Windows - what do you use it for?

[rodia77]

Yesterday I had to get into Photoshop to convert some .nef files to .jpg or .tiff so that I could load them on the digital photo frame for the Spouse Unit for our 35th Anniversary. GIMP would have taken 2-3 hours longer at a minimum to do the same thing I could do at about 2 minutes per photo. So I keep a Windows computer just for that.

XnView reads nef so you might want to check it out for that kind of task.

[stevengarland]

Turbo Tax only. And I keep the Windows 11 on my wife's laptop, not on mine.

[kenetics]

I use Windows only to stream content to an Optoma projector for watching sports and Netflix shows on a wall.

[mediclaser]

I would use Windows again should I go back to photography. Linux does not have an equivalent to Canon's DPP software. I tried Darktable and RawTherapee and found them very difficult to use for simple tasks I easily do using DPP. Converting from RAW format should be a no-brainer. I want my time and energy reserved for photo-editing tasks using Photoshop or GIMP.

[MurphCID]

Yesterday I had to get into Photoshop to convert some .nef files to .jpg or .tiff so that I could load them on the digital photo frame for the Spouse Unit for our 35th Anniversary. GIMP would have taken 2-3 hours longer at a minimum to do the same thing I could do at about 2 minutes per photo. So I keep a Windows computer just for that.

Hi,

Gimp itself doesn't know to open raw files. But, if you install Darktable, Gimp will automatically use Darktable to open raw files, with a direct transfer from Darktable to Gimp.
On Windows you can also use the free Nikon software to open ".nef" files.
Regards,
MN

I would love to have the Nikon software on Linux, sigh.

[caerolle]

I would use Windows again should I go back to photography. Linux does not have an equivalent to Canon's DPP software. I tried Darktable and RawTherapee and found them very difficult to use for simple tasks I easily do using DPP. Converting from RAW format should be a no-brainer. I want my time and energy reserved for photo-editing tasks using Photoshop or GIMP.

Photo processing is a big barrier for me. I use a commercial raw processor (DxO PhotoLab) and a commercial image editor (Affinity Photo) and for me DarkTable or RawTherapee and GIMP do not even come close. I have not tried either of the two raw processors for a long time, but I am guessing they do not have the AI noise reduction that many of the commercial raw processors now have.

[caerolle]

Although I can get by with the online apps, I far prefer using the desktop apps for Word, Excel, OneNote, and PowerPoint. I for sure would use Windows and the desktop apps for any long Word files or complicated Excel files.

The absence of a OneDrive app in Linux also sucks. The GoogleDrive app is gone now, too, if I wanted to use that. I think there are dodgy, complicated workarounds for both, but it is so simple in Windows. Also iCloud and iPhotos linkage to the file structure is not there. Perhaps some workaround for that, too, but in Windows it is just downloading an app.

Photography apps; I could get by with one of the Linux raw developers, but the only image editor that I know of is GIMP, and no, just no.

Apple Music. Again, I can use the online app, but Windows now has a great app for that.

TurboTax. The online app does not have the features I need.

Really, that is about it. I do most of my computer stuff in a browser these days. I do very little photography these days, so the Windows apps are not as critical as in the past, when I often used my raw processor and image editor several times a day. Taxes are only once a year, though I do work in TurboTax several times as I get new forms.

In the end, though, I do not use any productivity apps in Linux, by which I mean any apps where I created user files. All my Home folders are empty. Everything I create is either online or on my Windows machine. I would love to go Linux only, but does not currently work for me.

[AndyMH]

iAnything has always been a problem in linux and there is only one company to blame!

[caerolle]

iAnything has always been a problem in linux and there is only one company to blame!

100%!

Then again, anything Apple is generally poorly done in Windows, too. Apple wants you to use their hardware, and does not really put forth much effort to work well with anything else. Also, things I rely on in Windows do not exist in MacOS or are hard to implement. The few workarounds that exist are ugly.

Also, you could say the same for anything from Microsoft or Adobe.

[MikeNovember]

[...]
I would love to have the Nikon software on Linux, sigh.

Hi,

I have a Fujifilm X70. It has a special sensor, with a nonstandard disposition of color cells.

The camera is able to produce RAW, jpeg, or RAW+jpeg.

There is a program available on Windows and macOS, bu tnot on Linux, to "develop" the raw files. This program uses the same algorithm as the one in the camera.

However, Darktable offers another algorithm, largely superior to Fujifilm one: it avoids the "pink sclerotic" and the "smooth skin" problems induced by Fujifilm one.

So, when shooting faces, I use RAW and Darktable to "develop" the RAW and transfer it ti Gimp, while shooting anything else I use high quality jpegs produced by the camera.

Regards,

MN

[mediclaser]

By the way, TurboTax is not worth getting you stuck with Windows (imho). There are many online tax services which are easier to use, and they are guaranteed up-to-date because computations and workflow are done at the backend.

[caerolle]

By the way, TurboTax is not worth getting you stuck with Windows (imho). There are many online tax services which are easier to use, and they are guaranteed up-to-date because computations and workflow are done at the backend.

Such as?

I am not saying TT is the best, I just have been using it a long time and am used to it. Plus it will import my info from the previous year.

Unless they have upgraded it, TT's online option is so basic it is useless to me. I for one am for sure open to other suggestions, though, as I prefer OS-independent apps.

Thx!

