I'm sure they have to make it better and more secure or people would turn away from it.
ms hit the market first with a system everyone liked, and they really had no viable competition at the time.
Despite the fact Apple provided a lot of schools with computers, hoping that once they learned on an Apple they would stick with it. ms did something else, they flooded the business market with PCs, and hit the home users as hard as they could.
So folks learned on PC computers, and that was what was used in the workplace as well.
So they had a most secure footing in the home and small business marketplaces.
People don't tend to change what they are used to and like, even if there is something better out there.
Even large companies who use all mainframe computers running Unix, Linux, or some other OS, will still have Windows computers on the floor to cut training costs for data entry employees.
But those days are changing now that folks have gotten used to using Schmartz-Fonz and laptops that work like Schmartz-Fonz.
More and more businesses are using Linux on the floor, and the people working there are no wiser, because when they log-in, all they see is the companies screens they are authorized to work in.
Heck, even when we were using PCs with Windows at my brothers business, I changed the log-in screen to his company logo screen, and also had a screensaver that used his company logo, only smaller and about three or four of them floating around on the screen. If a computer monitor went to sleep, when you woke it up, you got the company logo screen to log-in again.
Plus, depending on which desk you were working at, only the icons for what they did at those desks was displayed.
And that was over 20 years ago now. But what I'm saying is, even back then, they didn't know what OS the computer was running unless they hit escape to get out of the log-in screen. But even then, they still got my brothers logo on the screen, but all the other icons for Windows were now visible, hi hi.
With over 90% of the worlds servers all running Linux, you can bet your boots to dollars that Security is Job One!
ASUS Zephyrus S19
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Part of my job at Motorola involved maintaining servers and keeping all the clients connected to them happy. There were about 300 nodes I had to watch over at one time. The servers for the factory were from Hewlett Packard and there were terminals all over the factory floor feeding people information they needed for their specific job. Posix was an HP favorite. Eventually the HP network was replaced by Apple computers. Those computers were connected to an IBM server, or two, or three and ran Axis for an OS. After that the factory was refitted with Dell PC's and ran Windows. I believe there actually were Windows Domain servers but the data was on some Unix machine. Those were the days when our IT group refused to have anything to do with Linux.
So, if you worked in the factory for any number of years you had quite a variety of computers to work with. Each time we migrated to a new system there was a learning curve, of course, but that never slowed things down. People picked up the new systems rather quickly mostly because they didn't have a need to go beyond what we let them see on their monitors. HP looked as good as Apple and they both weren't any better than Windows as far as the clients were concerned. The IT gurus, however, had all kinds of fits trying to resolve unforeseen issues that arose out of using different servers and getting them to play nice with each other.
PC's are pretty much a dying breed in these days with mobile devices. Tablets and smart phones are the workhorses, unless you are sitting back in the office where a desktop is the appropriate item for data entry. Even then a lot of those desktops have paperless entry touch pads. I'm sure you have used them and signed more than a few forms with your index finger. LOL
So, if you worked in the factory for any number of years you had quite a variety of computers to work with. Each time we migrated to a new system there was a learning curve, of course, but that never slowed things down. People picked up the new systems rather quickly mostly because they didn't have a need to go beyond what we let them see on their monitors. HP looked as good as Apple and they both weren't any better than Windows as far as the clients were concerned. The IT gurus, however, had all kinds of fits trying to resolve unforeseen issues that arose out of using different servers and getting them to play nice with each other.
PC's are pretty much a dying breed in these days with mobile devices. Tablets and smart phones are the workhorses, unless you are sitting back in the office where a desktop is the appropriate item for data entry. Even then a lot of those desktops have paperless entry touch pads. I'm sure you have used them and signed more than a few forms with your index finger. LOL
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Other than my own stores where we had POS systems, I never learned much about what went on with the servers the company installed for us.
But later on, after I got into Linux, I got a POS system for my few products I sold to distributors from home. I know, a POS system isn't designed for that, but it worked and worked well for me. Then after I cut back to only a single product, I only need to generate one invoice every so often, and that's about it.
I've talked to a few authors, and a few computer programmers that are working using laptops, some of them quite old now too.
I asked the programmer how he can work at one of those things all day every day. He said as long as the keyboard is just above his lap, it's like a normal keyboard, and he can tilt the screen way back to it is square with his face, but he does have to look down at it which can get to his neck if he don't keep his glasses down on the end of his nose, hi hi.
Programming is just text entry so the laptop can keep up, but when he goes to test the program, he still needs a desktop server to do so. Laptops are just not built for that.
I've yet to see anyone who can type 120 wpm on a Schmartz-fone, hi hi.
But later on, after I got into Linux, I got a POS system for my few products I sold to distributors from home. I know, a POS system isn't designed for that, but it worked and worked well for me. Then after I cut back to only a single product, I only need to generate one invoice every so often, and that's about it.
I've talked to a few authors, and a few computer programmers that are working using laptops, some of them quite old now too.
I asked the programmer how he can work at one of those things all day every day. He said as long as the keyboard is just above his lap, it's like a normal keyboard, and he can tilt the screen way back to it is square with his face, but he does have to look down at it which can get to his neck if he don't keep his glasses down on the end of his nose, hi hi.
Programming is just text entry so the laptop can keep up, but when he goes to test the program, he still needs a desktop server to do so. Laptops are just not built for that.
I've yet to see anyone who can type 120 wpm on a Schmartz-fone, hi hi.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
The key to success in any venture is to own and use the appropriate tools. If you expect to be able to type 120 wpm on a smartphone, you are using the wrong tool.
