Goodbye Windows

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Absolutely true. IT has flourished because of Microsoft. It made it easier for people to use a computer, and once people get used to it… well the proof is obvious - look where we are .

 

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Hey George, don't get me wrong, I love Linux, and think it's an awesome operating system, but i'm not convinced it's a product just yet, it just doesnt have the polish

I like you relish new challenges, and I do have run linux and such, but it only took me a few times of 'damn i miss that app, i need to do something that that did' before I realised that I just COULDN'T do as much
I too started with the 'im just using it as a media player / web browser' type argument.. but a computer for me is VERY multi functional, and at times I wanted something more, something that I couldn't always get on linux

I dont think anyone here is bashing linux or your efforts per se, One of the things I love about this place is everyone does seem to be bipartisan enough to say you know what, Linux rocks, but so does Windows, and so does OSX.. and the fact your willing to take the leap and go tee total is great.. just keep those XP disks handy, and I'll echo what Zeb has said, if your getting crashes there's a underlying problem, because windows is as stable as shite!

Good luck buddy

 

well this brought up another lively debate! I have to be honest - i have been put off the idea for a while - but i want to try something different and it really is opening my eyes as well knowing what open source stuff is out there. I have always been a fan of open source so i said its about time i give their OS a go. Well ill report back soon with more info. Oh to rub a little salt in the wounds.. im configuring Gnome so that my enviroment looks like Mac OS X

BTW on one positive note.. i would like to say this - from all my googling the past 12 hours or so.. i read many threads on total newbies who werent very IT savvy jumping into linux - some guys just knew the basics of windows yet people were trying to explain to them how to edit xserver.conf file to make their mouse scroller work and they had no idea how to even more to the /etc folder - so my advice is before you play with linux learn a bit of command line and i think the last two semesters at uni helped me there because we had two very impressive modules based on Linux and Apache - now im learning shell scripting as well.. Well here goes the linux adventure!!!

 

I wasn't avoiding saying anything good about Linux before. I *did* say that Ubuntu is my day-to-day desktop at home. I enjoy using "the alternative" and believe that Linux has a bright future. I also said that Windows also has utility in my life. It's all I use at work so there's no "escape" there and as I previously mentioned, due to my involvement in the publishing industry, I'm tied to Microsoft products in that way as well.

One of the best pieces of advice I've ever heard was "Never marry an operating system". I can enjoy Linux and at the same time, acknowledge that I'll need to use Microsoft products. While Gates and company would probably deny this, I think there's room enough in this world for both.

 

While you can compare Windows to Linux, it's like putting a Ford next to a Chevy. They both have their strengths and weaknesses.

I personally have been running Fedora for over a year (and looking forward to F9 in April with KDE 4.0). All the IT guys at Nuvox use some form on Linux, and the guys near me got my hooked of Fedora. I do still have 2 XP boxes at home, but my setup at home is dual 21" CRT's (too cheal to buy LCD's) with the left monitor on my XP box and the right monitor on the Fedora box, both running Synergy.

I can give you 10 reasons why Windows is better than Linux, and vice versa. Unfortunately I run some programs at work that do not have Linux counterparts, and therefore have an XP box at work just for that. At home, however, I'm using no "Windows specific" software, so I'm free to use Linux.

I will say this however. My Linux experience got me a promotion a few weeks ago and I also got to teach a "linux 101" class for some employees who were interested in "that Linux thing".

 

I guess you haven't read the replies properly then as a few people have said it's good etc.. OS choice doesn't have to be a partisan thing, you can like one without having to hate the rest.

I have dabbled with Linux a little in the past, but only that. I have found things I wanted to do with it very difficult or flat out wouldn't work in some cases due to a lack of support etc.. Having said that the same has been true for Windows.

I think it's very impressive how far the various Linux builds have come along in the last several years. I remember trying out an early distro many many years ago and spending literally all night trying to get an early version of the gui working with my video card by editing a config file. Only the unix training I had done at uni gave me a hope in hell of even installing the thing.

I do still think that even the most user friendly builds are a good way off from ever becoming truly mainstream as an OS.

 

Second vote for Synergy here.. I couldnt bloody live without it
I have it on my macbook and my laptops and when I sit the macbook down at work i change the profile to 'work' and im up and running with two systems, when I Get home its back to home

I still need to try set up Bonjour so its automatic.. but I don't know how that works yet lol

 

Hi man, look at my name
Welcome with us, have a wee look to Fedora too.

 

I run Debian on my main server at home. It used to be FreeBSD, but I needed the experience of Debian as that is the preferred 'flavour' at work.

At work I deal with Solaris, FreeBSD and Debian.

Harry.

 

I've got a Backtrack box at home on my Pen-test line. Works fine. I also used to have a Fedora box sitting out there when I was sad enough to run a honeynet - but since its sole purpose was to attract 5kr1Pt k1dd13 scum - and hence was pretty much unpatched a lot of the time - I can't really pass judgement on its reliability

 

Not kidding at all... my Windows install is absolutely rock solid. You just have to be careful about what crap you install and what sites you visit.

The last problem I had was blue screens, but not because of Windows... but because of a free-after-rebate copy of Norton Ghost. Disabled Ghost, and the problem went away. Tried to uninstall, and Norton's uninstaller wouldn't remove it! Figured I needed a reinstall anyway (which I do every couple of years).

Lesson learned: that'll be the last time I install Norton software on my home boxen.

 

I am also running windows XP and vista stable, I had no crashes since I installed both the OSes 6 months ago. I have my anti-virus my router for firewall and just the regular office applications. Nothing crashes or is slow. No error what so ever. It took me some time with experimenting what works well and what applications work well with each other. After that no problems.

I just update the OS, apps and drivers then ghost the PC, and once a year I reinstall the OS.

 

I cant help thinking that there is another issue here, maybe no upto date drivers or a hardware component on its way out, just find it strange for a clean install to be doing that mate. Oh, and for the record, i run ubunto on me lappy

 

XP hasn't crashed on me in ages. If I'm leaning towards replacing Windows with Linux it has to do with expense. In transitioning from XP to Vista (and eventually, I'd have to), it would cost more in both software and hardware...then I'd have to do it again and again and...

On the other hand, as open source continues to mature, Linux more and more becomes a viable alternative, and at a fraction of the software and probably hardware cost.

 

http://it.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/02/10/2011257

well I'm gonna agree with several who have already pointed out, that if you do take care of a windows box then it will very stablely (is that a word? ;)). My previous XP ran happily for over 2 years without a blue screen and now my new machine has Vista Ultimate I have only encountered one blue screen which was my own fault, trying to play with what turned out to be a faulty nvidia 8600GT card, so not even that BSOD was microsoft's fault.

anyhoo, the article I linked to points a vulnerability in the linux kernel so there is proof that its not only the windoze environments that are gonna get pwned!

ciao

 

Good on you zim. Nice to see that you have the guts to step out into the light (even if it's only to dance around for a while).

We'll still be hee on the dark side waiting to welcome you back with open arms.

All joking aside, I think it's great that you want to learn new stuff. Although I was never able to make linux do what I needed I'm sure you'll do well.


BTW, does anyone else find it funny that when MS bring out a new OS version (roughly every 5 years) everybody complains "oh no, so soon?" but when Fedora Core bring out the 8th version in 5 years it's cool?? (or is it just me?)

 

The impact of a new version of windows is felt much further than an upgrade to fedora

also fedora was always designed as a technology preview, it gets re released with the latest and greatest all the time

i'm pretty sure if debian released new version all the time everyone would complain too
(and XP -> Vista is the first 5 year break windows has had)