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linux is not for ordinary people and never will be
Linux is a very good operating system for network and desktops which is used to some sort of networking. The main problem of Linux in terms of a personal computer user is the loading time is more than that of vista.

=====================
peter
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CORRECTION: I don’t have any problems with Ubuntu or Linux Mint
Ive started using Ubuntu in 2006 (It WAS the best linux Dist. ) but, Linux Mint is "better version" of ubuntu (because it’s based on ubuntu) and fixed many bugs, improved the security..etc and I have any problems with Ubuntu or Linux Mint (Mint, the best Linux desktop dist.) and Have all of the programs I need (Messenger, OpenOffice, firefox, filezilla, VLC and many programs) and even if they’re not available, I can use WINE (wine runs windows programs on linux) !

Linux = Safe, free and swimming in open-source world

NOTE: I didn’t like the default "look" of mint, so I customized it with Gnome Art ones! screenshot (after customized) http://img410.imageshack.us/img410/9629/vistasucksap1.png

thanks, nice article
Just started using Linux Mint. First hand experience after trying Suse linux around 7 years back. Had a bad experience and messed up hard disk partition. Dint know what to do then and so formatted everything and installed 98 since that was the only os i knew. Recently saw a friend using ubuntu and was impressed. He asked me to try and i was not sure. Still gave it a shot and the new version of linux are really impressive. Almost guided tour during installation including partition. Further you can surf parallely even during installation which was like a dream. Best is it configures all by itself and does not keep searching like windows for device drivers. Except for my webcam all is working fine. Have maintained as a dual boot and will experiment more on linux to find out what more it can offer. Still a novice when it comes to linux, but then who says you cant learn even if its late.
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Years ago, I opted to bail out on the MacOS when OS X came out. Real benefits aside, it felt like I would be upgrading all my software to take advantage of (mostly) eye candy. So I migrated to the dark side and started running XP. Now that XP is getting long in the tooth, I see Vista as yet another attempt of an OS maker to tell me how I should be working. I’m growing a bit tired of having to upgrade hardware just to run the basic features of a new OS.

Well, I have found salvation and it’s called Ubuntu. Probably too early for me to commit to being Microsoft free, but it’s looking promising. I haven’t booted into XP in over a week and the longer I go, the less chance I’ll ever go back to a Microsoft OS by any name.

If the stats in this article are accurate, I will delight in seeing the gallows being set up on the front lawn of Microsoft HQ for the geniuses who sold Vista as the next big thing.
well i moved from XP to Linux for much the same reasons as outlined above, i sue the Mint Distro and have no intentions of changing back over
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A silly little app to play music blue screened.

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Sriyani

A team of successful entrepreneurs credited for www.SelectWealthSystem.com
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I have a Vista Home on an HP....runs real smooth...like it...no complaints...
Also run Ubuntu on home built system...fast....stable...hell to install some things..
Ubuntu is great, but any linux distro that doesn’t make installs easy is headed for failure..I waste a lot of time playing on a computer....normal people want a utility grade computer....that’s why they bought the hardware...
I used vista and at first it seemed cool but after about a month I wanted to smash my computer screen. Im now back with xp, but after reading alot of forums about os issues, im thinking of trying out linux.
I have switched from XP to Mint, about 6 weeks ago, because of a few XP meltdowns. I still have a laptop that runs windows and I have MInt on my desktop. I have compiz running and have every application I would ever need (Skype, Picasa, openoffice, a PSX emulator for all my old games, and a few FPS’s). As I type this I am looking over at my old boring XP and tooling around with some of the Compiz tricks...it is very cool. I love the customizability of Linux.

Having used a ton of distros I found MINT to be the absolute best for me. Out of the box DVD, streaming video, and audio drivers. It just works.

I am certainly not a MS basher like a lot of the Linux nutjobs (hey they created a lot of jobs and put a lot of food on people’s tables). When it comes down to it I just was not willing to pay $200 for Vista home not really knowing what it was all about. With Linux I could try them out and they did not cost me a dime.

I will never go back.


Wow I’ve read the comment made by Random(). Cool stuff!!! I
wasn’t even born in ’82 when you started to do programming. I changed recently to Fedora, and I like it. I like to program on it. Anyway I am a beginner and so there is a lot of way for me till getting used to it. What annoyed me with the latest version of ’’Windows’’ is that I have to change my PC in order to run Vista (I have a 2.6 GHz Celeron, 1GB RAM). This sucks because all i do an my PC is surfing on the internet, reading the mail and running some small applications. So my opinion
is this: Get rid of Vista while you can, reinstall your Xp back and put also a distro of Linux on your HDD. Anyway please
Random() if you have some spare time contact me at coss_cat@yahoo.com, maybe we have something in common to talk about, or on the mess you can use the same ID as the mail. Thank you. Have a nice day all of you!!!
Farhan spake;

"Vista now have a mind blowing Security system as well as a really Good Parental Control System. Also its graphical user Interface is much better then Linux, Mac and XP."

Dude, have you been in a cave your entire life or are you 13 years old?

It’s so mind blowing that it tries to emulate Ubuntu’s and various other Linux distros security shell so badly that I have to turn off the security just to install programs thus leaving my system wide open--vista is counterintuitive. Let alone every time I try to run certain programs a stupid box pops up asking if I want to run as administrator. Jeez....friggin’ annoying.

I’m no fanboy of any OS, I just use what works for me. Give me speed for data crunching over eye candy anyday. I have an Nintendo for that.

I use xp virtually in Ubuntu with no issue (I’m not a gamer). Just for my last hold on for a genealogy program that I have used for years which will not run on Vista. I am slowly converting years of data to a php written genealogy program that I paid for. Yes, not everyone who runs "free" Linux distros are "pirates" in which MS has many of their programmers to believe.

Oh and btw, compiz-fusion runs circles around the vista gui if you need the eye candy for a fix. Like vista this will slow any Linux distro down as it sucks memory.

Vista came with my laptop and I’m saddened it will go in the landfill. I’m tired of paying for expensive beta software.
I’ve used a lot of os’s and really, It is based on prefrence.The majority isn’t going to learn make file etc.

I’m sorry but you can curse the world until you are blue in the face but people don’t want to learn to compile their programs.

Now, I don’t have a problem with it and you may not but a lot of them do.They won’t switch and more than likely only use vista if it came with their new desktop/notebook.

Mac is very expensive, Not many will bother.Also, There is a def. lack of games.

Right now i’m using vista made with vlite.I’m doing fine and nothing is holding me back..

Stats are worthless to me.I’ll do what i have to do..

I switched to Linux Ubuntu 4 months ago and love it. I am really amazed how easy it is to use and it runs like a dream on my new inspiron 1520 notebook. The notebook had Vista preinstalled and i tried it on off for 2 weeks, well what can i say, the adds wasn’t wrong the WOW really did start when when i saw how crappy in ran on this powerhouse of a machine. Anyway, i am a happy with Linux and i plan on staying there.
Wow these comments are longish.

I’ve been programming since 1982 when I wanted to code games - in z80 on a trash 80 model 1. I’ve tried lots of tools, but not everything.

I can say for a fact coding on windows is shit. 95/98 make for a terrible environment to develope code - the close program dialog box issue sucks bad. I switched to NT 4.0 in 98 after 98’s lackluster performance. At least when the program crashed the OS didnt...but I couldnt run winamp! go figure. A silly little app to play music blue screened MS’s "stable OS".

I went Linux only in 2000 with morphix 0.4. Morphix was great - it installs in 300Mb or so and has just one of the stuff you need. I dislike the larger distros with 10 of everything you dont need and multi gigabyte installs. Its like a bad episode of reboot.

Coding on Linux is killer. Mostly I’ve thought everything on Linux is killer. I’ve done stuff that used to not be possible in win. Right now I have a shell script (!) that randomizes desktop images & background, displays server uptime and a fancy clock. Total install size (excluding x windows and the basic os) is probably less than 1M! When was the last time you saw a 1M app for windows that could do all that.

I write games in C++ and quake C, database for my business. Really everything on Linux has been great. I encourage people to switch all the time. My wife even uses Linux from time to time.

Linux only for my main system lasted over 6 years.
What brought me back to win xp under dual boot? - 2 things...
1. Halflife 2...no matter what I cannot get this to run under wine - and I have a *Legal* installation!
2. Stupid ass nvidia drivers. I upgraded morphix for a webcam app - it needed new USB support. the new nvidia kernal wouldnt install. Why cant they just open source the damn thing?!
Linux is a pile of crap. That’s why no one is using it.

Some stats:

http://marketshare.hitslink.com/report.aspx?qprid=10


I started using Ubuntu 7.04 then upgraded to 7.10. I went from windows 2000 which i was pretty happy with. Never really content with windows xp. Really annoyed with idea of vista. Seemed like MS taking advantage of people so I decided to try Linux once more and I am more than happy. Second reason to move away from MS is security. I am getting more concerned about identity theft etc and want the implied security of linux. MS software is just too big a target.
I’ve already switch to Linux Mint, and can’t see going back...it comes pre-loaded with all the software and drivers that most anyone realistically needs. You also get Compiz if you like all the fancy UI enhancements...and in all honesty, Compiz/Beryl blow away Aero. There is absolutely no comparison.

So, thanks MS, here’s one new Linux convert! And Ballmer’s actions only serve to convince me more and more to stay away!

Great job!

R
all the people on here who have said Linux is shit are morons. windows sold out at XP. Vista has sold its soul. 2000 was alright. no comment on 9x systems..

..now this was funny..