I did most of my programming on a desktop work station. My PC at home also was used for coding, but that was trivial compared to what I had to do at Motorola. By far the bulk of my software was installed in a rack of test equipment run by some sort of controller. More often than not it ended up being a computer controller of the desktop variety. Some systems had built in controllers that were rack mounted. A lot of debug was done at the work station level, but the final product had to be tested under case use conditions. A few times I even had a volunteer factory worker come in and use the new system before it was fully developed just to see what real world conditions would be like.
Some of the server maintenance I did could easily have been done on a laptop, but laptops were not generally available back in those days. Today it's frequently possible to do some maintenance using a tablet, or, god forbid, a smartphone. Those wireless devices are always less secure than a manual keyboard so that might be a factor in some situations. I've used a wide variety of laptops in my hobby days and truly can't say any one of them would be comfortable for a a large project. The ASUS I now own seems easy to type on, but that's because the touchpad is off to the side and not between my fingers and the keyboard. I might be able to code an entire program with it. I guess when you are getting paid to do things you make a lot of concessions. LOL
I did most of my programming on a desktop work station. My PC at home also was used for coding, but that was trivial compared to what I had to do at Motorola. By far the bulk of my software was installed in a rack of test equipment run by some sort of controller. More often than not it ended up being a computer controller of the desktop variety. Some systems had built in controllers that were rack mounted. A lot of debug was done at the work station level, but the final product had to be tested under case use conditions. A few times I even had a volunteer factory worker come in and use the new system before it was fully developed just to see what real world conditions would be like.
Some of the server maintenance I did could easily have been done on a laptop, but laptops were not generally available back in those days. Today it's frequently possible to do some maintenance using a tablet, or, god forbid, a smartphone. Those wireless devices are always less secure than a manual keyboard so that might be a factor in some situations. I've used a wide variety of laptops in my hobby days and truly can't say any one of them would be comfortable for a a large project. The ASUS I now own seems easy to type on, but that's because the touchpad is off to the side and not between my fingers and the keyboard. I might be able to code an entire program with it. I guess when you are getting paid to do things you make a lot of concessions. LOL
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
We ended up having a crowd on Thanksgiving, over a dozen, and we only expected there to be a total of 4 of us, maybe 5 counting the frau and I.
One of her nieces was recently married, over 8 months ago, and her husband is a programmer for an automotive parts network.
He had a laptop about the size of a small suitcase. Looked like three normal laptops, only a little wider, stacked on top of each other. Still much smaller than the old portable trash-80s though.
But you'll see why it was so big in just a second here.
I think the entire bottom third is the battery and a couple of hard drives.
But dig this. He sets it down on our kitchen table, which is already low, the top is 27-1/2 inches from the floor, because that's how high my dad wanted it for playing cards on Friday nights. Yep it's a hand me down, hi hi, but we love it!
OK, the guy brings in his computer and sets it on the edge of the table.
The large hinges are on each side and closest to you.
He opens the top and it folds down to about 2 inches below the tabletop and holds the keyboard.
A full-size standard keyboard, and the lid has a hand rest.
Once it is in place, he opens up from the bottom under the keyboard, a right side tray for the mouse.
Then he opens up the 2nd third part, it is the screen, and it is hinged to the bottom section like a normal laptop.
Then, where you would expect to see a keyboard, is five rows of buttons, flush with the top of the case.
These buttons all have weird little symbols on them. then he flips the back of the case farthest away from him down and the whole thing tilts upward from the back which also causes the screen to come up a bit higher.
This upper keyboard was laid out something like this.
Top Row - 3 keys, 3 keys, then 6 keys.
The left half of the keyboard had 5 keys like a + sign and the same next to it, with 2 keys between them.
To the right was a keyboard with 6 keys wide and 3 keys deep.
Then the bottom row was 3 keys, 3 keys, then 6 keys.
This keyboard was not as wide as the alpha-numeric keyboard, so to its left was a slot for keeping the wireless mouse, a small notepad and a couple of pencils under a soft plastic cover.
Sorta neat to see. But he couldn't show us anything he was working on.
Instead he brought up my own web page, and the way it displayed was amazing, which I'm sure was the special program he used. My actual webpage was on the far left of the screen. The HTML5 coding was on the upper right, and the CSS was on the lower right. Then where was like a banner screen at the bottom that showed him something else I was unfamiliar with.
About that time a couple of more people came in, and he closed it all back up and we moved to the living room.
When it booted up, I could see it was some form of Linux I've never seen before.
He said they normally cost over 6 grand for the basic unit and his was almost 8 grand with the extras.
One of her nieces was recently married, over 8 months ago, and her husband is a programmer for an automotive parts network.
He had a laptop about the size of a small suitcase. Looked like three normal laptops, only a little wider, stacked on top of each other. Still much smaller than the old portable trash-80s though.
But you'll see why it was so big in just a second here.
I think the entire bottom third is the battery and a couple of hard drives.
But dig this. He sets it down on our kitchen table, which is already low, the top is 27-1/2 inches from the floor, because that's how high my dad wanted it for playing cards on Friday nights. Yep it's a hand me down, hi hi, but we love it!
OK, the guy brings in his computer and sets it on the edge of the table.
The large hinges are on each side and closest to you.
He opens the top and it folds down to about 2 inches below the tabletop and holds the keyboard.
A full-size standard keyboard, and the lid has a hand rest.
Once it is in place, he opens up from the bottom under the keyboard, a right side tray for the mouse.
Then he opens up the 2nd third part, it is the screen, and it is hinged to the bottom section like a normal laptop.
Then, where you would expect to see a keyboard, is five rows of buttons, flush with the top of the case.
These buttons all have weird little symbols on them. then he flips the back of the case farthest away from him down and the whole thing tilts upward from the back which also causes the screen to come up a bit higher.
