The Technology Vent and Rant Thread

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Toxaris

That is not true. Edge uses a totally different rendering engine than IE11. In fact, the rendering engine of IE11 has not been maintained for many, many years. The rendering engine of Edge is built from the ground up. Only for backwards compatibility, Edge can start IE11 (or any other browser you would like) for those pages that cannot be rendered on Edge. Those pages are rare on the internet. Those pages are usually from older business applications.

Exactly. Edge relies on IE to render certain pages. I've come across quite a few it had to switch over to. I used Edge for Swagbucks there only certain surveys that have to use IE or Edge. Firefox or Chrome no problem with legacy sites. Edge has a long way to go.

Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Today I find browsers only a little more interesting than a DOS DIR command, or last weeks overcooked cabbage.

However, a few years ago I was having similar problems as you're having with your Samsung, on an HP laptop, so I tried Waterfox, Pale Moon and a couple of others whose names escape me. They all had performance issues despite the extravagant claims and none of them could run all the extensions I was using - and the extension developers weren't very interested in developing XXXX specific versions, so I gave up looking and persevered with Firefox.

I haven't added any extensions to Firefox for a couple of years, the last two were Open in Chrome and Open in Edge, and the rest have been then for no less than 5 years. I update them as and when a new version emerges. As always, Firefox crashes at least once a week. I always start it with a clean sheet, i.e no restore of yesterdays crud - besides which I close all tabs before I close it. I send the reports off, but because I'm not using the latest and greatest I assume they go straight into the bit bucket.

BR

I'm partial to Firefox. It's going to be hard to.part ways when the time comes. Right now I just use five extensions but back in Firefox's Glory days I had it loaded down. It's always been solid for me till late last year. Chrome has always been a backup browser. I never trusted it. Maybe someone new will come on the scene by the time Firefox make us update.

My laptop is working okay I get occasional spikes when Cortana or Windows Defender wakes up. You can't turn them off. Defender stays listening even when your third party AV is on. It comes alive during Window Updates checks and other triggers you always know when because the fans go crazy but PC's has always had serious performance drips during windows updates. As long as I don't use the start menu Cortana stays sleeping. I'm slowly moving away from using it. I've started using a desktop launcher called Executor which I really like.

Sent from my XT1528

[Katsunami]

I don't know what could be causing problems like that.

You said your computer was from 2012, with 6GB RAM. That is 4 years newer than my old laptop, which runs a Core2Duo CPU and has 4GB RAM. It runs Windows 10 without a hitch, and didn't do anything special to disable every possible background service. I only disabled the ones I know that will never be used.

PS: I don't even have Cortana, I see... all of my computers run Windows 10 Pro, and it has a Policy Editor. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out how to disable Cortana in there, and did so on day one.

As the policy editor just sets registry values, you should be able to disable Cortana by finding the correct registry key. It's bound to be on theh internet somewhere.

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Blossom

I'm partial to Firefox. It's going to be hard to.part ways when the time comes. Right now I just use five extensions . . .

Only five, I run twenty-nine.

Some were first installed in 2009 when I switched to Win7, the rest I'd installed earlier when I was on XP. I had problems with a few extensions when I switched to Win 7, so I found alternatives such a Omni Sidebar. The only ones I have newly installed since 2009 are Open in Chrome, Open in Edge and Space Next. As I wrote before I accept any updates, but not automatically, only when it suits me.

Why do you think Mozilla will force you to move to a new version?

BR

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

According to Wikipedia, IE11 has had an update 6 weeks ago.

Are those just bug fixes, and is the engine not updated with new HTML(5) and CSS3 features since its release in 2013?

That's my assumption. Part of the problem is that IE was a yawning mass of security holes. IE7 was the big security fix push, and IE8 was the big standards compliance push. It got better in both cases, but was still less secure and less standards compliant than the competition.

But random security flaws still surface, and MS pushes patches for them. One a while back affected every version of IE, and I was bemused to see a patch pushed to XP, which was long our of support for patches to the OS itself.

Unfortunately, there are still people who prefer IE, even with Edge available, and make IE11 the default browser, so it's just as well it still gets patched.
______
Dennis

[DMcCunney]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Only five, I run twenty-nine.

I have 40.

Some were first installed in 2009 when I switched to Win7, the rest I'd installed earlier when I was on XP. I had problems with a few extensions when I switched to Win 7, so I found alternatives such a Omni Sidebar. The only ones I have newly installed since 2009 are Open in Chrome, Open in Edge and Space Next. As I wrote before I accept any updates, but not automatically, only when it suits me.