"This chart is incorrect the linux word don’t have more objective for Linux is bery bad is DOS whit GNOME and KDE is very similar in 1993 uses MS-DOS operanting System whit Windows 3.0 for GUI Program
Linux is the DOS and GNOME and KDE is the GUI Program and the Gui Program can execute automate.
In Windows Vista don’t dos is a GUI Operating System don’t a GUI Program such as Windows 3.1 and GNOME or KDE for Linux DOS

Windows Vista is major whit SP1 "THE BEST OPERATING SYSTEM"

who ever wrote this is a dickhead also.you need to let go of windows!!!!!,

Vista may have really good security but what you have to realize it only has good security for a "Windows" system!, Linux & Mac dont need to worry about crappy windows viruses!!!.

i have used DOS & Windows all my life, but now im a linux user and i love it. once you get used to the CMDline its sweet.

so comon windows users "SPLASH OUT!!" try mac even linux or unix!

I agree completely with your main point - that Windows XP was a good OS, but I’m bored with it, and I’m not changing to Vista. Why? Three reasons - one: Microsoft’s outrageous Vista prices, especially here in Australia, where they expect us to pay hundred’s of dollars more, in real terms, then in the US, two: Linux is now good enough as a desktop OS, so I get a new desktop, for nothing, and three: with Linux I get a simple, component based system, that doesn’t lock me in, and which has thousands of free, high quality apps.

I’ve recently tried out Ubuntu 6.0, OpenSuse 10.2, and Freespire 2.0. All installed easily, all were an improvement on XP, and all were free. I would have stuck with any of them, but I picked Freespire because it’s KDE applications work best for me as a web developer.

The main pluses of Linux: 1. dead easy install, 2. Hundreds of free applications, which are managed well by the distribution and easy to find, and 3. A pretty new desktop, which runs sweetly on my old hardware.

A couple of minuses: My ATI card doesn’t support Linux drivers for dual head monitors, and, to give Microsoft their due, their desktop app’s, mainly IE and Office, still look better, and are more responsive and better integrated, than their free counterparts. This last point was the main reason I rejected Linux previously, however KDE and Gnome have almost closed that gap.

I had this great experience with Freespire: it doesn’t come with a LAMP stack, however it’s Ubuntu/Debian based, and with just one click of PHPMyAdmin in the software installer, and a wait of a few minutes for the downloads, and "bling!" there was my LAMP stack - PHP, Apache, MySql and MyAdmin, all installed and ready to roll! I was sold!

I’m going to miss C# and .Net, but good riddance to Microsoft.

(oh, dear Microsoft, here are my tips: 1. don’t upgrade to bigger OS’s, but upgrade to cheaper, and simpler ones, 2. don’t overcharge overseas customers)
One has to understand that Linux is != Windows! Here’s a link to describe that. Read it before reading any further on this comment:
http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

I have some experience with various OS’s. I’ve played once or twice on a mac but I don’t consider it enough experience. Here’s a list of some OS’s I’ve tried.

Windows:
Windows 3.0
Windows 3.1
Windows 95
Windows 98 and 98/SE
Windows 2000
Windows 2003 Server ed.
Windows XP Home & Professional with SP2
Windows Vista Business ed. and Ultimate ed.

Linux
Red Hat 7.2 (ages ago)
Austrumi (unsure about the version)
DSL 3.3
Ubuntu 6.06, 6.10 and 7.04 (Kubuntu 6.06 as well)
Fluxbuntu 6.06 (ubuntu with a fluxbox wm)
Debian Sarge 3.1 and Etch 4.0 as well as Lenny/Sid (Netinstaller versions)
Suse 9.1, 9.3 Professional, 10 and 10.1
PCLinux 0.93 and 2007
CentOS 4
Zenwalk 2.8 (A slackware based distro)
Slax (unsure about the version)
Knoppix 4, 5 and 6
Puppy Linux 2.12
Sidux 2007-02 (KDE-Lite version)
SimplyMepis 6.0
LFS 6.3 SVN
Arch Linux 2007 ’’Don’t Panic’’ (Only with VirtualBox as of yet)

Others *NIX based
PC-BSD 1.3/FreeBSD 6.1
PC-BSD 1.4/FreeBSD 6.2 (Only on VirtualBox as of yet)

Yet to try in the near future:
Plan 9 4th release (For those who don’t know, this is the next version of UNIX created by Ken Thompson and Co.)
Inferno (embedded version) (Fork of Plan 9)
OpenSolaris

I tried Nexenta too, which is a fork of OpenSolaris but it wouldn’t boot so that I could actually get to installing it. I will give these a shot again and look deeper into those problems. After having installed so many distributions I can clearly testify that Linux (the friendly ones) are WAY easier to install than any version of MS Windows, I’m specifically pointing at distributions such as Ubuntu, Suse, PCLinuxOS etc. For others such as Slackware, Debian and LFS...well they are intended for more technical users and shouldn’t be tried out by new users in the first place before getting some experience with Linux or some sort of UNIX.

Basically, it asks you for your installation partition (just like Windows) some even allow you to choose which packages to install to your base/default system (Suse) and they all ask you to create a default user (Just like Windows). So clearly those that claim Linux is way more difficult to install than Windows are either 1) Just plain stupid hardcore Windows users who can’t accept the truth and never will or 2) People who don’t know what they’re talking about or who base their opinions of Linux on a version released 3 years ago.

For anyone who hasn’t tried Linux out in the last year. Do so now and you’ll notice it’s way easier than it used to be...and for eye candy...Compiz Fusion beats even the Mac and Vista...

My 2 cents.
This chart is incorrect the linux word don’t have more objective for Linux is bery bad is DOS whit GNOME and KDE is very similar in 1993 uses MS-DOS operanting System whit Windows 3.0 for GUI Program
Linux is the DOS and GNOME and KDE is the GUI Program and the Gui Program can execute automaty.
In Windows Vista dont dos is a GUI Operanting System dont a GUI Program such as Windows 3.1 and GNOME or KDE for Linux DOS

Windows Vista is major whit SP1 "THE BEST OPERATING SYSTEM"
Vista Home edition premium... It was imposed on me when I got my New HP laptop...
I have a few Windows motto, for Mr. Gates to consider...
-clears throat- tell me what u guys think.

Windows... We love to suck.
No?
How about...
Windows... Let us make your life hell.
Windows... Our developpers are on crack
Windows... For the sadomasochistic who’d like to upgrade to frantic schizophrennia (sp2)
Windows... You think you’re pissed now? Try Vista!
But i think the best would be...

Windows... Your refrigerator’s next!


Would help if you also posted the sample size... when posting any statistics you should describe how the data was collected and how many samples there are.
here’s the deal, No Operating system comes even close to Windows Vista. I agree Linux was better then XP just in security category but dats all changed now. Vista now have a mind blowing Security system as well as a really Good Parental Control System. Also its graphical user Interface is much better then Linux, Mac and XP.
I’m using linux about two years, and don’t dissapointed.
Ahhh this is wrong!!! please please stay with windows, im tired of all you brain dead morrons poping up in the linux forums.
Ahhh this is wrong!!! please please stay with windows, im tired of all you brain dead morrons poping up in the linux forums.
Linux is one of the most exiting things that append to me in the last year.

I was so happy with it that we banned Microsoft from our house and after a year of intensive use en hobby programming I am quite an expert.

At work 3 month ago they started to use Linux for virtualization of servers with VMware and now I am the only expert in my company with Linux knowledge and this is speeding up rapidly a lot career.

I don’t know if that is common I think that an IT manager without Linux knowledge will be out of the market in the next 3/5 years.

So I think that in the professional world Linux is no more an hobby is a must to learn.


linux = shit stick
Hello,
I’ve been fixing people’s broken windows computers for years and recently spent some weeks going through all the Linux distros to see if there was anything I could offer a windows user instead. (I’m totally against Intellectual ’Property’ because you never own what you have - it’s still theirs to boss you about and milk you under threat.)

The only one I found had decent looking fonts, professional, pleasing appearance and useability was DreamLinux (see distrowatch.com). My non-tech wife now uses it for everything. I still need XP for games and audio/video. It’s simple to install and run but if you are looking for friends to talk to and hold your hand, you may be better going to Ubuntu.
My daughter asked me the other day "have you seen Vista" I told her I have seen screen shots. She then said "it looks just like what you have been doing in Mepis/Linux for the past year and a half". I have never used Mac so I can only go by its reputation. Which seems to be good. Needless to say I won’t buy Vista. I have windows 2000 on a partition somewhere. If you use Linux for a month and don’t boot into Windows at all, and you still like Windows better then I would recommend therapy.
I greet the linux is the way to go. I am convert all my system to linux this year in 2007. I buy a new laptop from www.computer-show.com old dell 3800 500mhz and linux run better than windows. With crossover you can still run some on the apps. to get the job done. I would buy linux over windows anytime I can.


with windows vista right around the corner, i\’ve been experimenting
with windows 2000/xp (2 separate computers) dual booting with
ubuntu 6.06.

while both have their strengths/weaknesses i am definitely going
to keep ubuntu and there is no way i\’m going to go with vista.

maybe that\’s why windows xp is now supported for 7 more years.

ubuntu is definitely a very usable. with 6.10 you\’ll be able to
continue upgrading operating systems right from the update
manager. i forsee ubuntu getting better & better.

if you don\’t need the latest/greatest.... ubuntu is just slightly
behind microsoft, but catching up quickly. you get MUCH
more with free open source. i understand that with vista,
once you have activated 2 computers, if you ever get a 3\’rd
new one, you can\’t you will need to buy the operating system
all over again... with 30 billion in the bank it\’s my choice to have
that 1 operating system on whatever computer i want

definitely.... i\’m keeping linux with goals to migrate, all that\’s
needed is a hardware modem. definitely ubuntu within
1 year, all the fixes will be in to ubuntu to be equivelent to
windows xp and most of them are already in :)
with windows vista right around the corner, i’ve been experimenting
with windows 2000/xp (2 separate computers) dual booting with
ubuntu 6.06.

while both have their strengths/weaknesses i am definitely going
to keep ubuntu and there is no way i’m going to go with vista.

