3 ms·

Threads like this are always littered with advice to reinstall the OS of any computer you buy, and it troubles me. The vast majority of people have never heard

Threads like this are always littered with advice to reinstall the OS of any computer you buy, and it troubles me. The vast majority of people have never heard this advice, and would have trouble following it even if they had. Are we saying that only people technically competent enough to install an OS (plus a few close friends and relatives) can have fast, safe computers? Do we think that what we don't accept should be good enough for the rest of them? Or have we already given up any hope of solving it more than individually? I don't have an answer here, but I'd like to see the discussion go beyond 'no probs, reinstall the OS' now and then.

WorldMaker 9y ago
I recommend to all my friends and family Microsoft's Signature Edition program that vets OEMs for clean Windows installs with minimal drivers (it's easiest to buy a Signature Edition at a Microsoft Store, but some OEMs, Best Buys, and Staples can all offer it if you ask nicely). So far that seems to be pretty sustainable advice for non-technical friends and family expecting to use Windows.
arca_vorago 9y ago
Well I agree in general, but to get there you would have to change how vendors operate with customers and between each other, and that doesn't seem to be happening despite all the spyware and other craptastic after effects. If congress wasn't so corrupt I would say regulation might help, but as it stands Kstreet would likely make it worse... Another point of view is I don't like this assumption users can't or won't learn. I don't complain that a TIG welder is only for experts because I can't operate it with no training, because its a tool that requires training, and so is a computer. This is why I think one of the main problems is that schools should not be teaching proprietary systems. (Once again a thing RMS was right about)

WorldMaker 9y ago

I recommend to all my friends and family Microsoft's Signature Edition program that vets OEMs for clean Windows installs with minimal drivers (it's easiest to buy a Signature Edition at a Microsoft Store, but some OEMs, Best Buys, and Staples can all offer it if you ask nicely). So far that seems to be pretty sustainable advice for non-technical friends and family expecting to use Windows.

arca_vorago 9y ago

Well I agree in general, but to get there you would have to change how vendors operate with customers and between each other, and that doesn't seem to be happening despite all the spyware and other craptastic after effects. If congress wasn't so corrupt I would say regulation might help, but as it stands Kstreet would likely make it worse... Another point of view is I don't like this assumption users can't or won't learn. I don't complain that a TIG welder is only for experts because I can't operate it with no training, because its a tool that requires training, and so is a computer. This is why I think one of the main problems is that schools should not be teaching proprietary systems. (Once again a thing RMS was right about)