Woody Leonhard – A new life in paradise

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ISSUE 18.10 • 2021-03-15 ASKWOODY By Chris Husted Is he having fun yet? Late last year, after 28 years of publishing everything everyone needed to kno
[See the full post at: Woody Leonhard – A new life in paradise]

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DeWayne12, slowwalkerken, Cleotus Bartholomew, Tom-R, Seff, SueW, Wayne, Fred, WilliamC, abbodi86, Myst

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Having read nearly every free news letter since  first invited many years ago, I was initially shocked and saddened when reading  of the change at the helm.

But then, I reasoned… I am not  as young as I was and would happily take early retirement if the circumstances were right. So yes. Woody has served our community well for many years. He deserves a break.

Thanks Woody for all the help and information you have dished out while at the helm. Enjoy your life to the full.

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woody

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And kudos from me, too. Been here from the beginning and learned so much!

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I predict a spike in posts to AskWoody Support after this piece . . .  : )

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woody

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Windows has been the heart and soul of Woody’s sharp focus for nigh on three decades. Asked, “Now that you’ve had a chance to step back a bit, what do you think about Windows?” his reply is simple: “Meh. I use it, but I don’t like it.

In other words, “Phuket.”

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woody

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bI have been a long time reader of Woody’s works, and my knowledge of Windows has increased as a result of his works. I couldn’t be more grateful for the good advice and counsel Woody gave all those years. Enjoy your time off. I know a mind like yours won’t rest long. Take good care. Stay safe.

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slowwalkerken, woody

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20 years ago (20?!) when Woody’s Office Watch was the go-to place for any Office users and nobody did anything update-wise until Woody gave it the OK , I was lucky enough to meet the great man in Phuket whilst on a naughty holiday from England in mid-October 2001.

I’d emailed him before leaving to arrange it and as promised while sitting outside Starbucks on the beach along came this bearded chap (with dog) and I met an absolute hero! There’s something quite bizarre about discussing Microsoft products in such a setting and what a privilege that morning was. I also astounded myself by passing on an Excel tip that the great man didn’t know and little old me actually featured in an edition of WOW as a result. That was like winning  a Gold Medal!

I’d glad to hear that you’re happy and content in retirement – well, it’s hard not to be happy in Phuket to be honest – and long may it continue. Enjoy!

Bill

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slowwalkerken, woody

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[LoneWolf]

Microsoft will not rise to the challenge until they have a competitor that forces them to do so.

Windows 95/98 were not perfect. They had their flaws. But they were real advances in technology, as was Windows 2000.  This was back at a time when there was still a very real potential for other operating systems to rise (OS/2, BeOS, NeXT, MacOS, OS X, Sun SuperSPARCs were real, etc.).  Non-x86 hardware gave more options than just Apple. While fading, other Office suites existed: WordPerfect (later Corel PerfectOffice), Lotus SmartSuite, and others. And other technologies were evolving faster, forcing Microsoft to do more to adopt and incorporate them.

Slow stagnation of other technologies in the past ten years and lack of a competing x86 operating systems with solid business support for far more than that have allowed Microsoft to stagnate as well. The user doesn’t have to matter much any more; after all, “what choice do they have but to use our stuff, especially Outlook, Excel, and Windows?” I long for the days of exciting tech advancements where computer evolution exploded every twelve to sixteen months; this and competing products in every field drove innovation. (Note: I don’t consider OS X in 2021 as an innovation driver; it and Windows do all of the same things, a bit different, each side sometimes better or worse, but both reinventing the wheel without anything groundbreaking in some time).

As someone who is probably around fifteen years from retirement, I can say that while I’ve loved tech for much of my currently-26-year career, there’s a lot less to love now. It appears that innovation was unsustainable. Moore’s Law is over, a temporary concept. We still fail to take a “security-from-the-ground-up” approach at a point where it has rapidly become the most important thing we can do after basic productivity. And while I’ll still have tech when I retire from IT, it will be scaled back, deliberately; I will keep what I experience enjoyment from, and likely leave the rest behind in favor of an experience like Woody’s: savoring the beauty of this world, rather than its technological developments. Onward to baseball, and national parks, and open-road driving in Montana.

I wish him the absolute best, and hope he is living a wonderful life.

We are SysAdmins.
We walk in the wiring closets no others will enter.
We stand on the bridge, and no malware may pass.
We engage in support, we do not retreat.
We live for the LAN.
We die for the LAN.

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by LoneWolf.

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Woody, I can’t recall the number of times you extended yourself to help me out when I was adrift in dealing with computer issues above my pay scale. Or, the first time I sent you a donation just to say thank you for your kindness. I remain a follower of this site and committed Plus member.

I retired because I was burned out and couldn’t continue to be a lawyer. Retirement has served me well and allowed me to do things I never had time to do. I hope it does the same for you.

All the best to you and your family. Enjoy!

Peace,
CAS

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slowwalkerken, woody

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[Cleotus Bartholomew]

It’s great to get an update on Woody and his new life in retirement. I can understand taking a step back from tech and enjoying the so very many other interesting and exciting aspects of being a human in this world.

It was particularly interesting to read that Woody relies on ChromeOS more than Windows when he can. I like my Chromebook, but I always get a bit of a creepy feeling that Google is watching my every move (figuratively). For Windows I use the Enterprise LTSC version and make a few tweaks so that there is minimal telemetry. I also use spreadsheets on Excel that just require Windows whether I like it or not; even the MacOS version of Excel isn’t up to the task.

I’ll keep a lookout on AskWoody for an article on how to minimize the acuity of Google’s watchful eyes while using a Chromebook. I did turn a Chromebook into a Linux Mint machine once – but I do really like the simplicity, speed and security of a Chromebook!

Windows 10 LTSC 2021 + Google Docs + Firefox

• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Cleotus Bartholomew.
• This reply was modified 2 years, 6 months ago by Cleotus Bartholomew.

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slowwalkerken

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I’m just jealous.

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