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I must disagree. I turn 57 next month, and am still a software engineer. My boss tells me that I am valued for the breadth of my knowledge and experience.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I'm 65, and still a programmer. Of the 12 developers on our team, I'm the only one that codes as a hobby. I'm looking forward to retiring in a few years.
".45 ACP - because shooting twice is just silly" - JSOP, 2010
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You can never have too much ammo - unless you're swimming, or on fire. - JSOP, 2010
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When you pry the gun from my cold dead hands, be careful - the barrel will be very hot. - JSOP, 2013
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Apart from being cheap, the 30 year olds are willing to work night shifts without compensation, to fit a manager's dysfunctional perspective on technical skills vs. NUMBERS that get them PAID.
Reality in a corporate mindset refuses to be tested in the TANGIBLE world. They honestly believe that, by uttering buzzwords, they have the "magic" to create their own "truth" by telling everyone only what they want to hear.
In reality, 50+yo technicians are hated to death for seeing through the BS, and refusing to serve their heads up on a silver plate.
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� Forogar � wrote: Is it because all the old, experienced programmers who developed it are now enjoying their retirements on various beaches around the world and the new programmers are little more than script kiddies to whom new icons and competing with that fruit company are more important than solid, reliable code that does the job?
Is, as per the aforementioned fruit company, form more highly rated than function? 
Is it just that adding new, fancy but generally useless features are more important than fixing old bugs? 
All of the above!
There are some very good young programmers out there, but many of them are going into "sexy" fields such as AI/ML, and see O/S development as something for old fuddie-duddies. Little do they realise that if the O/S is not solid, all of their towers are built on sand.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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They no longer have to ship a high quality product because they know they can push out a fix change any time they like.
Even DOS was much higher quality due to the inability to provide patches.
In other words, the existence of a solution has caused the problem.
I recommend using OpenVMS; it's very stable, secure, and hardly anyone tries to hack it or develop malware for it.
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PIEBALDconsult wrote: I recommend using OpenVMS; it's very stable, secure, and hardly anyone tries to hack it or develop malware for it.
It also doesn't (yet) have an x86 port that is usable on bare metal. If you need another O/S to host it, you haven't gained much in security.
Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows.
-- 6079 Smith W.
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I'm surprised how close they are though.
V9.0 May 2020 Limited Early Adopter's Kit
V9.1 H1 2021 General Early Adopter's Kit
V9.2 H2 2021 General Release
But I'll be keeping my VAX, Alpha, and Itanium boxes anyway.
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� Forogar � wrote:
Is it just that adding new, fancy but generally useless features are more important than fixing old bugs?
I'm sure Marketing thinks so.
Look - give credit where credit is due - they know their audience and form has long since outpaced substance in importance.� Forogar � wrote: I'm seriously thinking of going back to a flip phone.
I've only ever had a flip-phone. When I want a computer I'll use a computer; when I want a telephone I'll use a telephone. When I want to be a brain-dead zombie with a device in my hand, 24/7, then I'll just shoot myself.
| 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 had a semi-related though back in the 90's about Microsoft and Novell. At the time, Novell did one thing and did it well (NetWare). Microsoft was struggling because they were trying to do it all with one package. It still seems as though they are trying to be the be-all and end-all of computer software. Just my opinion...
"One man's wage rise is another man's price increase." - Harold Wilson
"Fireproof doesn't mean the fire will never come. It means when the fire comes that you will be able to withstand it." - Michael Simmons
"You can easily judge the character of a man by how he treats those who can do nothing for him." - James D. Miles
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"Your Organization (me) has turned off automatic updates".
"Your device is missing important security and quality fixes."
I wait until the crying dies down to update.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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I don't the problem lies entirely with the programmers. In fact, I think they are minimally at fault. I think the fault lies with program managers and those who make the decisions and the behavior of the software and then issue the edicts to make it so. They are the ones who make asinine decisions like let's update laptops that have their lids closed. We don't care that it has a gaming GPU in it that requires the lid to be open for cooling.
I detest two things about W10 : GUI and the update policies. There is a longer list of annoyances.