maybe that’s why windows xp is now supported for 7 more years.

ubuntu is definitely a very usable. with 6.10 you’ll be able to
continue upgrading operating systems right from the update
manager. i forsee ubuntu getting better & better.

if you don’t need the latest/greatest.... ubuntu is just slightly
behind microsoft, but catching up quickly. you get MUCH
more with free open source. i understand that with vista,
once you have activated 2 computers, if you ever get a 3’rd
new one, you can’t you will need to buy the operating system
all over again... with 30 billion in the bank it’s my choice to have
that 1 operating system on whatever computer i want

definitely.... i’m keeping linux with goals to migrate, all that’s
needed is a hardware modem. definitely ubuntu within
1 year, all the fixes will be in to ubuntu to be equivelent to
windows xp and most of them are already in :)
I am awaiting UPS to deliver my copy of Sushe Linux and can’t wait to change over. I agree 100% with your comments regarding XP users and the many that won’t immediatly change over to Vista. The Linux purchase price for me was under $100(US) and with 3 computers on all of the time this will add up if I bought Vista......This doesn’t even add in the necessary Ram upgrade($200 per unit) and the video card will need upgrades as well. I don’t need to be the first on the block to get Vista. I’ll wait until I purchase my next PC and then get all the upgrades then.....Thanks for allowing me to post this comment......mitch_r
I cant believe that i tried out the vista rc’s and still bought it. Somewhere in me i hoped it would be ... better. The disgust runs deep when running as administrator and denied (permission) to do something as simple as use regsvr to register a dll. had to disable user account control to do that and reboot. then of coarse there was the huge info window and red shield popping up warning me of the impending doom of such an action.

Damn thing blue screened 6 times in three days on a machine that made very high marks on its scoring system. applications were unpredictable, opening in the back ground but only found in the task manager sometimes.

The new protection shemes make it impossible to run my backed up dvds without their user account control enabled. which is so annoying i want to scream.

Its pretty. but not 700mb ram pretty sitting still. i will say this though. the apps that launched were lightening fast. thats not good enough though.

I am desperate to find a Media center solution on Linux. Must run wide screen resolutions and have remote ability, and although i have played with several distros in the past i found my self running away because of things like display and audio support. not really a problem from what i see today. and it looks like i will have to ditch my yahoo chat on Linux unless i run wine ( doesn’t to a bang up job). since my first Linux attempt at mandrake 8, i have never printed a single character. i just felt over whelmed when lexmark dished me out a hundred page pdf on how to compile my own drivers.

I have found in most cases that if i ask questions in the Linux community that i am sneered at and belittled for being a windows whipping boy. While Linux is becoming easier to use and with much better hardware support that windows ever had (out of the box), it is still a huge transition.

With current events in Linux’s progress, (and yes eye candy too) i am willing to bite the bullet and make the switch. i can not afford to be controlled by Microsoft and big media any more. its worse every day and that is not an overstatement. its actually humiliating to be told how to operate your own machine and be told how you can use media and the web. i am not talking about piracy here.

will some kind soul point me to a professional media center solution for Linux. Ive been look at mythtv and snap stream. some advice from somebody running the software would be nice. mailto:fvcrowley@gmail.com

Thanks,

Power to the people!!
So you want give Linux a try but you don\’t know where to start.
Distrowatch.com and tuxmachines.org are good place to find some info and
OSdir.com\’s http://shots.osdir.com/ is site where you\’ll see all eye-candy you get with Linux.
But you\’re still hesitating since you\’re not sure how to install Linux on your machine without screwing it up. Try, an excellent Damn Small Linux , then Puppy Linux and finally Sam Linux ( from http://sam.hipsurfer.com/news.php ) exactly in this order and you\’ll learn a lot along the way.
Once you think you can swallow new operating system look-and-feel go for PClinuxOS ( www.pclinuxos.com ) to find out why\’s that RPM based Mandrake derivative distribution so popular ( currently - as of Jan 25th 2007-#1 on Distrowatch top 100 list. It an extremely easy to use Linux somehow undervalued but much better and more stable than OpenSuSE more user friendly than Fedora Core
and simply better than wildly popular ( and extremely annoying) Ubuntu.
I have no reservations ofany kind to claim this year will be the year of PCLinuxOS.
All of my 5 home computers are Linux boxes and I\’m curently running Vector Linux 5.8 ,Mint-Linux , DreamLinux , Fedora Core 6 my favoutire PCLinuxOS 0.92 ( nVIDIA kernel) and PCBSD 1.3.
Two crown jewells are definitely PCLinuxOS and PCBSD 1.3 I would wholeheartedly recommend to all Linux novices and wannabes.
Linux for geeks times are long gone!


PClinuxOS is much easier to use than XP.Oh and you never get infected.
If you want to play games about 30 % play with wine.
About 50-60% play with cedega transgamer.

get real. linux (in whatever shape size or color) is no where near as simple to "get up and get going" as windows. and no "live cd’s" dont count. windows has and will continue to be many steps ahead of linux.

god forbid, should someone attempt at updating a linux setup (ala windows update style)... their in for trouble. hours and hours of fixing dependency issues. one thing works, another doesnt.

last but not least, the inconsistent look and feel of linux will confuse the hell out of people using other peoples linux pc’s. with windows, it isnt a problem.

fwiw, i setup ubuntu edgy eft the other day. only to find out my wireless "just didn’t work". as long as people need to poke around google trying to find solutions to what in the real world is taken for granted by windows users, linux will continue to be only for those with too much time on their hands.
I actually took one look at a vista beta and pretty much converted to Ubuntu 6.10 that week. It has been a long, arduous process to convert my entire businesses working practices over to Linux (I run a graphic design business, and linux does NOT have the same kind of application support for graphic design as other OS’es do - not linux’s fault, but greedy corps like Adobe, and that’s one reason I am desperate to move, sick of being under these idiots thumbs).

It does take a while to stick, but persevere. Especially for power users, when something goes wrong and you don’t understand how to fix it, it can be quite frustrating when you KNOW what to do on windows because you’re used to it. But one thing I had to learn was not to blame linux and go crawling back to windows - it was just that I was in a new environment, linux works differently. Now I realise most of my problems were actually due to lack of understanding, and quirks unfortunately exist on all operating systems. Linux does have a fair distance to go before it is for everyone, but overall, it’s extremely powerful and rock solid, even compared to OSX (if not as user friendly), and once you become familiar you find yourself noticing how sluggish and sloppy windows is, and head back to linux instead!
>This year’s stocking stuffers for friend’s and family will be Ubuntu CDs.

Classic! I should have thought of that, free CD’s for all
2007 is right around the corner and the next box i build will be dedicated 98% to Linux! Why only 98%? Mainly it’s because of gaming. So I will have to duel-boot until the decides to port to linux. Other than that, I am glad to be part of the growing revolution.

I’ve thought about Linux for a long time(years actually) but like many others I was afraid something would go wrong and I would be left with a very expensive paperweight sitting on my desk. I had the same fear when I first started building my own PCs but the fear went away.
With the many Live CDs available today, there really is no reason at all...not even fear of the unknown... that should keep people from at least trying out some flavor of Linux. I tried Ubuntu late last year after catching a few articles on the web about this distro growing quickly in popularity. The articles reminded me of how much I really do dislike Windows and the control it has over my PC.
I enjoyed the Ubuntu Live CD enough to do a duel boot setup on my mom’s ’puter which I had recently scrapped to gether from spare parts I had laying around. She wasn’t gonna use it for anything more than playing some games and email anyways so I hijacked half of her new 120GB HD for my own personal experimenting with a Unbuntu install ;) .
With all the free robust applications available such as Gimp, OpenOffice, etc., I don’t think I will miss Windows too much ’cept for my online gaming fix.

This year’s stocking stuffers for friend’s and family will be Ubuntu CDs.
I got my first pc in `97 and it was win `95. I quickly decided if I were to keep using a computer, I needed to learn to repair them. I got a three foot high stack of pc magazines our IT dept. threw into the garbage. I then read for a month and upgraded to `98, then got enough courage to do a clean install, not knowledge. Then I did `98b and was happy for a while. Xp was like a dream come true. By this time I was doing pc repair as a second income and eventually it was my only income. I started around `99 reading about linux but never had the juice to really give it a good try. I did a lot of skulking newsgroups and forums and kept hearing the praises of Linux and X and eventually did try an older version of Mandrake but felt the learning curve was too great and went back to M$. I recently tried Ubuntu \"Edgy Eft\" and had a few problems getting it all set up, gparted caused a few probs. But I stuck it out. I have since gotten alot of live cd`s from distrowatch and tried about everything. I still haven`t decided exactly which flavor will be my main squeeze but from my perspective if I want to play games I go to my x-box. If I need to use a pc, I currently boot ubuntu. And I will never ever again personally support bloatware central again. I would like to thank Linus Torvalds, every developer as and individual and as a group, every Beta-Tester, and all Linux users in the Free world. From the bottom of my heart, I salute you. P.S. Alabama has Linux users too!!!
So you think Linux is for Nerds, made by Nerds for Nerds.
Well you most likely right. I know for a fact that Microsoft wouldn’t dare employ "Nerds" and only employ’s sexy models and ex football players, yea right!

OK something the Linux Nerds didn’t tell you was that they invented a what they called "Live CD" and what this Live CD does is let you run Linux from your CD drive by just chucking it in your CD drive with the computer off and when you turn it on, you are now running Linux. Windows is still there, ready to go when you want a real computer.

You say to yourself what use is this shit Live Linux CD to me anyway?

What the horny little bastard Nerds didn’t tell you is that you can surf PORN sites all day ever day and never get infected.

