£5 to keep using Windows 7? I’d pay that!

Tell us what’s on your mind

Scare stories won’t stop me using Windows 7 There have been various views in Computeractive about continuing to use Windows 7. One, like Martin Adams in Issue 535, is of the opinion that we users of Windows 7 will be “left stranded in January 2020”. He asks, “Who will stick with Windows?”. I certainly will, so long as it stays Windows 7!

I have no intention of changing to Windows 10. I refuse to let Microsoft behave as if it owns my computer with forced, bloated and buggy updates, and using telemetry to snoop on everything I do.

In my 30 years using computers, I’ve gone from Windows 3.0, to 95, 98, 98SE, XP (excellent), Vista (awful) and 7, the best operating system (OS) in my view.

No matter which OS I’ve used, I disable updates in all of them, and have never had a malware attack - having installed first-class security, and being extremely careful online. Even if I get attacked by malware, I would simply wipe my drive and restore the latest of my regular image backups – all in 15 minutes.

I have no need for so-called ‘Microsoft Support’ or ‘Security Updates’ that slow my computer, and fill up my drives. I will continue to use Windows 7 for many years to come, without any risk whatever - contrary to all the scare stories. Bill Smith

I’d like to keep tabs on File Explorer Never mind a ‘dark theme’ (News, Issue 535, page 7), when on earth is Microsoft going to put tabs into File Explorer, so we don’t have to open a separate instance when we want to move files?

I’ve tried the Clover add-on ( http://en. ejie.me), which does this in Explorer very well, but two things have forced me to abandon it: the fact that the occasional updates are all in Chinese, meaning I haven’t a clue what to do; and that it sometimes introduces files that fall foul of my security software. But if Clover can do it, why can’t Microsoft? Tony Allaway

I get slower broadband than ‘war-torn Yemen’ I read with interest your article relating to the UK’S broadband speed falling to 35th in the world - below that of Madagascar (News, Issue 533, page 9). You also mentioned “war-torn Yemen” had a maximum download speed of 0.31Mbps.

I occasionally reach 0.2Mbps when downloading files. My home is at the end of a copper cable about two to three kilometres from a fibre cabinet. My broadband supplier, EE, quotes my download speed as around 1.5Mbps and sure enough, when I run a test, I get similar. However, in the real world, I don’t get more than 0.2Mbps.

How can broadband suppliers get away with quoting theoretical speeds that bear no resemblance to actual speeds? This is surely false advertising.

I must point out that although I have highlighted EE as my supplier, any other company I might go with would use the same wiring infrastructure, so my speed would remain the same.

Those in power should be ashamed of themselves that the UK is so far behind developing countries in supplying its citizens with reliable, reasonably fast broadband. Bob Abercrombie

Dashcam saved me insurance bill In Issue 534 you asked for stories about dashcams. In April, I bought a new car and decided to add a dashcam. I bought the Nextbase Duo – not one of those you tested in Issue 533, but one of its advantages is that it has both front and rear cameras. It was fitted by Halfords – well worth the £30!

In August, while stuck in traffic on the Dartford Tunnel approach, my car was side-swiped by a motorbike trying to create a fifth lane. The bike sped off, but the dashcam caught it all in HD clarity. The rear camera caught the rider’s face and the front camera his number plate.

Both recorded the sound of the impact and the movement of the car when it was hit. Fortunately, damage was slight, but who wants scuffed paintwork?

As a result my insurers have accepted this as a no-fault claim, so I don’t have to pay an excess, and my no-claims discount is not affected. No doubt the rider will get a nasty shock when his insurance company contacts him with the evidence of the accident he thought he’d got away with! Chris Read

‘Idiot designers’ making laptops too small and thin Am I alone in thinking that modern laptops are losing the plot? I recently visited two high-street laptop vendors to find that none of the machines on offer had optical drives fitted, while several were further severely limited by only having 32 or 64GB of storage.

Absolutely pathetic! I know you can download software and install it directly from the internet, but you don’t always have access to decent internet. In addition, how can I install all the paid-for software I already have on DVD? How do I watch DVDS on holiday without an optical drive? I know I can buy an optical drive and connect it via USB, but then I have to carry two devices instead of one – plus using a USB DVD usually takes two USB ports to provide sufficient power.

As for the laptops with 32GB memory, has anyone ever tried to install later versions of Windows 10? Good luck to you!

I am of the view that idiot designers have taken over the world, producing stuff which is smaller and thinner but at the cost of practicality. I also think there is a hefty dose of cynicism used by these designers who seem to think users will not notice their subterfuge. Ron Hagley

Impossible to spend a penny without pennies Issue 533’s letter ‘Heading to inconvenient cashless future’ made me smile. While on holiday recently my wife and I arrived at a Wiltshire town desperate to have a widdle. The café we entered did not have a toilet, so we went to the public toilet, but you needed 20 pence to gain entry. All we had was pound coins, and trying to get change was a nightmare. The post office would not change a coin, while Lloyds Bank had only one person serving and there were six people in front of me.

In desperation I crossed to HSBC, but all it had was machines inside, nothing giving change. Finally customer service sent me across to Costa Coffee, where there was a toilet. This is taking things too far. It has all gone mad. Peter Marchant Why I donate to Keepass and Thunderbird Regarding donating to free software, the two most important programs for me are Keepass Data Vault and Thunderbird (see screenshot left).

I’ve been using Keepass for years and donate £5 two or three times a year. The password manager is easy to use, letting you drag and drop passwords and user names. You can also add notes securely. I’ve never had a problem when using it, so I think it deserves my financial support.

I also donate around a fiver annually to Thunderbird email. It’s not perfect, but does the essentials well. I used to donate occasionally to Wikipedia but not now because I hardly ever use it. Leslie Lawrence