This upper keyboard was laid out something like this.
Top Row - 3 keys, 3 keys, then 6 keys.
The left half of the keyboard had 5 keys like a + sign and the same next to it, with 2 keys between them.
To the right was a keyboard with 6 keys wide and 3 keys deep.
Then the bottom row was 3 keys, 3 keys, then 6 keys.
This keyboard was not as wide as the alpha-numeric keyboard, so to its left was a slot for keeping the wireless mouse, a small notepad and a couple of pencils under a soft plastic cover.
Sorta neat to see. But he couldn't show us anything he was working on.
Instead he brought up my own web page, and the way it displayed was amazing, which I'm sure was the special program he used. My actual webpage was on the far left of the screen. The HTML5 coding was on the upper right, and the CSS was on the lower right. Then where was like a banner screen at the bottom that showed him something else I was unfamiliar with.
About that time a couple of more people came in, and he closed it all back up and we moved to the living room.
When it booted up, I could see it was some form of Linux I've never seen before.
He said they normally cost over 6 grand for the basic unit and his was almost 8 grand with the extras.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
I may be fooling myself, probably am, but the impression I'm getting regarding Microsoft support is super positive. I've talked about the fact that I am enrolled in their Insider Preview beta testing program wherein I and a few million other curious minds test out not yet released and probably unstable features Microsoft is developing. I did this in Windows 10 and am continuing the testing with Windows 11. Part of this testing program is feedback. They created a Feedback Hub app just for guys like me to let them know what we are experiencing. I've mentioned here in the past how I've posted to that Feedback Hub a time or two with some very specific problems. I only got a direct answer once and that wasn't actually a solution. It was a thank you from some unfortunate Microsoft engineer whose task it was to read over the feedback just in case something significant showed up. Well, all two or three of my reported problems did get fixed relatively quickly.
There has been a three week pause in the weekly flights of new operating system features. Last Wednesday they started up the developers channel once again and offered a version with some significant features added for testing. I don't always test the new features because most are not of interest to me, and that seemed to be the case with the last update. However I did want the latest and greatest just in case.
The download did it's thing after which it automatically began to install itself. This is normal. The progress bar showed installation to be 100% complete, but that's not really the case. That's only a checkpoint after they unpack the 6 GB of new operating system. At this point a reboot (yes, the infamous Windows reboot) is needed to get those unpacked files actually installed. It failed to tell me to reboot. In fact it said try again something went wrong. To shorten this story to a readable length I will say I spent six days trying to get this update to actually install. On day number 5 I went to the Feedback Hub with a ton of notes to tell them what didn't work to fix the problem. It so happens a few other folks had similar problems. None of those other guys, however, gave the amount of detail that I did which was a summary of the results of every fix I found on the Internet.
An interesting side note is that I found some guy in Italy with the same problem and he explained what he did to fix it. Unfortunately he explained it in Italian. LOL Well, as you know, Google is my friend and Google did a great job of translating. I found out that some driver from ASUS needed to be removed, and then the updates from Microsoft would complete. Given my past experiences with ASUS not keeping up with Windows 11 I was very concerned to say the least. I was at that familiar point we all have experienced, probably more than once. Is it Microsoft screwing up, or is it ASUS screwing up? Each time I contacted ASUS in this kind of situation they found a way to blame it on anybody but themselves. Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to actually be reading what I am telling them, and fixing the problem. That is what they did today on day number 6 of the failure.
As was the exact same case the last time I did this, not only did Microsoft fix the problem, but also ASUS decided to issue an update to one of their drivers that just happen to be related to the problem. That is what ASUS did today. I like to think somebody at Micorsoft's Insider Preview engineering group is actually paying attention to what is being posted in the feed back. I have to say there is a lot of crap in there, just as I've seen in many a Linux tech support forum. But, each time I went to the trouble to thoroughly document the problem, it got fixed as if by magic. The last time, and then again today, ASUS was motivated to fix their end of the problem too. It looks as if they are not ignoring me, and I don't understand why.
There has been a three week pause in the weekly flights of new operating system features. Last Wednesday they started up the developers channel once again and offered a version with some significant features added for testing. I don't always test the new features because most are not of interest to me, and that seemed to be the case with the last update. However I did want the latest and greatest just in case.
The download did it's thing after which it automatically began to install itself. This is normal. The progress bar showed installation to be 100% complete, but that's not really the case. That's only a checkpoint after they unpack the 6 GB of new operating system. At this point a reboot (yes, the infamous Windows reboot) is needed to get those unpacked files actually installed. It failed to tell me to reboot. In fact it said try again something went wrong. To shorten this story to a readable length I will say I spent six days trying to get this update to actually install. On day number 5 I went to the Feedback Hub with a ton of notes to tell them what didn't work to fix the problem. It so happens a few other folks had similar problems. None of those other guys, however, gave the amount of detail that I did which was a summary of the results of every fix I found on the Internet.
An interesting side note is that I found some guy in Italy with the same problem and he explained what he did to fix it. Unfortunately he explained it in Italian. LOL Well, as you know, Google is my friend and Google did a great job of translating. I found out that some driver from ASUS needed to be removed, and then the updates from Microsoft would complete. Given my past experiences with ASUS not keeping up with Windows 11 I was very concerned to say the least. I was at that familiar point we all have experienced, probably more than once. Is it Microsoft screwing up, or is it ASUS screwing up? Each time I contacted ASUS in this kind of situation they found a way to blame it on anybody but themselves. Microsoft, on the other hand, seems to actually be reading what I am telling them, and fixing the problem. That is what they did today on day number 6 of the failure.
