Author Topic: Windows 7  (Read 1188 times)

pat

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Windows 7
« on: January 15, 2020, 09:37:42 PM »
Support for Windows 7 came to an end yesterday and I must say I'm a bit disgusted with Microsoft's suggestion that we all dump our perfectly usable computers and buy new ones with the Windows 10 operating system. Have they not been keeping up with the state of the planet?

Like everyone else I was offered a free upgrade to Windows 10 when it first came out, and at one point it installed itself on my PC without my permission, due to the sneaky way that Microsoft had set up the update procedure. Unfortunately my music software that I use probably more than anything else on my PC wouldn't work properly so I used Microsoft's uninstall program to get rid of Windows 10.

I'm sure there must be other forumites who have Windows 7 and are perfectly happy with it. What's your view on the security issues? Some say that if you have antivirus software and take the usual common sense precautions there shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Hobbit

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #1 on: January 16, 2020, 12:59:42 AM »
Hi Pat

I have Windows 7 on my laptop at home & I'm more than happy with it.  I was vaguely aware that support was coming to an end but didn't realise it was actually yesterday.  Like you I was repeatedly offered Windows 10 but I declined.  We have it at work & I'm not terrible fond of it!
I have Malwarebytes installed but I have no idea if this is adequate protection.  I'm not going to bin a perfectly good laptop so I'm going to have to investigate what, if anything, needs to be done.  If I can find any useful information I will report back.  Unfortunately I'm not very technologically savvy.  Penny
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Dragonman

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #2 on: January 16, 2020, 03:53:09 AM »
I used XP for years after it 'Expired' and only use windows 10 because it came with my new computer.
I would have been happy to continue using it if my old computer hadn't given up the ghost.
I used MacAfee for security and it kept me virus free.
Windows 10 comes loaded with adverts and reports your browsing for targeted ads, would sooner have an updated version of XP.
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Valerie

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #3 on: January 16, 2020, 07:26:04 AM »
Indeed.  Totally agree with you Pat.  Why replace something that ain't broke?  Only just upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (because we had to!) on our 20+ year old PC but we've had it configured so that it now resembles Windows 7 in every possible way and I'm very comfortable with it.  Old dog, new tricks syndrome?!  Maybe you should try doing that Penny.  Ask a computer whiz to do it for you.  We use Vipre for Anti-Virus and Firewall which tells you what sites are not secure when browsing and blocks those pesky ads.  We also use the free version of Malwarebytes sometimes just as a double-check.
« Last Edit: January 16, 2020, 10:39:19 AM by Valerie »
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TRex

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #4 on: January 16, 2020, 08:40:37 AM »
I'm an IT person so that colours my comments. I've supported various versions of Windows going back to version 3 (released 1990).

Windows XP met a great deal of resistance when it was released, but gradually it came to be accepted so well that its users did not want to give it up.

Windows Vista was a disaster. Windows 7 was Vista, fixed. But it was still slow to be adopted.

Windows 8 was also a disaster, but was somewhat improved with version 8.1. Windows 10 fixed the problems with version 8 and is possibly the best version of Windows Microsoft has produced. But Windows 10 is not a single version (the most recent version is the ninth version and there have been issues with some of them. The length of support for each version of Windows 10 varies depending on a number of factors. This means constant upgrading of workstations in my workplace. It isn't fun.

The absolutely most important factor in avoiding malware is the user. Downloading and installing software without regard for the source? Visiting porn sites? Downloading the latest film which is still playing at the local cinemas? Downloading the latest music release of pop music? That's the equivalent of walking alone in the roughest area of a large city at three a.m. (stupid in the max)

Microsoft's anti-malware built into Windows 10 (Windows Defender) does a decent job protecting a PC. There are free anti-malware apps (Malwarebytes, AVG) that also do a decent job — as well as any paid app. (At one time, I used McAfee, but starting in the mid 1990s they went downhill and I dumped them.)

I use Windows 10 at work. At home, I use Linux.

Hobbit

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #5 on: January 16, 2020, 08:22:01 PM »
Quote
 Only just upgraded from Windows 7 to Windows 10 (because we had to!) on our 20+ year old PC but we've had it configured so that it now resembles Windows 7 in every possible way and I'm very comfortable with it.  Old dog, new tricks syndrome?!  Maybe you should try doing that Penny.  

