I second this. I took touch-typing back in 8th grade in junior high (so 1984 or 85). I learned on IBM Selectric electric typewriters. Big, heavy, bullets bounce off steel monsters with a type ball. (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FIBM_Selectric)

That class was easily the #1 most useful of both years of jr. high. I've now been benefitting from that for 40 years. Writing, emails, documentation, coding -- whatever -- all have benefited over that time from touch typing. That class has probably saved me 5,000+ hours (more?) through increased typing speed over that time.

I just downloaded the new Microsoft edit from Github, and tried it. There just two files (edit.exe and edit.pdb). Copy them into a folder. You can now run. No installer needed.

So, fully portable. Shouldn't need admin rights, and won't need the Microsoft Store.

Have problems with Calc? Use this one:

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.moffsoft.com%2Ffreec...

I've been using this as a calc replacement for years.

Move to Brave -- since it will continue to support v2 extensions

Or move to Firefox / Waterfox / LibreWolf / PaleMoon / etc. -- any Firefox-derived browser.

I'm assuming there will likely be a few other Chromium forks out there that will continue to support v2 extensions.

And here's how to still download a 23H2 ISO. Microsoft blocks this to consumers now (thought enterprise customers should still be able to get that ISO).

Basically, you run a script that downloads files from Microsoft, and then it builds a new ISO. It's a bit annoying, and can take an hour or so, but it works.

Info here:
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpureinfotech.com%2Fdownl...

And I have a script to disable Cortana, CoPilot, and Recall, too:

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpastebin.com%2Fwit4utAQ

Win 11 24H2 is *still* highly problematic. I strongly recommend that if you install Win 11, install 23H2 instead of 24H2.

And here's a batch script to lock your Windows release (23H2 or even older releases) and block Microsoft from auto-updating to a new release.

Just change the line:

      set release-level=23H2

To whatever release level you want to "lock".

Someone else here mentioned disabling your TPM module in your BIOS as well -- that should work in theory. (It certainly will block any Windows 10 --> 11 upgrades.)

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpastebin.com%2FFTrF3c7W

You can also just build a bootable flash drive with the free tool Rufus, and it will take care of all of this for you.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeuseof.com%2Frufu...

VMware Converter got revived, as WAY too many people complained.

Here's a link to the current latest version (6.6.0). Broadcom does seem to be maintaining it and issuing new versions.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.broadcom.com%2Fg...

You'll need to create a free account with Broadcom to download it.

(This doesn't mean that Broadcom isn't a bunch of money-grabbing f*cktards who have likely screwed themselves over in the long term. Just that this is a very useful and free tool. You can always do P2Vs with this tool, then use other tools to convert the VM to some other hypervisor.)

You get one big problem with hermetically sealed houses: mold and mildew can get really, really bad. You can get wood rot as well. There are good reasons why homes have soffit vents. (https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Froofinginsights.com%2Fwhat-is-a-soffit-vent%2F)

But having a highly energy efficient home can make economic sense and not have this problem. (Depending how much it costs to get there.) It's also a heck of a lot easier to do on new construction vs. remediation on old construction.

Windows 10 is going end of life (EOL) on Oct 14, 2025. Microsoft *might* extend this, but don't count on it. (They have extended EOL dates for other Windows versions in the past.)

After that date, Windows 10 systems won't get new security updates except if you have a paid account. (Or do some complicated workarounds / hacks.)

That's OK (maybe) if you have a system that will *NEVER* go online. Otherwise, using an OS after its EOL is very risky. This is true of any OS (including Unix/Linux).

So, like it or not, replacing Windows 10 systems (or upgrading them in-place for Windows 11) should be something Windows users should be doing over the next year.

And yes, Microsoft will note some systems are not eligible for Windows 11, and fail system requirements. The big reason for this is usually a lack of TPM 2.0 support:
https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fsupport.microsoft.com%2F...

Some systems might have this, but just need this enabled in the BIOS.

Some may have TPM 1.2 or such, and can have a firmware update to TPM 2.0. (I've seen that on some Lenovo systems, and I assume that's true for some other manufacturers and their models.)

Check with the online support from your laptop/desktop/motherboard manufacturer on this.

If you're adventurous, you can also force Windows 11's setup to ignore TPM requirements and install anyway (though you may have trouble in the future if Windows updates and re-enables checking for this):

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.makeuseof.com%2Frufu...

And, yes, there's always the move to Linux/BSD/Mac/Chromebooks/whatever option. (This is Slashdot, so this *ALWAYS* must be mentioned.) This may be a good option for the technically minded *AND* those who don't need to use specific Windows applications. Wine may work for you (or not -- but may be complicated as heck). You could also run a Windows 11 VM on top of Linux/BSD, which is great for any application that doesn't need high-performance video (e.g., games, video editing, CAD, etc.). So, replacing Windows with some OS may work for you. It will likely not work for most users, especially the less technical. (For the completely non-technical grandparent types, you might very well be better with a Chromebook. Can't do nearly as much, but it's also hard to break. And it still allows anything web, Google Docs, etc.)

If you want to break into a Windows system (either black hat hacking, or white hack -- e.g., getting around a forgotten password), you can reset with the free tiny Linux utility:

http://www.chntpw.com/download...

You can also use this to re-enable the local administrator account if it's disabled.

The way to defend against this is to use BitLocker disk encryption. (VeraCrypt probably would work as well, but not 100% certain.) BitLocker will block access to the encrypted disk via a USB / CD / DVD boot up unless you also supply the decryption password.

Ran into this a week or so ago at work. Wanted to get into a laptop that hadn't been on the network for ages, and had a deleted domain account. We didn't know the local administrator account. Went to use the chntpw tool via a USB flash drive, but couldn't get it past BitLocker, and we didn't know the unique BitLocker key for that system . So couldn't read/write the hard drive offline.

So, in the end, all we could do was re-partition and re-format that laptop.

(I've used chntpw to recover/get around probably 100+ systems over the past 10 years: forgotten local passwords, the dude who knew it was fired or quit months/years ago, I fatfingered the password when creating it, I forgot to write down the password, etc. Very, very useful -- when it works.)

Having just done this a few days ago, I strongly recommend using the Rufus method. Far easier.

https://ancillary-proxy.atarimworker.io?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.howtogeek.com%2F8361...

Also: Microsoft is being evil here. I strongly recommend setting up local accounts instead of cloud-based accounts. You can tie in later if you want. But for many home users (and many work/enterprise users), the cloud tie-in is unnecessary and an extra possible security/privacy vulnerability.

I used to work for Fujitsu on PC server support. Their PCs and servers are (or at least were) pretty darn good. I'd rather have a Fujitsu than a HP. (Dells are usually my favorites.)

Fujitsu systems sell decently in Japan and Europe, but have very little presence in the US.

I still have a Proxmox system that I built from a refurbished Primergy server 6 years ago, and it's still running just fine. Very happy. (Fujitsu had some internal sales on surplus systems and I was able to get it way cheap.)

Maintenance on EVs may be cheaper at first, but they are way more expensive in the long term.

After 100k miles (or whenever the warranty ends), you will eventually need to replace the vehicle's batteries. And that will cost $10-20k.

Great, maybe, if you lease. Terrible for anyone owning for the long term.