Computer Hardware/Accessories

» solidbob - Windows v.s. Linux

I'll admit, I've been pondering this whole switching to Linux thing as of late.

I've been using more and more OpenSource software these days (OpenOffice has replaced all my productivity programs) and really, the last thing to do would be change operating systems.

Frankly, I've never really been happy with XP (then again, I miss the DOS prompt.) But it's a pain. Security hole after security hole, to the point where I've started wondering if patching one weakness just creates another, crashing and finally, Microsoft's rediculous legal requirements.

They're now revisting the whole GENUINE WINDOWS XP deal, but before that, I had to PROVE to them that my copy of XP was legit before I could download the latest version of IE which I needed to view certain sites (normally I use Firefox.)

Then there's the whole needing to buy seperate copies of XP for every computer I own, which can run a few hundred dollars I don't have. Come on Microsoft, Apple lets you install OS X and more than one computer in the same household, why can't you?

The only thing that worries me are all the driver issues I've heard of. Once I can make sure all my hardware is going to work, I'm ready to switch. I WAS going to to go the Mac route, but that's also too costly for me. Besides, OS X is just a prettier Linux anyway.

-- posted by solidbob

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» phostenix - Windows v.s. Linux

In response to Windows v.s. Linux posted by solidbob:

So, how's that goin' for you?

I went thought this exercise about a month ago. Wow, do I appreciate Windows now!

My take away was, if you're anti-Windows & want a different OS, get a Mac. At least it works out of the box & has media support. (Mac mini for 599?)

I honestly see Linux appealing only to the PC equivalent of the Hot Rodder (kinda like over-clocking). If you want to be able to tweak the OS & play with stuff under the hood, Linux is your world. But, the learning curve is steep & there are so many things that aren't there or don't work out of the box. I wanted to setup a machine & just start with surfing & checking e-mail until I got used to the lay of the land & I'd worry about the "hard stuff" as I went. I couldn't even surf the net because of the lack of media file support in all but Xandros (and SUSE 10.1 to some extent).

I bought the retail box of SUSE 10.1, downloaded 10.2, downloaded the SLED 10.1 trial, downloaded Fedora Core 5, downloaded the Xandros trial. Xandros was the closest to a straight-forward install experience, but you still don't have Windows media support or Shockwave without using Crossover office or something similar. (Crossover Office gets you Windows Media Player 6.4 - 6.4? I don't even remember back that far.)

I finally gave up on the whole thing.

I understand the appeal to those who want to be able to make any mod possible & love the challenge of figuring out how to make Linux work, but I just don't have the time to invest in relearning so many things. Even installing a new program requires knowledge of which packages your distro uses, etc. Never mind compiling source code & figuring out tarballs....

I never could get dual monitors on an old Matrox G450 to work. I installed the various distros on 3 different machines. Display adapter setup always seemed to be an issue, except for Xandros. It reminded me of the old Windows 98 days.

In the end, I felt completely deceived by all that I've read over the years about how much easlier/simpler/better Linux is than Windows. Linux is a lot more complicated to install & configure, nowhere close to being intuitive to use, & left me with a lot of feature & functionality holes.

I was looking for Linux to be everything that Windows is & more without the malware issues, but the trade-offs were just too high for me.

Grace and peace,

Steve

-- posted by phostenix

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» khitan - Windows v.s. Linux

In response to Windows v.s. Linux posted by phostenix:

phostenix,
I agree 100%... this is exactly what I was talking about in this. However.. for ease of use you might try one of the live CD distros like maybe Knoppix. The cool thing is you dont even have to install them...just run them.

-- posted by khitan

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