Minor things that bother you

[bugo]

Congratulations on the change. If you've gotten used to it and are still interested in learning more about using it, and haven't run into anything that you can't do at all without Windows, that means you're probably in it for the long haul. It doesn't take too long before you get used to the relative "peace and quiet" of Linux, and the next time you have to use Windows you'll wonder how you ever put up with how intentionally annoying it is..

This isn't the first time I've used Linux. I installed Redhat in the early 2000s, but I didn't use it that much. I dual booted an old computer I had with Mint, and I used it quite a bit. There are things that Windows will do but it won't. I got Adobe Reader and an ancient version of iTunes working using Wine. I don't like everything about Debian, but in everyday use, it's not that much different from Windows.

[Scott5114]

Congratulations on the change. If you've gotten used to it and are still interested in learning more about using it, and haven't run into anything that you can't do at all without Windows, that means you're probably in it for the long haul. It doesn't take too long before you get used to the relative "peace and quiet" of Linux, and the next time you have to use Windows you'll wonder how you ever put up with how intentionally annoying it is..

This isn't the first time I've used Linux. I installed Redhat in the early 2000s, but I didn't use it that much. I dual booted an old computer I had with Mint, and I used it quite a bit. There are things that Windows will do but it won't. I got Adobe Reader and an ancient version of iTunes working using Wine. I don't like everything about Debian, but in everyday use, it's not that much different from Windows.

Having used it continuously since 2005, my experience has been there is almost always a way to do something that Windows will do, but you have to be willing to be flexible in the software you use. So for example, if you hadn't been able to get Adobe Reader to work in Wine, that wouldn't have meant Linux can't read PDFs, because Okular can read them just fine (and I would say even better than Adobe Reader because it ignores DRM restrictions and can view many other types of documents besides PDFs).

There are only two situations I can think of where Linux sometimes absolutely can't do something Windows can. One is when a device manufacturer is being an ass and not only won't release a Linux driver, but intentionally make it difficult for a third-party developer to do so. That can be avoided by doing a little bit of research before buying a device, and by buying devices that have been out for a while rather than bleeding-edge devices that haven't had time for someone to come up with a driver for them. The other situation is when you work in an industry that requires extremely niche software that also uses a proprietary file format no other program can export to. Wine can sometimes help with that but if it can't, I would just have to suck it up and change jobs.

[Scott5114]

Windows 11 ... taskbar ...

Nothing is more stupid than the fact you can no longer move the taskbar to the side of the screen.

I can think of something more stupid, but it will take a little bit to explain.

There's this thing in desktop computer UI design called Fitts's law. It says that the ease of clicking a target is the distance from the current position of cursor, multiplied by the size of the target. So if you want to make something easily accessible, you need to make it really big, or you need to make it really close. The right-click menu, for instance, is a way of making the most important things always be really close to the cursor. But you can't put everything on the right-click menu, so you have to resort to making some things big instead.

But obviously, there's limited screen space, so you can't make everything really big. But there's a hack to that. See, a cursor can't go off the edge of the screen. It doesn't matter how fast you throw the cursor at the edge of the screen, it will never go over it. That means if something is along the edge of the screen, you need no precision to select it. Therefore, for the purposes of Fitts' Law, it is infinitely big. And if you put a button in the corner of the screen, you have two edges to work with, meaning that the button infinitely big in two dimensions, meaning you are practically guaranteed to hit it any time you want to. So that means if you want to put a really important button somewhere, the absolute best place to put it is in the corner of the screen.

So now the stupid thing.

Windows 11 moved the Start button from the corner of the screen to the middle.

[Rothman]

Congratulations on the change. If you've gotten used to it and are still interested in learning more about using it, and haven't run into anything that you can't do at all without Windows, that means you're probably in it for the long haul. It doesn't take too long before you get used to the relative "peace and quiet" of Linux, and the next time you have to use Windows you'll wonder how you ever put up with how intentionally annoying it is..

