Exit NOW!

Plan your Microsoft exit NOW!

 

There has never been a more opportunistic time to extract oneself from the clutches of a company that ultimately is trying to bleed you dry by forcing you towards a never ending rental model. Stay as you are, and pay forever, or extricate yourself out of this mess of greed and arrogance and migrate to a fully open source and ad-free alternative that will provide something that is far more efficient and with real privacy, security and no annoying AI imbedded into the functionality of the operating system itself.

Whilst Microsoft's corporate customers face difficult choices, there are dozens of reasons why home and private PC users no longer have ANY reason to stay with Microsoft. Start planning to migrate NOW before you get locked into a Microsoft strategy that you will find increasingly difficult to exit in the future.

This blog will not expand further into the reasons for migrating to Linux, this as it has been discussed in a number of prior blogs. Instead it’s time to provide a quick 10 point real roadmap of what you can do to achieve an escape from the clutches of a company that is trying to trap you into a Software as a Service (Saas) future.

1. The Operating System Choice: Makes no difference if you are using 2016 or 2026 hardware. Linux will always outperform Microsoft Windows. It requires less memory and less processing resources.

  

2. The Linux Distribution Choice: Don’t try to reinvent the wheel. There is a reason Linux Mint is so popular. It was designed from the ground up to behave just like Windows. So just install it! You can always move to another Distro at a later stage if you wish. It’s not difficult to install Linux in 2026, and any AI Chat will easily be able to guide you through any issues you may face.

3. Use the Linux Default Interface (Cinnamon) if you simply want to get up and running without any fuss. It defaults to something that most users will be very familiar with. If you are after a highly efficient and super fast system and prepared to spend about ten minutes configuring the interface to look and behave exactly as you like, install the XFCE Interface instead. Xfce is highly flexible and configurable. On older hardware XFCE is a no brainer as it uses far less memory and processing power and will work exceptionally well. Cinnamon on older hardware can be slow and sluggish at times.

4. Configuration: Once installed, it simply works out of the box. You don’t need to do anything. If you wish to change the look and feel (i.e. dark mode etc.) it is easily found in the settings app and is fully configurable from the Graphic User Interface. You don’t need to be an engineer to do this in 2026.

5. Reboot, you can now log in and start working immediately. Linux Mint comes pre-installed with LibreOffice (compatible with Microsoft Office), Thunderbird (email Client) and the privacy focused Firefox Browser, amongst other apps.

6. Use the Software manager to install VLC (Media Player) to play any video’s etc. If you want to use a Photo Editor, install GIMP. These are all open source and free.

7. If you must run Windows apps, install WINE. It’s a compatibility layer within Linux that allows one to run thousands of Windows apps.

8. For Gamers, Steam now has a Linux version that can play thousands of Windows games.

9. Linux simply works. No annoying updates that take forever to install and interfere whilst you are trying to work, No reboots, No Blue Screen of Death, No Ads, No Telemetry, No CoPilot, No upfront Costs or monthly fees & No risk of your hardware suddenly becoming obsolete because Microsoft decides you need to buy new hardware!

10. Freedom does not simply mean that it’s Free (it is) it means much more. That you are free to chose What, When & How you decide to use your computer. Anyone coming from a Microsoft environment will wonder why they never migrated years ago.

Operating System Wars - Part III

 

I don’t count myself as a Linux expert by any means, but I do have multiple Linux machines and worked on Unix systems (Linux is itself a derivative of Unix) before the “PC” industry took off. In the early PC era I was a certified SCO Unix/Xenix support engineer so have had a fair amount of exposure to these systems during my career.

With that background, I must ask the question, will 2026 finally be the “Year of Linux”? I believe it to be truly one of the most profound developments in the IT Industry in recent decades. It has transformed so many industries as well as opening up what we all know today as Open Source. I don’t think there is a single Super Computer on the planet that does not run on Linux, and even most new generation IBM Mainframe Computers are running it too (In 2025, 96 of the top 100 IBM Z enterprise customers were running Linux on their mainframes).

But here, I am only going to focus on the Desktop Platform:
To begin with, we need to recognise that there is problem…. A LARGE one that is preventing Linux from making any major inroads in the short to medium term. This problem is complex so one needs to segment it and look at some of these real issues.

There are over 600 Linux distributions available today. For even the most tech savvy of us, deciding which distro (variant) to use is not only complex… it’s riddled with hype, confusion and sometimes childish “fanboy” behaviour from their followers. For the average user, its simply too much effort having to jump through all the hoops to get there.

If you want a Windows PC, it’s simple as almost all come pre-installed and that is it! With Linux the reality is different in that besides a VERY few pre-loaded exceptions, you are going to need to do a lot of homework in deciding what Linux distro to use, and then install it yourself with almost no official or commercial support available, other than the somtimes limited online documentation and advice.

This 600+ distro situation is rather insane because the reality is that almost all Linux distributions are built on only about 3 or so base versions. The vast majority are built upon Debian. Debian has been around for a very long time and highly rated for being very stable and mature, thus its popularity. But it gets even more ridiculous, because many of the current Distros are built upon Ubuntu, which itself is built upon Debian. In fact the most popular, and dare I say it, largest installed base is Linux Mint which is built on Ubuntu which is built on Debian.

To understand why this is the case, one needs to compare Windows to Linux. Windows is a fully integrated OS. The entire operating system is a web of complex interconnected parts that cannot be separated. Microsoft built it like this from the ground up.

Linux is very different, at the core of the OS is a Kernel that is surrounded by a huge number of unique individual programs that handles everything we see and interface with. It is for this reason that there are so many distros, as each one of them tries to present itself as unique and with a different emphasis/focus when working with the kernel. Each one of them uses a slightly different User Interface too and most even give you the options of a number of User Interfaces to chose from…. So even more decisions need to be made by the user. Finding this confusing… well it gets worse!

