I quite agree, Realist. As long as my anti-virus & anti-malware software gets updated I’m happy to stick to Windows 7 for now. I have an update disk to give me Windows 10 and frankly they’re always having to release important and even critical fixes for it to patch newly-discovered vulnerabilities. Maybe in another year it might be worth me blowing the dust off the disk and installing Windows 10. 
I agree, but would add that when I bought my laptop I, indirectly, purchased an operating system - Windows 10 in my case.
Generally speaking, when you buy something it is yours to do with whatever you want to do.
What I find difficult to accept is that in the case of Windows software things are rather different in that the manufacturer insists on taking control every now and then on the pretext of updating the software to improve security, etc.
I’d be much happier if this were to be made optional. Microsoft, by all means offer updates, but don’t insist that you know best and that, unless users go to the trouble of avoiding them in some way, they will be installed sooner or later.
They seem to do this with Windows Defender which, in my experience, works very well. I choose to update it at every opportunity. So why can’t they leave me alone when it comes to Windows Update? Offer it, but don’t try to demand that I accept it if I don’t want it. I shall take responsibility if something goes tits up.
I wouldn’t bother changing anything as long as your antivirus is kept up to date.
I have a friend who is still using a Windows XP computer and gets on OK. He hasn’t had a problem yet. If the computer does all that you ask and the software still works why bother?
When it packs it in buy a new one then.
Windows 10 is the pits.
Sorry to be pedantic, JBR, but getting a copy of any Software, e.g. Windows, does not mean that you own it.
In reality, you are only buying a security key which lets you use it on a “leased” basis.
That’s the same if you buy a laptop or any PC, with it on, or a disk with the package on it.
It’s a bit like renting a flat.
If you are leasing anything, you are normally required to accept the terms of that lease.
MS publish the terms and conditions of the lease on their web pages.
If it says that you must install updates, then that’s what you signed up to do when you installed it.
(Switches off pedant mode)
As I said, “generally speaking”. Micro$oft is different, of course. If they do become even more dictatorial, I’ll be off to Linux Mint.
Incidentally, can I run Photoshop Elements on Linux?
I wouldn’t go that far, Muddy. It isn’t exactly the pits. It runs quite well, but Microsoft should stop trying to control its users. I think if there was an alternative OS (Crapple is too expensive and Linux is, I think, aimed at more expert users), they’d have to change their attitude.
There isn’t a Linux version of Photoshop Elements. You would need to get used to editing in a program called ‘Gimp’ (free). A pretty good equivalent program to PSE.
You could set up a dual-boot system where you can have Windows and Linux installed on the same computer. Use Linux all the time apart from when you need to use a Windows only program. A bit inconvenient to come out of one system and boot into another but it’s something that is possible.
A better solution could be to use Linux Mint most of the time but have a spare or old computer running on Windows.
Another option is something called ‘VirtualBox’ that gives a Windows system inside the Linux System. I have read that PSE may not work too well if doing this though. Best to think ‘Gimp’ if you want to leave Windows behind.
Thank you very much. Useful information.
I have tried Gimp, but I found it less easy to use than Photoshop, though I suppose that was perhaps down to familiarity with Photoshop.
I suppose I was thinking about Linux having, like Crapple, a facility to use Windows programmes, but perhaps not.
The dual boot option sounds interesting. I assume I can use Chrome and Gmail in Linux and connect to the Internet, so that would work.
Yes but remember that it didn’t used to be this way.
Years ago you bought a copy of Windows, complete with the CDs and a license key. That entitled you to install Windows on any PC/laptop you wished but only one at a time.
It was to all intents and purposes your copy of Windows which nobody to take away from you and it was a one time purchase, no strings attached.
Today you are just leasing an operating system. MS control it not you andthere’snothing you can do about that. It will never be YOUR copy of Windows and you will never be able to control it yourself. As you say to even get it in the first place you have to agree the stupid Ts&Cs which sign away all your rights.
MS can do absolutely anything they want to the copy of Windows running on your machine. Imagine in a couple of years time that they decide they will treat Windows like Office 365 and make you PAY every year for the privilege of using it. They will simply force an update down the line which changes your Windows software which will then start demanding payments before it will work.
This is the groundwork I believe MS have laid in developing and forcing W10 onto everybody in the nefarious way they did. It was a milestone change in history. Those that managed to avoid it are still free.
Make no mistake, W10 and everything that now comes after it is going to become a sales portal for apps and services and other things. Those who took W10 will spend lots of money over the coming years.