As was the exact same case the last time I did this, not only did Microsoft fix the problem, but also ASUS decided to issue an update to one of their drivers that just happen to be related to the problem. That is what ASUS did today. I like to think somebody at Micorsoft's Insider Preview engineering group is actually paying attention to what is being posted in the feed back. I have to say there is a lot of crap in there, just as I've seen in many a Linux tech support forum. But, each time I went to the trouble to thoroughly document the problem, it got fixed as if by magic. The last time, and then again today, ASUS was motivated to fix their end of the problem too. It looks as if they are not ignoring me, and I don't understand why.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
As a Beta Tester who responds with meaningful feedback, you get moved up higher on the list of testers who they pay heed to.
About ten years ago, I got involved with testing a new game, just as they began developing it, so it had a lot of bugs, and not many features yet. I gave them a few good ideas and after we talked about them for a while, they decided to implement them.
There were a couple of problems with the game that they kept overlooking. And the guy who was talking to me most often about things with the game, said yes we know, and it is nothing we can do anything about. We are looking for a workaround, but the problem has to do with the engine we are using, and we have told them about this problem dozens of times and they don't seem to care. After about six month, they finally came up with a workaround for the problem, but it slowed the game down more than anyone liked. So they halted production of the game until they could try out some different engines. Something like eight months had gone by with no activity on their website, then out of the blue I get an e-mail from them to go to such n such a website and try the game now. None of the problems I had with it previously were present, and I really didn't find any new problems before I chose to no longer play the game or be part of their testing group. I had too many other irons in the fire at the time.
Speaking of which. The Farm Town game I play went with WebGL and they had all kinds of problems over the past year. WebGL crashed more often than Carter's has pills. I finally pinpointed the exact times it crashed and was able to associate it with certain peoples accounts. I could count on it crashing 100% of the time on five different peoples farms doing exactly the same thing. This must have helped them pinpoint the problem and finally fix it, after a whole year. WebGL has only crashed a couple of times since then, but without causing one to have to leave the game and come back again. Now they are using a program called Unity on top of the WebGL and it seems to have solved tons of different problems folks were having.
So many of us are happy about it finally running smoothly.
About ten years ago, I got involved with testing a new game, just as they began developing it, so it had a lot of bugs, and not many features yet. I gave them a few good ideas and after we talked about them for a while, they decided to implement them.
There were a couple of problems with the game that they kept overlooking. And the guy who was talking to me most often about things with the game, said yes we know, and it is nothing we can do anything about. We are looking for a workaround, but the problem has to do with the engine we are using, and we have told them about this problem dozens of times and they don't seem to care. After about six month, they finally came up with a workaround for the problem, but it slowed the game down more than anyone liked. So they halted production of the game until they could try out some different engines. Something like eight months had gone by with no activity on their website, then out of the blue I get an e-mail from them to go to such n such a website and try the game now. None of the problems I had with it previously were present, and I really didn't find any new problems before I chose to no longer play the game or be part of their testing group. I had too many other irons in the fire at the time.
Speaking of which. The Farm Town game I play went with WebGL and they had all kinds of problems over the past year. WebGL crashed more often than Carter's has pills. I finally pinpointed the exact times it crashed and was able to associate it with certain peoples accounts. I could count on it crashing 100% of the time on five different peoples farms doing exactly the same thing. This must have helped them pinpoint the problem and finally fix it, after a whole year. WebGL has only crashed a couple of times since then, but without causing one to have to leave the game and come back again. Now they are using a program called Unity on top of the WebGL and it seems to have solved tons of different problems folks were having.
So many of us are happy about it finally running smoothly.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Believe it or not I've played games based on Unity. These were simple games found in the Windows software store, and I have to say that my addiction to one of them was a contributing factor to the demise of that last MSI laptop with the broken key. LOL The way you describe the experience with game testing brings back memories of my experiences with Linux developers. I never did any beta testing of Linux systems, other than me being cynical about all Linux OS's being in a beta state. The most irksome experiences I've had troubleshooting Linux problems is in their so called tech forums where everyone and their kid sister has a solution. When a knowledgeable person finally does respond to my question, their answer more often than not is that it's "an upstream" problem that we need to wait for those guys to fix. Apparently they know about the upstream problem, but that doesn't stop them from releasing defective software. The reason why I am so elated with the Microsoft beta program is that they state up front it's all beta and not to use it on your production machine. Then, they take full responsibility for everything. There is no upstream developer group at Microsoft. They are all upstream from what I can tell. And I know you must be tired of me harping on this already, but since Microsoft does write proprietary software there are no amateurs out there who can clone it and screw it up under the guise of being free and open source.
Anyway, I think you are right. My years at Motorola taught me how to document things so that engineers could understand what the heck I'm talking about. Those old habits must stand out at the Feedback Hub in Redmond.
Anyway, I think you are right. My years at Motorola taught me how to document things so that engineers could understand what the heck I'm talking about. Those old habits must stand out at the Feedback Hub in Redmond.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Historically, Windows was one of the most unstable OSs out there for decades!
It wasn't until they got up to XP that they had a truly stable system.
Nearly every Linux Distro that has that many years under its belt is usually more stable than Windows was.
But you seem to play with a lot of new Distro's that are only a couple of years old, and few that are slightly older.
Wait and see how stable they are in ten more years, compared to Windows first ten years!
One of the reasons Linux Distro's become stable so fast, is they have millions of eyes on the code, not just a handful of programmers in a back room somewhere.
It wasn't until they got up to XP that they had a truly stable system.
Nearly every Linux Distro that has that many years under its belt is usually more stable than Windows was.
