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Thread ID: 91651	2008-07-14 07:38:00	Thoroughly disenchanted - are there any programs left which are not too complex	Misty (368)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
688755	2008-07-14 21:06:00	CCleaner and Firefox aren't complex at all. And neither is Office 2007 CCLeaner and Firefox I agree with, very simple. I spend about 3 years teaching people computing and a lot of that was back in the days of Word 2 I had various ages to teach from high school age to 80 year olds. The majority of the younger ones picked it up quickly but most of the older ones struggled with Word 2 so Office 2007 would be a complete nightmare to them. My Mother in law is great with XP and Office 2003 but she recently updated to a new computer with Vista and Office 2007 she is really struggling to get to grips with it.	Bantu (52)
688756	2008-07-14 23:24:00	I think its just a sign of the times. the new MSN live messenger uses about 35mb, just for a chat client! I'd be happy if it were 2-3mb. I would use the older versions if I could, but the oldest version that connects is 8.1 (which is what I'm using). Progams like uTorrent should be the norm; effective, simple to use, do one thing and one thing well and lightweight. Agreed with the "if it aint broke, dont fix it". I'm still using Office 97 and acrobat reader 5 and see no reason to change. I'm still using sygate personal firewall from 2002 (i think). Unlike antivirus programs, firewalls dont get out of date. If a firewall blocks ports from incoming connections and can deny outgoing connections, its all that is needed.	utopian201 (6245)
688757	2008-07-15 01:22:00	Coming from a computer tech that is a very bad statement to say that it is not necessary to keep MS systems updated. Updates generally address a security problem of some sort and MS frequently advise an update is critical and they say that for a reason to ensure users are not inflicted by the problems the update addresses. I don't make my customers avoid them. However if they actually ask my opinion then yes I'll tell them I don't. I do explain why I don't have any problems too. But, why the hell should I? I've never seen a patched, updated system without any problems in here. MS patches do bugger all to keep you safe. What they do is like putting bandaids on the holes in a sieve one by one - in the hope that you end up with a bucket. Relying on MS is a joke, you'd be overwhelmed long, long before they ever design a secure system. Take a look at how other O/Ss work, it will never be secure, and even the other O/Ss can be compromised. So I'll stick with taking care of my own security with things that work thanks.	pctek (84)
688758	2008-07-15 01:23:00	I read an article not that long ago (can't remember where tho) that was suggesting how software became so bloated - back in the day when PC's weren't that powerful, and upgrading them so they were powerful cost a fortune, programmers used to take a lot more care to write efficient code. With the advent of cheap hard drives and RAM, and the affordability of multi-core CPU's, that philosophy went out the window to an extent - how many apps are hand-written in assembly code these days?? Pretty much none. My only suggestion is to keep your PC running lean and mean - use VMware to test programs, only install the ones you're going to use regularly, keep your PC patched and protected, run CCleaner etc, and probably get used to doing a full rebuild once a year, which isn't that big a deal these days (with XP at least) :2cents:	nofam (9009)
688759	2008-07-15 03:32:00	Unlike antivirus programs, firewalls dont get out of date. If a firewall blocks ports from incoming connections and can deny outgoing connections, its all that is needed. They just stop support for "older" OS'es. :)	dolby digital (5073)
688760	2008-07-15 10:06:00	Well, thanks for all the responses ! My thread was made at a time of great frustration . My new program Adobe Premiere Elements was causing me real grief . Anyway I seem to have found a roundabout way around that . I do take on the points about Firefox, which is marvellous . Also CCleaner . Must try not to get too downhearted ! However I do not change programs frequently and usually have a strong reason for changing . I did get rid of ZoneAlarm because of incompatibilities, then the same for Kerio (on the very good advice of wainuitech) . Now use Comodo, which is very good, however it does cause constant alarm to Mrs Misty with all it's continuing questions . Some programs have certainly got bloated, like the ones I mentioned . It is only dedicated people like yourselves who last the course . The suggestion has been made to do a full rebuild once a year and that is probably a very good idea . However to someone like me, and I am sure many others, it seems a risky and daunting proposition . Misty :2cents:	Misty (368)
688761	2008-07-15 20:25:00	I agree Misty - a total rebuild is still to me a daunting proposition and I procrastinate as much as I can when I need to do it because of the "unknown" problems that WILL pop up. I must say, I toned down a lot through the advice from the geeks on this forum - my machine is now lean and mean and working well (or so I think). I still consider using Limewire or similar quite a risk, because of the port that I need to open in my router FW for Limewire to work properly. Am I correct in this? sarel	sarel (2490)
688762	2008-07-15 21:44:00	Good software should be easy and intuitive to use once you have learned the basics of windows and one or two apps. I think the exception is programs such as Photoshop which has to be complex as it does so much and it is aimed at professionals. But I dislike programs such as ZoneAlarm which don't have Windows standard menu systems.	Digby (677)
688763	2008-07-15 21:48:00	The suggestion has been made to do a full rebuild once a year and that is probably a very good idea. However to someone like me, and I am sure many others, it seems a risky and daunting proposition. Nah. Ghost it. Once you have a tidy setup configured to your liking. Then you only need to restore your image back, and at most have to add back one or two new things. 9 minutes and its all very painless.	pctek (84)
688764	2008-07-15 22:45:00	Nah. Ghost it. Once you have a tidy setup configured to your liking. Then you only need to restore your image back, and at most have to add back one or two new things. 9 minutes and its all very painless. I agree, last week I restored an image to my windows partition (about 5 mins). The only things I needed to do were to update the drivers since the image and copy over some application data folders so I didn't lose all my preferences. But other than that, its like having a fresh start again.	utopian201 (6245)
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