This isn't the first time I've used Linux. I installed Redhat in the early 2000s, but I didn't use it that much. I dual booted an old computer I had with Mint, and I used it quite a bit. There are things that Windows will do but it won't. I got Adobe Reader and an ancient version of iTunes working using Wine. I don't like everything about Debian, but in everyday use, it's not that much different from Windows.

Having used it continuously since 2005, my experience has been there is almost always a way to do something that Windows will do, but you have to be willing to be flexible in the software you use. So for example, if you hadn't been able to get Adobe Reader to work in Wine, that wouldn't have meant Linux can't read PDFs, because Okular can read them just fine (and I would say even better than Adobe Reader because it ignores DRM restrictions and can view many other types of documents besides PDFs).

There are only two situations I can think of where Linux sometimes absolutely can't do something Windows can. One is when a device manufacturer is being an ass and not only won't release a Linux driver, but intentionally make it difficult for a third-party developer to do so. That can be avoided by doing a little bit of research before buying a device, and by buying devices that have been out for a while rather than bleeding-edge devices that haven't had time for someone to come up with a driver for them. The other situation is when you work in an industry that requires extremely niche software that also uses a proprietary file format no other program can export to. Wine can sometimes help with that but if it can't, I would just have to suck it up and change jobs.

These two paragraphs are a great example of why I stay away from Linux.  It just seems too much customization or too many special considerations are needed to make it do what I need it to do.

[1995hoo]

....

Windows 11 moved the Start button from the corner of the screen to the middle.

It's easy to move it back to the left corner, though. I did so on both my work and home PCs. In the Taskbar settings, expand the section for "Taskbar behaviors" and change "Taskbar alignment" to "Left."

The Windows 10 feature I'm mildly surprised I miss a bit are the notification boxes. I often found it annoying how Windows 10 was quite "chatty," to borrow a description used by an IT guy at a former job. The constant boxes in the lower-right corner often got in the way, even if they disappeared quickly enough. But with Windows 11, there is no such box and I don't hear the "new mail" sound on my work laptop because I have a headset plugged in to use for phone calls. So it's hit-or-miss whether I notice the new mail icon.

[Rothman]

Just upgraded my work computer to Windows 11.  Start button was bottom left.  I take it the OS just took my preference I had in Windows 10.

[Scott5114]

These two paragraphs are a great example of why I stay away from Linux.  It just seems too much customization or too many special considerations are needed to make it do what I need it to do.

It really isn't that much work if you're not the sort of person who slobbers over brand names and simply HAS to have Illustrator over Inkscape or will only buy printers from one specific company. The situation in the last decade or so has improved to the point where most of the time hardware works on par with or better than Windows. The last device I can remember getting that wouldn't really work is a vinyl cutter gifted from my parents, and it's been long enough that I should probably try plugging it in and seeing if anyone has written a driver for it by this point. (Okay, scanning over the network with my scanner is still dodgier than it should be, but I have to stand there and put whatever in the scanner anyway, so it's not that much work to just stick a thumb drive in the scanner.)

At this point though, I would rather have the bad old days of RPM dependency chains and having to compile your own software over Microsoft's string of greatest hits that include not being allowed to install your own software by default ("S mode"), advertising baked into the OS, and not being allowed to choose when and whether your computer installs updates. I paid good money for this hardware, and I'll be damned if some tie-wearing dipshit in Washington tells me what I can and can't do with it.

It's easy to move it back to the left corner, though. I did so on both my work and home PCs. In the Taskbar settings, expand the section for "Taskbar behaviors" and change "Taskbar alignment" to "Left."

Still though, who's in charge of setting user defaults at Microsoft, and when was the last time HR tested them for methamphetamine usage? Or is it just that Microsoft retained the 1970s workplace cultural practice of showing up to work drunk?

[kphoger]

Windows 11 ... taskbar ...

Nothing is more stupid than the fact you can no longer move the taskbar to the side of the screen.

I can think of something more stupid, but it will take a little bit to explain ... Windows 11 moved the Start button from the corner of the screen to the middle.