But you seem to play with a lot of new Distro's that are only a couple of years old, and few that are slightly older.
Wait and see how stable they are in ten more years, compared to Windows first ten years!
One of the reasons Linux Distro's become stable so fast, is they have millions of eyes on the code, not just a handful of programmers in a back room somewhere.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Calling an operating system a "stable release" is a misnomer. That statement definitely applies to Linux distros but also is true for Windows. I have a few years of personal experience writing software that was aimed at being used by computer illiterate people. There is no way a programmer can anticipate all the ways his or her software can be abused, misused, or just fail due to an oversight. In all cases of failure the software and it's programmer was to blame.
I don't know of a good way to measure "stability" at the ten year mark for any operating system. I do know that Microsoft is paying high wages to top of their class software engineers. Linux developers have one or two of those high end developers, and thousands upon thousands of wannabe developers who modify what the experts did just to call it their own. The talent behind the software development at Microsoft far exceeds that which is available to the free and open source market simply because the pay is better. That's not exactly true anymore, and I admit it. There may be some brilliant software developers over in Linux Land, but they are dwarfed by the numbers of engineers working elsewhere. To argue about the stability of the end product is pursuing the wrong comparison. Most of the instability is due to the variations on the end user side. When they are told to upgrade to match the quality of the software, they bitch and moan that Microsoft is in some sort of conspiracy arrangement with the silicon chip makers to force people to buy things they don't want, or most likely can't afford.
I have tested quite a range of Linux operating systems as well as every major version of Windows. The so called stability is about the same for each on the day of release. Improvements and bug fixes, however, come at a faster rate and are more effective on the Micorsoft products. The truth is that people are still paying big bucks for Micorsoft software in spite of Linux offering a lot of free and open source counterparts. There is a reason why people are willing to do that, and it isn't all marketing.
I don't know of a good way to measure "stability" at the ten year mark for any operating system. I do know that Microsoft is paying high wages to top of their class software engineers. Linux developers have one or two of those high end developers, and thousands upon thousands of wannabe developers who modify what the experts did just to call it their own. The talent behind the software development at Microsoft far exceeds that which is available to the free and open source market simply because the pay is better. That's not exactly true anymore, and I admit it. There may be some brilliant software developers over in Linux Land, but they are dwarfed by the numbers of engineers working elsewhere. To argue about the stability of the end product is pursuing the wrong comparison. Most of the instability is due to the variations on the end user side. When they are told to upgrade to match the quality of the software, they bitch and moan that Microsoft is in some sort of conspiracy arrangement with the silicon chip makers to force people to buy things they don't want, or most likely can't afford.
I have tested quite a range of Linux operating systems as well as every major version of Windows. The so called stability is about the same for each on the day of release. Improvements and bug fixes, however, come at a faster rate and are more effective on the Micorsoft products. The truth is that people are still paying big bucks for Micorsoft software in spite of Linux offering a lot of free and open source counterparts. There is a reason why people are willing to do that, and it isn't all marketing.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
It has to do with what people learned and were raised on using for decades.
They just don't know there are better things out there, and don't want to take the time to learn.
You find this in nearly every area of life too.
It is simple to plug a tire. Yet most folks, if they bother to take care of a flat themselves, they change the tire and wheel to a spare, then take the flat somewhere to be fixed. Some are even lazier than that and call AAA to come do it for them.
A light switch stops working, and rather than replace it, they call a friend to do it, or an expensive licensed electrician.
People just don't want to know how things work, or how to fix them themselves, so they gladly pay the big bucks for others to do it for them.
The entire world runs on GNU/Linux, but about the only place you find Windows is on Desktops and Laptops.
Folks didn't have too many problems learning to use a new OS when they wanted to, like Android on their phones.
So they do have the capability of learning how to do something, but they need motivated to do so.
For many folks, money is not an issue, so they pay the big bucks to avoid having to learn something new.
They just don't know there are better things out there, and don't want to take the time to learn.
You find this in nearly every area of life too.
It is simple to plug a tire. Yet most folks, if they bother to take care of a flat themselves, they change the tire and wheel to a spare, then take the flat somewhere to be fixed. Some are even lazier than that and call AAA to come do it for them.
A light switch stops working, and rather than replace it, they call a friend to do it, or an expensive licensed electrician.
People just don't want to know how things work, or how to fix them themselves, so they gladly pay the big bucks for others to do it for them.
The entire world runs on GNU/Linux, but about the only place you find Windows is on Desktops and Laptops.
Folks didn't have too many problems learning to use a new OS when they wanted to, like Android on their phones.
So they do have the capability of learning how to do something, but they need motivated to do so.
For many folks, money is not an issue, so they pay the big bucks to avoid having to learn something new.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
They did something with Android (and iOS) that was not implemented in Windows or Linux of any flavor. When using the Android operating system, the underlying software is transparent. You don't have to know one damned thing about Android in order to get it to do what you want it to do. That never was and still is not the case with Windows and especially not with Linux. There are people who insist on installing terminal applications and becoming a root user on their mobile devices. These folks are stuck in some sort of Linux parallel universe because having root access to Android is totally useless unless you are up to no good. You must have root privileges just to use Linux beyond the install and setup stage (and if you have trouble installing, god help you if you don't know anything about the OS). Windows makes you root by default so that you can booger up the operating system on demand. The fact of the matter is that Android focuses on user interaction with the applications and there is no reason whatsoever to know what the operating system is doing.
Of course, the downside is that you can't type in anything at 110 wpm on an Android system.
That, my friend, is why mobile devices are crazy wild popular. People do not have to know anything technical to make it work. They don't have to hire anybody to do the tech support - they will just buy a new one. Your observation that people don't want to learn how things work so that they can fix them by themselves is valid. Why should I get my hands dirty plugging a tire when I can use that time to play games on my clever phone?
