Windows 7 PC Sales Ended on Friday 31 October 2014

For a time Dell offered the choice of OS following Vista's rejection by many. The offer was for brand new models just coming up at the time as well as for the newer machines to come later with 7 preinstalled unless you ordered from them direct where you could specify what OS you wanted. This also included Linux as well as Windows.

With XP no longer supported by anyone you would have to run a search for a used pc on EBay most likely to still find anything in good shape still running that older version. Once you go too new there's no support for XP while some newer models still support Vista. Refurbished systems are those typically returned by either those who want out of the latest of ran into some type of hardware issue when buying new only to return it where Dell then has to go through it for resale.

The choice of OS offer however was mainly for brand new first owner pcs when ordered direct through them not returns as far as I know. You would need to contact them directly to see what options are seen for any refurbished systems since the brand new factory warranty would be changed to a limited version with a time limit for return or exchange.

The 2012 Computer World article seen at Dell will still offer Windows 7 after Windows 8 launch | Computerworld discusses the customer options for 7 instead of 8 due to the gap of years between the Vista launch and 8's debut. Some chatter from a 2013 discussion I ran across was a complaint that customers are being forced to choose a Windows version not another OS suggesting stopped offering the previous choice of OS offer once 8 was out.

None of the latest boards even have drivers for it since there now have been four newer versions of Windows released with a fifth soon to come since XP's extended Hay day. While I still plan to keep 7 going as long as possible we all have to admit sooner or later we will be forced into something newer.

It's just sad seeing 7 no longer being sold however since most have now moved on to at least Vista or 7 while hopefully 10 actually realizes what was left behind with 8 as far as the progress 7 made! With the upcoming the idea of cross platform without abandoning the desktop platform may have been reached for the "all platform" consolidation there. I certainly wasn't ready to give up on 7 for a 7" tablet OS a few years ago!

groze said:

You won't be forced into anything. I do see the Linux market increasing though because ubuntu and its derivatives are easy to install and work on almost any hardware.

The trouble is nobody bothers to fix the GUI tools.

The majority that I've tried are substandard (i.e. worse than Windows equivalents).
The exceptions are the programs that are available for Windows and Linux Distros (e.g. FF, GIMP or VLC).

The standout exception is Firefox, which actually runs a much better on Linux Distros.

groze said:

I find sudo and apt-get the easiest to use.

It's unbelievable how often I have to type "sudo blah" into the Terminal.

I never use "apt-get", unless I can "Copy & Paste" the appropriate command from an Internet forum.

IMO, trying to find and then type in a package name and version is horrible (even with wildcards).

lehnerus2000 said:

groze said:

You won't be forced into anything. I do see the Linux market increasing though because ubuntu and its derivatives are easy to install and work on almost any hardware.

The trouble is nobody bothers to fix the GUI tools.

The majority that I've tried are substandard (i.e. worse than Windows equivalents).
The exceptions are the programs that are available for Windows and Linux Distros (e.g. FF, GIMP or VLC).

The standout exception is Firefox, which actually runs a much better on Linux Distros.

groze said:

I find sudo and apt-get the easiest to use.

It's unbelievable how often I have to type "sudo blah" into the Terminal.

I never use "apt-get", unless I can "Copy & Paste" the appropriate command from an Internet forum.

IMO, trying to find and then type in a package name and version is horrible (even with wildcards).

Well that's what you get from the open source community is a lack of mandatory updates. I try to stay with the 64bit flavors mainly for live recovery sticks these days over fussing with trying to get the 64bit flavor off FF to go on separately(now the latest WaterFox 33 also running well on 7).

I still have the option to run any OS on the second OS drive until W10 goes on being a little behind on that lately for a good lookover. Ubuntu and a few other small distros can be custom installed onto usb flash drives where you don't plan on those for every day use but for live recovery when not planning a second OS and then running into a variety of not able to do situations like video capture, finding the correct media player, etc. Plus unlike people here who may try out the flavors of the month most of the people I know wouldn't even touch a distro on machines they want me to debug at times.

While MS was busy looking at the immediate lack in desktop sales(mostly OEM desktops not custom builds still being put together!) and is busy working out the RT gui bugs with 10 and beyond I think the desktop will re-emerge again likely sooner once the smart phone fad wears off a bit. With the mico atx boards becoming more power house over time smaller cases still seeing multiple HDs will be the thought as well as newer All in One OEM systems.

I wouldn't mind dropping 98SE back on an old tank case sitting unused anymore since it be used online just to run some of that old dos Legacy type stuff like the Duke emulator that crashes after you finish the first level in Windows being a flop for that old title. But as far as having the present desktop revert backwards to a Legacy look?

This is another reason I was glad in many ways I moved out of XP before 7 came along not for not having the Classic not Aero theme running on Vista but Linux as the main OS or Linux Legacy look? An updated 7 not Metro but updated 7 look would hold more interest at this late date aesthetically speaking. I've tried out numerous flavors of the month over the years with a number of desktops combos but only kept any particular distro as a second OS on for so long and cleaned it off. I wasn't interested in chasing each newer version every few months for various reasons while VMs would serve the purpose much better.

groze said:

Just for info, you get updates in Linux all the time or at least I do. You can also run the software updater at any time. I see nothing wrong with the Linux GUI, you have multiple choices of desktops. There are ways to limit sudo and root usage. No difference than UAC prompt in windows.

UAC and "sudo" work in opposite directions.

Simplistically:

• In Windows 7, the initial user account has Admin powers, but they are blocked by UAC
• In Linux, the initial user account has no Admin powers, unless you add them by using "sudo"

UAC is actually more complicated than that (it uses two security tokens).
UAC Processes and Interactions


Regarding the GUI, I wasn't referring to the desktop, I meant the tools and programs (I phrased that poorly in my previous post).

lehnerus2000 said:

The trouble is nobody bothers to fix the GUI tools.

The majority that I've tried are substandard (i.e. worse than Windows equivalents).
The exceptions are the programs that are available for Windows and Linux Distros (e.g. FF, GIMP or VLC).

The standout exception is Firefox, which actually runs a much better on Linux Distros.

Compare Caja/Nautilus to Windows Explorer.

Caja/Nautilus has features that Windows Explorer should have:

• Sidebar view options
• Tabs
• Optional twin file panes (also with tabs)

However, there are only a few file "Details" column options compared to Windows Explorer.
The tooltips are also lacking compared to Windows Explorer (note: XP had better tooltips than W7).

Windows Explorer also has better integration with installed programs.
I can rename/move/delete objects in the "Open" or "Save" dialogue windows, which is something I can't do in a lot of Linux programs.