Bitch, bitch, bitch

A little over 8 years ago, just before I came to Mexico, I bought a top-of-the-line VAIO laptop.  If I remember correctly it cost me over 3000 US dollars.  It's still in pretty good shape except that it needs a new battery. Microsoft has quit supporting Windows XP. And they informed me that they are are no longer going to support Microsoft Security Essentials on XP machines. I had a disk for Windows 7 laying around and so I thought I would install that but it didn't work because Sony did not provide windows 7 drivers for this laptop.

So I'm pissed off at Sony for not providing the drivers and I'm pissed off at Microsoft for not supporting my XP any longer.  And I'm also pissed off at Google for forcing me to install Google+.

I realize these companies are in business to make money but it seems a shame that my laptop is just a piece of shit now and Google wants all my information.

What do you think about this situation?

       

Of all the bad news you could receive, of all the tragedies that could strike your home or yourself or your family, this one is not too bad. Better yet, it is fixable with money.
I would be annoyed and would complain a lot while I went about deciding how I could stay connected while spending the least amount of money I could get away with. Then, when it was all fixed and I was back to sitting in comfort in front of (probably) a new computer I would remember to be grateful that this was my big problem and so easily fixed.
A PITA to be sure but, still, aren´t you lucky?

Papa Chango:

How would Sony have provided drivers for WIN7 when they built a computer for XP? First of all VISTA came out in between XP and WIN7 and isn't the accepted procedure that you go to VISTA first and then go to WIN7?

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Of all the bad news you could receive, of all the tragedies that could strike your home or yourself or your family, this one is not too bad. Better yet, it is fixable with money.
I would be annoyed and would complain a lot while I went about deciding how I could stay connected while spending the least amount of money I could get away with. Then, when it was all fixed and I was back to sitting in comfort in front of (probably) a new computer I would remember to be grateful that this was my big problem and so easily fixed.
A PITA to be sure but, still, aren´t you lucky?

Couldn't be better said! $3000 is a bit of a high price for a PC, but still $3000 / 8 yrs = $375 per year.

I'm not saying you shouldn't feel pain, but there is a cost to owning a computer. Only you can decide, based on the benefits you received, if it was worth the cost. Next time you might buy a $750 computer that lasts 2 years. Is that better or worse?

Aw, I feel your pain! Truly. Pero, así es. . .

Last year my bottom-of-the-line Dell (of about the same vintage as your VAIO) was ailing, so XP was wiped off and Ubuntu put on. Runs great--I like it better than my windows 8 laptop.

Lady Otter Latté wrote:Of all the bad news you could receive, of all the tragedies that could strike your home or yourself or your family, this one is not too bad. Better yet, it is fixable with money.
I would be annoyed and would complain a lot while I went about deciding how I could stay connected while spending the least amount of money I could get away with. Then, when it was all fixed and I was back to sitting in comfort in front of (probably) a new computer I would remember to be grateful that this was my big problem and so easily fixed.
A PITA to be sure but, still, aren´t you lucky?

I am lucky. Things could be a lot worse. But I'm kind of a green person and I like to keep a small carbon footprint and I don't like to see all this electronic gear ending up in landfills.

I spent a day and a half trying to get windows 7 to work.  But luckily I had made a ghost of the drive and within about 2 or 3 hours I was back up and running on Windows XP.  Since I'm using my Android smartphone to do almost all of my computing, I just won't use the laptop to load anything then might have a virus in it.

I like to use an open source operating system.. problem solved.

CheenaGringo wrote:Papa Chango:

How would Sony have provided drivers for WIN7 when they built a computer for XP?  First of all VISTA came out in between XP and WIN7 and isn't the accepted procedure that you go to VISTA first and then go to WIN7?

The graphics chip on the VAIO was provided by NVIDIA so maybe they are the ones that should have developed a driver for the laptop.  But several other features on the laptop lacked new drivers too.  I couldn't get my Blu-ray drive to work and I couldn't play or burn Blu-ray discs any longer.  

