Comments on: Get a new PC ready for everyday use

Install security software, clear out the clutter, restore your data, and customize Windows' appearance to your liking.

[dragonbite]

Takes me about an hour...
1/2 hour to install Ubuntu
1/2 hour to install any new applications, make some setting changes and download and install some themes.

[Angmarr]

Wish it was user friendly though

[Someone-else]

@Angmarr: It is.
I'm using it right now and I consider it more user-friendly than Windows. The problem is that people just don't want to change. Once I've seem a guy that when he found out that on on the Linux distro his computer came with all programs had different names, he just gave up and installed Windows.

[Mr. Dee]

1/2 hour to install, a lifetime of agony.

[ark_v2]

My mom has less problems using Ubuntu than using Windows; it's not a joke.

[gconnery]

1/2 hour to install Ubuntu

Several hours to update all the software to current versions. At least.

[3rdalbum]

Takes me about 40 minutes to install Ubuntu, 5 minutes to download and iinstall graphics card drivers, and then about another 5 minutes to tell Ubuntu to update all its software and automatically download and install all the software I want. While it's doing that, I copy over the contents of my home directory from last time.

I then just leave it running overnight, and by the morning my computer is 100% ready for use.

So, I only have to be at the computer for less than an hour. Angmarr: If you wished Ubuntu was user-friendly, then you'd already be using it because it IS user-friendly.

[dragonbite]

I actually just did an Ubuntu 8.10 install last night and while the updates took a while (less than an hour if I remember right, though not by much) it also updated EVERYTHING, not just the OS but everything (firefox, gimp, tomboy, bittorrent, etc.)

[GailSanders]

1/2 hour to install Windows XP, 1/2 hour for installing applications, and 1/2 hour to bring my online data back from http://www.myotherdrive.com. I've done this twice in the past year now.

[gsekse]

Yep, having a separate /home partition on a separate drive means just moving the drive to a new box and pointing the new ubuntu system to it.

Takes me longer than dragonbite, I always tinker with a new setup...

[BK216]

good list

if anything, I'd add downloading and getting used to Objectdock 1.9 (its free) its great for shortcuts to useful programs especially when you like to have a clean desktop

[sparrowhyperion]

I have an old system with a huge amount of disk space. I just use it to hold disk images of all my drives which I can just restore from over my 1GB LAN. Takes about an hour or so per machine.

[Mikeatle]

Or, buy a Mac.

[ballmerisanape]

1. Open box

2. Plug in

3. Press power button

4. Create user

5. Never turn back....

[xcal78]

The article wasn't about a mac but a nice way to troll.

[Angmarr]

Or NOT ... don't feel the need to waste money on something that gives me incompatibly, and customizability, just to get a few features.

[ballmerisanape]

Angmarr...
Incompatibility.. ??? With what? Plug and play on the Mac compared to Plug and Pray on Windows? Hell... if you want to slum it with windows... you can install that too..

I'm trolling because it amazes me what people (including myself) have to go through just to get a fresh version of Windows up and running. I really hope Microsoft will get it right with 7... even then, they will be at least 5 years behind the competition with regard to usability. An OS can be powerful and efficient (easy to use) at the same time. People mistake the clunkiness of Windows with it being an OS for tech-minded people.... that's because it takes a tech-minded person to get it up and running properly. Apple has put together an OS that any one can use... from my dad... to the Unix system admin...who takes full advantage of the OS.

Example: As an experiment, I gave my dad a 5 minute tutorial on web serving... and he was able to take advantage of Apple's built-in (and easily configurable) web server and FTP capabilities.

It was easier for my dad to set-up an index.html page and host it on his computer than it is to turn on and use a windows based computer. Targeting the corporate IT crowd has lead to Windows being poorly organized and filled with inconsistent UI quirks... for example, try putting two open excel or ppt files next to each other... you can't... but you can with Word.. go figure. If all you want to do is transfer a few slides from one presentation to another.. you have to copy and paste or use an import wizard... a big waste of time... If you have a dual monitor set-up... you can't have a different picture on each screen... a little thing.. but one of the many poorly though out "features" of Windows..

Little things like Automator allow the novice an opportunity to delve into creating their own applications/scripts.. or you can get into more with the supplied developer tools...

......

[john55440]

>Or, buy a Mac.

Get a life. This article is about PCs, and you are off-topic.

As a practical matter, this blog is called "Worker's Edge", and the overwhelming majority of Businesses run on Windows.

[Someone-else]

Or install some Linux distro, that does everything a Mac does and is free.

IMO, for the final user, Mac is just like some uber-expensive-completely-locked-down Linux distro, that make the user think he is cool because his computer.