The current stuff auto-updates and I don't have a problem with that. I don't recall ever having an issue when an extension updated. The issues all came from underlying architectural changes in Firefox that broke extensions because what they relied on either was no longer there or had moved to a new location the extension wasn't looking at.

Why do you think Mozilla will force you to move to a new version?

She set up Firefox ESR. The major version that's based on does change. It just doesn't do so often. When Firefox 60 hits the street, it will be the new ESR base. Unless Blossom takes pains to keep it from updating, she'll be back where she just was.

A larger and longer term problem is continual changes in web standards. What happens when the older browser you run to continue using favorite extensions of the like starts having problems on sites because they use newer stuff the rendering engine in your browser can't handle?

At some point, you'll have to upgrade, like it or not. Sitting still is not a viable long term option.

I chose to take the pain and upgrade now, keeping a legacy installation available to run preferred stuff while I waited for new stuff to become available. Enough has that I was able to switch. If I'd sat tight till I was forced to upgrade, it would have been a far more complex and painful process.
______
Dennis

[Toxaris]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

According to Wikipedia, IE11 has had an update 6 weeks ago.

Are those just bug fixes, and is the engine not updated with new HTML(5) and CSS3 features since its release in 2013?

Correct, bugfixes only since 2013.

Originally Posted by Blossom

Exactly. Edge relies on IE to render certain pages. I've come across quite a few it had to switch over to. I used Edge for Swagbucks there only certain surveys that have to use IE or Edge. Firefox or Chrome no problem with legacy sites. Edge has a long way to go.

No, it does not rely on IE. There is NO connection between the two. Edge cannot switch rendering engines. If it finds a page it cannot render, it will start another renderer. This can be IE/Firefox/Chrome. Ironically, Edge is one of the best browsers with regards to supporting the standards. Almost all pages can be rendered without problems. What you describe, I haven't seen for at least half a year.

I don't use Edge, because I don't like that there are very little extensions yet, but not because of its rendering capabilities.

[DMcCunney]

I've been swimming in the Android pool for a while. US computer retailer Micro Center opened a location in Brooklyn, NYC, a hop skip and jump by subway from where I live. A Grand Opening card popped up in my mailbox, with a 7" Android tablet for $20 as a promotion item. Sure. My use case was eBook viewer, and a 7" form factor was perfect. If that was all it did, it would be more than worth $20. It was low end with puny specs, but did what I needed, and rather more once rooted. The device was from Azpen, Yet Another Chinese Consumer Electronics Manufacturer you've never heard of, but they are a Micro Center partner and MC offers nice deals on them.

I've had several more Azpen units since, and just got a new one - an A1050, which is a 10" model. The intend is something that can replace a laptop while traveling, used with an external keyboard. Uses when traveling are email, access to Google drive, and office productivity stuff. Email is Gmail, and there's a good Gmail client app for Android. Likewise access to Google Drive. Office productivity is handled by WPS Office, a freeware suite from Chinese developers that handles Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and PDF files. (I despise Powerpoint, and use other things for PDFs, but the Word and Excel support is decent.)

I'm beating it into shape, er, getting it configured. It's promising thus far, but there are bumps in the road.

The specs are decent:
1.3 ghz quad-core A33 ARM Cortex CPU
10.1" 1280x800 HD LCD IPS screen
Mali graphics
1GB RAM
16GB internal storage (of which 12GB is available to the user)
MicroSD USB slot
Full sized USB slot
Front and rear facing 2MP cameras
WiFi
Bluetooth 4.0
Up to 32GB external storage via MicroSD card

The price was $80, which is quite decent for those specs.

The full sized USB slot was a present surprise. I have a Logitech Portable USB keyboard, and I can plug it in directly instead of requiring an OTG adapter.

Another pleasant surprise is that the published specs are inaccurate. "Up to 32GB" external storage is accurate for other Azpen models. It's a hardware limitation. The MicroSD card slot is SDHC, and the maximum volume size supported is 32GB. But I had a 64GC MicroSD card purchased for a different device that turned out no to support it. On a whim, I popped it into the A1050. It saw the card, and offered the choice of making it internal storage or external storage. Azpen apparently used an SDXC slot that supports larger volumes in this model.

Internal storage would mean formatting it as ext4, the file system used by Android, which would simply mount it as an internal file system, but the card could not be used in something else. External storage would format it as FAT32 or exFAT, and have a card which could be ejected and read by something else.

