Think of the 2 extremes of computer user. The person who has never used a computer on one extreme and the expert capable of designing and building every part of the hardware and software that makeup a computer on the other extreme. In the center of these 2 extremes lies the average user.
Average perhaps, but methinks not most numerous. I truly believe the masses fall below the Mendoza Line. They know how to do a few things, and that's what they do. Without a family member or friend to rescue them regularly, their PCs would soon ground to a halt choked with malware and toolbars. I think for many this results in a new PC, soon to succumb to the same fate. A Guy
Average User(tm)
Hmmm, Jerry Pournelle after Bill Gates changed his private number?
Edit: Just kidding. I enjoyed those Byte Magazine columns. :)
Well I'm not the first or the last so I must be one of your average users.strollin, post: 15928, member: 67 said:
You are certainly not average Joan. I believe you must fall in the extraordinary category
A Guy
Ah! flattery will get you everywhere.A Guy, post: 16280, member: 22 said:You are certainly not average Joan. I believe you must fall in the extraordinary category
A Guy
There is no such thing as the "average" user "average is just a statistical construct
The are "majority" Users, the person who does not enthuse over a PC system, does not write internet blogs about PC systems, though some will use their PC or laptop or tablet to write a blog on a subject that is of interest to them, maybe it's collecting coins, stamps, autographs or whatever. to them, who are in the vast majority, a computer is a tool to get something done, not an end in itself.
another part of the "majority" are those who use a PC system of some form to assist in their work, again these users look at a computer as they would a photocopier, or a Phone.
These users will use a computer until it wears out or their company installs a new one, they will use whatever operating system is supplied, for most of them the OS is irrelevant, they probably see the desktop, or other start-up screen for a minute or so a day
These users are application centric, they care that their word processor processes words, their spreadsheet crunches numbers, or their facebook works.
This is the market that Microsoft has to satisfy to do this they sell operating systems via box shifters like Best Buy, or DSG in the US or UK respectively, or they sell volume licences to governments and multinationals
We hear figures of 1 billion PCs in use, over 99% of these still have the OS that was shipped with them and will never have anything else.
We as enthusiasts or professionals will eagerly await the release of Windows 9 and 10 and so on, but we will actually make very little impact on the future viability of companies such as Microsoft :)
Thank you, that is my point of view and the reason for asking why techies like to use the term average user. . .Barman58, post: 16350, member: 8 said:There is no such thing as the "average" user "average is just a statistical construct
The are "majority" Users, the person who does not enthuse over a PC system, does not write internet blogs about PC systems, though some will use their PC or laptop or tablet to write a blog on a subject that is of interest to them, maybe it's collecting coins, stamps, autographs or whatever. to them, who are in the vast majority, a computer is a tool to get something done, not an end in itself.
another part of the "majority" are those who use a PC system of some form to assist in their work, again these users look at a computer as they would a photocopier, or a Phone.
These users will use a computer until it wears out or their company installs a new one, they will use whatever operating system is supplied, for most of them the OS is irrelevant, they probably see the desktop, or other start-up screen for a minute or so a day
These users are application centric, they care that their word processor processes words, their spreadsheet crunches numbers, or their facebook works.
This is the market that Microsoft has to satisfy to do this they sell operating systems via box shifters like Best Buy, or DSG in the US or UK respectively, or they sell volume licences to governments and multinationals
We hear figures of 1 billion PCs in use, over 99% of these still have the OS that was shipped with them and will never have anything else.
We as enthusiasts or professionals will eagerly await the release of Windows 9 and 10 and so on, but we will actually make very little impact on the future viability of companies such as Microsoft :)
Hi there
Windows 7 would seem to be a No Brainer for corporate updates -- however there are still a LOAD of big applications that really still only work on XP -- I'm speaking here for example often of the GUI needed to access corporate applications like SAP / ORACLE / home grown DB applications etc. These often take YEARS to upgrade and are expensive too.
IMO the best way would be for corporations to look at installing a proper VDI (Virtual Desktop Infrastructure) across their networks --then they can run whatever OS they like (even on Windows 9 client Machines !!!).
XP provided it doesn't need to access the Internet directly is quite safe run in a Virtual environment - and users still like it too. Remember businesses don't always need the latest hardware (and hence drivers etc) so running in a Virtual environment solves that problem neatly. It's also the best mechanism for BYOD systems too.
In a VDI environment it's quite easy say for the users desktop to be mainly XP but with say a front end application to access the Internet - this could connect to say a W2012 server running IE for users so even with XP users could still connect to and run applications safely from the Internet.
Cheers
jimbo
You denigrate yourself Joan and A Guy is right with his statement about you being extraordinary.Joan Archer, post: 16264, member: 14 said:Well I'm not the first or the last so I must be one of your average users.
Consider this, how many of your friends at around your age know what you know about computers?
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