Of course, the downside is that you can't type in anything at 110 wpm on an Android system.
That, my friend, is why mobile devices are crazy wild popular. People do not have to know anything technical to make it work. They don't have to hire anybody to do the tech support - they will just buy a new one. Your observation that people don't want to learn how things work so that they can fix them by themselves is valid. Why should I get my hands dirty plugging a tire when I can use that time to play games on my clever phone?
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
But some of us don't have the money for all those luxuries, hi hi.
I saw a post by a guy a couple of days ago, wanting to know how he can reprogram his toaster and microwave.
His toaster don't have a knob you turn, just buttons you push, and one button is too light, and the other two dark, he wants to set it half way between those two setting.
His microwave has names for things like popcorn, etc. but the timer is not long enough for popcorn, and too long for baked potato. They should make these things settable he complained.
I give them only a few more years before they have voice recognition down perfect, and also tied with grammar fixers so what you say gets written down properly. It will probably make it hard to have plays on words, hi hi.
I saw a post by a guy a couple of days ago, wanting to know how he can reprogram his toaster and microwave.
His toaster don't have a knob you turn, just buttons you push, and one button is too light, and the other two dark, he wants to set it half way between those two setting.
His microwave has names for things like popcorn, etc. but the timer is not long enough for popcorn, and too long for baked potato. They should make these things settable he complained.
I give them only a few more years before they have voice recognition down perfect, and also tied with grammar fixers so what you say gets written down properly. It will probably make it hard to have plays on words, hi hi.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
You can buy glasses, something like sun glasses, that will translate any of the popular languages being spoken today and play it back to your ears in English. I think it's Google that has such a device, but it could be somebody else. It's not up to the level where you can have diplomatic discussions at a high level, but apparently the voice recognition and the translation now and days is good enough for conversations you and I might have. My clever phone answers all the calls from people not in my contact list and transcribes any messages left for me. It's interesting and funny to read some of the transcripts generated by a robot caller. The amazing thing to me is how well done is the text. No grammar or spelling errors that I can detect. It's not perfect yet, so they say, but it's darn close.
And, I am aware of why you do some of your own repairs and maintenance. Cost is a big factor for you, but you also are a very talented person gifted with a ton of creativity. Somebody like that simply can't tolerate the work being done by anybody else regardless of the quality. You know how it should be done properly and would not like it if somebody didn't meet your standards. Well yeah. I used to do a lot of my own fixing too for that exact reason. After about forty years of it I decided I have earned my wings and don't need to pilot the show anymore. I can sit back and let somebody else do the hard work for me. Then again, I don't have a lot of choice here in my new Missouri home. By the time it gets old enough to need repairs I won't be able to do them physically. In the mean time there is nothing to maintain. I more or less gave up on gardening too which was a major source of exercise and fresh air for me back in Illinois. I am indeed fortunate to be able to bathe in a small amount of luxury, but that isn't going to last forever. I too am on a fixed income and will be fighting inflation too some day in the not too distant future.
And, I am aware of why you do some of your own repairs and maintenance. Cost is a big factor for you, but you also are a very talented person gifted with a ton of creativity. Somebody like that simply can't tolerate the work being done by anybody else regardless of the quality. You know how it should be done properly and would not like it if somebody didn't meet your standards. Well yeah. I used to do a lot of my own fixing too for that exact reason. After about forty years of it I decided I have earned my wings and don't need to pilot the show anymore. I can sit back and let somebody else do the hard work for me. Then again, I don't have a lot of choice here in my new Missouri home. By the time it gets old enough to need repairs I won't be able to do them physically. In the mean time there is nothing to maintain. I more or less gave up on gardening too which was a major source of exercise and fresh air for me back in Illinois. I am indeed fortunate to be able to bathe in a small amount of luxury, but that isn't going to last forever. I too am on a fixed income and will be fighting inflation too some day in the not too distant future.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
We have a lot of things come in from China and elsewhere with instructions translated to English. Some of them can be most humorous to read.
My grandpa had about a dozen German saying that are impossible to convert to English and have them make any sense at all.
They were all plays on words that if you knew German slang, they were funny.
One in English I've used a few times in days of yore. She wouldn't for a Russian, but she would for a Fin. Audibly it sounds like you said Finn, a nationality. But in actuality, you meant a Five Dollar Bill.
My wife of Jewish descent had hundreds. About the only one I remember is, Knosh on a Knish. Everyone knows Knosh or Nosh, it means to eat. Knish is a food, but also found between a pair of thighs, if you catch my drift there, hi hi.
I was overly picky about the work I did, which is probably why I was in such high demand.
Doing things others told clients that couldn't be done, I would find a way they were usually happy with.
It does pain me greatly that I cannot finish the house I'm in. I can't do the work myself, and don't have the money to have it done.
My grandpa had about a dozen German saying that are impossible to convert to English and have them make any sense at all.
They were all plays on words that if you knew German slang, they were funny.
One in English I've used a few times in days of yore. She wouldn't for a Russian, but she would for a Fin. Audibly it sounds like you said Finn, a nationality. But in actuality, you meant a Five Dollar Bill.
My wife of Jewish descent had hundreds. About the only one I remember is, Knosh on a Knish. Everyone knows Knosh or Nosh, it means to eat. Knish is a food, but also found between a pair of thighs, if you catch my drift there, hi hi.
I was overly picky about the work I did, which is probably why I was in such high demand.
Doing things others told clients that couldn't be done, I would find a way they were usually happy with.