Some distros are aimed at Advanced users, others are for Gamers, Programmers, Hackers, Education, etc. etc. For the majority, you will need at least some decent knowledge to install it as most are not exactly user friendly to say the least. Some actually go out of their way to make it difficult because they think it gives their users bragging rights. 

Sadly there are indeed a rather odd bunch of Linux fanatics out there on the Internet too. They are not helpful and in fact can be quite obnoxious at times, to put it mildly… they don’t have nor believe in “People Skills” so live in a Linux bubble instead! When new users post for help or assistance on the user forums, they can land up being ridiculed for asking a perfectly normal question. Fortunately these clowns are in the minority, but they will always try to convince you to do stupid or unreasonable things like using an unnecessary command line: i.e. Opening the Terminal program and then typing “shutdown -h now”. Meanwhile all you need to do is find and hit the Shutdown button with a mouse click.

Whilst some are happy to open the terminal program and hit about 15 keys just to shutdown the PC, it’s a rather silly & unnecessary proceedure in an era of the Graphical User Interface. It’s as if they will try to make life as complex as possible thinking that it makes them look smart. Instead of encouraging people to migrate to Linux, they do the exact opposite. In reality there will be times when one needs to use terminal commands, but it is not too often. My advice would be to avoid most of these forums if possible and rather read articles or use AI Tools that have come a long way in providing rather good technical advise. In the era of AI, I think these forums will eventually fade away as they become more and more irrelevant. That hopefully will remove the odd-ball geeks who discourage new Linux users.

 

I am mostly going to stick to the Debian based distros here purely because I am of the opinion that being so popular, stable and with such a long track record, it is the best and logical way to go for the average user. The other popular other ones though, are Fedora (Solid product, supported by, and part of Red Hat) & Arch (Popular with the fanboy’s and others who need to spend a LOT of their time just trying to keep it running smoothly!) Also, it is my view that one should ignore all the smaller distros out there for one simple reason, small number of users = small amount of documentation and available experience. It makes no sense to use a distro that very few people are using and also a risk of it dying a slow death too. Run into a problem with a device driver that does not work, and you probably are going to be in trouble.

My advice, only stick to the top Debian or Ubuntu base distros. They can easily be found here: Debian Distros + Ubuntu Distros.  Now from a list of 600+ one can easily isolate it down to only about a dozen distros (if you insist on using an Arch based distro, would only recommend Manjaro as it has a more conservative approach to updates and, like Mint, is certainly "refined" and "user friendly"). 

Next comes the other factors to consider. Ease of use and simplicity to install: Some distros are designed to look like Windows, others more like Apple, but at the end of the day those are not the real issues in my view. It boils down to intuitiveness and a user friendly interface. I established that four of the popular distros, Mint, MX, Manjaro & Peppermint OS are all very easy to use. Personally, I have stuck to Mint on my main PC simply because it is one of the most refined and stable distro I have tried. It has never crashed nor caused me any pain. Linux Mint will easily install onto a dual boot Windows machine automatically (I use a dual boot Win 11 PC) as the install process is intuitive and integrated very well. They all had a decent install process too, specially if you simply stuck to the defaults. 

 

  Linux Mint Xfce 

But finding the right distro is still half of the battle because one still needs to choose a User Interface (GUI). In all, there are about eight of them that are popular: I won’t comment more on all of them other than to provide this list: Interface.                    

Some like MX Linux give you three options of Xfce, KDE or Fluxbox. Peppermint OS comes with Xfce and Linux Mint offers Cinnamon, Xfce or MATE. These are important options you will need to make. But bear in mind that the core of the system including the kernel are all exactly the same. It’s how it is presented that is the issue here. It’s pointless installing a very demanding and graphically intense GUI on an old computer because it will simply struggle to cope. The Cinnamon interface will eat a lot of memory and can be very demanding, slowing down even a reasonably fast computer when icons are animated etc. Even though it is a modern looking interface, designed to be similar to Windows 11, many users get frustrated and simply land up having to de-activate the animations etc. anyway. 

If your Linux workspace still looks like this...  

....you don't need technical help.... you need this:

I have tested and experimented extensively with about 4 interfaces, but have long standardised all of my Linux machines on the Xfce interface (even on my fastest Intel i7 based hardware). This as I wanted the same look and feel across all of them and my main motivation was for speed and efficiency. It’s like comparing a big Ford Pickup Truck filled with every possible known gadget and option installed, this instead of a standard Toyota sedan with only the real stuff you will ever use. The Pickup Truck will constantly need to be be patched and updated with all these gadgets… meanwhile the Toyota without all this excess baggage, simply goes smoothly without any real issues. The sedan will always go faster than the overloaded pickup. MX and Peppermint in fact come with Xfce as their default Interface, built for efficiency and able to run smoothly even on older hardware. The hard reality is that you will need to decide if you want a computer with multiple bells and whistles for the sake of good looks, or a real efficient (and faster) PC. 

It is important to note that Supercomputers do not even run a GUI at all, exactly for this same reason. Graphical Interfaces use a lot of memory and processing power that is better utilised elsewhere, so almost everything is terminal based on all of the worlds most powerful Linux machines. Many Linux fans would be devastated if they ever saw a real Linux Supercomputer terminal as it really looks very dull and boring....yet can handle millions of transactions simultaneously!    

  

Yet many Linux Gamers and Hobbyists will take extraordinary measures to have the most fancy looking machine possible. Every icon and wallpaper is carefully chosen with absolute glee. They will then change their entire distro as soon as they hear that “x” or “y” distro is in vogue, looks better or has more features. It becomes a zero sum game. Others simply want to have a very efficient computing experience. You need to decide what your real needs and wishes are and stay with it. Constantly migrating from one distro to another is great for the hobbyist or undecided student, but totally impractical for the vast majority of us. 

