What Computer(s) & Operating System(s) Do You Have? Pros and Cons?

I'm a diehard Linux user. Wanted to add that if you are considering Linux there are GarageBand and Logic alternatives for software in the Linux world. LMMS, Reaper, Ardour, Bitwig Studio and Spek. I'm not an audio expert, I do hear LMMS is professional quality and not as user friendly as GarageBand.
 

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I have a Dell Inspiron that came with Win 10 (s) loaded. S in this case stands for S**t as it won't allow you to load the software you want or modify the registry. Anyway, I wasn't wanting Windows in any form as I've been using Linux for years, so I loaded Ubuntu 20.04.
True that Linux is a bit of a 'Geek' system, but unless you want to do anything fancy, it works great as an everyday system and looks similar to Windows.

The nice thing is that apart from being FREE, it comes(depending on the distro) as a basic system and then you load what you want from the software repository, customise the appearance etc.. I use Chromium + Duck Duck Go, Openoffice and Thunderbird mail. All free.
 
I have Hewlett Packard PC, printers etc. and have Windows 10.
I also have Amazon Music program- it is $8.99 a month.
I make my own CDs for my car and as gifts to friends.

I haven't not done that lately and my Windows media has been upgraded so I hope it is still easy to use.

I can buy a song or album I like at amazon, get it into an MP3 and than transfer it to a CD disc.
 

Capt Lightning said:
I have a Dell Inspiron that came with Win 10 (s) loaded. S in this case stands for S**t as it won't allow you to load the software you want or modify the registry. Anyway, I wasn't wanting Windows in any form as I've been using Linux for years, so I loaded Ubuntu 20.04.
True that Linux is a bit of a 'Geek' system, but unless you want to do anything fancy, it works great as an everyday system and looks similar to Windows.

The nice thing is that apart from being FREE, it comes(depending on the distro) as a basic system and then you load what you want from the software repository, customise the appearance etc.. I use Chromium + Duck Duck Go, Openoffice and Thunderbird mail. All free.
Click to expand...
I don't know how well Linux would work with the music production software we are thinking of getting. When my son moves out, or maybe even before, he's thinking of getting something other than Logic. He asked me how we would still be able to on music after he moves. I refused to get another Logic program after mine crashed, especially since he has one and I'm thinking of getting a PC. I told him I was thinking of getting Cuebase and he's sure that would be a viable option.

@iksentrik I'd have to check about the programs you mentioned. The pro of getting Cuebase, besides my son's familiarity with it, is that a good friend has used it for years and she could help me when I need it.
@ArnoldC "Wanting to migrate wholly to chromeOS but have been with MicroSoft for so many years am reluctant to make the break. Less than knowledgeable about either of them to know what I'd be losing vs. what I'd be gaining. Result is I'm stuck in the middle with both." I know...choosing what to get can be overwhelming!
 
I have a Dell computer and Windows 10. I don't have any problems with it. It's faster than my last computer, too. I only paid 175.00 for it from a computer shop. The man asks you what you can afford and then he tells you what he has. I could have gotten one cheaper there but I wanted the faster one.
 
@ArnoldC @Capt Lightning @Devi @Ruthanne
I have a good friend who is a recording artist & music producer, so knows what can handle my music production needs. She has three computers, including a Mac, which is what I have now. She favors Dells and uses one for producing videos and one for audio production. She does not use her Mac for music production and reiterated that Apple upgrades usually wind up being downgrades. I can attest to that! She said the best computer for me would be a Dell XPS model for gamers and recommends that I store my music on external drives, which I do anyway
 
I mentioned I just bought a recond laptop from dell, and it has
Win 10 on it, which I knew nothing about...but slowly, I am
getting some results with it, but I've learned that my old brain is
in trouble when it comes to the passwords and sign in stuff...I
have prob gone thru 500 password combo's trying to get it
all set up on the laptop....heck my brain does not rewmember the password 5 minutes after i've invented it and put it on the
website I'm dealing with, It has been a real rude awakening!!!!!:confused:😣😧
 
hawkdon said:
I mentioned I just bought a recond laptop from dell, and it has
Win 10 on it, which I knew nothing about...but slowly, I am
getting some results with it, but I've learned that my old brain is
in trouble when it comes to the passwords and sign in stuff...I
have prob gone thru 500 password combo's trying to get it
all set up on the laptop....heck my brain does not rewmember the password 5 minutes after i've invented it and put it on the
website I'm dealing with, It has been a real rude awakening!!!!!:confused:😣😧
Click to expand...
Is there somewhere you can write your passwords down and keep them safe? There are apps to help with that but of course you'd have to remember the password to the app! 🤗
 
Linux has bit me again. Over the years, I've tried a variety of Linux distributions and always ran into problems. This time, my son gave me his Dell laptop to play with because he was upgrading to something newer. It had Windows 10 on it and still ran fine. But, I figured why not install Linux on it and see how it works.

I put Linux Mint on a usb stick and did a full install, wiping out Windows. The installation went smoothly and everything looked fine and I shut it down. The next time I turned it on, the Mint symbol came up and then the mouse pointer. And then the monitor scrambled and went to a blue screen that never went away. I tried it several times and it was always the same.