[pithenumber]

@balmerisanape
no, this is the steps for a Mac
1. open box
2. plug in
3. press power button
4. create user
5. wait for it to overheat due to a horrid thermal paste job
6. throw away
7. repeat OR buy a PC

[monkeyfun14]

@ballmerisanape


Amazing I bought a dell and the steps were basically the same.

1. Open Box
2. Hook up monitor
3. Hook up speakers
4. Press power button
5. Create user


PC's can work right out of the box to don't kid yourself.

[deanbvfx]

Except all the steps are exactly the same.
Except no doubt some Mac users would skip Step 5.
And by Preference might actually use Safari.
But you don't unbox it power it up n bam its on your network, fully updated, with Office installed n your wallpaper of Choice.
And step 11 isn't Mac Compatible

[john55440]

Step 11B:

Get an external hard drive to make a local backup.

It never hurts to have a backup of your backup. Your online backup may fail, or your online backup company may go out of business.

[fotostuf_dotmac]

I moved from PC to Mac a while ago, so the steps were:
1. Establish a network connection
Mac did it for me.
2. Update Software
Mac automatically looked for me... no need to make it do a thing.
3. Download Firefox
Why? Oh that's right.... IE doesn't work on a Mac... or a PC for that matter!
4. Download NoScript
Well, I guess if you have to use Firefox... but then again, Safari works just fine for me.
5. Install security software
Why? The supposed security issues that were supposed to happen to Mac still have not happened.
6. Download and install your bookmarks from Delicious
Safari knew my bookmarks from my other computer and automatically updated itself.
7. Clear out the trialware
What trialware??
8. Customize your desktop
Drag and dropped stuff to my Dock... quick and easy.
9. Install and update Office (optional)
VERY optional!!!
10. Download your Outlook mail
Huh? Mac Mail took care of everything for me.
11. Download your online data backup
Time Machine set itself up... no need to download a thing.
12. Download Google Gears
Well, I guess if you have a computer that needs the eleven previous steps to make it work...
I much prefer to purchase items that work when I buy them.

So, to summarize, I set up my Mac by:
1. Customizing my desktop

The end.

And for those that whine about Mac Fanbois, don't knock it till you tried it. I lived the PC world for decades before I finally gave up on all of it. No more viruses, no more crashes, no more "can't find the internet connection" notices, no more pop ups every second of the day telling me something I already know, no more hassle, no more problems. And everyone in my department does the exact same thing. So when the rest of the building can't get online... we can; when the wireless printers stop working, ours don't; when there is a virus that shuts everyone else down (just happened!), we have no problems.

[xcal78]

I don't recall it talking about a mac anywhere yet the comments have macs in them. The trolls are out in force today.

[xcal78]

"So when the rest of the building can't get online" or when there is a virus that shuts everyone else down (just happened!), we have no problems.

Sucks to be you there. "Everyone can go home but the Apple people! They can keep working but the PC users have the rest of the day off, Enjoy!" LOL

[Pishkado]

The point isn't about Macs, though. The point is that people who have never used them think the problems of getting Windows up and running are inherent to any modern computer. They'll read an article like this and think "that's not bad, maybe I should do some of those things" without ever realizing that they have an option. Mentioning that they do, raising their consciousness and broadening their perspective, is 100% on topic for this article. Those who object to comments like these have their head in the sand. They're Windows fanbois just as much as anyone else here is an Apple fanboi. Their objections to posts that point out an alternative to this four-hour procedure says more about them than it does about either platform.

[xcal78]

@Pishkado

The point is the article is written to target PC's so going off topic is called a troll. Your welcome to do that as all apple/ms fanboys do to each other. If the title was "How does a new Mac compare to a new PC" then by all means it'd be on topic. I've yet to hear anyone forced to use an Apple but people are forced to use PC's which is why they are the greater demographic and thus the point of the article. A mac isn't an option for a lot of people due to price, company policy, etc. Spending more money to buy a mac to run windows for a windows requirement in business would be plan stupid. The best option is optimise your PC the best you can. Again that's the topic in this article.

[Dylan_Wisor]

I love my Macbook, so yeah, I've been trying it for three years. I'm still going to whine about people like you making us look like insufferable p****s.

[monkeyfun14]

@Pishkado

Find me a case of a PC user telling people to get a PC over a MAC or feel the need to do the manufacturers advertising?

[dragonbite]

6. That's all fine and good if your old system is available and working.
8. And that's about all the customization a Mac can do? Pretty boring.
9. If you need office, last I saw iWork costs money just as MS Office, unless you want to download OpenOffice, either way it's basically the same scenario.
10. Wow, I would be scared of a computer that knows my Mail address without me telling it to! That's partially why I use IMAP to connect to my GMail, so there is no downloading/moving.

