I called the local guru last night. I've chatted to him in the past about photography - he had some of the latest Nikon kit and is one of those people that really goes deeply into the technicalities. Anyway, W10 is a good earner for him - taking the f'in thing off and formatting their drives. It seems to be steady work as he's very hard to get time with. Nice.
Since someone high up in MS said, "Anyone that gets Ten now will never have to pay for the use of it". Something like that and pretty close. I can only gather they mean to eventually charge the world for the use of new OS's.
In the mean time they are using the world as a testing ground for a series of silly toys that most serious users don't want, and an OS that spies on you by the minute.
For the first time since I used to sell DOS and early Windows with my workstations (AutoCAD) I've not minded paying for software. The Gates Foundation is good and I hope it can be funded in the long term - but not by annoying the hell out of folk that have been computing for . . . Well, over three decades in my case.
what's the answer? XP was superb, and many big companies are still using it. Vista was a glimpse of the future but weighed the machine down to absurd levels. W7 looked like the future, but then 8 appeared, and it's said only three people in the world liked it, and they are quite mad. 8.1, finished by a lone individual so people could drive it, looked like it might be fun - if it was on someone else's machine!
W9. Now there's an OS. Trouble is, no humans are allowed to use it. Ten. Stripped of toys and spying equipment. Mmm, could be.
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Last edited by Loose rivets; 7th Feb 2016 at 11:18.