Last post, I talked about how I had some issues with the Claymore in regard to not having an accessible boot partition and how that would make me feel like hiding my angry face behind a photo of a smiling one.
Now however, I'm having such a bad day with the stupid thing that I feel like I want to crawl into a hole... Or bed, because I'm already wishing it was 21:59 ADT.
So, let me tell you a bit more about what's up, and why I feel this way.
Exhibit A: Re-Installing Windows Dix and Attempting to Put Back a Linux Partition
What I thought was supposed to happen was that Windows 10 would be quite content to re-install itself to my AMD Radeon SSD 240.0GB which I had the OS installed to originally, and then just leave the 1.0TB Seagate Drive (FireCuda) 100% free for use as the Linux partition drive.
However, what I didn't realize, that this new re-installation of Windows 10 decided to take space from the drive to use as "System Reserved." Oops. And keep it virtually inaccessible for me to use as the partition I wanted it to use in the first place. >:(
Like, why did I think it would be a good idea to dual-boot Microsoft Windows and Linux? Oh, yeah... Now I know. As the 2020s continue on, I'm considering leaving the Windows ecosystem for good, and doing everything, work and play, I do on the computer in the Linux land outside the society regulated by MIKRSFT.
Of course, now I'm probably going to consider choosing to have a work computer (+ 1 Zoom Computer, which I'm going to talk about later) running Linux, and I can just hopefully call it a day and maybe kick my feet up & relax a little bit from this stress, decompressing myself as much as possible.
Oh well, at least I'm going to have to only look at the Windows(R) Taskbar 50% of the time I'm on my PC anyway. And as far as "work" goes, I don't want to use an interface which doesn't look overly professional, or aesthetically pleasing. I mean sure - Tablet interface does look good, but in reality, only on a "tablet computer." Not a desktop or laptop that is non touch-screen and the screen doesn't come off. Anyone who subscribes to the doctrines of minimalism can hate me for my choice there if they want - just that I think it's pointless to have to click in the middle of the taskbar instead of the bottom-left. Just the same as I always have had since 1995, and on a computer of my own since 2002, although my first PC ran an OS which was new in 1995.
Exhibit B: The New Zoom Computer
I ordered a computer which was an older model DELL tower from eBay with the intention of turning it into my brand-new Zoom computer. As for the old one? I think I'll probably just retire it to spend the rest of its life powering a virtual arcade machine inside a customized cabinet complete with its own marquee, monitor built right into the cabinet, and speakers mounted permanently into the cabinet for sound.
Of course, the computer has yet to arrive - so I need a standby solution until it actually does turn up, so I'm probably going to have to tinker with something to get it running Zoom for me primarily in the meantime.
Exhibit C: Sure, now it matters if you're a PC or a Mac... ...But times are soon coming in the future where none of that stuff will be IMPORTANT EVER AGAIN!
Traditionally, it mattered whether you had a PC (Windows computer) or a Mac (Apple Macintosh computer), and for a while, I felt like I belonged in the other group. But thanks to me being permanently located 17 exits too west of a Starbucks and 4-7 exits too west of a fair trade cafe (or maybe 1 or more too east) the only choices for specialty coffee are located either in the McDonald's (which the Greenwood one is apparently having a renovation done on it) Tim Hortons (which until the 2020 COVID Pandemic was in the Greenwood Mall; I've pretty much decided I'm just going to give up the travel mugs I bought from that store to my parents since keeping them around is some sort of bad juju or something), or if I was desperate and in a pinch, the local convenience store, which as of April 2022, and to my knowledge, both are located in convenience stores located inside petrol stations. One being the petrol station Needs in the vicinity of the Sobeys supermarket, and the other being an Irving Mainway.
I'm old enough to remember when the Macintosh computers probably looked like this:
Or this:
But, in my opinion (even if it's wrong) all Mac products available in the 2020s computer market, even if in time, more people choose to rent these fruit-based computers instead of outright purchasing these pieces of equipment, are just nothing but "fashion accessories." And, no, I'm not talking about the old ones - whether they were commercial successes of their time, or unloved commercial flops which are collector's items on auction sites...