So to summarize, your Mac settup just requires
1. Customizing your desktop
and by "Customizing" that means... adding things to the Dock and changing the backgroud? Even Windows has more flexibitily.. you can move the start bar to the top, left or right!

[achernow]

Hmm. I seem to remember it being: Remove from box. Turn on. Start using.

ooooh...riiiiiight. I bought a Mac :) Silly Windows users. Too much work.

[monkeyfun14]

Lol...


PC's come out of boxes ready to use as well I don't recall dell or hp requiring their users to do anything like install drivers.


Silly ignorant mac users how much is Steve paying you to post things like this?

[Notoapplefanbois]

@monkeyfun; He isn't, they're just idiots.

Anyone who buys a mac is someone who doesn't know the meaning of higher price, same specs = not good idea.

C'mon guys, anyone who has a good state of mind either runs vista, 7, ubuntu or hackintosh.

And if anyone disses vista then you need to update your pc, even the pc I'm on now running an athlon 64 3200+ with 1gb of ddr400 runs it fine.

Also to the writer, steps should be;

Open Box
Plug in
Create User
Install Antivirus software
Establish Network connection(or connect to internet via 3g via phone via bluetooth)
Open IE7 and download IE8 or Chrome
Finished!

Antivirus should always be installed first, especially if your not running SP3 on XP or SP1 on vista.

[man_w_balls]

step 5 should be step 1.
never connect a Windows PC to the internet without the security software already on there!
it is entirely possible to catch malware just by an open connection - no user errors required
blaster worm etc

this article implies unprotected web surfing around steps 3-4... kind of like unprotected hooker sex

also this article illustrates what a drag Windows actually is!

[doreilly]

My router's firewall offered sufficient protection for the initial Internet connection to known-safe sites (Windows Update, Mozilla, my security-software vendor, where I downloaded the security program I use). I neglected to mention that, so your point about adding security software first is valid.

Thanks,
Dennis

[Dylan_Wisor]

Allow me to show you how it's done.

1. Install Windows from disc. If it's already there, do it again. Get rid of all that bloody bloatware.
2. Update Windows via Microsoft Update.
3. Create a new partition. Point "My Documents" to it. (When will we be able to change our Documents and Settings path without registry tinkering? /sigh)
4. Restore backed up data, preferably to the partition you just created.
4. Install your core apps whose installers you should keep handy. (Browser, anti-virus, office suite, media players, the basics.) Update them.
5. If you use Firefox, you should use the FEBE extension which allows for an easy backup of extensions, bookmarks, passwords, etc.
6. Make juvenile and ill-informed posts about Windows vs OS X vs Linux on CNET, as all proper fanboys should do.
7. Make minor tweaks as needed. Reduce the number of System Restore points, put your Quick Launch icons in order, get your favorite Solitaire deck picture, configure the software you installed in step four, and so on. This is an article in itself.

[gggg sssss]

Not sure what teh fuss is all about. Just did 5 dell notebooks running vista and a desktop running XP in 2 hours. Open box, boot up, join domain, deploy Symantec Av, install office and service packs from a server share, log on as designated user. Shut down. Reboot. Shut down. The end

And after a line of deleting crapware? This guy has installed more crap than I have ever seen - firefox, chrom, opera, noscript, bookmarks, web museum, flexadex, gears. My god, even an HP conumer PC does not have that much crapware installed ( well maybe almost as much)

[doreilly]

Dear gggg sssss,

There's a big, big difference between the programs I choose to download and install and those I didn't ask for, don't want, don't need, and would like to get the heck out of my way. Also, you didn't have to restore anybody's data files or e-mail archive on the five Dell notebooks you worked on, nor did you do any Windows customizations, which the users will do themselves. Please read the article carefully to avoid making such nonsensical posts.

Respectfully,
Dennis

[monkeyfun14]

Funny silly mac fanboys who think MAC's are the only machines that come out of the box ready to use...


I bought a Acer desktop

Pulled it out of the box

Hooked it up

It installed antivirus/firewall for me upon boot up

Windows automatically went and downloaded updates recommended newer drivers.

Cleaned out the crap(MAC users if im gonna pay 500 - 2000 more then the machine is worth the thing better be crap free) but I personally paid $600 for a higher spec machine then apple offered at a higher price.

Figured I wanted to put in a better graphics card installed a Geforce 8800 booted up and Windows found drivers for me.

So yeah fairly simple.

And 4 hrs to set up windows? Doing all that above and installing Office 07 took me less then a hour.

[kingblues]

I going to try that tool bar thing, thanks.