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My computer only have a 1GB of ram and it's working fine. All I do is to close all heavy programs before opening another one because I play on PPSSPP (PSP EMU) and PCSX2 (PS2 EMU) and use Virtual Machines.
My computer only have a 1GB of ram and it's working fine. All I do is to close all heavy programs before opening another one because I play on PPSSPP (PSP EMU) and PCSX2 (PS2 EMU) and use Virtual Machines.
I'm surprised they still sold W7. i can't balme them for discontinuing at this point. W7 only has 1 more year of support (6 more security) support left. whoever buys a new OS from scratch now, whould use W8 with still 9 years left. And for no-clue people that buy OEM PCs, they still can get W7 for another year.
People who don't like W8 for PCs (inc. myself), had enough opportunity to buy a W7 copy. So far nothing new to see here.
What is annoying, is that W8, 8.1 or whatever is so butchered up that everyone using a desktop actually waits for W9 (hoping it would be good).
I tend to hang on to computers for a long time. My first computer was a Commodore C64c; I still have it. My first XP machine lasted seven years before I retired it because I had outgrown it. The second one lasted five years even though it was a POS. After trying out Win 8, I decided to keep using Win 7 as long as I can (or sometime in 2019, whichever comes first). I bought three retail and one OEM license for Win 7 while I could (one retail and the one OEM are in use) so no worries there. If I don't like what's available then and can still get parts, I just might keep a Win 7 machine going isolated from the "interwebz", etc. but then, who knows what may happen by then? I have many options available now and there will be others by then.
Oh yeah, I would love to see how anyone can store 57 GB of music and 35 GB of books (only a little over half of what I will have since I'm only a little over halfway finished scanning my books) on a tablet or smart phone. I'm not knocking tablets or smart phones—they do have their uses—but I simply do not need either (I have an el cheapo dumb phone for emergencies) and I especially do not need a monthly data plan bill (I'm retired on a fixed income). Smart TVs aren't all that smart (they are vulnerable to attacks when connected to the web). I don't have room for a standalone NAS; I need to keep as much as possible in one box.
Keep in mind, not everyone has access to reliable, unlimited broadband internet, especially affordable.
True that except not all change is good.
Ok, I'm just being anal here but the English longbow was superior to even crossbows. Even modern crossbows can't compete with good longbows. The difference is it takes a lot of training, natural aptitude, and physical strength to excel with a longbow whereas any idiot could learn to shoot a crossbow. At the time, crossbows weren't much better than the first firearms other than, mayhap, aim.
Touch is ideal for tablets and phone for which keyboards are impractical but require a clunky interface (tiles, etc.) to allow comparatively fat fingers to be able to select only one thing. However, that does use more screen real estate on machines that can't really spare it, making them unsuitable for more complex tasks. Viewing a large spread sheet or editing page layout on large documents becomes unwieldy or impossible on anything other than a large screen. And touch on a large screen just takes too much effort. It makes far more sense to move a mouse a couple inches or less to go from one side of a 22" or bigger screen that to move one's finger that far when said finger is at the end of an outstretched arm (my shoulders simply can't handle that). I need multiple monitors for much of what I do and will be getting them once I get some other projects out of the way (such as making a place for my ADF scanner so I can have room on my desk for the monitors); the last thing I need is less screen real estate! I've frequently had my single monitor partitioned into six windows with a couple more windows intermittently opened on top of the six. Having to frequently scroll through each little window was a PITA. Those tasks would be pretty much possible impossible on a tablet or smartphone (in other words, the nice men in white would take me for a ride to the funny farm before I was finished).
True, all that can be done from a smart phone or tablet but I feel a desktop computer or laptop to be far easier and faster to use, especially online shopping when I don't know what I'm looking for or I'm comparison shopping. Again, the limited screen real estate and the clunky interface are what would hold me up. And I don't need to do any of that with any onthespotget'erdonerightthen urgency so I can keep until I do get to a laptop or desktop.
I have used a camera for a portable scanner but prefer one of my two scanners at home (usually, the ADF but I still use a flatbed often enough to justify keeping it too.) Even those don't get much of a workout since most of my receipts and statements are obtained online (either already digitized or "printed" to a PDF). Tracking down those receipts is far easier on a desktop, again mostly due to the increased screen real estate.