When I need to test software on another distro, I use my Test PC and simply Dual Boot into Manjaro (Arch based), instead of Mint (Ubuntu based). Occasionally I will test with a “slide-in” drive using a Debian based distro. As with all the distros I have tested and used, they are Xfce based thus flexible & very efficient and easy to use. 

With age, comes experience, so it is quite rare to find many Linux users over the age of 40 who are still messing around. By then they have realised how many days they have wasted and lost just trying to keep their system running smoothly or figuring out why a usb device has suddenly stopped working. It’s why most of the real serious professional users tend to stick to a stable distro and rather focus on getting real work done! It’s clearly the reason why Linux Mint is so popular and dominates the current user base. I would be very loath to migrate off Mint on my main machine even though I really also like Manjaro and Pepperment (MX requires a re-install every 2 - 3 years when there is a major version release, so I won't really consider it for my main driver). Basically makes no sense to keep switching or re-installing distros.

Once your distro and interface have been selected, and finally installed, you certainly will be able to setup your Desktop exactly as you want. Unlike Windows, the Linux user is given far more freedom to decide how the interface will look. I always change my Xfce layout to include functionality I need, and delete others I never use. i.e. I always like a Power and Restart button on my panel and prefer more appealing Icon colours too. I always shrink the size of the desktop and panel icons as well as display the percentage battery charge + time/date layout etc. too. Want to display the internal temperature of your CPU in the panel? No problem, with Linux that is quite easy to do! One of the 1st things new Linux users realise is how restrictive Windows/Apple systems really are. They are not designed for modifications, nor do they encourage their users to do so. Linux is the exact opposite. You get to determine the look and feel of your desktop. It’s one of the great advantages of an open system as not only does Linux encourage it, but provides all the necessary tools to do so. 

Most of the decent distros out there will all come pre-installed with standard software like the Firefox Browser (highly recommended) as well as LibreOffice, Thunderbird (email), VLC (Media Player) as well as utilities like TimeShift (to do a restore of your entire system), Disk Management & Firewall etc. too. Whatever other software you wish to install, simply do it from the “Package Manager”. Linux Mint has over 30000 there, Debian has 50000, all of it free to install directly without intervention and without having to go to a browser to find, download and install manually. If you don’t need it any more, the Package Manager will remove it easily and simply too. 

If you absolutely must use Windows software (I have avoided this, and easily been able to migrate over to Linux alternatives), install the WINE application (free Windows Emulator) and many thousands of Windows apps will run in that environment too. 

Recommending which Linux Distro to use, is mission impossible. It’s like asking which Chinese brand of car to buy… this as currently there are almost 100 of them, many sharing the same parts & powertrain. Some people like a sedan, some a hatch back or a station wagon etc. It’s all down to personal taste or specific requirements. One can’t simply say that vehicle A is better than B. Same applies to Linux!

My tips:

• Use an Ubuntu/Debian based distro if you want stability.

• On older hardware, avoid a “Rolling” distro if you want to avoid any sudden breakages!

• Avoid a distro that requires a fresh new install for every major new release. 

• Avoid a distro with a small or niche user base as support will be limited.

• Beware of distros that come with a Free and a Paid version - It’s a commercial trap.

• Don’t be too obsessed with the “Interface” style, they all basically sit upon the same kernel.

• Running a resource heavy interface makes no sense unless you have decent hardware.

• A decent Package Manager is a very important consideration in chosing a Distro.. 

• Distro hopping can be fun…. But it will certainly consume you if you don’t value your time.

• Visit the distrowatch.org website (Page Hit Ranking) – Many will certainly disappear over time.

In summary, even though I use Linux daily and believe that it has incredible potential, will probably, remain a niche (4-6% penetration) OS option for the vast majority of computer users in the short to medium term. This for obvious reasons:

• The excessive number of Distros is harmful and causes unnecessary confusion.

• None are official, so it “analysis paralysis”. Or death by a thousand cuts as is often said.

• Unlike Windows, is not pre-installed and too cumbersome for the average user to install and fine-tune.

• Poor support and conflicting documentation, thus the reliance on unpredictable User Forums/AI.

• Limited Driver support and/or unstable Kernel conflicts/updates.

• Software – Users will need to change some apps - And using Wine can be painful to setup!

• Inconsistent and unpredictable behaviour across the distros. Needs to be more mature.

  
  
  All of the above are real issues, despite Linux being a vastly more efficient, secure & customisable OS. The reality is that Linux works well...but not always without effort. If Microsoft decides that home users must move to a “rental” model as they have done with many of their other products, that will be the game changer though. It would be a major boost for Linux. Microsoft have not exactly excelled when it comes to reliability and stability of their products either. In the meanwhile unless you are lucky enough to have a family member, friend or a neighbour who is willing to come install Linux and help you migrate, the status quo is not going to change much anytime soon. 
  Xfce 1 

          Xfce 2   

          Dual-boot 

Operating System Wars - Part II

 

In my May 2021 blog “Operating System Wars” I compared some aspects of Windows to Linux and gave some pros and cons that one would need to consider in evaluating these two Operating Systems. Now over four years later, it's probably time for a review. Since then Linux desktop usage has grown globally by over 33% and is constantly improving and simply far more stable than Windows. Whilst there are still far too many Linux distros out there that make selection confusing for the uninitiated, over time a much smaller selection of distros have become clear standouts for those wishing to take the plunge, and migrate. Certainly, Microsoft by restricting hardware for Windows 11 and no longer providing Windows 10 with security patches, has provided many with an ideal opportunity to do so, and they quickly have realised how fast and efficient Linux is, even on much older hardware.

Currently 100% of the top 500 Supercomputers in the world are running Linux. In the IBM dominated mainframe world, there has been a huge surge in their Z Series running LinuxONE. No matter how one looks at its, Linux is the fastest growing OS segment in the world, running on the vast majority of mobile devices and totally dominating in the Science and Engineering fields. Even NASA migrated the International Space Station over to Linux years ago in an effort to improve stability and efficiency. Simply ignoring Linux comes with risks!