You know that sites I’m talking about that you’ve been to and your Windows computer went crazy opening up every available porn site there was and you had to pull the power plug out of the wall to stop it.
And now your hard drive is full of links to porn that you just can’t get rid off "Fuck was is the Misses going to say".
This all goes away when you run a Live Linux CD as nothing ever gets saved to you hard drive and if you want to save that 69er video clip chuck it on a USB stick.

So you see there is a use after all for nerdy Linux. And now maybe you’ll get it!
Linux is the future and it’s not going away, Microsoft knows it, signed a deal with SuSe Linux and gave them $348 million dollars, why would Microsoft do that I wonder.
I heard that more enbedded devices like Mobile Phones, Microwaves, server’s and websites use Linux more than Windows and in reality Linux is the most used computer Operating System in use today.
Windows might own the PC market but it doesn’t own it all.
Now go download that Live CD and go look at PORN!
Linux is a very usable Operating System for the Average PC User. ( With each newer version of Linux that comes out, it is getting better and better and most come with 3D desktops and a lot of the new features that will be in Vista)
You must have the desire to want to learn it. It will seem different at first but you will get use to it. Will it really save you money, most likely not as you will spend a fortune on Linux magazines trying different versions and could most likely brought a copy of Windows XP for the money.
What it will give you is a virus free stable computer that once you master it is easy to maintain day to day and a community of computer users that will help you along the way to set up you computer with help for the many linux forums there are on the net.
If you don’t want any of this stay with windows. It’s usable.

Go to www.distrowatch.com and from here you can download 100’s of different versions of Linux. enjoy!
I am a Windows XP user and Linux User.
While both aren’t perfect, users except that sometimes windows needs configuring to get hardware working and will spend hours or days getting it going. Where as with Linux if it doesn’t work straight away it a shit useless operating system for dickheads and has no future.
My advice is give Linux a chance and in time you will see it isn’t half bad at all and it’s free or cheap if you buy a magazine with it included.
Lastly spend some time with Puppy Linux and its 23 second bootup time and its wonderful user forum and enjoy computing again.
I recently switched to linux as my only OS at home, and I don’t plan on going back to windows. I’ve used them all starting with windows 3.1 to XP pro and ever since I’ve switched to linux I couldn’t have been happier of my decision. Finally something new to use and there are lots of things you can learn about it, and do with it (as far as customization, and applications to try that are free). Or just use it for everyday things, the decision is yours.

http://i122.photobucket.com/albums/o272/XstatyK/11.png
windows sucks.................linux is the future
Куда ты влез!!!!
Пошли вы все нафиг :)
Врете все :)
The question is a bit late for me. It was XP that pushed me intothe linux world

I use Puppy Linux on all my machines but one at the moment. Fast reliable and just works. I spend far too much time fixing everyones windows machines to worry about my own. Why would you want to go to some huge bloat when 60 to 70 MB is all the os I need.Tiny, fast and furious.
Wait, if I completely switch over to linux, what computer will I use to access the Internet when it doesn’t work and I need to print the 50-page solution?
If Ubuntu were as simple an install as it’s supposed to be, I’d be using it already. GRUB error 18 after trying countless configurations of slave, master, and single drives; auto partition, manual partition, and random selection out of sheer frustration. The "linux for human beings" has a way to go before it lives up to its tagline. It’s pretty difficult to run through setup when you can’t see the next button because your only rez option is 640 480. This was fixed for me in 6.10, but the GRUB stuff persists, and has fried my brain. I don’t want to do a friggin’ research project on partitioning and MBRs, and neither do most potential Win converts. I just want the thing to work.
"MMORPG’s would lose the depth without a keyboard and all other drawbacks from the PC."

My Playstation 2 allows the use of a USB keyboard and mouse... consoles are becoming more and more like computers it seems, but I think computer do have some advantages still.
This rings very true with me. I have switched to a dual boot Linux/XP system as a direct result of my experiences with Vista RC1. I also think that a second stage of your migration prediction will take place. Users will flock to Linux, maybe tinker with Compiz and find that they have a rock solid system with effects that make Vista look amateur. These users, veterens of the M$ world will then begin to miss their proprietry software...Office, Photoshop Illustrator etc and compromise. This compromise is likely to be OSX.

On another note I think Microsoft have also made it easier for people to leave the platform by producing the Xbox/360. A large number of people stick with MS because of DirectX. Now it’s on a console there is no need. I know it’s deeper than that for the hardcore gamers but for a large majority it makes sense to just get a console these days.

29% of what users going to linux over vista? Yeah right........29% of users that voted here are maybe .0001% in the real world. Lets put up a bs Heading and get coverage. pft 29% hahahahahaha yeah right...in what fairy tale world?
I’m a big pc gamer so I don’t see myself going to Linux or Mac. There really are not many good games for anything but the PC.

I don’t know if I will upgrade or not. If I do it will not be soon. I probably will upgrade eventually to get the directX 10 capabilities, but DX10 games are a ways off.
"My vote went for staying on XP, because I need Windows for some stuff I do" this is the lammest more common excuse to leave windows... aka. don’t want to learn... you can do whatever you used to do in linux, just in a different way.
I really don’t care about Vista at home because I switched over to OS X about five years ago. However, I’m sure it’s just a matter of time before Vista rears it’s ugly head in my workplace. I was recently asked to test IE7 on XP and on Vista at work, which was my first encounter with Vista - an encounter which can be summed up in one word: S-L-O-W! I can’t remember the exact configurations of the test machines, but I do recall that overall they were twice as fast as my 1.6Ghz notebook which works fine for all my .Net development work. It will be interesting to see how businesses mange to justify the expense of hardware upgrades just to go to an OS which, as far as I can tell, isn’t a dramatic improvement on XP. Maybe over the course of 2-5 years as aging hardware is swapped out as part of the normal upgrade cycle, but sheesh...I feel sorry for us as end users to get stuck with Vista if it doesn’t perform any better than what I saw.

windows xp sucks ... fuck windows... i hate them!
i love linux kubuntu 10 but i will format my pc with windows xp... cause i have some problems with linux
Over the years i have used many flavors of linux, i’ve also used Every version of windows.
The two reasons Mic*osoft has, and will, maintain control of the OS market (for the time being) is because of the following:
- People have grown up using Windows.
-Developers and programmers aren’t writing Linux versions of their windows software.

To justify my first point, the average kid at some point has played a computer game, and which OS does the game run on? - windows.
So our children are forced to use it when they want to play games on pc.

My second point - for an example take a program like...Adob*e Photoshop, People have used it on windows, it does what they want, and they have spent their precious time learning how to use it.
As far as I am aware, unless you run an emulator (very buggy), there is no way to run this program on linux.
So why would I, the average joe/jane on a budget, not use my windows OS that i paid good money for, grew up with, and have all my favorite programs on - just for an operating system that i will have to install from scratch, learn, and find new different programs that do the same as my old ones? Because it’s free? "Too much inconvenience" they will say.
The solution?
When programmers start writing Linux versions of popular new games, that’s when people will start changing.
Nothing motivates like a whinging kid.
Parents will get their kids the "new game", find out they need to "upgrade" to Linux and Install it.
And then kids will learn linux from the start, just like we learned windows.
I have have used linux for a little over two years now. I built my first commputer at that time. I went to Linux because of Windows licenseing and wanted to try out linux .I still use windows at work and can say that Linux is a much better operating system. It has been a complete replacement for windows at home.
I have several PC\’s in my house and currently all of the non-servers are XP. I am actually doing all of the above when Vista comes out. I PC game on my laptop and will probably run Vista on there. My wife I am switching to a MAC as she is heavily into the video/photo editing etc... and my kids are moving to Edubuntu. My servers are already FC5 so hey, something for everyone. I do have to say I amthinking of dual booting my machine becasue I really dislike the licensing for Vista not to mention the built in DRM crap. If the major PC game companies made Linux versions I would drop Windows so fast it wouldn\’t be funny.
I have several PC’s in my house and currently all of the non-servers are XP. I am actually doing all of the above when Vista comes out. I PC game on my laptop and will probably run Vista on there. My wife I am switching to a MAC as she is heavily into the video/photo editing etc... and my kids are moving to Edubuntu. My servers are already FC5 so hey, something for everyone. I do have to say I amthinking of dual booting my machine becasue I really dislike the licensing for Vista not to mention the built in DRM crap. If the major PC game companies made Linux versions I would drop Windows so fast it wouldn’t be funny.
Gee.... What is left to say, I agree with all the above! M$ is acting too much like Big Brother for me. It is My Computer Damn it!!
>little old lady

have you met my mum? unlikely... It wasn’t a "all mums are rubbish at computers" because that’s an utterly bizarre claim to make. All I said was MY mum wouldn’t know what it is.

So please, try not to take non-generalised statements personally :)
When I started read about Vista requirements and licence, I quickly started trying/learning linux just in case to be necessary change when Vista arrives, today more than 1 year after ther first steps into linux, I don’t care about Vista or the windoze world.
as in Brazil a GOOD 3D card is extremely expensive, do not need to worry about games. :P
"...the average person (like my mum) wouldn’t know what Linux was let alone see it as a viable alternative."

I’m a Mom and consider myself an average person. I switched to linux 5 years ago. I am sooooo sick of women being seen as the quintessential know-nothings when it comes to technology.

In regard to A Gamer, There is no way in HELL that PC gaming is coming to it’s end. True, many of us have and use consoles, but the PC wil always allow us to have more advanced features and ad ons and such than consoles do. Imagine replacing your classic strategy game with a console, it would become way to simplistic, MMORPG’s would lose the depth without a keyboard and all other drawbacks from the PC. I a waiting for a version of Linux to come along that I can confidently game on, and then Windows is OUT!
i love linux. i am a user since the win95 days. and i am sick of windowz. I move completely to linux the day i know linux exists.
i am fine with that. i don’t care of windows world =p, for games.. i am fine with ps2.