"They have a consciousness, they have a life, they have a soul! Damn you! Let the rabbits wear glasses! Save our brothers! Can I get an amen?"
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� Forogar � wrote: Why isn't it?
Never noticed, in all those years, how Office leads?
� Forogar � wrote: I'm sure Marketing thinks so. 
They do, and leading is Office.
And people would not spend money if it doesn't look fancy and new.
� Forogar � wrote: Why wasn't Windows 7 left alone a bit longer?
That's a sane developer talking, not marketing.
I need not rub these answers in your face. Next windows will have animating icons.
Bastard Programmer from Hell 
"If you just follow the bacon Eddy, wherever it leads you, then you won't have to think about politics." -- Some Bell.
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Quote: There seem to be a trend these days with M$ breaking its own O/S with updates. It used to happen in the olden days (definition: anything more than a couple of years ago) but not as often. Windows 10 was supposed to be the ultimate solid, stable O/S and, after decades of experience and developmental work, it should have been.
Why isn't it?
Lack of competition? End-user apathy?
For the first one, IT staff everywhere are dead-set against introducing anything new into an organisation. It's not users who are resistant to a Linux desktop; when people were allowed to choose their own devices they didn't go with the 'familiar' Windows on phone, they chose almost anything else instead. You can almost understand why, though. Someone who is a guru on Windows is probably not going to be happy about learning basic concepts.
For the second one, why spend money on extra quality when it doesn't result in more money? End-users throughout the 90s and 2000s bought even the most buggiest Windows versions in droves. At this point there is not point in improving the quality of Windows: anyone who wants reliability and robustness goes with Linux (hence there are more Linux instances on Azure than Windows).
For the desktop, you don't need reliably and robustness to be higher than what Windows provides at the moment.
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I have no insider information, this is purely speculation. I think these reasons are the important ones:
1. legacy software: windows has been dragging around a lot of support for legacy software. This only compounds every time they make a change. But seeing that their major target audience are enterprises (who like to see their legacy software chugging along), they can't just stop support (Apple can do this much more easily) Maybe they should have a windows version where legacy support is optional.
2. breadth of hardware. Windows has to keep running on many hardware configurations. It's impossible for Microsoft engineers to test all possible combinations of hardware. Again, Apple doesn't have this problem.
3. priority. MS' focus is on the enterprise and on Azure. This probably means that a higher budget (and, therefore the best engineers) are working on Azure and other non-Windows services.
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IMHO they are trying to keep up to date their systems with latest technology and customer needs, that today are far more complex than few (10-20) years ago, and this is not easy at all. Apple started this battle of making everything looks "easy", but Windows - compared to iOs - it's not a toy.
Windows supports a lot of different hardware and a lot of feature, GUI, server, for home but also business needs, etc. Linux does good servers, iOs good UI for home use (and few for business, local pcs, no big networks).
I like the freedom Windows give us, the development experience, and so one.
In more than 20 years I never had a problem that was not related to HW (HDD, RAM, etc). On the other side, with Apple you need to stick to super-expensive basic hardware, and you have no way to customize it on your needs, or do a upgrade, install your sw, be able to be "free" etc etc.
Linux could give us the same freedom, but they are way back in GUI, if hey only worked together we could have had an amazing OS, but instead you have 1000 half-baked cakes (in terms of GUI).
So, I think Microsoft is doing an amazing job if you consider the amount of hardware is running on, and the smooth UX on desktops apps, many for free too.
And yeah, speaking about hw, please don't compare a 300$ low-entry-celeron ACER vs a 2000$ Mac as many Apple fanboys did in the past (and still today), but instead compare a 2000$ Dell (or similar) vs a 2000$ Apple.
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I feel this is rose-tinted.
Used all the Windows versions extensively, from leaked alpha builds to preview server versions and everything in between.
Windows 10 is the best version in my opinion, and before that Windows 8.1, and before that Windows 7, before that Windows XP, and before that 98SE, and before that 3.1
My metrics are hardware support, first hand experience with BSOD, maintenance effort, and most critically: how often does family bug me with technical questions per year. Since Windows 10, the latter has dropped off to 0 calls each year. 