I never installed Microsoft Vista because it got lousy reviews and I was perfectly happy with XP.

If your PC is crap, get a Mac. You'll rue the day you ever looked at a PC. All this talk about XP, 7, etc., etc. It's dizzying. Turn the Mac on and compute. Done deal. I'm using a 5 year old Mac & it operates the way it did the day I bought it.

+1 on Linux. Ubuntu is great, as is Linux Mint. These are as easy to install as any Windows product and it's all free.

I was not bitching about operating systems and I would never own an Apple product.  As we used to say, "Apple, the computer with training wheels".  Android is based on Linux and I like that just fine for an open operating system.

I use Ubuntu, and I am happy with it, bye bye Windows, virus and malware .

While true both Linux and android are open source Google controls most important parts of Android. Don't believe me Google the question and see.
Z

You need what is called a Distro. This a bundled package with Linux and all the support programs you need, like media playback, word processing, web browsers, etc. It is all free, very rarely are Linux machines attacked, and your computer will actually you with how fast it is over XP. The only thing Linux is weak on is games - but that is changing too, one of the hottest (and funniest) games right now is Goat Simulator, it will be on Linux and Mac by this summer.

The biggest problem is deciding which Distro is right for you:
http://distrowatch.com/

I have dual boot Win7 and Ubuntu 12.04. The only reason I have Win7 is because it was on the (used) machine when I bought it. The last time I was a regular Windows user was way back with Windows Millenium---what crap! Every few months I feel a need to get into Windows for something and each time I end up waiting around for an hour or so while Windows downloads all the latest patches since my previous log on. I'll stick with Linux.

I'm thinking I'll probably switch to Ubuntu 14.04 when it comes out in a couple weeks. I have no reason to change but I also have no reason not to.

George

Bunyan wrote:If your PC is crap, get a Mac.  You'll rue the day you ever looked at a PC.  All this talk about XP, 7, etc., etc.  It's dizzying.  Turn the Mac on and compute.  Done deal.  I'm using a 5 year old Mac & it operates the way it did the day I bought it.

Yes if I was new sure go Mac but for xp users I can't agree unless you get training. Same with Linux. My wife and I find macs to be the most frustrating computers ever made. Now before you bitch I started out on analog computers and ran VAX,hp1000, hp3000,IBM sys3, 360,4331, DG,amigas,hp85 etc etc. Macs are great don't get me wrong but they are not for everyone. Same reason I use android instead of iPad which still sounds like a sanitary napkin to me. By the way I still have a five year old aio that works perfectly with w7.
Z

IMO mint is the OS that is closest to a Microsoft OS in aperance. And for those who say no more updating with Linux, you are mistaken. In fact, Ubuntu is the most updated OS out there. But you have to update it manually. Sudo apt-get upgrade ; Sudo apt-get update. That is one of the reasons it is one of the most used OS's for web servers.

As others have said go with a Linux OS and your $3k computer will be faster and better than it was with XP...

I like Puppy because of its easy interface and fits on a small capacity flash drive. You could borrow, or pay for time on anyone's Windows box, boot from U.S.B., and completely secure communications, transactions, etc. It can also be used in troubleshooting a Windows box, boot virus, etc.

CHILLIN wrote:I like Puppy because of its easy interface and fits on a small capacity flash drive. You could borrow, or pay for time on anyone's Windows box, boot from U.S.B., and completely secure communications, transactions, etc. It can also be used in troubleshooting a Windows box, boot virus, etc.

What a great idea!!!

Z

CHILLIN wrote:I like Puppy because of its easy interface and fits on a small capacity flash drive. You could borrow, or pay for time on anyone's Windows box, boot from U.S.B., and completely secure communications, transactions, etc. It can also be used in troubleshooting a Windows box, boot virus, etc.

If you like puppy, you should try katana. http://www.hackfromacave.com/katana.html