* Posts by RS232 4 Eva

18 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Feb 2014

Microsoft's cmd.exe deposed by PowerShell in Windows 10 preview

RS232 4 Eva

I think the point is to make PowerShell familiar. Ironically, a lot of people only know of PowerShell's existence from using it to uninstall pre-installed UWP apps.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Missing function

The benefit of the PowerShell way is that once you know how to use New-Item you know how to create new Symbolic Links, new Files, new Folders, new Registry Keys, etc.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: ksh or nothing, thank heavens for cygwin

"Piping objects sounds a little dangerous, like Active X in a Web Page, or DCOM, or even the original OLE / COM. IMO the only place for an "Object" is in the program that created it, anything else is a reliability and security horror. OLE/Com was a bad idea. DCOM and Active X in Web pages are evil."

PowerShell is just using .Net objects. It's no different than one .Net app calling a .Net API. The idea that passing unstructured text around is the best solution for anything is just bizarre.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Missing function

new-item -Path C:\LinkDir -ItemType SymbolicLink -Value E:\RealDir

(runs on Windows 10 with Powershell 5 in Admin mode)

RS232 4 Eva

Re: I just gave up

If there's one thing we should all have learnt from VBScript is that allowing users to run any old script by default is dangerous and not to be encouraged. At least PowerShell does try and keep people safe. Surely this should be encouraged?

RS232 4 Eva

Re: "Joe Public" doesn't care

cmd.exe will still be there in the background, you'll still be able to run the batch files using cmd.exe from PowerShell. If there's one thing that Microsoft is known for it's putting backwards compatibility above (almost) everything else.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: UnderpoweredShell

"And anecdotally it appears Linux is winning over gamers thanks to a push from Steam and GOG."

Non-anecdotally, Linux is nowhere with gamers:

Windows - 95.46% (47.98% for Windows 10)

MacOS/OSX - 3.52%

Linux - 0.89%

Source: http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey/

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Yet another Windows 10 annoyance

All the simple stuff you do in cmd works the same in PowerShell. PowerShell for Linux is a thing, so it is portable. There's an option to switch it back so they're not enforcing it's use. Why wouldn't you have the best shell as the default?

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Weird move...

PS C:\Users\me> Measure-Command {Get-ExecutionPolicy -list}

Days : 0

Hours : 0

Minutes : 0

Seconds : 0

Milliseconds : 3

Ticks : 32171

TotalDays : 3.72349537037037E-08

TotalHours : 8.93638888888889E-07

TotalMinutes : 5.36183333333333E-05

TotalSeconds : 0.0032171

TotalMilliseconds : 3.2171

I think I can wait 3 milliseconds for it to complete. :-)

RS232 4 Eva

On my PC it loads instantly. I'm sure it slows down if you have a startup profile script and lots of extra modules loading, but then it's doing a lot more.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: ksh or nothing, thank heavens for cygwin

Normal users will benefit because they'll become more familar with a shell that's both more powerful and easier to use (logical command names, aliases for commands, built-in consistent help).

It will also benefit existing PowerShell users because they'll be able to right-click in file explorer to open up PowerShell.

Plus, anyone who doesn't like it can just turn the setting off to switch it back to command, like you can already do for the <Win>+X menu.

RS232 4 Eva

Re: But muh scripts!

If only you could just run a cmd batch script from PowerShell...

PS C:\Users\Me> "echo `"This is a test.`"" | Out-File test.bat -Encoding ascii

PS C:\Users\Me> .\test.bat

C:\Users\Me>echo "This is a test."

"This is a test."

You can literally run cmd.exe from PowerShell, so the vast majority of use-cases should be catered for. Plus, it says in the article that there'll be a setting in the same place as the current "Replace Command Prompt with Windows PowerShell in the menu when I right-click the start button or press Windows logo key + x" setting to switch back to using cmd.

What did we learn today? Microsoft has patented the slider bar

RS232 4 Eva

I've just done an image search for 'Corel Office Ribbon', and how they thought they would ever get away with an exact copy of the Office Ribbon I'll never know.

It's FREE WINDOWS 10 time: 29 July is D-Day, yells Microsoft

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Windows 10?

Vista was rubbish. Even on a brand new gaming PC it was a constant pain in the neck. Put it this way it was bad enough for me to spend £50 on a Windows 7 pre-order.

Want a cheap Office-er-riffic tablet? Microsoft Windows takes on Android

RS232 4 Eva

Now comes with a free upgrade to Windows 10! ;-)

RS232 4 Eva

Using the Windows Desktop on a tablet

It is possible to make using the desktop on a Windows 8 tablet as easy as using the desktop on a laptop and that's to install TouchMousePointer. With one touch of a finger your touch screen becomes a touchpad with a mouse pointer. It's free and it's genius!

Blighty's mighty tech skills shortage drives best job growth in years

RS232 4 Eva

You were making sense until this bit: 'or someone with experience of Excel macros couldn't learn the more advanced VB.Net'

VB.Net is not VB6, it's just as fully featured as C# and Java. Having all the bad habits of Excel Macro writing would probably be a disadvantage when it comes to VB.Net.

On the original point, there is definitely a skills shortage and we (a .Net/Oracle software company) find it very difficult to recruit anyone half decent. As a result we have taken the approach of training people up and/or employing immigrants who do have the right skills.

El Reg BuzzFelch: 10 Electrical Connectors You CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT!

RS232 4 Eva

Re: Showing my age ..

I still make a living connecting automated medical analysers to PCs where RS232 is still the connector of choice, even on new equipment. Luckily these days you can get USB to Serial adaptors that actually work, or if you're feeling flush, Serial to Ethernet.