I'm not sure what you mean by Chrome search engine.
Do you mean you use Chrome browser? If so, head for the settings page under the three dots top-righthand-side.
From there, there is an option to make Chrome the default browser, and also, which search engine it uses.
Sometimes during a major windows update, they try to get you to make Edge the default browser, with Bing as the default search engine, which is easy to miss after the update's re-start.
I use Opera as a browser mostly and have set it as default; that one has the option to always check if it's still the default and alert you if not.

Bill

Edited By peak4 on 18/02/2023 22:02:22

See here.

I posted a long time ago re windows 11 making my pc very slow and hit and miss when in use. Yesterday my computer became unuseable and started to update. It took over 8 hours ! I must try and get someone to rid the machine of windows etc and get some stability. Just another example of old people getting left behind ?

MX Linux is my currently preferred version of Linux too, having migrated from Mint and, before that, Ubuntu and Suse. I have Bodhi Linux running on an ancient 32-bit laptop, too old to have Bluetooth, but my more up-to-date machines, including a touch-screen-equipped laptop run MX. Installed with all its default settings, it just works (so does Bodhi, on the antique), but it can then be tweaked extensively to suit preferences. Libre Office substitutes for MS Office suite, and even handles the ridiculous .docx file format.

I've encouraged folk to stop paying for annoyingly bad software for nearly 20 years, and move to Linux. I don't think I've had a single convert. But no-one has said that they tried Linux and hated it. So I guess folk just won't change. OK, keep subjecting yourselves to Microsoft hell, if that's what you want – and enjoy paying for the priviledge…

Edited By Kiwi Bloke on 19/02/2023 09:57:11

Bet you Microsoft quietly reinstall it at the next major upgrade though!

Why should they bother, they've virtually got a monopoly, if they keep dumping the same rubbish on us sooner or later they'll get a large market share just from general laziness of users not being bothered or just unable to get rid of it and it will then become the normal.

Or am I being cynical ……..again

The earlier windows stuff is great, Win 7 64bit pretty much the apex for reliability and convenience

It's like with cars, they reach a plateau of user reliability and convenience

then they start bringing out too many extras and add-ons and the product becomes more an annoying must-have item

If you are going to get a Windows setup ALWAYS go for the Pro version which is made for the maximum stability

Hello all, another Linux convert here.

I blew out Microsoft when they stopped updating XP, 10 years ago was it? Anyway, like Gary I had a number of programs designed for Windows, but what I found was that programs such as Outlook Express & Internet Explorer could be easily changed to Thunderbird & Firefox, I never actually used Microsoft Office as I didn't really have a need for all those bells and whistles, but Libre Office seems able to supply my limited needs & wants. One point in favour of these alternatives is that they have both Linux and Windows versions hence the changeover can be made much less painful by replacing the purely Windows programs with the Linux, more correctly Open Source, programs first, getting used to the new programs, then changing to Linux afterwards.

I also had programs such as Paint Shop Pro (PSP) & Design Cad (DC). These were somewhat more difficult, especially as Wine, an intermediary program, wasn't very good 10 years ago. PSP was eventually replaced by The Gimp, whilst DC isn't perfect, but with the increasing improvement to Wine, is now very usable. Incidently, I use an old version of DC as I really can't be bothered updating.

I also have a no longer supported DOS based database program called M-Pro or Masterfile Professional. I have got this working under Linux Mint Mate v.20 using an intermediary program called DOSEmu2. (There is an original version called DOSEmu, but that no longer works under Linux Mint.)

The only program I failed to get working was TaxCalc, but as I found the HMRC on-line program satisfactory, it wasn't that much of a loss.

So, my advice is to take it slowly, start with programs that have both Windows & Linux versions, then change to Linux (and the Linux versions) when you are used to the new programs.

For anything awkward, Wine these days is very good and does allow Windows programs to run reasonably well under Linux.

For DOS based programs, try DOSEMU2. There is another DOS Emulator known as DOSBox. My experience with that is that firstly it's aimed at the gaming community, and secondly, it requires a lot of effort to get it working.

Finally, FWIW, I have my machines setup to emulate the XP desktop as near as I can do it without delving deep into the Linux innards. I don't bother with pretty background pictures, using instead black background & white text. It all works for me, and I would certainly recommend changing over to Linux, not least of which because that way you can avoid the Microsoft "tax".

Cheers,

Peter G. Shaw

You should be able to set which browser and search engine you want to be the default in the settings menu somewhere. I always have to google it, something like "how to set default browser/search engine in Windows xx" as I always forget.

Then you have to be careful whenever Windows does a major update because it tries to reset the default browser to Edge. Carefully read the options on the set up menu that pops up after the update and unclick things like "Make Edge/Bing the default browser/seach engine".

But Microsoft seem to have set it up so you can not uninstall Edge from your computer completely. You can not use it by setting another as the default, but Edge is still sitting there in the background.

Edited By Hopper on 19/02/2023 11:34:37

Microsoft Edge, Chrome and Opera are all Chromium based browsers and you can install add-ons to Edge from both Microsoft and Google so I cannot see what the problem is. I have used Edge and Bing from when they were first released with no problems.

Richard

Nealeb,

Agree with what you are saying, especially about the lack of knowledge of users, indeed, I found quite a few users whose machines were setup for US of A working, not UK, US of A being the default setup.

For me, the crunch came when with the loss of XP support, I discovered that upgrading to whatever replaced XP, was about to cause me to replace certain pieces of fully working equipment at my expense, something I objected to just to bolster Microsoft's bottom line.

Now it has been pointed out to me, on more than one occasion, that Microsoft are not responsible for the software drivers for , eg, HP printers. Fair enough, but Microsoft are responsible for making changes that caused these drivers to stop working, and that is a good enough reason for me to blame Microsoft, especially as the Linux version I eventually adopted did everything I wanted, all without changing equipment.

Incidently, Microsoft did have some good ideas, witness the fact that ever since I made the switch, I have always setup my Linux versions to as closely as possible, resemble the XP desktop.

As far as Apple is concerned, I have used early Apple equipment, Mackintosh was it? I found it very frustrating to be limited in what I could do after being used for the almost free-for-all of DOS. As a result, I'm just not interested in anything Apple.

Tootle Pip,

Peter G. Shaw

Edited By Peter G. Shaw on 20/02/2023 14:11:41