Whilst I intend focusing on the “Desktop” PC here, there are still issues that the average user needs to be aware of:

Basically, because Microsoft is a single business entity, software developers across the globe simply need a single version of their product to be able to sell and provide it for the entire Windows environment. With Linux this is not as easy. With so many distros, few software developers are keen to have to make so many various versions for each different Linux distro. As a result many software vendors simply do not provide Linux versions at all!

It’s the reason that most Linux Distros have their own built-in Software “Store” to make life easier for their users. This does come with benefits though, as it’s much easier to download and install apps directly from the built-in store, and with the knowledge that they have been fully tested, are malware free, and also much easier to uninstall too.

It explains why so many Linux Distros come pre-installed with the Firefox Browser, Thunderbird Email, LibreOffice, VLC Media Player etc.. Out of the box, most users will be up and running almost immediately.

For those who absolutely must run a Microsoft Application, one can still do so using “Wine” which is basically a Linux Windows Emulator that can run thousands of Microsoft Window applications without any issues. It must be noted that by enlarge, Linux is Open Source, so businesses who want to run their systems with Microsoft 365, Teams etc., will probably avoid going the Linux route anyway. The Linux world is all about freedom of choice, and never having to be locked into a single vendor’s product.

 

Probably the largest single issue that is holding back the majority of computer users who are considering migrating to Linux, is the fear of not having the necessary knowledge or skill to actually install and use it! It certainly is not related to the confidence or belief in the Linux system itself. If one is able and willing to search the thousands of Linux Forums and blogs, solving Linux issues is not going to be a problem though. The Linux community is well known for its many online fourms and user blogs.

In 2025, I mostly use a Dual Boot Windows 11 + Linux Mint PC as well as two other pure Linux Mint ones. The Linux computers are far easier to maintain and I experience far less frustration with them mostly because unlike Microsoft, they don’t force me to use the computer in a specific way, and don’t make updates and patches so painful to download AND install. As for stability, it’s a no contest – Linux wins hands down as I have never experienced a system crash or any other major event that I could not resolve almost immediately!

For some years now I have been using Linux Mint - It was an easy decision to make because it is so stable (based on Debian & Ubuntu) and easy to use. I am of the belief that the more popular a distro is, the better the online support will be, this as there will be a much larger pool of expertise to draw on. The reality is that Linux Mint has been the top-ranked distribution on DistroWatch since 2011.

A more difficult task was to determine which user Interface (GUI) to use. I needed something fast yet offering total flexibility of the Desktop layout. After much testing, I settled on Xfce and not the more hyped Cinnamon which I found to be too sluggish, basically slowed down by animated icons and other bloatware (fancy Bells & Whistles that one will probably want to disable anyway). I really wanted raw speed, flexibility, efficiency and and above all, stability. Xfce is not bloated nor does it use bleeding edge technology, so requires less updates and patches to keep it running smoothly. On new hardware, Xfce flies and is super efficient. On old hardware with an SSD Drive it is amazingly fast too.

Although very satisfied with Linux Mint, I have taken a look at Manjaro, MX, Peppermint OS, Ferora & Debian (only the Xfce based versions though).All are popular Linux distributions and certainly well worth keeping an eye on. I will write more about this topic soon.

 

Fosslinux - Xfce

Howtogeek - Xfce 

Opensource - Xfce

Cut the Cable / Dump the Dish

Ever wondered why we simply sit back and allow overpriced TV cable/satellite content providers to decide which channels are dished up to us? The reality is that 90% of what we get is usually garbage! But this is the 21^st century and high speed internet (usually via FTTH) is the norm now in most built up urban areas. With so many streaming services (Netflix, YouTube etc.) to choose from, are we not simply stuck in a 20^th century mindset?

It was time to take a deeper look into this and see if one could completely cut the cord. So decided to purchase a fairly cheap, "no name" brand Chinese made Android TV Box (online for just under $40) and set about to see if I would be able to fully rely on this instead.

Here is what I ordered:

An Android 13.0 based TV Box - X88 Pro 13 - Ultra HD 8K

1. 4GB RAM and 64GB ROM.

2. Fairly Average Quad Core Rockchip RK3528 Processor

3. WiFi + Ethernet Port + Bluetooth + 2 x USB ports

4. HDMI + SPDIF + AV Audio output

5. Memory Card Slot

6. Remote Control and Mini Wireless Keyboard

 

Connecting the Device to a TV via the HDMI cable was easy and powered it up after connecting it to a Sound Bar via SPDIF. Having connected the device to the WiFi, logged into a Google account and then inspected the various Settings/Options. All of this took only a few minutes. Fired up the pre-installed Chrome Browser and started testing a video on YouTube. This was appalling as the video quality was poor and was flickering and doing some other weird stuff.  So uninstalled the Chrome Browser (was able to get rid of it completely by using the “Uninstall” option in the Settings/Apps section) and then installed a full featured Firefox browser as well a light and fast Duckduckgo browser and tested both of them with the same video on YouTube. This time I was getting excellent quality without any issues at all. 

So the 1^st test (Video via a browser) was successfully completed. Clearly the Chrome Browser was not up to par so I installed and tested Firefox, BrowseHere & Duckduckgo with good results. If one simply needs a basic Browser without too many bells and whistles, Duckduckgo is probably going to be your best option as it was fast and uncluttered. If however you need a proper TV Browser, with support for a remote control, would suggest BrowseHere which is an excellent light weight yet purpose built browser (by the TCL Group) a version of which is pre-installed in their Televisions, thus well suited for an Android TV Box. This is what I decided to eventually permanently use! 