Vista’s aggressive EULA and WGA was the final straw. I’ve used linux lightly for about 10 years. I’m now full-fucking-bore into SuSE and i’m NOT looking back!
> Here’s an interesting thought, is Ubuntu the new Firefox?
Maybe.I’m shifting to KUBuntu - gnome sucks, KDE a way better choice for ex-Windows users but also KDE gives a lots of features all power users dreamed for.And all this for free.Surely great system.Can Windows tweak some certain window by given criteria?No?But I’m do not like how some apps behave!So, KDE can.Even if app lacks window management features like size\position remembering, sticky on top, maximized, minimized, on all desktops or whatever else, KDE can detect exact window by your criteria and tweak it as you wish.Windows does not has such feature and probably will not in next 10 years.At very best you can find some crapware which is not free and loses by features.So, Vista is choice of stupid users only.For everyone else it’s waste of moneys and agreement to sacrifice almost all your rights to allow ms to protect ... not you, but their ugly asses.
Additionally I’m willing to learn Linux inside and get rid of MS at home and at work.I’m really tired to tolerate their bastardized "innovations" mainly intended to take your rights away.Wtf I have to report someone how much times I reinstall OS and should have their approval?In Linux, I can do it and do not care about is as much as I wish.I’m do not want to get WGA spyware as "high priority update".That’s trojan horse!No matter how MS calls it.And protected processes and drivers signing is a rootkit intended not to protect you but to take your rights away.So, you can not touch system.And hence, can not touch DRM sh!t built in.Sorry, but I do not need system which trusts MS more than administrator and obeys to MS rather than administrator.Yeah, now even administrator is forbidden to have full control on it’s own system in Vista.Great?Not for me!
Vista is resource hog and it’s UI not-so-cool, you can set up same in XP or Linus.And some things like Compiz 3D desktop (in Linux) are much more impressive things while still not being such resource hogs.

Additionally, Vista has kinda bastardized license at decent price and trojan-like, rootkit-like and spyware-like features built in.Thanks, do not need such crap for my moneys.I’m surely going to KUbuntu.Already managed to make it’s look and feel close to Vista but like it even more :),Bye-bue, MS.Trojanize somebody else for their own moneys.
I’ve tried Vista beta 2 and it was disapointing for me, because It was too slow. I am considering stongly to switch to Linux. I am bored of viruses and security flaws in Window XP.
As things stand now, I run (k)ubuntu on a laptop for any real work that needs done. I have a gaming rig runing XP. That seems to be the theme here. Lucky for us, Cedega is getting much better. Still far from 100%, but I pay my five bucks a month hoping that some day, it will get popular enough that software vendors will notice and start shipping linux versions. As soon as we corner the gaming market, the penguins will roam free.
@LinuxIsShit

Unless you’re a programmer of course. There are many, many, more programming related tools on GNU/Linux than that are available for Windows,
"It’s funny most people that could switch from Windows to Linux.... by LinuxIsShit"

It is better to keep quiet and let people think you are an idot than to say anything and prove it. In your case you should probably toss out the keyboard and stick to just using the mouse for your "real serious work".
Here’s an interesting thought, is Ubuntu the new Firefox?

By that I mean, the distro that will challenge and slowly whittle away the monopoly.

It’s an open secret that most of the tech heavy blogs, etc. have a higher then usual share of non IE users. Most of whom are rather "fan boyish" in their devotion to their new found "freedom." However the thing that really interests me is if most of the technically savvy are not using IE, where does the "ordinary" user go for help? The number of times I’ve seen entries in blog comments, and in forums where somebody is bleating that they have a problem, and most of the users are saying they cant help as they don’t use use brand X. If you install Brand Y I can help and in any case you wont have that problem any longer.

What happens when most users with Vista installed get it because it came with the PC, and the average geek they rely on for free tech support says "Sorry, I don’t run Vista" Where is the average user to turn? I’m sure there will always be people who’ll provide a fix for a price, that’s not my point. But I’m willing to bet that most "average " PC users, (a wild generalisation I know) will be willing to trade free tech support for something they can use, against a shiny new toy they’ve either broken or cant use or understand.

Let’s face it, the average PC user is not a gamer, they surf, chat, do email, write letters, manage photo’s etc. It’s not exactly rocket science.

I just think it’s interesting that this trend is already underway, what does everyone else think?
Unfortunately if you play PC games (Modern mainstream PC games), Vista will end up being your only choice in the future, with the introduction of DX10 (Which, bear in mind, DOES include a lot of cool improvements over it’s predecessor)

But I have noticed a gradual shift among PC gamers in recent years towards the consoles. So is PC gaming dead? Will Vista be the final nail in it’s coffin, or will DX10 offer enough to coax gamers into the shift? No idea. I for one will e buying Vista just as soon as the first decent DX10 compatible game comes out.

If all you’re interested in with the PC is productivity software and net surfing, more power to you. But I’ll do my part to try and keep PC gaming alive.
@LinuxIsShit : Do you mean gaming when you
write "real work"?
Or you’re unaware that actually there are
-commercial Cad applications
-commercial 3D applications (Maya, softimage XSI)
-commercial office applications (Staroffice)

with which you can do exactly the same you
do in windows? Yes, they’re commercial,
but still they don’t need a licensed S.O. neither
licensed utilities or licensed drivers (as for
wacom tablets open drivers).
If you want to try linux please try Kubuntu
or other ubuntu based distro, they’re by far
easier to use and maintain than all other distros.
Just installed Ubuntu 3 days ago. Havn’t booted Windows since. People : Linux doesn’t suck, it’s not hard, and it’s better alright.
Who remember the time of Windows ME? I migrate to linux after that
I am a WinXP user, and have been following the news regarding Vista & Ubuntu closely for the last few months. I dont have a personal computer right now, but planning to buy one in future. Whenever I buy, I will definitely not go for Vista. It will either be Ubuntu or Mac.
I’ve tried every build of vista, and while I found it neat, I also installed Ubuntu, and, well, lets just say that I haven’t booted into windows for about three weeks now.
I’ve got a Mac and a desktop running Ubuntu and I love both of them (especially the Mac) however, I’m not getting rid of XP anytime soon as I need it for gaming. Why should I upgrade to Vista? The only reason for me would be if developmers started coding games for Vista. Until then, OSX for work and XP for play.
Pre-installed Desktop Linux vendors

Here is a list of vendors selling preinstalled Desktop Linux.

http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/

Ubuntu currently has a slight lead
followed by SuSE and Fedora.
@LinuxIsShit

Reality check, I as a UNIX admin, get paid substantially more then my PC team colleagues. UNIX is where the money is and always has been for as long as I’ve been using computers, (some 20 years and counting)

@Tom

Touche! Sir, Touche!
i think its not this blog which is "full" of idiots its more that most people tend to argu in an inapropriate way...
In MY Opinion with Vista , Windows will losse "some" WinXP users.
but not too much since lots of enterprises are bound to MS ( which is not a bad thing , VS rocks!) also PC gaming takes palce at Vista , soo...


Nice post, and I agree that quite a lot users will definitely try Linux, if not move to Linux, cause of all the delays with Vista and especially the hardware requirements to fully enjoy that OS. Only one thing that I am interested in with MS is the DirectX10 that according to them will make gaming close to what I always wanted to play.

Excellent post ... linked it on my blog. :)
Vista is the new Apple ///

Don’t remember that one? Well, that’s because it was buggy and so much more expensive than the Apple II that everyone kept using the old model and refused to buy the new one. Stores got sick of returns and eventually stopped carrying them.


This blog is full of idiots.
At my college they are giving Vista away free to all computer science majors. This is because a study by Microsoft found that they are most likely to steal the program than students of any other major. I plan on getting my copy and selling it.
"It’s funny most people that could switch from Windows to Linux rarely use a computer anyway. They visit Slashdot, maybe load up an office app, IM, and thats it. If you want to do any REAL work on a computer than you’ll use a Windows OS. You suckers can keep being poor, but Windows is where the money is."

That’s funny that’s what most Windows users do too. As for real work I do all of my work from my linux boxes. From connecting to PPTP, Cisco and Sonicwall VPNs to remotely manage and troubleshoot networks. To everyday office tasks, connecting to the MS Exchange server w/ Evolution and network security auditing. The only difference is I do it all securely without the threat of viruses infecting client networks and vice versa. Linux is a far more feature rich and stable work environment than Windows can ever be.
Vista is going to be the MS acid test so to speak. There is a lot of hype behind this OS and a lot of disappointment waiting from what I have seen. Have been testing Vista since RC1 and I see nothing revolutionary or amazing worthy of the hefty price tag. That and to mention that it needs some serious horsepower to run with all the eye candy isn’t helping matters any. Even if this poll were 50% accurate in the "switch to mac or linux category" it would be a MAJOR blow to MS. Only time will tell.
It’s funny most people that could switch from Windows to Linux rarely use a computer anyway. They visit Slashdot, maybe load up an office app, IM, and thats it. If you want to do any REAL work on a computer than you’ll use a Windows OS. You suckers can keep being poor, but Windows is where the money is.
MS’s policies around EULA, activation, genuine advantage, phone home technologies....enough already! I blew XP MSE and Vista RC2 off my system on the week-end and am now running SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop. Installation was simple, system is operating great, open source applications fit the bill. Unless MS changes their policies I am one Windows user that will not be upograding. The more time I spend using Linux the more I like it. It is pretty amazing to be able to install the operating system and pretty well every application you need and still find thay you have 90% of your hard drive unused. Windows would have left about 50% free. Linux stability is great, security is better, viruses and malware are rare, new distributions do not take 5 years to come to market.

While I don’t have my fingerprint reader or EVDO Aircard working yet within SLED, a google search on those devices have taken me to sites with steps to get those working. I’ll likely save that for a few weeks until I am more familiar with the environment.