I chose the latter, and the tablet now thinks it has 64GB of external storage.

Bluetooth was not present in my other Azpen tablets, as a "design to cost" measure. I't nice to have it here, but has no current use. I have nothing that connects via BT to attach to the tablet, and BT is a power drain.

WiFi is normally off too. The tablet goes online only to get app updates and check mail, and is used in local mode most of the time, with data stored locally.

The speed bumps lie elsewhere. One is that Azpen is a vendor who pre-loads the device with sponsored bloatware. On this model, that includes the Blio eBookstore app, the Wild Tangent Games store app, the ZAPP store app, a trial version of OfficeSuite Pro, and the Google Play Music app. I wanted none of them, but they are installed as System apps, and cannot be removed by normal uninstall. The device must be rooted to be able to remove them. All I could do was Disable them in Settings, and I did so.

The bigger speed bump is that I haven't been able to root it. In other Azpen models, a one-click-root solution called Kingo Root has done the job. I turn on Debugging on the tablet, connect it to my desktop via USB cable, and run the Kingo app from Windows. It connects to the tablet, and attempts to push exploits that can root the device to the tablet. Kingo just bounces off this model and reports Root Failed, but leaves half a dozen shell processes running on the tablet, dragging down performance, and I have to reboot the tablet to get rid of them. A different one-click-root program called King Root, from a different vendor, also bounced off, but didn't leave stuff still running on the tablet when it gave up.

I can still use it for the intended purpose without rooting, but I'll be much happier when I can root it and clean out crap.

It works for my use case, but may not work for others. For instance, the 10'1" screen in 1280x800 is decent, but video performance is mediocre. If what someone wants to do it stream Netflix to it, they won't be happy. I use an Android port of VLC as my video player (and use it under Windows as well.) Unless I use lowest common denominator 16 bit RGB playback, I see artifacts and stuttering playing videos. (I haven't tried YouTube yet, but expect similar issues.)

Since I didn't get it to watch video, I'm not all that perturbed.

Thus far, I'd give it 3.5 to 4 stars out of 5. If I get it rooted, that will become 4 - 4.5 stars. But it's worth what I paid for it, and looks like it will do what I want.
______
Dennis

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by Katsunami

I don't know what could be causing problems like that.

You said your computer was from 2012, with 6GB RAM. That is 4 years newer than my old laptop, which runs a Core2Duo CPU and has 4GB RAM. It runs Windows 10 without a hitch, and didn't do anything special to disable every possible background service. I only disabled the ones I know that will never be used.

PS: I don't even have Cortana, I see... all of my computers run Windows 10 Pro, and it has a Policy Editor. I wouldn't be surprised if I found out how to disable Cortana in there, and did so on day one.

As the policy editor just sets registry values, you should be able to disable Cortana by finding the correct registry key. It's bound to be on theh internet somewhere.

I don't have Pro. I have Home edition which means no group policy edit. I have tried some of the registry tweaks. I can turn Cortana off which gives back the magnifying glass icon but she still lives in the task manager plus now Windows Index and Explorer are doing her job so there's no real huge benefit turning her off anymore before 1709 I had no Cortana at all. She's supposed to moved later this year so my current work around works fine for now.

My current hunt is how to turn off Office Click To Run. I keep disabling but every other day it comes back.

So which services are safe to disable? I've got so much going on in the background less now thanks to Dennis' recommendations on the Shut Up program.

I've read so many horror stories on 1709 so I know my problems could be worse.


Sent from my XT1528

[Blossom]

Originally Posted by BetterRed

Only five, I run twenty-nine.



Why do you think Mozilla will force you to move to a new version?

BR

That's alot of extensions. All new Firefox installs forces you upgrade to 56 then it updates to 58. I tried again and again. It was only when I saw Dennis' post that I installed ESR which doesn't have that problem. You can try turning off updates but it doesn't do a thing because they send the update when the browser is first launched.

Dennis's said they will force an upgrade later to 60. I hope not though I do have updates turned off. So here's hoping it doesn't.

Sent from my XT1528

[BetterRed]

Originally Posted by Blossom

That's a lot of extensions.

But not as many as Dennis, who has 40

Originally Posted by Blossom

All new Firefox installs forces you upgrade to 56 then it updates to 58. I tried again and again. It was only when I saw Dennis' post that I installed ESR which doesn't have that problem. You can try turning off updates but it doesn't do a thing because they send the update when the browser is first launched.