Next step was to UNINSTALL or DISABLE a number of totally useless and unnecessary apps (one often hears that these cheap Chinese boxes are probably shipped with malware. Not wanting to take any chances with questionable apps pre-loaded onto the device, I decided to remove or disable them). More about that later. Untrusting of the pre-installed Google Play Store too, I uninstalled it and downloaded a new Google Play Store APK instead. I went a step further and installed a network monitoring app (PCAPdroid) and took a close look at the internet traffic. Once satisfied that this device looked fairly clean and was not trying to “call home”, removed it and then installed MalwareBytes as well as Smart TV Secutity (eset) and did a full scan. The result was a clean bill of health. Being satisfied, and not wanting any unnecessary clutter, uninstalled both of them.

With that done and feeling fairly satisfied, installed YouTube and was very satisfied with the responsiveness of about half a dozen Live News Broadcasts from France24, ABC, CBS, and SKY News etc. Was able to get a very decent resolution with no flicker or delay at all. Live News Broadcasts would be a Breeze.

Next was to take a high Resolution Movie and copy it into the 64GB ROM and view it with VLC which I installed from the Google Play Store. Moving files from a USB Memory Stick proved far too cumbersome with the rather useless pre-installed File Manager, so installed the popular File Manager + app instead. Frustratingly it was not available on the Google Play Store, so I had to use another App Store (Aurora Store, but I could have also downloaded it from the APKMirror site. VLC worked like a charm and there were no issues at all watching a movie, however I did find live streaming on VLC a bit unstable, so only use it to watch internal media files. 

Now I started to focus on the entire look and feel of the built in launcher page. It was pathetic and totally cumbersome. Moving Icons around was pointless because when switched off, it simply would return to a default position again. Nor would it allow me to change the background colour let alone introduce a desktop theme or background image at all. I could move some icons to the top of the screen (Favourites), but they too would sometimes simply disappear.

 

It was clear that I needed to find an Android Launcher App. Here would come my 1^st real challenge. All of the highly rated Launcher Apps on Google Play failed to work properly, if at all. I nearly found myself locked out of the device entirely because the device got stuck with no icons on the screen and no ability to gain access to uninstall the failed Launcher. Luckily I managed to get everything back to the default launcher and could access everything again. Now started to do some research and it became clear that there was not going to be anything of use on the Google Play Store. Instead had to download an APK file and manually install a launcher App. In this case, settled on the Emotn Ui App which gave me exactly what I was after. Something fast, efficient and uncluttered. Took quite a while to set it up exactly as I wanted, but the result was truly excellent and VASTLY superior to the unimpressive Launcher the product shipped with. There were even 4K animated wallpapers if one needed them too (I don't).

 

Another issue was that the Remote Control is fairly limited. It was necessary to connect a USB mouse to the Device for the entire configuration process. Although this particular TV Box came with a Wireless Mini Keyboard (which certainly speeded up entering detail into the browser), the remote on it's own was very limiting and frustrating to work with. I will continue to use the device with a mouse connected. The Mini Keyboard with it's multi coloured back light is quite fun to use, but not the greatest solution either. With that said though, trying to use the on-screen keyboard was rather painful so downloaded the LeanKeyboard app from the Play Store instead. The mini keyboard was helpful for any text entry, specifically whilst using the Browser or Internet Search.

After two weeks of of use, the question was quite simple: Could I use an Android TV Box and dump my Cable/Satellite provider? The answer for anyone with a fair knowledge of Android (able to modify/change the default), is absolutely YES! One can get to chose what channels and material you want to view and don’t need to pay for it. All the streamed media during testing was FREE CONTENT! Whilst there were a few annoyances (too many ads on the YouTube app, but easily avoided by rather using the SmartTube app instead), it was easy to access everything I needed. Best advise I could give would be to avoid loading Content Providers apps completely and rather rely on using a browser like BrowseHere (with it's built in add blocker) instead. Most of these apps are simply pushing advertising and are more disruptive than helpful. Will I continue to keep using this device? Yes. Will I dump my old 20th Century system? Absolutely. This product has met my expectation!

Will the average "Joe" be able to set all of this up themselves? That still remains to be seen as the factory installed setup still needs a lot of refinement. There no doubt will be customers out there who will be disappointed or frustrated. But the hardware is not the problem, the issue is that it appears that most of these Chinese brands ship with rather inferior, questionable and buggy apps that, with a bit of effort, can be uninstalled or disabled and then replaced. With that said, I did however have to connect the X88 Pro13 to my PC and use ADB AppControl software to force remove many of the pre-installed apps. I was not really convinced they did not possibly contain malware either. They don't exactly make it easy to simply uninstall them! Fortunately unlike some of the well known brands, this device was not Blocked nor Restricted in any way. All of the above were easily achieved without having to jump though any hoops nor tamper with the Operating System at all!

Resources:

File Manager +

BrowseHere 

LeanKeyboard

Emotn UI 

ADB AppControl

Update : 

1. A Year later and I am still very satisfied - Now using the OnlineTV app to access many International TV Channels, this as I have used this software successfully on my PC for a number of years. It is an efficient and easy way of gaining access to many quality channels without having to bother setting up a VPN etc.. This German based company has been around for many years (The solution cost €30 as a one off & no annual or any other additional fees). Although OnlineTV is designed for PC and Android Smartphone users, managed to install it on the Android TV Box without too much effort.
2. After some experimentation, I have disabled both the Google Play Store and Google Play Services apps (they really are resource hogs on a TV Box) and replaced them with the Aurora Store. Aurora is the most popular Google Play alternative and has less restrictions than Google (i.e. Google frustratingly restricts App downloads to specific hardware categories). Immediately I also noticed how speedier & responsive the Device is. Although I now need to manually check for Android and App Updates in the Aurora Store, It's well worth the effort and the boot up memory requirement dropped by over 200MB too. 

Being Milked... DRY!

