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Well a very weird thing happened. I tried to post a comment to thank Susan and all for the blog and the website, but got a message that it was removed as my IP address is considered a source of spam and my comment was not deemed relevant.  Considering that (i) I have never sent a spam, (ii) my IP address is recorded as 0% spam (per the link provided in the rejection notice), (iii) thanks are usally welcomed, and (iv) I used no offensive words, I am at a loss to explain what happened. Someone on the invigilator side must have got their wires crossed!

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

satrow

Couple of other points about Proton, which I use

1. You can create an encrypted email message, including attachments, to send someone who does not have Proton.  They enter the password you provide them over the phone, open the message, and can print and save attachments on their PC. You can also set the encrypted message to self-destroy after a time you set. Brilliant security.
2. Proton have very good support. Email them a query and they don’t take long to reply with the answer – usually a day at most.
3. Proton have a mixture of very good and very poor  FAQs and Help pages.  Hence, I think I need to email support more than I ought to, if they were better presented. For example their “Bridge” to apple Mail can fail and it its hard to find out why. They could do with making FAQs out of their Support queries, and make them easy to find.
4. IMHO Proton email falls down on its user interface, which I find very clunky and non-intuitive. Menus are scattered at randon around the screen, formatting is poor, settings are hiodden, etc I could go on.
5. IMHO Proton Docs is another with a poor interface, although the docs themselves are great.
6. Proton send a regular newsletter with useful information.
7. Proton also give one discounts from time to time for long standing members.

All in all, wonderful security and concepts, with some quite bad User interface points. Still I would not change. They are the only ones thinking of their users needs.

RobB

RobB

2 users thanked author for this post.

Steelsox1, windbg

You mention “When traveling abroad, review your options for Internet access in advance.”  Good advice.  I have heard of cruise liners charging $500 for internet access for a week!

RobB

RobB

Come on Will, why do you think Microsoft will listen to feedback from its customers?
I can give you dozens of examples where Microsoft have changed things, people have complained and just been ignored!

As for File Explorer, you guys should check out Opus Directory (https://www.gpsoft.com.au/)  I have no relationship with them, but discovered it when Powerdesk Explorer died/did not keep up with Windows. Once you have got through the learning curve, you will never want to use File Explorer again!

Thank you to Retired Geek and Bbaren for the StartAllBack idea. That will be my next tweak to that useless pile of junk called Windows 11!

Best
Robb

RobB

My Suggestion – sell your new apple and go back to Windows. The learning curve is too steep, and the many, small but irritating differences raise one’s blood pressure unsustainably high.

RobB

Why put yourself through all the hassle of Windows 10 or 11. They are horrible!  Stay with Windows 7 as long as you can!

RobB

Hi

Is there any chance of someone explaining to a not-very-tech-savvy reader what TrueNAS actually does, and why one would use it, in broad, jargon-free, terms?

I’d be grateful if you could. Both articles are so far above my head that I have only skimmed them, and realise that I have no idea what the objective is.

Robb

RobB

Hear Hear!

RobB

Thanks Susan.

A small comment about Aliases and a secure email provider.

I signed up with a paid version of Proton mail, which purports to be extremely secure and allows one to send encrypted mesaages user to user, without any intervening ISP being able to read them.

They also provide 5 aliases that one can use for the same email account, both to send from and reply to.  I thought what a great idea! Brilliant! I’ll use one alias for friends, one for business, one for non-computer-literate friends who are likely to be hacked/compromised (based on past experience), one for retailer that I buy from online, etc.

In practice though, it proves impossible to manage that many. Even though it is easy to select the relevant address to use, one soon forgets which address you have used previously for which person, and end up in a complete muddle confusing people by using different addresses.  I now only use two email addresses/aliases.

———————————–

Now all we need to do is find a modern equivalent of Eudora, which is still the best email program I ever used.

RobB

Thank you Mary, that explains some nice tips.

But I simply don’t understand why anyone would use OneNote.  What does it do that can’t be done better in other ways?

RobB

RobB

Good luck with the move, DMT3904.

By the way, I forgot to mention that I have made extensive use of PKCano’s wonderful articles, which are extremely helpful. Thanks again PKC.

If you are going to move to a Mac, DMT3904, do yourself a favour and learn some essential shortcuts, per below.

RobB

Apple has published an extensive list of Mac Keyboard Shortcuts{https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201236}, but it is far too long, so here are the ones it is reccomended Mac users  learn as soon as possible:

• Command+Space: Launches Spotlight
• Holding Down Command+Space Launches Siri
• Command+Tab: Quickly cycles through active apps (similar to ALT+Tab on Windows)
• Command+H Quickly hides an app window (clicking on the app icon in the Dock restores the app window)
• Command+Q: Quits an app
• Spacebar after selecting a file in Finder: Launches Quick Look for the selected file.
• Command+Open+Esc: Force Quit an app (similar to Control+ALT+Delete on Windows)
• Command+C: Copy text
• Command+V: Paste text
• Command+X: Cut text
• Command+B: Bold
• Command+I Italics
• Command+P: Print a document
• Command+S: Save a document
• Command+T: Open a new tab
• Command+Shift+4  Take a screenshot of a section of the screen and put it on the clipboard to paste into a document (or
• Command+N: Open a new Finder window
• Shift+Command+N: Create a new folder in the Finder
• Command+Delete: Move a file to the Trash