ETA: Even with a good online tax app, the lack of an image editor in Linux that I would consider using will keep me in Windows, and often keeps me there for long stretches of time (until a couple days ago I cannot remember the last time I used my Linux box, in fact had to drag it out of my computer accessories bin). Just yesterday I saw several things that if I had been using Windows I would have screencapped and combined and edited in my Windows image editor. I tend to do that sort of thing a lot, and do not want to switch back and forth from Windows to Linux to do it.

Really, leaving off my preference for the DE I use in Linux and for giving pretty much complete control of my OS to some huge corp, Windows does everything I need just fine. In terms of just using a computer and not looking at other criteria than having all the functionality I need, I would never consider Linux over Windows. I realize this is heresy here, and understand that. The situation with Linux frustrates me, as if I *did* have satisfactory apps (mainly an image editor and OneDrive connection) I would probably only use Windows on my wife's computer (I had us solely on Linux for a whole year once, and she hated it, esp having to use LibreOffice instead of MS Office).

FWIW...

[mediclaser]

By the way, TurboTax is not worth getting you stuck with Windows (imho). There are many online tax services which are easier to use, and they are guaranteed up-to-date because computations and workflow are done at the backend.

Such as?

I am not saying TT is the best, I just have been using it a long time and am used to it. Plus it will import my info from the previous year.

Unless they have upgraded it, TT's online option is so basic it is useless to me. I for one am for sure open to other suggestions, though, as I prefer OS-independent apps.

Thx!

I picked mine using this list provided by the IRS.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/
I use OLT dot com (one of the top 3 in the list) and have become comfortable with it because it imports my info from the previous year. I think this is the 5th year that I have been using it.

ETA: Even with a good online tax app, the lack of an image editor in Linux that I would consider using will keep me in Windows, and often keeps me there for long stretches of time (until a couple days ago I cannot remember the last time I used my Linux box, in fact had to drag it out of my computer accessories bin). Just yesterday I saw several things that if I had been using Windows I would have screencapped and combined and edited in my Windows image editor. I tend to do that sort of thing a lot, and do not want to switch back and forth from Windows to Linux to do it.

Really, leaving off my preference for the DE I use in Linux and for giving pretty much complete control of my OS to some huge corp, Windows does everything I need just fine. In terms of just using a computer and not looking at other criteria than having all the functionality I need, I would never consider Linux over Windows. I realize this is heresy here, and understand that. The situation with Linux frustrates me, as if I *did* have satisfactory apps (mainly an image editor and OneDrive connection) I would probably only use Windows on my wife's computer (I had us solely on Linux for a whole year once, and she hated it, esp having to use LibreOffice instead of MS Office).

FWIW...

Then, my advice on TurboTax does not apply to you, because it's not the only reason you use Windows.

[caerolle]

I picked mine using this list provided by the IRS.
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/browse-all-offers/
I use OLT dot com (one of the top 3 in the list) and have become comfortable with it because it imports my info from the previous year. I think this is the 5th year that I have been using it.

Then, my advice on TurboTax does not apply to you, because it's not the only reason you use Windows.

Thx for the info! All things considered, I would rather do my taxes online, though ofc that seems far more risky from a privacy and security viewpoint than using a standalone app. But I could be mistaken about that.

Even if I still need Windows, the more stuff I can do in Linux, the more time I will spend using it!

[KMD2023]

I use a Windows 10 VM for H&R Block tax software.
I see a lot of folks here also keep Windows for tax software. So far I have not found a decent FOSS tax program. They probably work great for simple tax forms but I have to deal with a lot of other aspects, so H&R Block it is for now.

[TaterChip]

I would use Windows again should I go back to photography. Linux does not have an equivalent to Canon's DPP software. I tried Darktable and RawTherapee and found them very difficult to use for simple tasks I easily do using DPP. Converting from RAW format should be a no-brainer. I want my time and energy reserved for photo-editing tasks using Photoshop or GIMP.

Photo processing is a big barrier for me. I use a commercial raw processor (DxO PhotoLab) and a commercial image editor (Affinity Photo) and for me DarkTable or RawTherapee and GIMP do not even come close. I have not tried either of the two raw processors for a long time, but I am guessing they do not have the AI noise reduction that many of the commercial raw processors now have.

Before I switched to Linux, I was also using Affinity Photo, and On1 Photo RAW. There are definitely things I miss about Affinity, but not enough to keep windows around. For my RAW processing I ended up sticking with Darktable. Sure as a full time pro photographer, there were tradeoffs coming to Linux, but my sanity wasn't one of them.

[caerolle]

Before I switched to Linux, I was also using Affinity Photo, and On1 Photo RAW. There are definitely things I miss about Affinity, but not enough to keep windows around. For my RAW processing I ended up sticking with Darktable. Sure as a full time pro photographer, there were tradeoffs coming to Linux, but my sanity wasn't one of them.

I used DarkTable (DT) quite a bit at one time, but leaving DxO PhotoLab (PL) would be difficult for me. Though DT has probably changed a bit since I last used it, I doubt it would be a pleasant switch for me. Then again, PL is expensive, and I would be happy to stop paying.

You do not mention what you used to replace Affinity Photo (AP). GIMP? Again, I would guess GIMP has advanced since I last tried it, but the gap was far larger between GIMP and AP (or Photoshop) than between DT and the commercial raw converters. I know people do incredible work with GIMP, but I personally hated it.

Thx for the reply!!