better solution:
Open the Group Policy Editor.
Navigate to Computer Configuration -> Administrative Templates -> Windows Components -> Windows Update.
Then enable the policy: No auto-restart...
There are plenty more settings for Windows Update if you want to fine tune the behavior.
You're welcome.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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My solution: WSUS.
I get to approve/reject whatever updates I want.
I've never seen the "upgrade to Windows 10" nagware that people had been complaining so bitterly, or any of the "Windows 7 is out of support" screens and the like.
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Great! I was looking for a particular "Administrative Priviledge" elevation method without having to reinstall an olde software under elevated (to run-as-administrator) CMD ... and seeing the GP Editor interface restored my recollection of having done it before using the very same.
Unfortuneately, this is not going to be easy ... to FIND the cruddy install that is flagging my attempt at running it by right-click elevating and running as administrator (due to drivers THAT WILL NEVER BE SIGNED FOR WINOWS 10; duh!) ... because GPEdit.exe has no immediate facility to look through it's "policies" and get the location where all the unaltered STATES (Not Configured) for the olde app reside. There's a filter mechanism but no dedicated interface to the policies.
Perhaps you might know the exact location under which installed software hoists it's petard so an OWNER can do some mechanical SETTING changes? Administrative Templates, surely ... but where exactly?
(apologies to all ahead of time for hijacking a thread to make my own personal gains expedient)
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Well, if you want to see the "Resultant Set Of Policies", you need to run rsop.msc, it will tell you which policies are set to something else than default.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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Very cool. Thank-you! Will do that right now ...
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Also, if you want to change privileges you should take a look at secpol.msc, that's where those things reside.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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Wow. Thanks for that as well.
Here's what I found using just GPEDIT.MSC ... (long story shortened) ... there's no way to do what I want to do because it's already done! Which is what I feared, and what rsop.msc so adeptly makes clear ("snap-in" filter probably), DISABLED is the "User Account Control: Use Admin Approval Mode for the built-in Administrator account". And because there's no signed driver there's really only default-at-install behavior going on so the app runs at dismal complete "blocked for your protection" anyway.
That's it. I'll just uninstall it, restart, and run the setup again under elevated command prompt from a DOS window.
(wrt secpol.msc -> it still is weird to me how, under Security Options the Policy "User Account Control:Run all administrators in Admin Approval Mode" could be ENABLED but one is getting the big red UAC block anyway)
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Ok, then you need to restart into troubleshooting mode.
Go to the start menu and click "Restart" while pressing down the shift button. Choose Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Startup Settings and click the Restart button.
When the computer restarts you will get some choices, one of them will be “Disable driver signature enforcement.”
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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It's Saturday man! You must be crazy ... etc ...
( I must admit, too, that having just two days ago experienced a Windows 10 blue-screen event where my Video Memory Block got flipped, that doing anything on the computer to show me that Advanced Options screen again so soon, especially on the weekend, is not going to be in my plans ... for a WHILE  )
And for you kids out there following along in this thread: be sure, when you go to start/restart Windows 10 after a BSoD event, to be in VGA ONBOARD MODE and have that analog connection to your extended desktop monitor hooked up with power to the display ... because when Win 10 goes into "troubleshoot" mode, you better not be relying on your HD graphics card video and HD monitor to do anything but enable a dance in the darkness ... under a flickering HDD-LED-lit light!
Go ahead, young'n ... hit the reset button on the exterior of your box dispite being warned not to turn yours off during the act of recovery. Make Windows 10's day.
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Well, the Wife and kids are watching a movie I can't stand, so I'm sitting here with some bourbon watching ACDC videos... 
That's where you can always trust laptops, monitor won't fail in troubleshooting mode. Well unless the monitor is the problem.
Wrong is evil and must be defeated. - Jeff Ello
Never stop dreaming - Freddie Kruger
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What! No flickering LED to your HDD!
Jörgen Andersson wrote: Well unless the monitor is the problem.
Perhaps your HDD has evaporated!
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Herself is watching TV, and an advert made me think: "cough and cold" remedy companies must really hate Covid - I've not seen or spoken to anyone with even a sniffle this year, probably because "don't catch Covid" measures are also very effective against colds and flu.
So here's the question: have you noticed a lot less seasonal sniffles? Or is it a local thing / figment of my imagination?
"I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
"Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt
AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!
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The only sniffles I've had are due to allergies since March, or a slight reaction to my Flu Shot.
However, your question made me think, if someone has caught a cold, then they have been doing things that are just as likely to have resulted in them getting COVID.
"Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana."
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As a heavy lifetime allergy sufferer, I am acutely aware that my occasional sneezes (always into the sleeve) and throat clears are attracting FAR MORE CONCERNED GLANCES when I'm picking out my produce these days.
Folks with allergies can't always tell when they're sick in the early stages of an illness, because the symptoms of allergies are often similar to colds, flu, pink eye, etc. Always wondering if you're catching something or it's just your normal sinus issues is a bit stressful. It's like being a hypochondriac, except there are actually symptoms.
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Not wishing to tempt fate, but: so far, so good. 
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There has been nearly zero cases of seasonal flu (influenza) in Québec and Canada since April.
2 things, masks and hand washing and social distancing really helps with Influenza (and with a large normal vaccination program) and that the COVID is really a bitch and is easily transmissible.
In French :
Québec : fin ce vendredi de la campagne de vaccination contre l'influenza | Radio-Canada.ca
(google translate)
"The Ministry of Health and Social Services (MSSS) observed that the spread of influenza has greatly decreased and that the influenza activity index has been almost zero since last April, both in Quebec and in the rest of Canada..."
"...The low prevalence of seasonal flu in Quebec reflects what happened during the winter that ended in the countries of the southern hemisphere. Australia, New Zealand, Chile and South Africa have all reported a plunge in the number of influenza cases compared to the previous winter."
I'd rather be phishing!
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Rhinovirus is responsible for the common cold. very different than covid.
Thousands have had the common cold and thousands have died from the flu (not covid), worldwide.
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Flu's down something like 95% in most of the US. Wasted my time, it seems, getting my first flu shot.
But as for colds and sniffles? Where I live, post-nasal drip is a given and the occasional sniffle going along with it; Mrs. Wife has allergies and such.
An interesting thought, however, when we talk about colds. We now know how to virtually eliminate our changes of getting cold/flu - when COVID's finally gone then we may still decide to self-isolate during certain times of the year. Is that a good idea in terms of not exercising one's immune system?
| Ravings en masse^ |
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| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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I also got my flu vaccine, better be safe than sorry.
I'd rather be phishing!
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At some point I'll fully accept my real age - but the vaccine's so hit-and-miss, mostly miss these last few years. Mix into that those who get a degree of misery from the shot.
My father had a very bad reaction some years ago and apparently that was common; my wife had a bad enough reaction to say 'never again'. She started taking them, mainly, when she was teaching and it was requires (or wear a mask in class). She's since retired.
So - better safe? Always risk/reward. COVID is life and death, and even should you recover that does not mean you will escape lingering damage. Like polio, tetanus, diphtheria, &etc., It's worth the shot for some reasonably long-term coverage. Flu? It's only good for the current year (maybe) and it's rarely life threatening or prone to leaving lingering damage.
So, for me, flu vaccine is not so clear-cut as many other immunizations.
| Ravings en masse^ |
|---|
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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I don't want to have to social distance and wear a mask my entire life.
If that means I get the flu and/or cold, so be it.
People suggesting we social distance forever and wear masks forever, just so we don't get the cold/flu, are bloody crazy.
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