There was a time when buying Hardware and/or Software was an art form. Hardware (if you got your timing right) could be sweated for many years. Software deals although a little more complex, were always negotiated. Those days are long gone! What Happened?

Simply put, IT vendors got greedy and simply decided to rather Milk us Dry by moving to a "Rental Model". It initially made sense, customers were closing down their Data Center's and migrating to the Cloud. With cost effective Virtual Servers now the norm, it made perfect sense. But from there on... it went into overdrive.  

Servers had long become commodity items, to the point that IBM sold off it's popular X-Series Server business to Lenovo and Dell started moving into value added products higher up the food chain. Giant companies with their huge investments in infrastructure (like Amazon, Microsoft & Google etc.) started building their own servers to their exact requirements. They made huge savings by doing this...and now they are able to simply force us to "rent" their Servers for a monthly fee. Software vendors like SAP, Oracle, Microsoft etc. are doing the exact same thing! Customers don't buy their ERP Solutions any more. Nor do they buy their Office Automation solutions either. They are almost all hosted in the cloud and simply rented out .... for ever. What does this mean for the average "end user" in the future though:

1. Microsoft will almost certainly in the coming years extend this same business model to the Operating System itself. Want to use the next version of the Windows OS? Forget it!, By then you will be forced to pay a monthly rental to Microsoft for the use of your Operating System. You will certainly be doing the same for your Microsoft Office Automation too.... you probably already are.

2. It's going to happen in cloud storage too. We are going to be forced to store our data in the cloud and it is not going to be free. Google has already decided to delete all it's limited unpaid (free) data after 24 months of inactivity now... so if you want to ensure continuity for the long term (think family files, photos, history), you need to ensure that you have another plan. For a long time now we have been  hooked on Free cloud storage... BUT they are going to come after us and hit us hard! It's not if.... but when!

3. Infrastructure as a service (IaaS), Platform as a service (PaaS) and packaged software as a service (SaaS) are going to be the standard way we will access all of our computing requirements. For the uninitiated, it means that if you want to acquire technology in the 21st Century.... you are going to have to rent it! We may even be given free "Chromebooks" to facilitate and encourage this change exactly the same way some Printer companies gave many of their corporate customers free printers so that they could "milk" them for the ink! 

4. If one thinks this is all pie in the sky, just think about how corporate customers used to run their WAN's (Wide Area Networks). They bought fancy Routers from the Likes of Cisco & Juniper etc. and managed them in-house. That has long ceased to be the case. Ever since the popular rise of VPN's, routers and other customer premises equipment are all simply rented as part of the total package! Even Firewall and other security solutions are simply rented and managed, often all off-site too.

So where does all of this lead us to, and what options will we have:

i. Affordability - For cost sensitive end users as well as those in the developing world with soft currencies, a monthly rental of a OS solution is simply not going to happen. Expect to see a HUGE swing to LINUX and other open-source software for that matter (Think LibreOffice)! It's already happening. Desktop Linux is free and there are many various distributions to choose from.  It's major weakness is the lack of decent available user support, but that too is changing quickly as more and more young people enter the work force and are keen to use it and be exposed to it.

ii. Flexibility - In forcing customers to rent their software packages it is going to expose their one real weakness, and this is all about Geo-Politics! SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Google etc are all operating out of the 1st world. i.e. USA or Europe with their over inflated curriencies. But we know full well what comes next. Expect a wave of new competing software solutions from India, China, Brazil & South Korea etc. It will take time, but it's going to happen. 

iii. AI (Artificial Intelligence) - It's the new kid on the block and it's going to possibly turn traditional software vendors on their heads. Just like what happened to Kodak, GE, WorldCom, Lehman Bros etc.. They won't see it coming and when they finally do, it will simply be too late.  It is very possible that a decade from now having an AI system writing your own software for you will not only be viable, but preferable too, this as it will be custom built to your own exacting specific needs. Just ask any existing SAP customer about that frustrating issue alone... or even worse, the bankruptcy of the Birmingham (UK) City Council reportedly due to a failed implementation of Oracle's local government ERP solution.

iv. The Cloud Hosting Companies have over time become greedy....so for the 1st time we are starting to see large corporate customers bring some of their applications and data back in-house again. This could be an important development as customers are already reporting savings by doing this: Read This.

 Update September 2024: Exiting the Cloud

21st Century Cyber Threats

One can easily predict that over the coming years we are going to see a rather large escalation in Cyber Attacks and online Fraud/Theft. There are many reasons for this, but much of it is due to the number of highly sophisticated State players actively involved in this activity. As the situation expands, so inevitably will organised crime, who are already getting access to these very same high end "hacking" tools. 

First of all we need to face the following reality:

1. There is not a single 100% secure Cyber protection mechanism or system out there. Never has been!!

2. The "Online" World is all about Profits, so protecting your data or personal information is not going to be their priority. Even if they could use a highly secure system/technology, they generally are reluctant to spend on it!

3. Banks and the Financial Service Industry are simply not doing that much better. A number of them have been found wanting in this regard. Even some State controlled “Reserve Banks” have had a rather poor record. The most famous of these even involved hacking into the so called “bullet proof” SWIFT banking system:  You can read all about it here.

4. Cyber technology is constantly changing, so it is not well understood. Very few Board Level  Executives even have a basic understanding of the risks involved, nor do they wish to get their hands dirty or take real responsibility. What should be a Key and Core Governance/Risk issue is more often or not pushed “down” to the IT Department who themselves are not always aware of the business risks.

5. Since the Covid pandemic when many companies moved a vast treasure trove of data and accessibility online, Cyber Criminals have figured out that vast fortunes are to be made. Whilst many are still focused on the “psychology” involved in soft talking employees out of access and passwords etc., the reality is that the technology itself has evolved to the point where crime syndicates are fast catching up with the “State Players”.