It does pain me greatly that I cannot finish the house I'm in. I can't do the work myself, and don't have the money to have it done.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Now that you mention it, I used to live in a neighborhood that had a high proportion of Jews residing therein. It's where I learned to love lox and bagels in fact. I have some very vague memories of eating knish. Both kinds that you mention in fact. 
After residing in my former house for over two decades I got to meet quite a few of the local trades people. Plumbing was my nemesis and only did what I had to do to keep dry until the professional came by. LOL After quite a few years I got to know one local plumber more than I cared to. He wasn't the least expensive of the lot, but he did quality work. One day I called him out for a problem that was not related to my bathroom. But, while he was fixing the kitchen sink I mentioned that our toilet water seemed to be running slow. He said he would look at it after he finished the kitchen. And he did. He spent a good part of an hour poking into the holes under the rim of the toilet bowl. Apparently they calcify over time and restrict the flow of water. I could not believe how much effort he put into that task. Most other plumbers would want to install a new toilet instead of using their hands to fix the problem. Well, that single incident impressed me so much that he was the plumber I called upon to fix up all the things the home inspector found when we were selling the house. It was close to $2000 to fix it all, which he never would have seen if he wasn't so good at what he did previously.
After residing in my former house for over two decades I got to meet quite a few of the local trades people. Plumbing was my nemesis and only did what I had to do to keep dry until the professional came by. LOL After quite a few years I got to know one local plumber more than I cared to. He wasn't the least expensive of the lot, but he did quality work. One day I called him out for a problem that was not related to my bathroom. But, while he was fixing the kitchen sink I mentioned that our toilet water seemed to be running slow. He said he would look at it after he finished the kitchen. And he did. He spent a good part of an hour poking into the holes under the rim of the toilet bowl. Apparently they calcify over time and restrict the flow of water. I could not believe how much effort he put into that task. Most other plumbers would want to install a new toilet instead of using their hands to fix the problem. Well, that single incident impressed me so much that he was the plumber I called upon to fix up all the things the home inspector found when we were selling the house. It was close to $2000 to fix it all, which he never would have seen if he wasn't so good at what he did previously.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
Back when I was doing home renovations in the old city houses. I would normally replace all the bathroom fixtures. Some of the old clawfoot tubs I would take home to have renovated.
I had a place that had really great but cheap toilets that worked like the 100 dollar toilets, and got them for only 26 to 30 bucks each.
But when working in other peoples houses, I had a couple of chemicals I could use in their toilet that would remove all the lime and calcium without harming the porcelain finish. Darn stuff almost cost more than a new toilet though.
Here is something that never made one ounce of sense to me.
If you leave the old clawfoot tub in a century old house down in the city, it reduces the value of the house by about a grand.
If you take that same tub and install it in a posh west county home, it raises the value of the house by around five grand.
I picked up some old toilets, from a turn of the century country club, that had the water closet 7 feet above the toilet. They were beautiful ornate oak boxes with an iron porcelain liner in them, highly polished brass tubing down to the toilet.
Although I got six of them, only four of them were salvageable and could be made to look like brand new.
I paid like 10 bucks each for them, because they were sold mainly for the brass tubing section.
Only four of them had newer brass tubes, the others were corroded heavily and in bad shape.
After cleaning and polishing all four brass tubes got four coats of trumpet lacquer on them.
I managed to sell and install the four finished ones for 250 bucks each with installation.
Two went to a TGIFriday's restaurant, one to an English Pub, and the other to a private home in Frontenac.
The one I installed in the English Pub they turned around and sold a year or two later for over a grand.
All the Real Estate agents who hired me to do predication work for them, always gave me a huge tip.
I think this was because of the amount they charged their clients for the work, and the fact I was good, fast, and cheaper than all the rest. A couple of times, my tip was as high as my bill, but most often, only around 15 to 20% more.
I had a place that had really great but cheap toilets that worked like the 100 dollar toilets, and got them for only 26 to 30 bucks each.
But when working in other peoples houses, I had a couple of chemicals I could use in their toilet that would remove all the lime and calcium without harming the porcelain finish. Darn stuff almost cost more than a new toilet though.
Here is something that never made one ounce of sense to me.
If you leave the old clawfoot tub in a century old house down in the city, it reduces the value of the house by about a grand.
If you take that same tub and install it in a posh west county home, it raises the value of the house by around five grand.
I picked up some old toilets, from a turn of the century country club, that had the water closet 7 feet above the toilet. They were beautiful ornate oak boxes with an iron porcelain liner in them, highly polished brass tubing down to the toilet.
Although I got six of them, only four of them were salvageable and could be made to look like brand new.
I paid like 10 bucks each for them, because they were sold mainly for the brass tubing section.
Only four of them had newer brass tubes, the others were corroded heavily and in bad shape.
After cleaning and polishing all four brass tubes got four coats of trumpet lacquer on them.
I managed to sell and install the four finished ones for 250 bucks each with installation.
Two went to a TGIFriday's restaurant, one to an English Pub, and the other to a private home in Frontenac.
The one I installed in the English Pub they turned around and sold a year or two later for over a grand.
All the Real Estate agents who hired me to do predication work for them, always gave me a huge tip.
I think this was because of the amount they charged their clients for the work, and the fact I was good, fast, and cheaper than all the rest. A couple of times, my tip was as high as my bill, but most often, only around 15 to 20% more.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
The fluctuation of the property value in relation to the presence of a clawfoot tub, or not, makes perfect sense to me. You know the old saying about the three things that determine the value of a property; it's location, location, and location. Buyers are willing to pay a lot more for a country home than a city home simply because it will rise in value quicker and to a greater extent. Adding an old tub to a city home just adds to the din of the city. Putting that tub in a posh place adds to the value of the setting. Value, as you must know, is all in the eyes of the beholder. And the view of a posh country home is intrinsically more expensive.
