Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Old PCs die a terrible death, lonely and forlorn. In the Windows world you need to upgrade your physical PC hardware every 3-4 years as well as buy the newest operating system, wasting money and stressing your budget. As an IT professional I not only do not buy into this propaganda, but rail against it. When the Windows operating systems on old PCs do not receive any upgrades, the PC slows down, often heavily laden with fat, bloated software. Ubuntu, a Linux OS version, and Xubuntu, it’s lighter version, may be the answer to unlocking the innate functionality of your old PC.

I really like Firefox. It is so much better and faster than IE. Still, in the last year that I have upgraded Firefox versions, it has been getting slower. I did quickly research Firefox 4.0 problems before upgrading and still was unprepared for a bad version. I downgraded to 3.6.17 because I could not use my browser.

Growing pains, I say. It will get better, surely. This review will cover the Fender Fuse software package (v2.1.0.8) that is used with Fender Mustang and G-Dec guitar amplifiers. I have installed the Fender Fuse on my PC in order to configure a family friend’s Fender Mustang I. The Mustang is a versatile amp, but came too heavily rock for her tastes. She wanted some acoustic. The Good: After considerable toil I was able to install the software, download different amps to my PC and then store them on the Mustang. The bad: The software install process is overly onerous, required me to download a couple of other Microsoft packages, and is prone to crash. Summary: A very versatile software package and amp, but needs more stability.

I hate when automatic software adds odds and ends to your system that seemingly does not have any benefit. Even more, I hate when they give you no option to disable it. I have almost as much hate for software that allows you to disable a function, but does not completely disable it, leaving you to clean up the residual mess. Such is the case with Sun Microsystem’s Java Quick Starter, automagically installed when you upgrade to Java 9. Sure you can uncheck the JQS box, but that is certainly not enough, as it leaves a trail of destruction for Firefox and a service that is stopped but not completely killed. Sun should really know better. Here is my 3 part kill method: uncheck the service, remove from Firefox, remove the service.

Weary am I when I have to set up another browser in my house. The browser of choice, Firefox, is very easy to install and I have little complaint. It’s the extra add-ons and plug-ins that take work. The score: Sun’s Java gets an A, Adobe’s Acrobat gets a C, Shockwave and Flash gets a D. Yes, they now function, but what a hassle. Most come with extra stuff you not only do not want but do not need. Simpler software leads to a simpler, more reliable computer, a bonus for anyone.