Just to test, I can listen to the shows in VLC in linux on otr.net, just listened to an old Jack Benny show.

As I've said before, having been very badly burned by income-tax software, I do my taxes with a simple spreadsheet. It takes about an hour, including downloading the PDF forms, filling them out, printing and mailing them certified mail, return receipt requested. Where they go into a carefully-cataloged file ... forever.

I went completely Linux in 1999.

Never regretted learning the basics on DOS, continued learning until I could do everything I needed to do on a computer with Linux.
(Also use BSD on occasion, just in case something happens to my favourite OS.)

For me, the decision is easy: Ever since the last time Windows scribbled on itself years ago, I decided to re-allocate that disk partition for Linux. I've never looked back. OpenOffice does all the cross-OS things I need to do like exchange documents, etc. So long as a co-worker/colleague doesn't go nuts with weird Office functions there's been no problems. As for other things that I used to use Windows to run, well, the only other thing was games. I'm in no way a hardcore gamer so my needs for gaming on my Linux setup are modest. (If I need to blow off steam, there's a copy of Xonotic installed.)

I actually find that I can get more done on Linux than I could on Windows. Linux has the command line and a zillion utilities so I can build whatever additional tools I need to perform specialized tasks. And Windows has only recently gotten virtual desktops that approach the functionality that Linux has had---they're about 20 years late to the game.

The only task for which I need Windows is running my tax software (which seems to be a common situation, glancing at the previous posts). For all other needs, I use Linux. However, if I buy a new PC with Windows pre-loaded, I just dual-boot rather than wiping Windows - just in case.

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Now that I've retired I don't have a need for Windows at all. Except... Today I decided to update the car's navigation system which of course needed Windows, so I used my Wife's seldom used Windows 10 machine.

Once booted it clattered and rattled then informed me that it was going to reboot and install updates while I was trying to download a new selection of maps to an SD card. I was allowed to delay the reboot and decided an hour would give me plenty of time to generate the new SD card. I then got pop ups to ask if I'd like to upgrade the free antivirus software to the premium version, same with the Malware checker.
While this was going on the program to generate the SD card was grinding on exceedingly slowly. With about five minutes to spare before the reboot, the SD card generation completed and all was well! I found it exceedingly frustrating that the task I was trying to complete seemed to be secondary to Microsoft's need to update it's operating system plus the added irritation of Windows applications interrupting what I was trying to do by asking for money!

So... For the everyday run of the mill stuff, why on earth would I want to use Windows which seems intent on getting in my way and raising my blood pressure!

Enough! Play Bonny!

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I think that Microsoft, very early on, "got in bed with" suppliers of so-called "security" and "anti-virus" software, and sold lots of bundling-licenses that enabled vendors to put their products into Microsoft's distributions. And, I think it was among the worst business decisions that they ever made. And yet, even though "the other Steve" has been sent-packing into an honorable retirement, none of these decisions have ever been un-made. (In fact, with Windows-10, it seems to be getting much worse.) I truly don't understand that company. They make really, really good stuff when they care to, but they're their own worst enemy and always have been.

Microsoft Windows could actually be a most-excellent, well-designed operating system (especially for its intended purpose to act as the foundation of a very large one-proprietary-vendor software stack), except for one wee problem: "Microsoft Corporation." They own the horse, and it's actually a very good horse with lots of experience, and they just won't let it run.

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I'll have to give that a test. Thanks. If I can access the site on Linux . . . . It's great website that has given me hours of enjoyment. I've made several contributions to it to show my gratitude.

The software I use I've been using since the 1990s. It hasn't failed me yet.

I did have one occasion where the person renting my mother's farm filled out the W-4 improperly using my name instead of hers (she suffered from Alzheimers, which is a terrible way to die, but it is what it is, so my brother and I managed the legacy). The IRS told me that I owed more money. I appealed, pointing out the error and including both her tax returns, which included said income, and mine, and won the appeal.

AFAIC, the IRS tries to play by the rules.

I use Linux for as much as possible.

I use Windows mostly for materials having DRM.

If I can't do it in Linux, it means it's probably not worth doing.

Okay, I'm curious. "DRM" = Digital Rights Management, Right?

So what sort of DRM things are better done outside of Linux?

I think that I recall seeing somewhere that people are uncomfortable with installing TurboTax on their Linux systems (even in a VM) because of some sort of licencing limitations or some such. Is that related?

Thanks,

BobLx

Hi BobLx,

DRM is indeed Digital Right Management. It's for media (music, video ...) and the reason people use Windows for such things is that the provider of the content is expecting the parts of the Windows OS that manage rights - it usually just won't work in linux.

No problem using Windows software (like TurboTax) in a VM.

Cheers !

I have to admit, I haven't had issues with DRM since Firefox 57 was released. I watch Amazon Prime Video, Netflix, listen to Amazon Prime Music without issues now in linux (no hulu account). The only thing I have yet to test is if I'm able to watch the F1 races now. Last year it still didn't work in linux, but I'm hopeful it will now (2 weeks until I find out if I remember to try).

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Timothy, I've been watching Netflix on Chrome because I couldn't get it to work on Firefox previously. After your post above, I thought I'd give Firefox a go again to see if it's working now. No show though: "Oops, something went wrong... Playback Error. There appears to be a problem with Firefox that is preventing Netflix from starting playback. Please ensure that you are using the latest version of Firefox. Error code: F7701-1003."

I'm using Firefox 59.0.1 (59.0.1+build1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1) on Linux Mint 18.3 MATE with adobe-flashplugin (1:20180206.1-0ubuntu0.16.04.1). If I can ask, what are you using?

Ignore that question, Timothy. I found the following Netflix page https://help.netflix.com/en/node/32661 about error F7701-1003 which indicates several measures you can take to get Netflix working with Firefox. In my case, it appears that Netflix will only work if Firefox is not in private browsing mode. That's my usual setting for Firefox so I think I'll carry on using Chrome for my Netflix viewing. Thanks for inspiring me to find this out though!