Profile Milling with Acu-Rite MillPWR G2 3-Axis

[matthewsx]

I've been in the IT business since before the web so I've supported just about everything out there. My first Linux machine was in 1993 but mostly I've used Macs and Windows as productivity machines because of the reasons you stated. But now things are changing.

Windows 10 is almost 5 years old and when I boot my PC into it I have to allow at least an hour for it to update. If you haven't checked Linux out lately I can highly recommend the Ubuntu distro, it can be run from a USB stick to try it out and it plays nicely in a dual boot configuration on every PC I've tried.

With almost everyone using Google Docs for making and sharing all the regular productivity apps, and Libre Office which reads and writes in MS Office format, there's almost nothing I need the PC for besides my Quickbooks bookkeeping stuff. Besides some specialty apps MS Exchange is about the only thing requiring Windows these days.

Of course if I get another admin job I'll be managing Windows Active Directory domain controllers just because that's what most corporations still use. But the days of open source being something only for nerds and scientists are long gone my friend.

John

 

[hwelecrepair]

Windows 10 is almost 5 years old and when I boot my PC into it I have to allow at least an hour for it to update.

What? I shut my computer at work down at least 3 times a week and even with the big updates it does every few weeks, that maybe takes 10 minutes to do the update on reboot.

Not at all saying anything about the system or experience, but an hour every time you turn it on?

Jon

 

[Boswell]

I keep my shop windows 10 system off most of the time. I have updates set to manual so it only updates the system, when I tell it to. takes 5-10 minutes when it does.

 

[matthewsx]

Well, you guys are lucky I guess. Either that or Windows doesn't like sharing the drives on my systems with Linux.

But probably it's because I manually run all the updates available and only do it every month or two. I could set it to do less but don't want to risk it in case something major comes along. If I was still running an active directory domain controller on my network I could manage updates better, but that would mean leaving my systems booted into Windows all the time. Most users just let the updates download and run in the background but I find that too frustrating so I force it while I do other things on a different system.

I was born in Cupertino and my dad had the very first IBM PC with DOS 1.1, I started with Macs in 1984 and became a systems administrator in the mid 1990's so I do have a little experience with computers. If what you have is working good then no reason to mess with it, but Linux is a viable alternative now that does everything Windows and Macs can do, will run faster on your old hardware, and is licensed under open source so nobody can mess with you.

It's not a religious thing for me, my job is supporting whatever systems my clients are using. I have to objectively evaluate all types of software so I can make good recommendations for them.

If you just want to try it out and see what I'm talking about download Ubuntu and create a bootable USB, it won't mess your system up but will give you a chance to try a great desktop Linux distribution.

Create a bootable USB stick on Ubuntu | Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.

ubuntu.com

If you're wanting to learn more and dive into command line administration here's a free training program I worked on updating last year.

Linux Essentials - Online Courses & Labs Training | NDG

Learn Linux Essentials with NDG Online Courses and Labs

www.netdevgroup.com

I love this place because I get to learn new stuff every day.


Cheers,

John