Dennis's said they will force an upgrade later to 60. I hope not though I do have updates turned off. So here's hoping it doesn't.

Ah-ah, that answers my unasked question - why are you running a version of Firefox targeted at large institutions on a personal laptop?

BR

[Katsunami]

With regard to Firefox, I've once commented on it freezing the mouse and screen for a second or so when opening a new tab or window. I'm now convinced it has something to do with the Intel/Nvidia Optimus combination. Why? Because my 10 year old laptop, running exactly the same software as this one, doesn't do that. My desktop also doesn't.

In one of my chess programs, I have graphical glitches when resizing the window panes (fortunately they disappear when I let go of the mouse and the window redraws). This is either caused by Intel/nVidia Optimus, or the fact that I have Windows 10 set to 150% to effectively create a 1280x720 resolution @ 15.6 inch. (Any higher and I can't read it.) The old laptop (Intel card, 1280x800 @ 15.6, 100%) and the desktop (nVidia, 1920x1200 @ 24.1, 100%) don't have this problem.

Oh, and I detest the push for wider and wider screens. At the same diagonal, the most efficient screen is a fracking SQUARE. Don't give me that crap about how humans see in wide screen view. I'm missing fracking vertical pixels. Some programs just don't FIT in 720 or 800 pixels anymore.

My laptop in 2003 had a 15.4, 1024x768 (TN) screen (4:3, or 1.33:1).
The one in 2008 had a 15.6, 1280x800 (TN) screen (16:10, or 1.60:1).
The current one h as a 15.6, 1920x1080 (IPS) screen (16:9, or 1.78:1)

I can't run the last one at full resolution; I require 1280 or less width on a 15.xx sized wide screen or I'll be unable to read it. Thus I have set the last laptop to 150%, giving me 1280x720. While it's the best screen I had with regard to brightness and viewing angles, it still bothers me that I lost so many vertical pixels in 15 years. If this laptop had a 4:3 screen, at 1280 width it would have been 960 tall. Thus, the screens have gotten 25% smaller at approximately the same diagonal (720/960 = 0.75).

Don't believe me that a wider screen offers less space to work compared to a square one at the same diagonal?

Just imagine a 1600x1600 square screen. That would be easy to work with. Now imagine a 25.600 x 100 wide screen. It will have a HUGE diagonal, but it will be completely unworkable, even though it has the same area to work with. If you now cut it down to have the same diagonal size as the 1600x1600 screen, it will lose area.

I'm convinced the push for wider and wider screens is not in the interest of consumers. It's in the interest of manufacturers. They can offer screens of the same diagonal size, while making the workable area smaller and smaller.

[John F]

Originally Posted by John F

Thank you for the rant.

I did a Windows Update this morning on Windows 7, and had a lot of troubles. Rolled it back, and everything is now fine.

And it turns out it wasn't the Windows Update. I also installed a Garmin app, and my problems appear to be related to it, and it is very strange: installed Garmin, and my computer works fine, uninstall it and my startup programs take a long time to start (it appears as though my internet is slow in starting up). I'm going to leave the Garmin app installed, even though I won't be using it again, and even though it is using up some resources.

[John F]

Originally Posted by John F

And it turns out it wasn't the Windows Update. I also installed a Garmin app, and my problems appear to be related to it, and it is very strange: installed Garmin, and my computer works fine, uninstall it and my startup programs take a long time to start (it appears as though my internet is slow in starting up). I'm going to leave the Garmin app installed, even though I won't be using it again, and even though it is using up some resources.

Looking further into it, I'm going to blame Logitech.

I recently installed a new programmable Logitech mouse. If I install the Logitech software to program the mouse, I get the slow startup problem. If I than install the Garmin software, the problem goes away. I'm going to uninstall the Logitech and Garmin software and live without the programmable part of the mouse.

Not to self, try a MS mouse next time.

[Katsunami]

Logitech's software is crap nowadays. Setpoint is huge, and last time I looked, it wasn't updated for two years at least. It makes keys stick when you program keyboard shortcuts onto the mouse, such as ALT-F4.

If you are inclined to do a bit of dirty work and are somewhat knowledgable with computers and scripting, you could look into AutoHotkey. I've programmed my mouse by catching the mouse button input and then having AutoHotkey 'press a key.' After compiling the script to an EXE (assigning a nice icon to it), I now have a fully programmed mouse. The "program" is something like 1 MB in size, and takes 2.1 MB RAM. (As my mouse only has a wheel tilting left and right as button 4 and 5, the AHK script only has two lines in it )