I was able to upgrade to FireFox 2, Thunderbird and other Mozilla products once I learned how to add a software repository. This has been my only real frustration with Linux in the past, installing programs not in a specific distribution, but looks like this is being solved.

If you’ve been thinking of trying Linux, go do it. You can get a trial version of VMWare and install it in a virtual machine to give it a try or set up a dual boot set-up with Linux and XP. I installed just Sled as I wanted to force myself to use nothing but Linux until I become more comfortable with it. So far I’m not missing very much from the Windows environment.
I’ve already got a dual boot with Fedora core 5 - Vista and its built in spyware can spy on idiots that buy into it instead of me.
Why say it’s one or the other? There are some things that Windows apps (not Windows!) do well which have yet to appear in Linux. Many of us need these apps.

For me, I simply triple boot XP, Ubuntu, SUSE SLED10, on my Thinkpad laptop. One day, when there are excellent download managers and other utilities for Linux, I will wipe off the XP partition.

Today, I spend most of the time on Linux and maybe only 1% of my Laptop time on Windows, and that too it’s plain downloading stuff over the net.

My switch to Linux came after a worm locked me out of my Windows. That was the new beginning for Linux.

I’m really happy. I’m an IT person who spends much time on the Internet, and I don’t worry about viruses, spyware, and malware anymore.

Vista? maybe I’ll load up just to try it out. I think most IT pros will do that. But believe me, it won’t stay for long.
I switched from XP to Ubuntu about 3 months ago and I couldn’t be happier. It started out because I wanted to see how far Linux had come since my last trial period (RH 5.0). Well, Ubuntu (Dapper Drake) loaded up fine, it had all the standard office productivity software pre-installed (with exception of Adobe Acrobat which was an easy install) and all my hardware worked right way.

Since then I’ve switched a coworker, my wife and my mom over to Ubuntu. None of us have had any problems and they are all elated to see the huge benefits they’ve now seen. With strong application offerings in FireFox 2.0, OpenOffice 2.0, Gaim 2.0 and Evolution they were very happy. In addition having the Synaptic Package Manager there for all their other needs it’s easy for people to make the switch decision.
And for those that want eye candy, I just loaded up the XGL/Beryl desktop manager on my edgy eft distro and I’m really impressed at the visuals that are taking relatively little resources. MS Vista has some serious competition now between OS X and Linux.

PS: Someone earlier mentioned Vista as a RAM hog. From what I understand Windows has changed how they manage RAM and it is now deliberate that the RAM footprint is maximized. It makes sense, RAM is fast and most machines have 1 gig more more. Vista pre-emptively fills up your RAM with the data it believes you’ll use next which theoretically speeds up your OS experience.

Cheers.
Sad and bad how Oracle now offer suport to Linux, when Oracle is not and OS company. And the share of RED HAT went down... to sad.
Red Hat is a great company.
Fedora Core is FREE
Microsoft Volume75,955,283 High28.990 Low28.700 52-Week High28.99(11/01/06) 52-Week Low21.46(06/13/06) 1-Yr Return12.518%
i am a happy liunx user (PCLinuxOS) and i occasionally load winxp on vmplayer to run those windows only apps.

I dont see why anyone would opt for linux over vista. If for one reason or anothoer someboby cant upgrade to vista, they will just stay with winxp.
Hey Huggie - get with the times. All desktop Macs ship with a three button scroll wheel mouse. OS X has supported multi button mice since it’s inception.
If you want to slam the Mac, at least use a valid argument.
Microsoft today value 28.81 0.10 0.35 Volume 75,955,283 11/01
MS is about the stock market... nasdaq needs them, and the Dow Jones Industrial. Look how much of MS daily trades , is one of the most trade stock as well Intel. Why?
Suse is pretty good to.
Fedora Core is good and free
i know i will be keeping a XP box for my tv tuner cards and some of the gmaes i play but my normal box will be moving over to a linux OS i like ... like fedora .. or something else that i like and can use without needing to yell out for help

but thats one of the problems a lot of new linux users fact is the need for a lot of hand holding to get started
and the best way is in like VMware
where you can do what you want without any worry that it will F**K up your real system when your learning how to use linux

but you got the power to pick the type of interface you want your desktop to have from the KDE to gnome and some of the light desktop env to run
Remember, remember the 8th of November...
The OS upgrade season and plot
I know of no reason
Why this Windows version should ever be bought

(I’m not the author - someone’s post on Slashdot)
I’ll eventually upgrade. But at least 6 months after Vista launches. And I won’t purchase it.
Linux is cheap, doesn’t crash, doesn’t get viruses. The learning curve required is an excellent investment. I’ve been using it exclusively for almost eight years.
I too feel like I am in the XP - Linux distro switch category of this survey but I have been holding off on dual-booting a Linux distro for sometime now. The problem that I see with Linux distros and their community is that there is no real thread of commonality or standardization within the community or distributions.

If someone wanted to make the switch from a Microsoft OS to a Linux distribution they would probably become victim to information overload. What distro would the average user install and how would they know it was the right decision? Should they get Ubuntu, Mandriva, openSuSE, Fedora, Debian, gentoo linux, slackware, Knoppix, FreeBSD - you get the point.

In addition to the vast number of distributions there is also an entirely new file system and permissions allocation scheme that they would have to familiarize themselves with. It would take some time, yes, and once you have a solid understanding of the basics it is generally simple extrapolation for more advanced tasks, but with a commercial OS you essentially get a "TV effect" OS. Turn it on, it works. Once the Linux community can get together and agree upon standardized formats for shell, file formats, file systems, etc then and only then will they be real contenders for the personal computer OS markets.
That’ll teach me to proof read :)

"and games are something like 15% slower on average."
@beazy

>everyone here using ubuntu isn’t really tasting any real linux anyway.

Actually, no. My Ubuntu install has a real root password and I su rather than use sudo, but then I’m a UNIX admin.

>ignoring vista is going to be the downfall of a lot of you.

Hardly. Interestingly enough I was out with a colleague and the PC team last night, and the old boss was up from Italy to replace the PC team’s boss, (whose on holiday) and he asked if we were looking forward to Vista and who was running it. The PC team to a man slagged it off, even before I could. We’re a site with some 600 or so users, we have servers out in the field still running NT4, our desktops have only just been migrated to XP this year.

There simply is no reason to upgrade to Vista unless you have a lot of memory and a fast 3D card to make the GUI shiny. All the advanced features have been removed, it’s a resource hog that’s relying on hardware, (like flash enable hard drives) to make the OS faster, and games are something like 15% on average. There is simply no point in upgrading, It’ll just cost you too much money.

Telling you clients to upgrade to Vista, especially given the cost, when XP works just fine, is commercial suicide for anyone stupid enough to mention it.
As a Linux user for years. Every day I dream that everyone would just make the new standard something other then Microsoft. In my unprofessional opinion, I would guess that major companies will stick to Microsoft products due to their standardization, uniformity and interoperability with a wide range of services. Slowly but surely with distros like Ubuntu, (and others) things like program installation, directory services and office products are earning the trust of more and more companies. I manage a data centre for a major Canadian software company and we are deploying more and more servers with Linux with php and mysql solutions. Cheers all.
I was one of the Beta’s for Vista (Longhorn) & I’m a Micro$oft Global partner. Sorry M$, I’m gone.

Late.....
beazy, I use Gentoo and Debian. So what’s your point?

The real fact is, most businesses aren’t even touching Vista until at least a year or so later. In other cases, they’ll only consider it when Vista hits SP1.

Heck, some are still using Win2k, while others have just migrated to XP.

No one is gonna be losing clients when they prefer stability and maturity over "we should upgrade for the sake of upgrading".

In the business world, no one upgrades unless they really have to. Why fix something when its not broken?
Now all we need is a well built (from security perspective), "Windows Application Compatibility Layer" that allows anyone to run Windows apps seamlessly on Linux...Then you can really say goodbye to Windows forever! :)

Hell, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a mass exodus then!
everyone here using ubuntu isn’t really tasting any real linux anyway. they install it and thats as far as the knowledge of it goes. its a usable desktop os nothing more nothing less. use it in a business environment? PLEASE...all the people saying no vista for their clients will then lose their clients. it will come, and it will be tough at first, but it won’t go away. and ignoring vista is going to be the downfall of a lot of you.
Linux works on Macs, too.

And I play Guild Wars just perfectly on my Linux machine.

As well as Doom 3.

And PSH. Why pirate software when there’s a list of free software out there that’s 10 times better than the far overpriced software that you pirate?

Linux can write FINE to FAT32, and with MINIMAL trouble to NTFS (I.E., I’ve never had any.).

I enjoy the benefits of Linux on a daily basis. :)
What is the sample size?
TinMan Ubuntu is just barely 2 years old... using for a couple of years, sure
Already made the switch, will never look back at any of Microsoft products. Running SuSE 10.1 for my Desktop and couple of BSD servers, serves me well, also a big OpenOffice advocate, donating whenever I can.
I’ve been using Ubuntu for a couple years now, and RedHat before that, only booting my Windows partition to run games and apps that wouldn’t run in Wine. Hopefully this means that software will be aimed to a wider range of OSes now.
I will stick with XP and continue to migrate to Ubuntu. MS have really made the whole windows experience tedious with draconian anti-piracy, bloated SW, and annoyances like critical updates shutting down my machine even when configured not to.
It was all going downhill after 3.11, but XP really accelerated the trend, and I shudder at Vista. I already avoid MS Office and use openOffice instead, and will continue to purchase (or donate $) SW from companies that make good products that treat me like a valued customer, not a potential pirate.