This is my personal most useful list (Sorry about the formatting – I don’t know how to make it work here!):
Essential Apple Shortcuts
Function                                                                                                         Shortcut

Euro € symbol Word & Excel                                                                       Shift + Optn +2

GBP £ symbol Word & Excel                                                                       Optn +3

Plus Minus ± symbol                                                                                      Shift +1

At @ symbol                                                                                                   Shift + 2

Hash # symbol                                                                                                Shift + 3

Create a new Finder window (when in Finder)                                              Cmd+N

Copy File Path to clipboard (in Finder).  Select file                                       Rt Click, Copy path…

Increase font size to print from Apple Mail                                                    Cmd and +

Tab between open windows of a program (e.g.  Word, Excel)         Cmd + ~  (or ` [grave])
Keep pressed to scroll thru

Tab (or scroll) between open program windows                                            Cmd + Tab

Minimise all open windows                                                                                      Cmd+F3

Hide/Minimise the current program.                                                              Command+H

See all open windows, by shrinking them to separate parts of screen            F3

Close a window                                                                                              Cmd+W

Close all windows                                                                                           Optn+-Cmd+W

Close the current program.                                                                              Command+Q

Snip a picture of selected area and save to desktop where a Thumbnail will appear. (Select target with mouse, then release keys.)        Shift + Cmd +4

Snip a picture of selected area and save to clipboard where is held in memory, ready to paste. (Select target with mouse, then release keys.)   Ctrl +Shift + Cmd +4

Video a screenshot as you watch a video or move the cursor etc.                  Shift + Cmd + 5

Select multiple items: Press & hold the Cmd key, then click each item        Cmd key, then click items

Select All items.                                                                                              Cmd+A

Select multiple items: Press & hold the Cmd key, then click each item        Cmd key, then click items

Undo the last action                                                                                         Cmd+Z

Copy the selected item to the Clipboard                                                         Cmd+C

Cut the selected item and copy it to the Clipboard                                        Cmd+X

Paste the contents of the Clipboard into the current document or app          Cmd+V

Copy the selected item by dragging to new location (e.g.  in Finder)
(The pointer changes to a + while you drag the item.)                                   Optn key + drag

Save As                                              Optn+Shift+ Cmd+S   or Optn + File Menu

Save a document                                                                                             Cmd+S

Print a document                                                                                             Cmd+P

Copy File Path to clipboard (in Finder).  Select file                                       Rt Click, Copy path…

Increase font size to print from Apple Mail                                                    Cmd and +

Redo the last action                                                                                         Shift+Cmd+Z

Jump to beginning of a line                                                                            Cmd+Left Arrow

Jump to far right end of a line                                                                          Cmd+Right Arrow

Jump to beginning of current word                                                                 Optn+Left Arrow

Jump to end of current word                                                                            Optn+Right Arrow

Jump to beginning of all text                                                                           Cmd+Up Arrow

Jump to end of all text                                                                                     Cmd+Down Arrow.

Find items in a document or open a Find window.                                        Cmd+F

Show the Get Info window for a selected file in Finder or desktop.              Cmd+I

Scroll through pictures in a folder.              Select a picture file in finder, press Space bar to open Quick Look, then Up/Down arrows to scroll thru all.

To move a file instead of just copying it:

1. Use Command-C to copy the file.
2. Use Option +Cmd +V to paste it.
3. This will <u>move</u> the file to its new location rather than just copying it (A really annoying habit of Apple’s, which constantly creates duplicated files everywhere if you forget “Option”, particularly if you share directories with another user.).

 

 

RobB

Dear All

I don’t want to take away from the wonderful job that has been done by PCKano in his Mac Guide for Windows Users Wanting to Switch, but I feel I ought to add my pennyworth of thoughts to the discussion, for two reasons:

First, I am a long-time Windows user, since the early 1990s, although I have dabbled with Macs a little.  Everybody who had a mac kept telling me how great macs were, and how easy to use, including very computer literate people that I greatly respect.   And more and more I was getting annoyed with Microsoft, their arrogant ways, and all the problems that users of this forum are so familiar with.  So, instead of upgrading from Win XP at home, (which I loved, and was still using at home long after it ran out of support) and Windows 7 at Work, I bought a beautiful new iMac for the home.

Second, I have just suffered the change over at work from Windows 7 to Windows 11, so I can see first hand how Microsoft has made an absolute hash of its upgrades.  The change is dramatic, and rather unpleasant, to put it mildly, particularly if one has spent a lot of time customising one’s old PC, using macros etc.