I respect my elders enough to not say they are pretentious, even if a Macintosh TV from the 1990s would be considered a fashion accessory/ collector's item. Even if I find one at the right price, or something, I'll probably take good care of it.
But any of the Apple computers where in a very past blog post I said, if you had them, I will laugh at you (I only focused on the iMac/Mac Mini/Mac Pro desktop and MacBook Pro and MacBook Air laptop computers - since if you use an iPad, I'm just going to laugh at you regardless) they are all fashion accessories.
Of course, at the present time, I've decided that I do not feel that Windows 11 nor the current version of macOS will serve my computing needs for anything serious productivity-wise in my opinion. Why? Well, when I was learning to try to start a sign shop business out of the back room of my house (it hasn't really gotten very far off the ground yet, in case you ask) I've learned a lot more about the technology I use for powering that business.
1. Even though this does not "technically" pertain to matters of sign business ins and outs at the day's start & end, spinning drive computers take forever to start:
Of course, this is a combination of a number of factors. This includes such things as (1.) The computer's age, (2.) How much RAM the computer has allocated to the OS of booting choice, (3.) How much space is on the hard drive partition of OS of boot choice, regardless of how big or small it is, (4.) The "brain" of the computer, or the CPU, which is the microprocessor of the unit, (5.) Future-proofing.
We'll look at these one at a time, starting with the computer's age.
(1.) The computer's age
While I can't exactly expect to start a business with all new equipment anyway, and having to borrow money against the purchase or finance of new equipment is kind of ill advised upon by financial experts that would prefer I didn't go too far underwater in this business venture, the computer's age is important. Like, how old is the actual computer as a whole, and that is defined by the components, and other factors. Older computers may be required to run the 32-bit software that some software requires, which basically means 64-bit software is pretty much out of the question anyway.
However, the older the computer itself and all components is, the more likely I'm going to see reliability issues on at least several, if not all of the components.
(2.) How much RAM the computer has allocated to the Operating System of boot-up choice
Although age is important in determining how old a computer used in productivity work is going to perform day-in, day-out, something equally important is RAM. It was believed in the 1980s commonly that 640K ought to be enough for anybody. However, the 640K gradually grew to MB, and as of right now, it is in to the GB range.
512MB was considered a lot in the late 1990s early turn of the millennium, but was considered average by the middle of the 2000s, and below average by the 2010s, and likely abandonware by the present day.
This is usually because the minimum working configuration is 4GB, considering most work computers online and working today have 64-bit operating systems.
You should probably notice a somewhat more noticeable boost in speed on a system with more RAM, and a somewhat more decrease in speed on a system with less.
(3.) How much space is on the hard drive of the boot partition of the Operating System choice
Another factor to consider is how much space does my computer have on the hard drive of the boot partition of my Operating System of choice?
This is important, since whether you have a mechanical "spinning" drive, or SSD, regardless of what type of boot media you have inside the computer's chassis for it to load the OS software it needs to first, how full it is might consider how long the OS takes to boot, or to literally do anything at all.
If 25% - 50% of the hard drive is full, then you should be doing just fine. Any more than that, and you may need to either consider deleting some stuff, or upgrading your drive storage to something a bit larger.
If you do use the Microsoft Windows operating system on your PC of choice, however, you can download utilities such as CrystalDiskInfo to diagnose your system's hard drive.
(Mac and Linux users will need to use tools specific for Mac OS and Linux, however.)
(4.) The "brain" of the computer, or the CPU/microprocessor.
We'll talk about what is referred to as the "brain" of the computer, or the CPU, sometimes referred to as the microprocessor.
For people with little or no knowledge of CPUs, the acroynm CPU stands for Central Processing Unit. It is usually on the motherboard, and although for years, traditionally, the majority of computers sold were either Intel or AMD, or Advanced Micro Devices chips, thanks to Apple Computer developing their own CPU for use of Macs of this generation, the M Series, people who want to actually buy computers should know that the only CPUs that mean anything are either Intel or AMD. If you buy an Apple computer with the M1 or other M Chip, you aren't buying a computer, but a fashion accessory. You know what? I take that back! People who buy Apple Computers manufactured in this age shouldn't be buying any equipment at all, they should just rent for however long they need to rent the device for, and when their rental period is over - give it back to the rental company from which they rented it from. Sure, it might seem like glorified borrowing, but if that's the direction culture is headed in, nobody buy any more Apple devices - just rent them all instead! >:(
Anyway...