Now having said that, Linux, even Ubuntu, isn’t that easy to use, but the OS and SW community seems to be more respectful of me as a user. For that I will give up some usability today, with the hope that it will continue to improve tomorrow.
I’ve already gotten my feet wet with Ubuntu, one of the most user friendly distributions of Linux I’ve used to date. If Microsoft is going to make people spend tons of money on Vista, then I see no other way. Even if you get your hands on a "backup" of Vista, you’ll probably need to upgrade your hardware. This is truly a case of "create a problem, sell a solution", and I hope users will stick it to MS, no matter what solution they choose.
Actually my step-father asked for Linux, he’s worried about DRM :) Though only because he read the blurb I get from the FSF from time to time. My mother freaked me out once by dropping into the BIOS (unaided) and switching the boot disk to boot into Win3.1 from 95. I stood there in shock, then asked her how she knew to do that, then she said, "well I am your mother" and then showed me a small book where she actually taken notes when I had explained this after I’d installed the new drive along with Win95.

When I next go home for any length of time I will be installing Ubuntu, (probably breezy) as it will make their laptop faster and they’re already using Firefox and Thunderbird, so they wont actually notice much.

I hate to say this but "user education" is really important with your parents, not only from the "free tech support" time sink aspect, but also from the "feeling good about themselves" standpoint. For instance my mother chides my step-father about opening attachments and clicking on unknown links in email.

At the end of the day, for the same reason Firefox makes me sleep better at night, knowing that I wont have to deal with the fallout of an IE exploit, ditto Thunderbird/Outlook.Ubuntu will mean not having to worry so much about them being up to date on patches, I can add a cronjob and know that the laptop will be patched automatically, I have iptables for a strong firewall, and little to worry about from viruses, worms & malware.

Had I had one to hand I would have given them a Mac, but software was hard to find back then, so MS it was, but not for much longer.
"100% of all somethings are going to do something. let me first qualify that by saying that I only asked some of the somethings" no bitch, first qualify it with a real statistic.
I will probably stay on XP as long as it makes sense. I already use Linux for all of my servers, but it’s not quite there for me with desktop environments. Back in college, I used Slackware with blackbox as the desktop environment and loved it, but it became too time consuming to keep the system patched. Ubuntu (Edgy) has come the closest as far as ease of install and usage, but not close enough. I will say this... once I leave XP, I will never go back to another proprietary OS, this includes Windows or OSX.
Well, I’ve been using WIndows for so many years now... I played with Slackware in the mid 90, but since then a lot has changed.. I have Ubuntu installed on my laptop (dual-boot with Win) and play with it more and more.. But being a developer who actually needs to make money I know that the market is in Windows area.. And I have to keep it to use VS at the very least... On the other hand, installing stuff or making something work in Linux is not as easy as one would think - you need to ’google’ the answers, try some of them only to realize they don’t work, etc.. I’m glad there is ’Automatix2’ script that actually installs bunch of staff that I needed - it’d take me forever to do all of that myself.. And that’s sad.. As the fact that so far I’ve seen few pieces of software that actually crash under Linux - like Flash in Firefox 2, Last.FM player and some music player..

I hope that Ubuntu will continue to move really fast to become more user friendly.. I don’t think that the way software is installed is ever going to change, as well as the fact that you have to configure lots of things to make your computer do what you need out of the box..
As a working class guy with kids, the idea of paying for new hardware to be able to run a new os just doesn’t fit into the budget. We have (4) computers now-(2) EMachines with AMD 64’s for the kids to play games on and (2) old Celeron class pc’s that the wife and I use. I loaded a debian version on my old celeron and now I am going thru the pains of learning something new and different...bin, tar, aptget...I still don’t know where or how to get the Java jre download installed, but I can already see how much flexibilty there is in Linux and maybe by this time next year I will be ready to put Linux on the whole network. As just a regular user I have been able to do everything on linux as windows, but I really don’t push the limits too far...and if I was going to anything else it might be turn one of these old units into a server of some type and I would probably use linux for that too. Plus with the low entry barrier..ie avg hardware and almost free software it brings so many more ideas to the table for whatever problems you might be trying to solve with software. So for me, I’ve already started choosing based on economics by being able to buy discounted hardware and free software compared to having to upgrade everything we have with money that could be spent on....something else...like a vacation for just my wife and I...who am I kidding my wife probably has already spent the money...I just don’t know it yet
Make mine Ubuntu!

Vista terrifies me, and is now simply bloat ware, working for myself and having to support these systems for users will be a logistical nightmare.

I am now switching to Ubuntu and planning to extend to using only PHP and MySQL for web development.

It seems old Bill gates has lost his marbles and now wants to "make" the world a better place with money he could have saved people initially.

Smaller companies could have hired more staff, trained more people if the costs of software were lower.

Bill... your philantropic ways are a lie, and you have done the world more hamr than good. No client of mine will use Vista, if they do, they can kiss their support good bye.
High prices add a sense of value to products. People feel there must have been a reason they paid a premium, so they defend their decision. They advocate their decision to others. This is what Apple has going for it. Mac laptops are expensive. In some cases, a mac will cost as much as two equivalent non-macs. But there’s "value" in the mac. Most mac users will not be convinced otherwise.

Adobe and other companies managed something similar by gradually increasing prices over the years. Microsoft probably wants in on some of that action, but the problem with Windows is it has become a comodity. Comodities are cheap. They’re taken for granted. They are valueless. How do you add value to something that has so little? You either very difficult or impossible. Add to that bloat, MS programs taking over settings, trial periods before activation, and WGA, among other problems. People might start feeling that the products actually have negative value. No wonder they feel like MS is ripping them off.

People who will not try Linux because they think it is too hard, haven’t really tried. They’re probably just running Live CDs or running it in a buggy emulator. They might be regurgitating what they’ve heard from others who know no better. Watch new Mac or Windows users who are forced to switch from one to the other (eg, because of work or financial reasons). They cannot switch back because their hardware will not run the other. No matter how little they know about computers, they figure out how to make it work because they need it to. If anyone applies that amount of dedication to Linux (that means, no or extremely limited dual booting), it’s at least as easy as any other operating system.

I am xp and linux user. Rather than vista I am going to us xp in a virtual machine on a linux hosted desktop. I will have the latest Linux and still have the ability to run windows based programs.
Any thoughts?
Some of us have already switched. I now dual boot win2k and kubuntu on my work laptop and home desktop. Still have to use windows on occasion to do work with windows only apps and IE only webapps. I am happy about Vista - feels like extra money in my pocket! (and I just upgraded my systems (3) to 6.10 for FREE.
Michael: Can’t break Linux without touching SUDO. Sure, that’s the point. Captain Obvious to the rescue. You apparently missed MY point. You can stick a user under a limited account in any OS, and they will be unable to break something. However occasionally they will need to use SUDO, or their OS equivelent. At that point Linux can be broken, just like any user using elevated rights in any other OS. That was my point to "Ryan".

Complaints that games won’t work through Wine. I am not complaining, Making an observation would be more accurate. But as far as switching to Linux and letting game companies know that there is a market in Linux Desktop Gaming, I imagine you are familiar with how successful THAT movement has been. I just want to use my computer, not become an OS activist. I know Wine has been looked down on as the bastard child of the FOSS community. However, Tux Racer just isn’t going to cut it, and the software industry has barely done anything with Linux in the last 15 years. . they’re certainly not going to change their tune simply because >I< switched to Linux.
I have 3 different OS’s running in my house. Linux, Mac OS X and Windows XP. I probably won’t upgrade to Vista, can’t migrate completely to Linux and then theres the old Mac chugging along nicely. If we’d just all admit that we need to have at least one of each OS running on 3 different computers then we can all get along. My Mac has been running non stop now for 6 months without so much as a hiccup, can’t really say that about my Windows machine.
Like several others I have switched over to Ubuntu as my primary choice, and windows xp as a back up while I learn Ubuntu. I am now using Ununtu 90% of the time and expect that I will not go with Vista.
MS seems to be trying to control the way I use my computer, while Linux lets me do with it what I want to do.

So bye bye Bill its been a good run, you have made several hundreds of dollars from me over the years, but I’m going to play with someone else who isn’t trying to beat me up for my lunch money.
Just finished setting up my pc last night. Dual boot WinXP/Ubuntu. Windows for gaming, Ubuntu for everything else.

The move is more over the Draconian EULA and DRM concerns then the underwhelming changes to the OS in general.
Irony. We have complaints that various games won’t work on Linux through Wine, so they’re sticking with Windows. But if they were to switch to Linux and let the gaming companies know they’ve switched, they’d see a lot more titles coming out with native support for Linux.

Of course you can’t do anything important without SUDO. THAT’S THE POINT. You have a basic level of protection from doing something stupid!
the thing that gets me about Vista is that dam license, and built in genuine advantage/piracy control. I have a premonition that it’s going to be harder to crack vista and then get updates for it. so linux it is!
Nitpick: It’s not true that "the *majority* of (law abiding) users will stay on XP for the foreseeable future with 38.6% of the vote." The *plurality* of (law abiding) users will stay on XP for the foreseeable future with 38.6% of the vote. A majority is 50%+1. Nice article, though.
Hmm... an actual poll about something I’ve been thinking about!!

I’ve been using XP Pro and Windows OS for a while. My Linux understanding skills are low, but I do know unix commands and stuff like that.

So I’ve been planning on installing a linux distro to test it out and get a feel of the file system and how things ’work’ in general... like installing programs... dependencies... etc.

I want to avoid Vista because it seems so silly now. I tried the recent RC of it and I couldn’t find the DOS prompt. I had read that it wouldn’t be there... but I was hoping it would be there!!

I don’t like a complete GUI. I want some prompts and typing and stuff.

Vista seems good for the people who just aren’t computer savvy and don’t have the time to learn it.

All this aside... 2gb?!!!! ram... wtf... what a system whore. When I installed the RC I have Vista 20gb partition and after installation there was like 11gb left.......... too big a foot print.

If it turns out that Vista can slice bread and do the toast... damn...