One time I had some extensive plumbing work done. The plumber gave me a slight discount for letting him have all the copper piping he had taken out. I'm sure he got more than what he gave me, but I understand the value of scrap. A lot of business won't mention that they profit from the junk you have them haul away. It seems that you never threw away anything from your rehab projects but never sold them for scrap either. LOL You just have rehabilitation in your blood and from what I can tell you have made good use of your talents.
One time I had some extensive plumbing work done. The plumber gave me a slight discount for letting him have all the copper piping he had taken out. I'm sure he got more than what he gave me, but I understand the value of scrap. A lot of business won't mention that they profit from the junk you have them haul away. It seems that you never threw away anything from your rehab projects but never sold them for scrap either. LOL You just have rehabilitation in your blood and from what I can tell you have made good use of your talents.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
If you had to clean a bathroom with a clawfoot tub when you were young, you surely would never want one in your house as you get older. But most of these yuppies have big bucks to pay for having their house cleaned for them.
I worked in one house that had a bathroom nearly as big as my house, and they had an old tyme OAK bathtub right in the very center of their bathroom. All of the fixtures in that bathroom looked like they came from the late 18th century, but all were in fact brand new and quite durable. I actually think this room was more for show than anything else, because their master bedroom had a normal bathroom in it, as did each of the other four bedrooms, but smaller than the master bath, plus they had a half-bath off the kitchen area. Their dining room table, if pulled out to full-length, could seat 16 people, 8 on each side. As I said, it was a big house. Hate to have their utility bills, hi hi.
All of the plumbing work I did had to be done in copper or I wouldn't do it. Albeit I did have to make a lot of repairs to other plumbing systems, so had to use what they had, unless I could convert parts of it over.
Right after PEX became popular, I had many calls to replace headers that had split open on them. I found a company who made a fiberglass replacement that used the better shark-bite connectors. It wasn't cheap, but would never need replaced again.
Most of the hardware used in older homes was of very high quality. I always hated to see other contractors tossing everything in their dumpsters. I used to have, before the auction, four barrels filled with brass plumbing fittings I never got to cleaning and reusing. They didn't go in the auction, because I took them down to the recycling center. Glad I did, they gave me 400 bucks.
They also took all the lead bars I had left over from the old Cast Iron work. It is amazing how much more they were worth as scrap than they were when I bought them, hi hi.
I worked in one house that had a bathroom nearly as big as my house, and they had an old tyme OAK bathtub right in the very center of their bathroom. All of the fixtures in that bathroom looked like they came from the late 18th century, but all were in fact brand new and quite durable. I actually think this room was more for show than anything else, because their master bedroom had a normal bathroom in it, as did each of the other four bedrooms, but smaller than the master bath, plus they had a half-bath off the kitchen area. Their dining room table, if pulled out to full-length, could seat 16 people, 8 on each side. As I said, it was a big house. Hate to have their utility bills, hi hi.
All of the plumbing work I did had to be done in copper or I wouldn't do it. Albeit I did have to make a lot of repairs to other plumbing systems, so had to use what they had, unless I could convert parts of it over.
Right after PEX became popular, I had many calls to replace headers that had split open on them. I found a company who made a fiberglass replacement that used the better shark-bite connectors. It wasn't cheap, but would never need replaced again.
Most of the hardware used in older homes was of very high quality. I always hated to see other contractors tossing everything in their dumpsters. I used to have, before the auction, four barrels filled with brass plumbing fittings I never got to cleaning and reusing. They didn't go in the auction, because I took them down to the recycling center. Glad I did, they gave me 400 bucks.
They also took all the lead bars I had left over from the old Cast Iron work. It is amazing how much more they were worth as scrap than they were when I bought them, hi hi.
Re: ASUS Zephyrus S19
I think you might be right about the bathroom in that house being a showpiece item. We looked at a house which had a shower in the basement that took up at least 1/3rd the sq footage; perhaps more. It was all rock, something like sandstone and arranged something like a garden with a waterfall in it. I was totally blown away to see such a thing and could not imagine actually using it. But the owners swore that they did. LOL The house was for sale but the bidding started at several thousand dollars over the asking price. I don't know what they got for it but that fancy shower garden is what sold it. Amazing as it seems some time later I saw another one very similar to it. I think Kohler was selling them.
Apparently scrap is a big business. Back at the old house Tuesday was the day people cruised the neighborhood to pick up just about anything you left at the curb. They didn't want paper or lumber, but anything with metal in it disappeared within hours of if being set out. There were two guys that came by every week and collecting scrap was their source of income. They didn't always take appliances, but I left our old water softener out there and it disappeared rather quickly. It isn't too surprising that no such service exists in my neighborhood. It's probably illegal in all of O'Fallon, who knows? It's not so much that there is a bias against seedy looking junk collectors. It's just that the people don't want their neighbors leaving trash on the curb in an open pile. It offends their sensibilities, or something.
Apparently scrap is a big business. Back at the old house Tuesday was the day people cruised the neighborhood to pick up just about anything you left at the curb. They didn't want paper or lumber, but anything with metal in it disappeared within hours of if being set out. There were two guys that came by every week and collecting scrap was their source of income. They didn't always take appliances, but I left our old water softener out there and it disappeared rather quickly. It isn't too surprising that no such service exists in my neighborhood. It's probably illegal in all of O'Fallon, who knows? It's not so much that there is a bias against seedy looking junk collectors. It's just that the people don't want their neighbors leaving trash on the curb in an open pile. It offends their sensibilities, or something.