I thought maybe I could just reload Mint from the usb stick. Nope. I get a message of no bootable media found. So, at this point I have a dead laptop. I'll do some research and hopefully find a fix, but I'm not optimistic.
 
hawkdon said:
I mentioned I just bought a recond laptop from dell, and it has
Win 10 on it, which I knew nothing about...but slowly, I am
getting some results with it, but I've learned that my old brain is
in trouble when it comes to the passwords and sign in stuff...I
have prob gone thru 500 password combo's trying to get it
all set up on the laptop....heck my brain does not rewmember the password 5 minutes after i've invented it and put it on the
website I'm dealing with, It has been a real rude awakening!!!!!:confused:😣😧
Click to expand...
I have some memory issues and use a simple formula for all my passwords so I don't forget or have to save them anywhere.
Example:
What is my Name? Who cares! (Senior Forums)(Year)
WimN?Wc!(SF)(2024)
Every account has a different password using the same formula. You can customize it to whatever sentence you can remember.
 
Grampa Don said:
Linux has bit me again. Over the years, I've tried a variety of Linux distributions and always ran into problems. This time, my son gave me his Dell laptop to play with because he was upgrading to something newer. It had Windows 10 on it and still ran fine. But, I figured why not install Linux on it and see how it works.

I put Linux Mint on a usb stick and did a full install, wiping out Windows. The installation went smoothly and everything looked fine and I shut it down. The next time I turned it on, the Mint symbol came up and then the mouse pointer. And then the monitor scrambled and went to a blue screen that never went away. I tried it several times and it was always the same.

I thought maybe I could just reload Mint from the usb stick. Nope. I get a message of no bootable media found. So, at this point I have a dead laptop. I'll do some research and hopefully find a fix, but I'm not optimistic.
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Do you have any way to recreate your bootable usb with the Mint iso? I run into a similar problem on my last Mint install and had to recreate it again. I think I used a different flash drive as well. I normally boot into the live environment to make sure it will run properly when installed, then install from there. Good luck!
 
iksentrik said:
Do you have any way to recreate your bootable usb with the Mint iso? I run into a similar problem on my last Mint install and had to recreate it again. I think I used a different flash drive as well. I normally boot into the live environment to make sure it will run properly when installed, then install from there. Good luck!
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Yes, I could make another iso flash. I'll try that. Thanks. I did try a live environment first and it seemed to run OK. I wish now I had made a backup of Windows. That was dumb.
 
I have a Win10 laptop that I dual booted with Linux Cinnamon Mint. Too much trouble to go back and forth. As infuriated as I got with Windows update and just how sluggish it was, I could not bring myself to wipe out Windows. I do have some embroidery software that doesn't work well with Linux. And I will get back to embroidering. haha
But I was feeling reckless one day and found a reconditioned laptop on Ebay that had Linux preloaded. The laptop itself was around the same age as my Windows one but had a lot more RAM and the bigger, faster hard drive. So I gambled....and feel like I won.
I love it and have not booted the windows laptop in months. I found that Only Office is an excellent Excel replacement for me.
Not a gamer or power user.
 
Dell Mini's in my office, 11 pro systems, 27" monitors. peripheral vision.
Multitasking a bit. Brush up on your keyboard commands when changing
to 11 Pro, you need them and they save you lots of time.
 
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Ressa said:
I have a Win10 laptop that I dual booted with Linux Cinnamon Mint. Too much trouble to go back and forth. As infuriated as I got with Windows update and just how sluggish it was, I could not bring myself to wipe out Windows. I do have some embroidery software that doesn't work well with Linux. And I will get back to embroidering. haha
But I was feeling reckless one day and found a reconditioned laptop on Ebay that had Linux preloaded. The laptop itself was around the same age as my Windows one but had a lot more RAM and the bigger, faster hard drive. So I gambled....and feel like I won.
I love it and have not booted the windows laptop in months. I found that Only Office is an excellent Excel replacement for me.
Not a gamer or power user.
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Have you tried a reset in system / Security? Save your files. I went with the Mini's after having similar problems after Windows updates. Face it
10 pro has seen better days now. Mostly the same situation with older Apple Phones, they start chasing their tail and eventually just tick me off.
 
I cleared out programs and files and a number of other things. Win10 just irritated me and made me anxious. lol
Shame because my Microsoft stock ain't doing bad!
I know they are moving towards subscription stuff and more in the cloud. Not for me, though. I really like a lot of the free programs in Linux. I noticed that the dinky photo program will even convert the iphone photo format to jpeg.
I started out on DOS and still miss XP.
 
I finally left Windows 10 behind, and upgraded to Windows 11. There is one problem that I have encountered. Malwarebytes is interferring with Windows 11 updates. I get several error messages, and it finally installs correctly on the 3rd try. I tried shutting down the "Real time Protection" but that didn't work. Maybe I reboot first next time, and then try to install the Windows 11 updates.
 
ElCastor said:
I have a relatively ancient PC that hardware wise can’t handle Win 11, so for now I’ll have to stick with 10. What advantages are you experiencing with Win 11?
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It's not so much advantages, as much as it is getting used to Windows 11. Microsoft lets you know that some of the apps that were in Windows 10, are not in Windows 11. Malwarebytes got along with Windows 10, but it does interfere in Windows 11 updates.
 
OneEyedDiva said, "My computer has been acting up ever since I did the "upgrade". I'm kind of familiar with that complaint. I'm not that computer literate, but that seems like a really common problem- the upgrade screwed my computer. Ya think they would have fixed the problem of updates?????????????
 

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