My opinion. One cannot fault the quality of the Mac hardware, which is beautiful. Generally speaking, the regular updates and the programs are not too bad. Macshave a lot in common with Windows programs (They keep stealing ideas off each other) and presumably one can gradually get used to a mac.  But I warn you, it takes a <u>long, long</u> time. I have tried really, really hard, constantly researching how to do things, and yet, after 3 years, I still feel completely at sea, as if I am a rank beginner.  So many short-cuts and key functions are different from Windows. There is lots to dislike about the Mac, because one knows that so often there is a better way to do things – either the Windows Way (and it hurts me to admit that, because of the way Microsoft behaves), or else one can find an add on program for Windows that can be installed to do it for you.    It is the myriad of little things in a Mac, that trip one up constantly, that are so annoying.
Just a few examples.  Why is there no “Save As”  menu item, unless one presses the Option key as well as Command+S?  Why can’t you simply scroll through one’s list of photos the way one can on Windows? Almost everything takes twice as many steps.  Why can’t I change the log in screen away from the horrible Mac colours? . Why Does Apple Mail print so badly – i.e. so small?  Forget about Apple’s Numbers and Pages (the equivalent of Excel and Word); they are useless in comparison.  Outllok has so many ridiculous flaws.  But try using Apple mail. It is amateurish in comparison.  Yes, Apple provides the cloud, but it is just a clever way to suck more money out of you – one is forced to pay to add capacity, because their back-ups hog so much space.  If you plug in a USB to take copies of some files, why does Apple litter the USB with other little random files?  Have you tried using an Apple mouse or Keyboard?  So pretty. So terrible to use in comparison to the basic Windows ones. So, one changes one’s mouse, but then the software is not fully compatible!  And, boy oh boy, will you be lost in the all the new names for programs.  Apple has this wonderful forum where, yes you can ask questions.  But don’t dare even mildly criticise anything about Apple or its software. – the AI algorithm or site invigilator will shut down/delete your post so quickly you won’t know what has happened.  The whole Apple approach is to control you and lock down everything, far more than in Windows. It becomes extremely irritating when one is used to the “freedom” of Windows.

But what about the New Windows 11.  Well, three months since I changed over, I still curse Microsoft for making my life more complicated, instead of making it easier. In my opinion there is nothing, not a single thing, that is better in Windows 11 than Windows 7 (or even Windows XP), except for a very few hidden security features.  99% of all the stuff they have added in the last 10 years is a waste of time. Bloatware is such an appropriate description! The start menu is screwed up. The desktop is rubbish. The colour schemes are horrendous. The task bar is ruined and won’t go to the top (but at least I can find a replacement – I can’t change the Apple one!)  etc. etc.  But, you, the reader, knows the Microsoft flaws.

So, bottom line – there are many advantages to both Apple and Windows, and lots and lots of disadvantages to each. The change-over from Windows to Apple Mac is much, much more difficult, and time consuming, than one would expect, and it raises one’s blood pressure dramatically!  The change-over of a Windows upgrade is almost as bad as changing to an Apple, but not quite.  So, if you are thinking of changing from Windows to Apple, for goodness sake, research it very carefully. I suggest you start by reviewing web sites that comment on Apple’s flaws and faults, not those which hype Apple (like most do).

RobB

RobB

Microsofts video on copilot at https://news.microsoft.com/reinventing-productivity/

It’s really ironic (and frightening, and sickening) how Satya Nadella has the cheek to say how we all have a collective obligation to use AI responsibly, and yet Microsoft is the most greedy, abusive corporation out there, forcing everyone onto a grossly inflated subscription model that does nothing for mankind, destroys years of work we have done by changing the user interface, and generally abusing its users.

Jared Spataro says “we spend too much time consumed by the drudgery of work, on tasks that zap our time, creativity and energy. At times the very tools that should make us productive, seem to get in the way!”
Yet Microsoft itself is responsible for so much of that drudgery, forcing us to deal with the ‘bloatware” and unnecessary changes that Microsoft has introduced to all its software, from Windows, through Office 365, to its most complex programs.

He claims Microsoft 365 Copilot is built upon Microsoft’s comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy. But if Microsoft really had a “comprehensive approach to security, compliance and privacy”, why would there be so many flaws in its software which need constant patching; why would there be so many areas where Microsoft records what you are doing and sends the data back to Redmond? And compliance with what?

I cannot think of a more useless bit of wasted coding effort than Microsoft 365 Copilot! Who would genuinely be happy with that sort of c**p?

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

Mothy

And, to add to Richard Merchant’s comments about Eudora, In my opinion it was by far the best email program I have ever used. Certainly the best settings layout and user interface.

But killed by corporate greed and the failure to move forward, so I can’t use it anymore. Too far behind.

RobB

I seldom comment in this forum. In fact I don’t think I have ever. But your latest newsletter, Issue 19.48, is a masterpiece and deserves serious praise for taking us behind the scenes. And I can only add my sincere thanks and praise to that recorded above for all the excellent hard work and effort Susan and Will both put in. Well done!

Please keep it up and long may it last. Definitely well worth subscribing!!

Robb

RobB

1 user thanked author for this post.

Will Fastie