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KE9V via rec.radio.amateur.moderated Admin March 20th 16 04:30 PM

[KE9V] Looking thru Windows
 

Perturbation

///////////////////////////////////////////
Looking thru Windows

Posted: 19 Mar 2016 12:50 PM PDT
http://ke9v.net/2016/03/19/looking-thru-windows/


I ordered a Dell XPS 13 laptop last week and it arrived a few days ago. I
had selected a configuration with an i5 processor, 8Gb of memory, and 256Gb
of solid state storage.

Physically, it’s about the size of an 11-inch MacBook Air but sports a
larger 13-inch screen with the thinnest bezel I’ve seen. It gives the
appearance that the screen is continuous to the outer edges. The keyboard
is full-enough sized to be comfortable and the touch-pad is responsive.
Battery life has been spectacular – ten hours on a charge.



Windows 10 (Home) was pre-loaded and I find it to be perfectly usable
despite my fondness for Linux and OS X. That fondness had painted me into a
corner where I didn’t own anything else and have simply foregone the many
benefits of living in the mainstream of amateur radio hardware and software.

I purchased this machine specifically because of the difficulty in being an
active radio amateur in a world without Windows. It’s a necessity for most
transceiver firmware updates and extremely nice to have given that almost
all the best ham radio software is crafted for MS-Windows.

Whenever I mention this, someone always points out that there are ways to
run Windows applications on the Mac or on Linux, and they’re not wrong.
I’ve tried them all, including running Windows in a VM on another machine.
But there are always drawbacks, deficiencies, and problems. Especially with
hardware. It’s one thing to run an Office app on another platform, it’s
another thing to to connect a rotor controller via a USB port on a Mac
running Windows in some oddball configuration.

Capitulation was my solution I don’t mind having another operating system
to manage, in fact, there seems a lot to like about Windows 10.

After unpacking the new laptop and getting acquainted, the first thing I
did was update the firmware on my TenTec Eagle. After that, I filtered my
general station data to dredge up SKCC contacts that I hadn’t submitted for
credit. Then I installed SKCCLogger, a nifty application that takes the
work out of generating properly formatted entries for SKCC awards.

While it’s only been a few days, my experience with the Dell XPS 13 has
been nothing but positive and I’d encourage you to give it a look when
shopping for a new laptop.


Ralph Mowery March 20th 16 05:31 PM

[KE9V] Looking thru Windows
 

"KE9V via rec.radio.amateur.moderated Admin"
wrote in message
...

Perturbation

///////////////////////////////////////////
Looking thru Windows

Posted: 19 Mar 2016 12:50 PM PDT
http://ke9v.net/2016/03/19/looking-thru-windows/


I ordered a Dell XPS 13 laptop last week and it arrived a few days ago. I
had selected a configuration with an i5 processor, 8Gb of memory, and
256Gb of solid state storage.


Best of luck on getting the Win 10 computer to work with the ham programs.
It might get beter, but I have not had much luck getting several of the ham
programs to work with win10. and some would work if I did certain things to
get them going.

The ham computer I use is a Dell running XP. Many of the older ham
programs I have will not run on the 64 bit systems.



Phil Kane[_2_] March 21st 16 12:12 AM

[KE9V] Looking thru Windows
 
On Sun, 20 Mar 2016 12:31:26 EDT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


I ordered a Dell XPS 13 laptop last week and it arrived a few days ago. I
had selected a configuration with an i5 processor, 8Gb of memory, and
256Gb of solid state storage.




Best of luck on getting the Win 10 computer to work with the ham programs.
It might get beter, but I have not had much luck getting several of the ham
programs to work with win10. and some would work if I did certain things to
get them going.

The ham computer I use is a Dell running XP. Many of the older ham
programs I have will not run on the 64 bit systems.


I run my ham programs on a Dell E-series laptop that came with Win
7-64. No problem. I foolishly "upgraded" it to Win 10. Bad move. I
couldn't stand the interface, and when I investigated further I was
appalled at the Microsoft "we know what you need" and the "we send
your data to us" built into the version. So after a bit of anguish I
back-leveled it to Win 7 - easy to do if it's within 30 days of the
"upgrade" but not difficult if one has access to a genuine
reinstallation disk.

And to repeat - my ham radio programs run really well, some in 32-bit
mode, on the 64-bit computer.

73 de K2ASP - Phil Kane

From a Clearing in the Silicon Forest

Beaverton (Washington County) Oregon


Rob[_8_] March 21st 16 04:37 PM

[KE9V] Looking thru Windows
 
Phil Kane wrote:
On Sun, 20 Mar 2016 12:31:26 EDT, "Ralph Mowery"
wrote:


I ordered a Dell XPS 13 laptop last week and it arrived a few days ago. I
had selected a configuration with an i5 processor, 8Gb of memory, and
256Gb of solid state storage.




Best of luck on getting the Win 10 computer to work with the ham programs.
It might get beter, but I have not had much luck getting several of the ham
programs to work with win10. and some would work if I did certain things to
get them going.

The ham computer I use is a Dell running XP. Many of the older ham
programs I have will not run on the 64 bit systems.


I run my ham programs on a Dell E-series laptop that came with Win
7-64. No problem. I foolishly "upgraded" it to Win 10. Bad move. I
couldn't stand the interface, and when I investigated further I was
appalled at the Microsoft "we know what you need" and the "we send
your data to us" built into the version. So after a bit of anguish I
back-leveled it to Win 7 - easy to do if it's within 30 days of the
"upgrade" but not difficult if one has access to a genuine
reinstallation disk.

And to repeat - my ham radio programs run really well, some in 32-bit
mode, on the 64-bit computer.


There are probably way more programs that do run on XP and not on
either Windows 7 or Windows 10, than there are programs that do run
well on Windows 7 but not on Windows 10.

But always remember that you are not forced to run Windows, you can always
choose something else, like Linux. It will come with the same update
nightmares (things that worked fine before are broken when you install a
new version, because someone chose to change things without point), but
at least it will not be a data collection device for a large corporation.



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