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Turn off invisible scroll bars:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/103061-turn-off-automatically-hide-scroll-bars-windows-10-uwp-apps.html
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Thanks for this info. However, my point is why would they be invisible by default? What idiot thought that was a good idea? The same one who thought hiding file extensions by default was a good, secure, idea? 
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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The same idiot who thought changing a button to different colored text you need to hover over to see it's clickable (Windows 8). I'm not sure they were thinking. . .
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Since we don't seem to have a hardware forum, I'll ask this here, for those in DIY electronics.
Exactly how good is USB for providing power to a device? I specifically mean devices that are not attached to a computer and use the USB cable strictly for power.
I've long felt that we need a standardized low-voltage DC power source coming right out of our walls, much in the manner that we currently have 120V (or 220V) AC coming out of our walls -- to eliminate the need of all those "brick" power adapters cluttering our power strips. The last time I discussed this publicly (about 10+ years ago), I was scoffed, with the reason being every device uses a different voltage. (I rejected that, as AC devices were able to adapt to use 110V, so DC devices could adapt to use the standardized voltage).
The real problem was that every device used it's own plug size (and selling the proprietary adapter was a profit center). However, now there's some movement to power things with USB cables.
So, the question for the electrically minded here: If all you had available to power your device was an USB cable, would that be viable?
Truth,
James
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For basically anything but a power amplifier or kitchen appliances, yes.
Latest versions of USB-C with Power Delivery can move up 100W and is used for powering laptops nowadays.
Here[^] are some ICs if you want to play around with it.
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I have USB ports on my keyboard (lame) and ones on the computer (better). And some on power bars / chargers (best).
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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I don't think USB ports on the keyboard is lame. In the early days of USB, I loved it, for a few reasons: Computers had too few ports, so when you got yourself a USB mouse, and a USB card reader residing on your desk, plugging them in "locally" was great. If you must run separate cables for both keyboard, mouse, card reader, scanner, printer ... all the way to your PC, your mouse has seriously limited freedom of movement, and you have enough cable spaghetti that all you need for an Italian meal is the carbonara sauce... In those days, PCs made noise - my early tower PCs resided in a noise chamber, and getting at any of the ports were a hassle. So when I made a PC corner in my living room, I drilled a hole through the wall for the cables and put the PC itself in the neighboring room. To plug in another USB device in the computer (directly), I must leave the room.
Nowadays, I have a wireless keyboard and mouse (with full freedom of movement), so the "local" USB ports are in my screen: That is where I plug in the keyboard/mouse dongle, but most of all: where I plug in the memory sticks and the 'passport style' portable USB disks. I plug in my smartphone there, both for charging and for transferring photos to the PC. Sometimes I even plug in my full blown SLR or video camera for transferring a handful of photos or a couple clips to the PC, but my current screen only supports USB 2.x, so for lengthy videos or scores of hi-res photos, I take the bother to go to the computer and read them through a USB 3.x port.
If I still were on a cabled keyboard, and my previous screen that didn't have USB ports, I would be very happy to be able to plug in memory sticks into the keyboard, and to have mouse and keyboard connected to the PC with a single cable.
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Mine are "lame" because, in my case, they were under-powered.
I think my (MS white) KB is at least 10+ years old ... it has things like: "My Computer", Calculator, Sleep, Mail, Volume, web navigation, media navigation, on and on.
YMMV.
It was only in wine that he laid down no limit for himself, but he did not allow himself to be confused by it.
― Confucian Analects: Rules of Confucius about his food
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Are we not there already?
I power devices from USB A sockets in my car (in my old car, I had a cigarette lighter adapter with three sockets). My last two cellular phones came with AC adapters with USB A connectors (and the last one of those I bought early 2016, the one before that must have been about ten years ago). I recently bought a charger adapter with three high-power USB 3 A sockets and a USB C socket (I bought it together with my keyboard because I thought I needed the adapter for charging the keyboard, without knowing that the keyboard would come with an A-to-C cable - but it is nice to have a high power 75 Watt charging unit in any case.) Neither of these have any hub functionality; they are all plain chargers.
For low-power devices, USB has been The charging standard for years. The power supply may have A or C sockets, but it seems like A will be the universal one for many years to come.
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