Irritating software changes

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24 Nov 2017, 11:37 pm

I just did a re-boot, and apparently a Firefox update kicked in, because I got a notice saying it is "all new" and "Intuitive." I intuit that I can't find my bookmarks and will have to re-organize them. I find this infuriating. "Go for a tour" they say - all I want is to find what I went there for, which is missing, not go back to school for a while.
My music collection is just a big random mess, because every player wants its own filing system, and I got tired of re-doing it every year or so.

auntblabby
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24 Nov 2017, 11:39 pm

I hate how W10 won't run software which ran on W7.

harry12345
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25 Nov 2017, 3:14 am

Dear_one wrote:

You have to add the bookmarks to the toolbar.

Look for the >> symbol (top right of browser). Click.
Click "Bookmarks Menu", then click Bookmarking Tools.
You should be able to "Add Bookmarks Menu to Toolbar".

You could also try "CTRL_B" if the box is missing from the left hand side.

strings
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25 Nov 2017, 5:39 am

Dear_one wrote:

The trouble is there are lots of software developers who seemingly need to justify their continued employment by coming up with new looks, new gimmicks and yet more bloated new versions of software that was working perfectly well already. I hated the new Firefox when I found it had updated this last week. After a bit of playing around I managed to remove a lot of new buttons that I didn't need and didn't want, and got it back to almost as good as it was before the update. Except that the icons on some of the buttons have changed, and I don't like the new ones.

I wish they would just follow the old dictum "If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

auntblabby
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25 Nov 2017, 5:42 am

I don't get what was so wrong with windows XP that they hadda ditch it in just a few years. :scratch:

Dear_one
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25 Nov 2017, 6:35 am

auntblabby wrote:

I don't get what was so wrong with windows XP that they hadda ditch it in just a few years. :scratch:

Its spyware module was really feeble compared to the newer versions. Commercial software is written to benefit the company, even if you "buy" it. I used to sell magazine subscriptions, and for every one we sold, at about 10% of the cover price, the publisher would give us another 30% of the cover price for placing those ads where people might open the magazine.

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25 Nov 2017, 6:48 am

of all the windows OS, XP was the most stable one I had. windows 10 is always locking up on me. puter repairperson told me it will only run semi-properly on a top of the line machine.

Dear_one
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25 Nov 2017, 7:43 am

auntblabby wrote:

of all the windows OS, XP was the most stable one I had. windows 10 is always locking up on me. puter repairperson told me it will only run semi-properly on a top of the line machine.

After a foolish foray with an iMac, I was trying to get back up to speed on PCs with Win7. Even though I had a legit used HP laptop, I couldn't get a software patch on-line. While I was waiting for a disk to arrive in the mail, I decided to try Linux. In 2 days I had everything I wanted running, after months of frustration with Windows. I've never looked back. However, that's a thread for another place - I'm just here for the "They Changed My Environment!" howls.

strings
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25 Nov 2017, 8:33 am

Dear_one wrote:

Yes, Linux is the only one for me, too. Though even with Linux, I find sometimes that they make tiresome and pointless changes when a new version is released. I recently installed Fedora 26 and had to hunt around for a while to find out how to turn off an irritating default where the the "activities" screen was invoked if the mouse cursor inadvertently strayed into the top left corner of the screen. Why would anyone think that was a good idea??! !??

At least in Linux, though, everything is much more under the control of the user. I think it has an aspie appeal.

Trogluddite
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25 Nov 2017, 10:28 am

Dear_one wrote:

I got a notice saying it is "all new" and "Intuitive."

IMHO, software developers and marketers should be slapped with a haddock every time they invoke the concept of "intuitive". It so often just means that it is "intuitive" to them, not the customer. It's a quite reliable indicator that the developers have not put enough effort into seeing the software from the point of view of the customer, and have made assumptions about their customers' amount of background knowledge.
(I should point out, I have briefly worked in software development, so am certain that I have been guilty of this!! :oops:

)

A trivial example from this very forum: When I reply to a post, I click a button called "Post Reply", leading to a page labelled "Post a Reply". But when my post is written, I have to click a button labelled "Submit". The arbitrary change of terminology is potentially confusing, and a classic example of "nerdspeak". (NB: I do realise that this is likely beyond the control of WP as the forum is built using generic forum software.)

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Dear_one
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25 Nov 2017, 12:05 pm

Trogluddite wrote:

Dear_one wrote:

I got a notice saying it is "all new" and "Intuitive."

Gad, yes. We Really need a glossary for all the misappropriated words. I was trying to get my telephone fixed this year, and got an invitation to "chat." That seemed pretty useless with a dead mic, but it turned out to refer to a form of email. I'll be damned if I'll "like" or "friend" something until I know what kind of cascade that might set off.

Around 1990, on a friend's famously intuitive Mac, I was having trouble getting it to read a floppy. These could be ejected by "dragging them to the trash." So, I dragged the HD to the trash and it took a pro 2 hours to get it back.

There may be intuition in the world, but mine sure shuts off when I'm in a blind fury over finding my stuff moved or gone.

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25 Nov 2017, 12:11 pm

harry12345 wrote:

Dear_one wrote:

You have to add the bookmarks to the toolbar.

Look for the >> symbol (top right of browser). Click.
Click "Bookmarks Menu", then click Bookmarking Tools.
You should be able to "Add Bookmarks Menu to Toolbar".
You could also try "CTRL_B" if the box is missing from the left hand side.

Thanks, but there have always been at least three piles of bookmarks, labelled by buzzwords I have yet to define, and now it looks as if none of them will be within one click. All I know is that the ones I usually use are so thoroughly buried I can't find them at all. Mozilla just earned themselves a lump of coal.

JustFoundHere
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14 Jan 2018, 3:55 pm

Dear_one wrote:

Trogluddite wrote:

Dear_one wrote:

I got a notice saying it is "all new" and "Intuitive."

DITTO Trogluddite, and Dear_one!

kokopelli
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14 Jan 2018, 4:32 pm

auntblabby wrote:

I don't get what was so wrong with windows XP that they hadda ditch it in just a few years. :scratch:

Windows XP was certainly better than what Microsoft has done since then.

That said, I only use OpenBSD and Linux. Both of these, particularly OpenBSD, put their effort into making real changes instead of confusing the users.

auntblabby
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14 Jan 2018, 4:44 pm

if they made versions of Sound Forge, Munoise, PSP stereo tools, Pristine Sounds 2005, iZotopeRx, Virtos Noise Wizard, Dcart and DartProXp for Linux, i'd prolly have to hire some puter guy to make me a Linux workstation then, but I can't do without those particular software tools as there are no Linux equivalents for any of them, as Audacity [as excellent as something for free can be] can't touch them.

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14 Jan 2018, 4:49 pm

auntblabby wrote:

I don't get what was so wrong with windows XP that they hadda ditch it in just a few years. :scratch:

It wasn't nearly as good as spyware.

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