I will do it as a last resort Valerie but I'm not happy about having to pay for it.  One of my colleagues says you can still get it free so if push comes to shove I will, reluctantly, go for it.  I feel as if Microsoft are blackmailing us >:(
Ridiculous I know!  I don't do any of the dangerous things that TRex mentions :laugh: so I'm tempted to just carry on for the moment & cross my fingers & see if I can get Windows 10 for nothing.
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Valerie

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #6 on: January 16, 2020, 08:58:29 PM »
Know what you mean, Pen.  I hate having to learn new things.  More so when I have to pay for it!
Good luck with whatever you do.  Let us know what you decide.  We don't want you disappearing into the ether.
Val
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Hobbit

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #7 on: January 16, 2020, 11:04:27 PM »
Thanks Val :)  I am a bit of a technophobe!  I will seek advice from my daughter when she comes for her dinner tomorrow.  Make her sing for her supper >:D  Pen
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Alan W

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #8 on: January 16, 2020, 11:43:06 PM »
As a matter of interest, the website statistics show about 30% of forum activity is from computers running Windows 7. Windows 10 is about 40% and Windows 8.1 is around 5%. Macintosh, iOS and Android account for about 6% each.

I'm not sure if those figures are a completely reliable guide to traffic from real users, because the same statistics show the Russian Federation as one of the main countries represented. Obviously there are a lot of bots visiting the site (as with all sites using well-known forum platforms).

Interestingly, the stats for the Chihuahua site are very different:

7% Windows 7
32% Windows 10
2% Windows 8.1
19% Mac
19% iPad
6% iPhone
12% Android
Alan Walker
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pat

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #9 on: January 17, 2020, 01:06:10 AM »

Interestingly, the stats for the Chihuahua site are very different:

7% Windows 7
32% Windows 10
2% Windows 8.1
19% Mac
19% iPad
6% iPhone
12% Android

Even though I made a living designing and coding business-oriented software I was never particularly tech savvy. We had a separate team who dealt with that sort of stuff so I didn't need to be. So forgive my ignorance, Alan, but how do you know what operating systems we use? Should we be worried?   >:D

(I'm writing this on my Samsung tablet (which I don't use to play Chi as it can't cope with it). When I deleted the part of Alan's post that I didn't want, I acidentally deleted the square bracket at the end of the 'quote' statement. When I came to type it back in I found that my tablet's keyboard doesn't have square brackets. A strange omission.)

TRex

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #10 on: January 17, 2020, 07:42:20 AM »
http://browserspy.dk — hasn't been updated in forever, still uses http instead of https — but still the best site I know to show the things your browser tells every website you visit. That's how Alan can tell which operating systems are being used by those who land on any of his web pages.

This information can be used to ensure the web page is rendering correctly; sometimes different html has to be served up to a user because of the web browser being used. One of the all-time worst web browsers was Internet Explorer version 6. Webmasters despise it because it is so badly broken. But if the owner of a website has enough visitors using a particular web browser — especially if it is a retail site — they want to make darn sure the site works for those visitors. OTOH, if the number of visitors in inconsequential, a business decision might be that the additional expense (labour) of making web pages render properly is not cost-effective.

The information can also be used to 'fingerprint' users. When enough information is combined, it can be an effective way of identifying a user without the use of cookies.

Alan W

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #11 on: January 17, 2020, 12:59:35 PM »
Every query a browser sends to a web server is accompanied by a "user agent" string, that gives the server basic information about the device, operating system and browser that originated the query. For example, when I am online with my computer, I send

Quote
Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64; rv:71.0) Gecko/20100101 Firefox/71.0

Which reveals that I'm using Firefox 71.0 on a Windows 10 computer. If I'm using my tablet I send

Quote
Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; Android 8.1.0; Lenovo TB-X605F) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/79.0.3945.93 Safari/537.36

Looking this up at WhatIsMyBrowser.com, it translates to Chrome 79 on Android 8.1 on a Lenovo device. Actually, the Lenovo model number, TB-X605F, indicates exactly which tablet model I have.

Statistics programs available on web hosting platforms analyse these strings to produce stats like those I quoted. These stats also infer users' whereabouts from their IP addresses - a unique numeric code for each internet user, that generally identifies your internet service provider. There are also log files available to webmasters to see this information for a specific user, which can be useful to someone like me if problems are affecting only a few users.

As TRex indicates, this is only the tip of the iceberg of what a website can find out with the use of JavaScript code and CSS media queries.

Is this unduly intrusive? Not necessarily. I think the usual motivation for web developers in wanting information like this is to tailor the appearance and behaviour of their websites to the web browser of each individual user. The more serious threats to our privacy perhaps come from the use commercial sites make of information we have provided about ourselves.
Alan Walker
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yelnats

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Re: Windows 7
« Reply #12 on: January 19, 2020, 10:42:30 PM »
On 3 of my websites I have a country counter and the strange thing was that until a couple of years ago, Brazil was the second country after Australia for visitors, but then the "visits" stopped and the US is moving into second place.