6. Certain Rouge States are even using their Cyber tools as an easy method of State Funding. i.e. Fingers have been pointed at North Korea as an example of this.

 

So what can we do about it? Here are some obvious changes we should all be implementing:

1. Never provide any personal detail online unless you absolutely HAVE to! You may think that your online retailer will keep your residential address and contact number etc. safe and secure,but they generally don’t and it’s not a matter of if, but when that data will be stolen and used for all the wrong reasons.

2. Never use your Credit or Debit card for online purchases EVER!! That era is well and truly over. To continue doing so is pure naïveté. Besides, there is no longer any excuse to do that any more. With the likes of Google Pay or Samsung Pay from the Technology sector, or better still, with secure products like MasterPass from the Banking Industry, there is simply no need to put yourself at high risk any more. Although none are 100% guaranteed...they are far more secure because 3^rd party vendors will never get too see or know anything about your card details! In fact every time you transact online, the digital “codes” change so that even if someone happens to establish your virtual card number, they can’t use them again anyway.

3. Never disclose any detail over the phone. Even if your bank calls you and is able to confirm your private details – It’s going to be a Fraud.... your Bank will never call you for that anyway. Simply hang up right away! If you are concerned, go to your nearest bank branch or initiate the call to them yourself! Elderly people are usually the target for these kinds of criminal activities as they often are not technically savvy.

4. Never write down passwords or use the same passwords on multiple sites. Because pieces of paper can easily be found, or insecure sites easily hacked. Rather use a Password Manager like LastPass which is free and robust. You then only have to remember a single password. Whilst not 100% either (nothing is), it is far more secure than relying on lists and written codes. If you insist on writing your passwords on paper... be sure to obscure so that no one but you knows to which site it belongs.

5. Computer Hygiene: Always make sure your Operating System is fully patched and up to date. Same goes for your Browser & Email Software etc... as well as your Mobile Apps. It’s common sense... yet so many people simply don’t make the effort to do it. Same applies to Backing Up ALL your computer data on a regular basis too. Should you be hit by Ransomware or other destructive Malware, you can always then restore your system to a previous point in time. These are all time consuming chores, yet well worth the effort!

6. Some Tips: Never use Public Wi-Fi. Use a secure Browser like Firefox. Use a Browser Blocker add-on like uBlock Origin. Use security software from the likes of Avira or MalwareBytes etc. (I use both). Even the free version will provide you with a decent level of protection. 

Whilst there is no Silver Bullet to solve the Cyber Threats in the 21^st century, mitigation of risk usually boils down to simple Common Sense! So you really can limit your exposure with only a little effort and thought – Good Luck!

 

Quantum Industry Hype

OK, so we are being constantly told that the next BIG thing is Quantum Computing. But the question we should be asking ourselves, is if this is Real or simply Hype. With the passing of time I am increasingly realising that what we are probably witnessing is nothing more than the early days of another BUBBLE! But this one appears to be more about being based on intellectual fake marketing than anything else. If this scenario continues to play itself out, the entire fiasco will come crashing down like a house of cards.  That won't be good for anyone, not just for the Technology Industry, but for the Quantum Physicists too.

IBM, Google, Microsoft & D-Wave etc. are all seriously contending to develop Quantum Computers. But the reality is that currently not a single real commercial product can actually perform in the real world! In fact the error rate of all the current trials that have been disclosed thus far, are too high to even make for any consideration whatsoever. Basically, they are unusable for any commercial practical application.

Maybe we should state some realities. Quantum Computers won't replace our normal silicone based computer technology. Simply put, they are not designed for that purpose anyway. They cant handle normal structured data nor can they process it (transactional) in a normal way. It will be extremely slow in handling structured data sets that most of our current computing requirements are based on. That means for even simple things like Internet Browsing, eMail, Word Processing and Spreadsheets etc. it serves no advantage whatsoever.  It's presumed strengths are that of analytical problem solving (i.e. planning routes or scheduling events such as airline and transport movements).

So what is feeding all the Hype? It's a number of factors: The Venture Capitalists want to make out as if they are exposed to an exciting new trend that makes their portfolios look impressive. The USA and China are each petrified that the other may open a panoramas box of wonders beyond the realm of the possible, and the PR folk are raising lots of hot air, simply to get their hands on investors money. None of this is good for science, academia nor even viable for the industry going forward as its not really based on rational thinking nor reasonable expectations. 

Many of the claims that have been shouted from the hilltops are simply untested, unfounded nor even proven. Quantum Computing in 2021 cannot make any promises about delivering real world solutions such as "Climate Change" etc. as they are not even able to provide a single working prototype algorithm that can even justify such claims. Truth is that we probably will not get to see a real working prototype that can handle any type of serious application for decades to come! Certainly not one that the current generation of traditional silicone based computers can handle.

The only thing that is going to become obvious, is that Billions of Dollars of Investors money is going to be poured down the drain. It's not a matter of IF.... but rather WHEN! Lets not even go down the path of discussing any possible fraud here either! Quantum Computing will in all likelihood remain a dream for many.... but real commercially viable systems may well never happen during our lifetime either. It's time to get REAL!

Updates:

If you are getting a sense of Déjà vu .... well you are. We've indeed been through this kind of thing before: Optical Computing

2022: Oxford physicist, Dr Nikita Gourianov  : A Hype Bubble

2024: Quantinum's new leading 56 qubit machine produces errors 65% of the time!  

2025: Criticisim : Professor Peter Gutmann from the University of Auckland calls it "Nonsense"

Operating System Wars

I must start off by disclosing that I started my career (coming from an Electrical Engineering background), focusing on Hardware and Networking, but from the beginning was also fully certified on SCO Xenix and Unix too.