Meanwhile I fully expect the large conglomerates to keep working with Microsoft to furtther force people to upgrade.
As I stated yesterday, Google have already begun by arbitrarily BLOCKING users of Win 7 or older browsers from being able to use Google Maps.
How long before Amazon likewise decides to just block Win 7 users and then the banks and then Facebook, Twitterand all the rest?
These are the people controlling society and herding humans into pens of their own making where they can be exploited. It is our fault. We the people gave them too much power. We all flocked to Google in the 80s/90s instead of other internet search providers. Many of us use Amazon to order almost anything. We did this to ourselves.
Now these organisations are tracking everything we do, generating huge databases of information about us which can be exploited. 1984 beckons!
Yes, they would be OK.
I can well believe all of this. At the moment, however, things are acceptable.
I have set my working hours for as long as the system allows during the day and my non-working hours are set as something like 2am to 8am, if I recall. Therefore, Windows Updates will only download themselves between the latter hours when the computer is turned off. Unfortunately, I can’t imagine that Microsoft will permit this situation to continue indefinitely!
If things become really too bad, I shall migrate to Linux on my new(er) laptop and use my old W7 laptop for Photoshop - without any internet connection.
If I find any restriction on using the internet on my Linux laptop for any reason, I am hopeful that if Chrome and Google are not permitted unless I have Windows, perhaps other options might be available on Linux.
If all the big businesses attempt to take over the world, as you suggest, I am hopeful that there will still be smaller companies (like Linux) which will oppose them and offer free use of their programmes, even with a reasonably priced one-off payment.
Good. It’s nice to know that there are options to Windows!
The default browser that comes with Linux Mint is Firefox. Chrome can be installed once the Linux Mint installation is complete and running by following the instructions in the page linked to below…
In the page are also instructions on how to install Chromium, the open source browser that Google Chrome is based on. You might prefer this if wanting to get away from Google Chrome as well as Windows. Chromium will work just the same as Google Chrome.
Don’t worry about the ‘terminal’ part of the instructions for installing Chromium. I don’t think you’d need to go through all that because Chromium is in Linux Mint’s Software Manager and ready to install.
If preferring to use Google Chrome, scroll down the page a bit to the ‘Installing Google Chrome’ section. Again I don’t think you need worry about the ‘terminal’ part because double-clicking the ‘deb’ package should install a working copy of Google Chrome.
About updates: Linux Mint gets them too and in my experience, possibly more than Windows does. However, where you don’t trust Windows updates, I think you can trust those from Linux Mint. They won’t be forced on you but it’s an OS that is being honed and improved all the time and I think updates are best accepted.
Did you know that, to a limited degree, you can run Linux Mint from a USB stick or CD before installing it and without disturbing the current Windows OS?
Files are put onto a CD or USB stick and then boot up using it. When Linux Mint starts, it will require your wi-fi password (if that’s how the computer is connected to the Internet) and then you can try it out. Just don’t click on the ‘Install Linux Mint’ button sitting on the Desktop or it will start the installation procedure for putting Linux Mint on your hard drive (but not without giving warnings).
Instructions on how to make a bootable Linux Mint USB stick are given in the page linked to below…
Thank you Mart. I shall read this with interest.
I’d like to try Linux (preferably Mint, from what I’ve heard), using a USB stick. I’ll let you know what I think when I’ve had time to have a proper look at it.
Incidentally and off-topic (sorry!) I ran Malwarebytes this morning and found that, suddenly, Chrome was very slow to load and, worse, it wouldn’t open any YouTube videos. Not having any idea why, I turned off the computer and re-started. It seems to be OK now.
Ah yes, the advice from the IT Crowd holds good. “Have you tried turning it off and on again?” 
Yes, well it sometimes does work. God knows why.
I’ve read the links and shall look out a USB stick (4Mb or more) and download Mint, when I have more time.
Hello again.
I’ve finally found a USB stick (8Gb), deleted the contents and downloaded the Linux Mint software following the instructions in your link above.
This took a little time, but eventually they were downloaded and extracted.
The next job was to try to boot from the USB stick. I tried the usual methods: pressing f12 at start up, but it booted to Windows 10. I also tried the same with f2, f10 and f11, but all loaded Windows as normal.
I then tried to boot from USB using Change Advanced Start-Up Options in Settings, but this loaded a blank Windows screen (with none of my settings, etc.), so I shut down and loaded W10 again as normal.
I don’t know why this shouldn’t work, but I’ll have another look at it later. Perhaps I missed something.
Do the files/folders on your USB stick look like this?