No, that's just mildly annoying when you first launch Windows 11.  As |1995hoo| said, it's very easy to simply change that setting, and then that's the end of it.  In fact, I'd forgotten it was centered when I first installed 11 until you mentioned it.  Perplexing that they changed the default, sure, OK.

But with the switch from Windows 10 to Windows 11, they removed the ability to move the location of the Start bar at all.  And you can also not expand it to be two rows tall.  For someone like me who frequently has more than a dozen windows open at a time, this is Very Sucky™.  What makes it more stupid than the center-aligned Start button is this:  with yours, they added flexibility but chose the least optimal default—whereas, with mine, they removed flexibility for no apparent reason.

[kphoger]

For several years now, I've used a dumbphone.  (It's technically a smartphone, but data access requires a Wi-Fi connection, and it doesn't have a touchscreen, so the internet is all but useless on it.)  It's tough:  military grade specs, waterproof up to 6½ feet for 30 minutes, dustproof, puncture-resistant up ~3 ft-lbs of impact pressure, pressure-resistant up to one metric ton of pressure, claims to survive 6½-foot drops onto concrete.

But a couple of weeks ago, I dropped it on the pavement and it landed completely flat on its back.  When that happened, the liquid crystal inside the screen ruptured in thirty tiny little spots.  A few of those spots bled a little more over the ensuing days, but it's not too bad.

One of the programs I use at work times me out after fifteen minutes of inactivity, so I have to sign back in several times a day, and I need 2FA to sign in some of those times.  I get the 2FA code sent to me by text message.  And one of the small-ish black spots on my screen just barely covers the corner of the first digit of that code—just enough to where I can't always tell what the first digit is.

[kphoger]

Things that get to me at the gym:

-  Sitting on a bench for 3-5 minutes between sets.

It is a problem, and I have had to realize that I (used to) be an egregious offender in this respect.  Phones are a big driver of this because of the short-term rewards of being contactable, but I discovered that even a book or a New Yorker issue could suck me in.

I returned to the gym last September after a hiatus of almost a year, and although I brought my phone with me onto the exercise floor for a few weeks, I soon discovered I saw better results if I brought no devices or reading material with me and kept the time between sets to a minimum, even if this meant I needed to reduce the amount of weight shifted on each set.  It was easy for me to access this insight since I was essentially putting an exercise program back together from scratch; for others it tends to be a matter of breaking bad habits.

I've been thinking about this one a lot lately.  Geez, it's awful.

Now, I understand fiddling with your phone for a minute to find music playlist you want to work out to.  Or I understand answering a quick text message.  But I don't understand just sitting there on the bench—or especially taking up a machine—while you play on your phone for five minutes.  If your spot is where I want to move to next, then it ticks me off if you're just sitting there doing nothing.

I swear, if you added up the amount of time some people actually work out at the gym, and compared it to the amount of time they spend just sitting around at the gym, ...

[Max Rockatansky]

Things that get to me at the gym:

-  Sitting on a bench for 3-5 minutes between sets.

It is a problem, and I have had to realize that I (used to) be an egregious offender in this respect.  Phones are a big driver of this because of the short-term rewards of being contactable, but I discovered that even a book or a New Yorker issue could suck me in.

I returned to the gym last September after a hiatus of almost a year, and although I brought my phone with me onto the exercise floor for a few weeks, I soon discovered I saw better results if I brought no devices or reading material with me and kept the time between sets to a minimum, even if this meant I needed to reduce the amount of weight shifted on each set.  It was easy for me to access this insight since I was essentially putting an exercise program back together from scratch; for others it tends to be a matter of breaking bad habits.

I've been thinking about this one a lot lately.  Geez, it's awful.

Now, I understand fiddling with your phone for a minute to find music playlist you want to work out to.  Or I understand answering a quick text message.  But I don't understand just sitting there on the bench—or especially taking up a machine—while you play on your phone for five minutes.  If your spot is where I want to move to next, then it ticks me off if you're just sitting there doing nothing.

I swear, if you added up the amount of time some people actually work out at the gym, and compared it to the amount of time they spend just sitting around at the gym, ...