Also, I have never so much as owned nor used any Apple products. Bluntly put, I have found them overpriced and too proprietary for my liking, thus will limit them in my comments below:

From a personal point of view, my home Operating System of choice started with Microsoft DOS and I have migrated (excluding Vista & Windows 8 for obvious reasons) to the current Windows 10. My reasons have never had anything to do with any loyalty to Microsoft at all (is still the case today). The simple fact is that the vast majority of the applications I currently use or need, continue to be Microsoft centric or not even available on other platforms at all. It really is that simple.

The question I do often ask myself though, is if I find Microsoft Windows easy and painless to use....and sadly the answer after all this time is still a big NO!

For someone who has worked daily in this environment for many many decades, the reality is that Microsoft has made almost no headway at all in being able to provide seamless and self maintaining operating systems. What do I mean by that...... some examples:

1. The Registry system etc. is outdated and far too prone to errors or corruption. There is a reason people have to use manual interventions and use “ccleaner" and "Disk Cleanup" to do ongoing maintenance that the operating system cannot do properly.

2. The Patch and Update management system is nothing other than pathetic. Users have very little control over the process and Microsoft continues to push out far too many error prone patches resulting even in data loss in some cases.

3. Constant requirement for Disk De-fragmentation for those without Solid State Drive technology.

4. Requirement for complex multi layered add-on Security/Anti-Virus/Malware/Firewall products.

5. Driver support: The Plug & Play “promise” has never been realised.

6. Privacy Configurations are obtuse and not very forthcoming. i.e. Microsoft is collecting far too much data on their customers.

7. No Built-In robust Backup and Restore function that can provide a total “removable” solution.

I could go on and on... but the above are some of the more important ones.

But here comes the problem.... what are the options:

For some people, the solution has been to migrate to Apple. Luckily for those who are into Graphic Art, Photography and Multi Media etc., it will have been an easy move for them. In recent years there has been a large migration from MS Windows to Apple macOS within those market sectors. But as I stated at the very beginning, it has never really been a viable option for me.

Which brings us to the only other real alternative, LINUX!

OK, so I must admit even though I almost exclusively use Windows 10 for my day to day productivity, I also use a Linux based system too. So why have I not migrated across to this platform? The truth is that I would love to....... if I only could!

1. Windows has a single owner, Microsoft. Linux has no ownership, no leadership, no conformity. In fact there are more available Linux distributions that I care to count.

2. As a result of the above the Linux market is confusing, fragmented and difficult to navigate.

3. The Linux community also have not exactly been making it easy for the uninitiated to migrate. For support you have to rely on the “Geeks and Nerds” of the industry. Company support is still very limited at this stage.

4. Very few of the Linux distributions are user friendly or easy for the average user to install.

5. Whilst there are many tens of thousands of Linux apps available, many popular ones are simply not available.

6. Many companies (i.e. Canon etc.) don’t bother providing Linux hardware drivers.

The truth is that if Linux was under the ownership of a single entity, they could probably have overtaken MS Windows by now (Most people don’t realise that the core of the Android operating system is Linux - Google was able to do this by taking full ownership of this smartphone OS system).

The good news is that with every passing year Linux is making progress and eating into the desktop market. The Linux Server space is very different, and not part of this discussion, other than to say that already almost all of the entire planets collection of Super Computers run on Linux. Many mainframe computers too – This because the worlds no.1 supplier of commercial Server Linux products come from IBM’s Red Hat division. In the Desktop space the range of options is unlimited, free and Open-Source. This (as stated above) has resulted in fragmentation and confusion though.

I am not an Linux specialist, and like to think I have no real allegiance to any distribution other than to declare that I currently use Linux Mint 20.x. The only reason I use Mint is because it makes migration for any current Windows user fairly quick & easy. I simply did not want to get bogged down with too much technical gumph! There is an Xfce, MATE & Cinnamon edition of Mint. Cinnamon is modern and very Windows like, but is in my opinion not yet as stable/robust as the Mate or Xfce edition (The Xfce edition is super efficient, runs faster and uses far less memory, thus an excellent choice for older hardware too). At the end of the day its all down to a personal preference. i.e. The Cinnamon edition looks more sleek & modern, but with far too many annoying patches and updates in my opinion.... Xfce is very fast, stable and efficient thus requiring fewer patches and updates.

Whilst you will never have to worry about using Disk Defrag, CCleaner, Disk Cleanup or even figuring out what is going on with Service Patches again (In Linux you have full control over updates), there is certainly going to be a learning curve involved. You will need to make the effort to browse the many forums and blogs out there which contain unlimited advise and detail.

Do I think there is a future for the Linux desktop? My answer is that currently the global Linux Desktop market is still under 3%, but with every passing year it is growing and increasingly becoming popular among the new generation of young and upcoming engineers and programmers. So yes, whilst it is going to take time, this Free and Open-Source Operating System will grow and become mainstream, not in the short term, but certainly in the medium to long term as the developers become more and more business focused as well as putting more effort into the “End User” and less from being seen as a community of “Geeks and Nerds”!

Update (30 August 2021): Microsoft recently announced that only 8th Generation and newer Intel processors will be able to upgrade to Windows 11. This seems to be another classic Microsoft blunder in the making, one that is certain to upset existing Windows users (with hardware only a few years old). For some this will provide another key incentive to consider migrating to Linux! Though without doubt there are bound to be many hacks and backdoor methods to install Windows 11 onto older hardware whether Microsoft likes it or not!

 

Update:  Some good articles from TheRegister

Why the Linux desktop is the best desktop!

Migrate to Linux

I use Linux Mint Xfce edition. 

Note: I have used both MATE & Cinnamon editions in the past, but find that Xfce is just so much more robust, efficient and faster than anything else out there. Cinnamon is like a donkey cart, overloaded with all the excess stuff, plus more, so things tends to fall apart along the away requiring non stop patches. Xfce is like a small and speedy sedan car. Can hold more than enough, yet gets you from point A to B very efficiently without any drama along the way.