If you're wanting to buy the computer based on an Intel or AMD chip, you should know that the higher the number the CPU has on the series, generally the faster the processor is going to end up being. The lower the number, the slower the computer, and the higher the number, the faster the computer.
(5.) Future-proofing
Although no computer hardware lasts forever, especially so if you do choose to use a fashion accessory Apple device, you have to realize that computers reaching the end of their serviceable life, whether by hardware or software, you have to realize that the big two of Operating Systems, Microsoft and Apple, with their Microsoft Windows and macOS operating systems do not expect you to keep using the maximum version of their software that would've been fine 5 or 10 or more years ago in the present day.
Like, although the MacBook Pro 15" from 2010 with the Intel Core i5 processor, with 4.00GB of RAM, and a 320.0 gigabyte hard drive (The OS may actually report less depending on drive format, and how you have the partition set up), may have been an amazing computer back in its day, age has finally caught up with it, and the max macOS 10.13 "High Sierra" is now officially obsolete, however if you really want to use it for a Microsoft Windows machine, you're still good until 2025, considering Windows 10 is the max OS it will work in Boot Camp. (I tested 11 on it so you don't have to, and all 11 did was crash with the boot camp drivers and keep throwing up the WDF_DEVICE_VIOLATION stop error on the screen of death which isn't exactly very blue anymore)
This means that my MacBook Pro 15" mid-2010 model is obviously past its prime, and the next stop for it in life once everything does finally quit on it, is the great repair shop in the sky. And no, unless you use a VM, you cannot install Linux on the computer natively anymore, although I remember pretty much being able to be used to do that. It sucks, but that's unfortunately how the APPLE rots.
So, if you want a more sustainable use experience, then Microsoft Windows is clearly out of the question, since the current version will only likely be supported until a version of Windows two in the future or more depending on the version, is released by Microsoft.
And, since I've probably already told people over and over & over again how I feel about Apple devices until it makes their ears bleed and their mind play that feeling I have like a broken record, this likely means I won't be shelling out any amount of money to purchase a brand new MacBook with the Apple Sillycon chip when the one I have now quits on me, or even rent one for that matter, because unless the next person to rent the same one I did with the exact same specifications & everything is one of my foes, then I wouldn't wish the Apple M1 chip hardware on anybody.
So, that really only leaves the tertiary and final option, Linux. Now, while some nerds I know may not want me to do anything on Linux, I've pretty much decided that I don't feel like I'm afraid of them, and I kind of already know my way around the kernel pretty familiarly. And, considering how the Linux kernel is constantly changing, and the update is always supposedly going to go to the absolute latest version of Linux, then I'm pretty much sold on the idea of not throwing out my computer unless everything breaks on it.
In a way, having a kind of setup like this for a "business" computer, in my mind - is sort of a win-win sort of thing for me, even if I decide that if the punishing government that wants to punish people who want to enterprise their own business from the ground up effectively later, and still have a work computer for other office type careers where I'll probably continue to work until the completion of the ride of the Biblical Revelation "four horsemen of the apocalypse", due to me selling off all my other business equipment on a Friday for cheap cheap cheap, then, I think I know the answer to my computing life for the balance of this decade.
Linux for work...
Windows for play...
And macOS can just $%#@ off!!
2. So what about the Claymore?
Well, if you're still here, which I suppose if you enjoy a long read, and are still reading this, then I suppose you are, I think you know what I'm planning to do this afternoon - (or at the very least what I have left of it.)
I'm going to probably try re-installing the Linux OS for the desktop work (again) and then I'm going to install Batocera all over again from the ground up, and I'll even have the ROM storage drive be back to the purpose of that again since I'm going to probably still want to have it be that virtual arcade machine when I do finally retire it from writing LibreOffice documents on it for good. This means I'll probably work on making the arcade cabinet for it (or at least the beginning) around sometime mid-May.
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