Usually it takes me 28-35 minutes to complete twelve exercises each comprising of four sets.  Generally I go into the gym coming off a morning run so I think that I'm pretty motivated just to get through weight lifting as quickly as possible.  For a lot of regulars the gym is clearly a social club of some kind.  I can't recall the last time I've had a conversation with someone while lifting.

[kphoger]

For a lot of regulars the gym is clearly a social club of some kind.  I can't recall the last time I've had a conversation with someone while lifting.

I even understand that.  Going to the gym with your family, a couple of friends, your significant other:  I understand if you want to chat a little bit or dally around a little bit instead of go-go-go through your workout.  Cool, whatever.  But I'm talking about people who are there by themselves, hogging a bench or a machine while they're on their phone for five minutes.

[Max Rockatansky]

For a lot of regulars the gym is clearly a social club of some kind.  I can't recall the last time I've had a conversation with someone while lifting.

I even understand that.  Going to the gym with your family, a couple of friends, your significant other:  I understand if you want to chat a little bit or dally around a little bit instead of go-go-go through your workout.  Cool, whatever.  But I'm talking about people who are there by themselves, hogging a bench or a machine while they're on their phone for five minutes.

I tend to find that said group is usually responsible for all forms of bench hogging, including the phone variety.

[kphoger]

Oh, I don't.  Generally, if I see a group of people together, then either...

a. They're taking turns on a machine, but one person is actually using it most of the time;

b. They're using more than one machine in the same area of the gym, but they're actually using them;

c. They're using free weights, oohing and aahing at each other's biceps, while actually lifting weights;

d. Or they walk around awhile, do six reps of something, do six reps of something else, then leave.

But in no case of the above are they on their phones doing nothing.  It's only the solo ones that I ever see just sitting there doing nothing but stare at their phone.

[Max Rockatansky]

Sometimes the talkers don't have anyone to interact with.  I find they (often the younger ones) turn to their phones to fill the void of conversation.

[Scott5114]

I am guilty of being one of the people who screws around sitting on the bench for too long between sets. It's because I used to work out with a gym buddy, so I'm used to resting while the person I was there with did a set. But now I go by myself, so I kill the time resting between sets by reading the newspaper on my phone, and, well, sometimes an article is interesting, and it has a link to other articles, and...

Now, that being said, I am also in the gym sometime between 11pm-3am, so there is always ample equipment available and I am never in anyone's way (unless you just have a "lucky bench" that you like better than the rest of them for some reason, and I happen to be on that one, but I feel like that's not any more reasonable than what I'm doing). If I'm there and the equipment I'm using happens to be particularly popular that day, so that someone might have to wait to get on, e.g., a squat rack, I will make a conscious effort to do what I need to do and get out of the way as fast as I can.

[Max Rockatansky]

I almost universally avoid going to the gym at night.  It is way too difficult to work out fast and the equipment is slim pickings at best.  I've noticed the morning crowd tends to bail between 6:30 -6:45 AM during weekdays.  If I sneak in just around the end of the morning rush I generally go mostly unobstructed during a workout session.  If possible I got for the most desirable benches and weights first to get them out of the way.

I was building a fairly decent assortment of equipment at home through COVID.  Most of it got banished outside when my MIL moved in a year ago.  She recently moved to a group home due to worsening health so I might start dusting off stuff and bringing it back in.  Push-ups at least have always been reliable as a strength training session when I don't feel like the gym. 

[Scott5114]

My timing is strategically chosen to avoid the tail end of the evening crowd, the morning crowd trickling in, and, most difficult of all, to avoid finishing right when they're cleaning the sauna.

I would love to have a home gym, but I just don't think it's feasible where I live now (there is nowhere on the ground floor where I could exclude the cats, who I wouldn't want around when I'm lifting weights, and lifting weights on the second floor seems like it's just asking for me to smash a barbell through the floor somehow). It would be neat to have a gym in a small outbuilding in the backyard, but that's a bigger expense than I care to take on at the moment (since some form of climate control would be required).