God bless you for that! That is true for any data stored anywhere. I'm constantly amazed by the number of people on computer forums that post that they don't need backups, even less for multiple backups, despite all the posts on the same forums from poor shmoes crying that their HDD, smart phone, tablet, whatever, died with all their data on it and are wanting to know how to get it back. Sad to say, the chances of getting it back at that point is somewhere between fat and slim and usually will cost a lot of money IF it can be done.
I agree! There is no way a tablet or smart phone can handle that nor will they in my lifetime (which is not to say they never will).
True, desktop use will (and has) decline for most home consumers because they never fully utilized the power of their desktops. That's not true for all home consumers, however, and many are using their smaller, more portable devices to supplement their desktops.
Desktops will still play a major role in business for reasons I've already covered but tablets and smartphones will be (and are) used as extensions of those desktops and laptops(and LAN connected mainframes). Data creation will typically be done on the desktops and laptops but data dissemination will be (and are) done on laptops or tablets instead of killing trees and burning toner for printouts. Many retailers are offering to email receipts instead of printing them (I decline because I don't trust them to not use the addy for spam, the same reason I never do surveys).
One reason the PC market seems to be dying is the market is saturated and there aren't as many first time purchasers. People are keeping their machines longer for various reasons, such as the bad economy (the recession is far from over, no matter what crap...er...skewed data governments feed us, trying to say otherwise; I have more out of work friends now than when the recession first hit), not liking what's available now, etc. Once an equilibrium is reached, desktop sales will level out and, eventually, rise again, although never again to the same level as before but, still, a significant market, one no vendor can afford to ignore for long (although, sadly, M$ has done just that many times).
I don't think the economy is the problem. Maybe in the US, but in the rest of the world the economy is doing quite well - with a few minor exceptions like e.g. Greece. And even in the US I see people buying like mad - as if supplies would end tomorrow.One reason the PC market seems to be dying is the market is saturated and there aren't as many first time purchasers. People are keeping their machines longer for various reasons, such as the bad economy (the recession is far from over, no matter what crap...er...skewed data governments feed us, trying to say otherwise; I have more out of work friends now than when the recession first hit), not liking what's available now, etc. Once an equilibrium is reached, desktop sales will level out and, eventually, rise again, although never again to the same level as before but, still, a significant market, one no vendor can afford to ignore for long (although, sadly, M$ has done just that many times).
I think the slowdown of PC sales has to do with Windows. Windows 8 puts people off. And there are attractive alternatives - e.g. Chromebooks. I think mom and pap that wont to email or skype with their relatives and keep a few pictures on the PC are much better off with a Chromebook than with a complex Windows PC. Then let's not forget the tablets.
The total number of devices is probably growing rapidly - it is the Windows PC that's slumping.
The economy was only one factor. Win 8 comes under not liking what is available (I just didn't want to provide fuel for the Win 8 hater haters). Sales are up but not everyone is doing the buying. Unemployment figures are skewed because many people are no longer eligible for unemployment because their benefits ran out, so they don't get included in the count, along with those who gave up and quit looking and/or accepted lower paying jobs just to stay off the streets (many have hit the streets and are no longer being counted).
Lady and WHS I agree with what you say. I love using a desktop, I am here all day and I have 3 of them in front of me. Tablets don't interest me. I have a regular dumb cell phone. Windows 7 is far superior to Windows experiment on the masses 8. Obviously 8 is broken as 8.1 is trying to fix it and 8.2 is trying to fix it even more. I bet hardware companies are miffed at the changes and the fact their drivers get broken. Windows 7 just rocks. We should get SP2 and Windows 9 should be 7 based with no metro crap just a nice Aero desktop and functional upgrades instead of fluff. Keep Windows 8 for the tablet brigade.
Win 8.x is fine for tablets, phones, and some laptops. What M$ needs to do is keep Win 8.x for the tablet, phone and some laptop markets and have an OS that's more suitable for desktops (such as Win 7 is) but the "geniuses" at M$ "have a vision" (seemingly drug induced).
Heard somewhere that MS is going to maybe start releasing consumer OS's and Business OS's differently. As a Volunteer at a Non_profit, they just don't have the funds to upgrade their desktops, Even though MS lets them have the OS at a dirt cheap rate.
The hardware $'s are just not there..
Rich