So I’m not so excited about Vista. I’ll continue to use XP Pro until I get comfortable with linux, then I’ll hop on over.

Though I’ve been thinking of buying a cheap laptop or desktop and redeem the ’free’ Vista upgrade. I am thinking of doing this so that I can learn Vista and be able to help my not so computer savvy friends... for free or for profit.

I don’t want to close myself to one side entirely.

The comments about Linux not having a decent file manager or a decent media player is utter rubbish. I’ve found that Konqueror and the Amarok/Kaffiene combo to be cutting edge with way more features than anything found in XP.
You’ve just got to love Mac/Linux/Windows flame wars.

It hasn’t been that long since Apple last sold a one button mouse as standard equipment on one of their PCs. Also, I find it humorous to see people argue that Macs are cheaper, while in the same breath arguing that anyone having problems with a one button mouse can purchase a normal mouse seperately. Alas, a quick check of Apple.com shows that their Mighty Mouse is included with every Mac, aside from the Mini which comes with no keyboard or mouse anyway. The statements from the Mac Faithful are entertaining nonetheless. Such holier-than-thou attitudes keep me away from ever going near a Mac. So much for switching.

As for Linux, my experience is that it has come a long way for desktop use, but it has taken a long time to get there. Wine is chasing a moving target, and Microsoft is all about keeping that target moving. WoW runs fine under Wine, but so far my efforts to play GTA3, VC, and SA have been met with error messages. About it being impossible to break a Linux box without using SUDO or running as Root. . forget about Grandma, who has as much trouble installing an application under Windows as she would under Linux. Lets look at a real user, like Joe Techie. If you think you can successfully set up a Linux Distro to do anything useful >without< touching SUDO (like say, installing Wine, or libraries necessary to play back something other than Ogg), send me a post card from Never-Never Land.

That being said, I have long defended Microsoft’s Os as superior to Linux (for sure) and comparable to MacOS. Unfortunately for me I do not like the idea that my $400 purchase of Vista Ultimate will be useless after I move it from my first machine to my second. I’d have to purchase Vista again to move it to another machine. I would imagine that the real reason you have such a large number of people looking at switching to Linux is not because Vista is buggy (certainly no more than your average Linux distro) or because it’s eyecandy is uninspired/useless (I like Aero). Rather, legitimate enthusiast users who are tired of dealing with WGA are looking for a way out. Put off by arrogant, fanatical, and vocal Mac users (who make the rest of the Mac community look bad) Linux is the first choice for Windows users looking for a way out of the Vista EULA.

Linux will only gain significance on the Desktop of Microsoft shoots themselves in the foot. With a .357 pistol. Several times. Surprisingly enough, it seems like they may have done just that. . at least for the computing enthusiast community (Linux/Mac/PC) in general.
i am going with a MAC! windows wants too much and never wants to give enough.
> while a strong 29.8% expressed an interest in converting to Linux.

There is a big difference between expressing interest and actually converting to Linux. I’m pretty convinced, that there are going to be some increasing numbers of Linux users, but I don’t think, that even in the tech savvy group, there are going to be 30% who are switching to Linux.

For all of those who say "my mom, dad, etc. can’t use Linux". Look at Linspire. Seriously, it’s not bad. Listen to the interview with the president of Linsipre that the Linux Action show did. It explains a lot.
For those who say " I can swtich because I need iTunes, Quicken, etc" use VMWare and set up a virtual windows box for that on program.
I use win2k still. I’d switch to linux before switching to vista just because from what I hear, vista is very annoying to use. An OS shouldn’t be more about drm than about doing what I want.

MS has been moving more and more towards drm at the cost of blocking their customers from doing even legal operations.

Unfortunately, most people who say they won’t use vista probably will end up having to use it, including me.
you "Gamer" fucktards need to get your minds out of the cyber world and start experiencing life. Go get girlfriends, run around outside, drink beer. Jeezus. Linux rocks my c*&k!
I’m sorry the mac fanboys just don’t get it. WIth the quality you get in Ubuntu, you simply cannot beat the price.
I find comparing different os’s like comparing apples to oranges to bananas.

You have linux, which is mainly for us IT system managers, admins, power users and the like who need high security systems.

Then there is MAC computers which are great for video and audio editing.

And then there is windows, which for the most part is for the "average" user.

My father would never understand how to use a linux box, how to install software, compile and decompile things etc etc... and a mac? yeah reight. Tho the macs are fairly easy to use, they don’t do anything that my dad can’t do with a machine half the friggin’ price.

What REALLY bothers me are those people who say MAC is the way to go.. sure it is, if you like perpriatory systems where you can’t upgrade ANY of your hardware. So MAC OS is really stable... windows would be really stable too if it was designed to use only one 3d card type and optimized for it. For someone like myself, I couldn’t imagine not being able to swap out a stick of ram into another of my comptuers or the hdd or maybe just to upgrade the cpu.

Linux, lets face it, not for general users. Like others have said, it totally lacks in games and software... it’s stable and secure but I find half the time it’s so much so it becomes counter-productive.

Windows does what I need it to do. Does it eat up a bit more ram, sure but that’s why I buy a gig stick every time they go down in price. After 5 months I have 4 gig’s of ram and I don’t ahve problems with it. As well, people complain that their windows boxes dont’ work as well as mac os? It seems then you obviously have no idea whta your doing. I have been able to maintain my windows box without blue screens for over 3 years now...

In the end I guess what i’m saying is that every os has it’s strong points and it’s bad points. But this "Which os is better" debate will never be concluded becuase each os is used for different things and therefore have their own specific pluses and negatives depending on what use you have for it.
Missing option:

Going back to Win 2000. Less crap to deal with.
Wow, It blows me away to hear all the reasons people don’t macs. I have used both, Windows and Mac for over 10 years, not to mention Unix, linux, Irix etc... There is simply no reason to use anything other than a mac for desktop computing. If you can find a reason, you use computers too much. Want games, use your xbox or playstation. I man really, lets say someone invented the worlds greatest computer and nobody could dispute it - these people will still be here debating switching to Vista... Are they cheap? misinformed? Hopelessly loyal in their abusive relationship? Who knows, but it sure is funny to read some of these posts.
Rob is a moron...I challenge and everday windows user to actually *break* a linux box. The worst they could do is mess up their home directory. They wouldn’t be able to change shit anywhere else unless they knew the root password, or used sudo. If you mean you couldn’t install software or got an error, its probably because your doing something your not supposed to and the system is telling you so.
Windows caters to the moron, it lets you do anything you want anywhere on the system, which...if your a moron...you can really trash your configuration. So unless your you’re really that damned fucking stupid and do something like "sudo rm -r *" from the root directory, your not going to break anything. Get your facts straight and go play your little games....whilst I bust out Quake4 on my ubuntu box, while compiling C code in the background and serving up a couple of ajax apps on the side...
@sadrat69:
I’m curious about the native resolution of your display that linux seemingly "couldn’t handle".
Software selection being ’not as good’ is a complaint, but in my experience people that haven’t used MS Office fine OpenOffice more intuitively organized.

As for liking Vista RC2... from the CTPs on into these RCs, I’ve yet to be real impreseed. Cutting the original features, and now a delay to fix a crucial bug. I’m glad they chose to delay instead of the usual "release broken, patch later" mentra, but even without WinFS... XP + glits doesn’t seem to be worth the next big dollar upgrade.
People keep going on about the Mac and their mouse. Get over it -- simply take your USB mouse that you know and love and plug it into your Mac. Heck, plug in two or three -- at the same time -- they will all work. Really.
I’ve tried Vista Beta 2, and I disliked it, mostly because it looked so much like freaking OSX. If i wanted a mac, i’d get one. winXP (for gaming, productivity) and Linux (for software development) is enough to keep me happy.
I don’t see the desktop consumer route as the way that Linux is going to be triumphant in the desktop wars, and if it’s trying to survive then it’s trying to come in second place, that’s an ugly fight to a bitter ending.

Linux is going to have to take the reargaurd approach, a full frontal attack against microsoft is not going to work. While the dissatisfaction with microsoft and it’s vista program is going to have a lot of people screaming defection, linux is not in a position in terms of development to cull the caste of people that would secure the desktop success of Linux, it’s just moving too slowly to be blunt, it is on the trailing edge, not the developing edge in terms of features.

Linux is going to have to do the dirty work of developing markets, play off of successes it has had in areas like Munich, and enter in to further such contracts with Asian powerhouses. While at the same time capitalize the gains that it is making in cellphone operating systems, and expand that functionality, until the cell phone and the city infrastructure are the functioning unit and the unified operating system.
Updating to Vista does not make sense. As with every single release of Windows since windows 95, Vista will bug ridden and insecure until it’s 2nd release. And if you’re computers not cutting edge, it won’t run Vista as it’s advertized; If you’re comptuer is cutting edge, you’re prolly using software/games that require it, so you won’t be interested is loosing all ye computers resources to the OS.

The EULA associated with VISTA is just down-right nasty. There is no way any intelligent person would agree to those rediculous terms.


In my mind, there are only a few choices:

1) If you’re computer savvy and have a decent comptuer, switch to Linux. Take a look at Ubuntu with Beryl (XGL).

2) If you’re not computer savvy or just want to be a user, and have a decent comptuer stay with Windows XP for as long as you can (At least until Service Pack 1 or 2 comes out for Vista).

3) If you looking for a new computer, Strongly consider buying a Macintosh. Don’t worry about the mouse, it can be upgraded easily and cheaply. And if you don’t like OSX...Install Linux!

If you’re considering migrating to Vista, You are strongly advised to carefully read and understand the User-End-Licence-Agreement carefully.







Follow the herd of lemmings and buy windows Vista
As a custom computer shop I’m bound to give the customer what they want. However, we also tend to stay behind the trend. Long after the large OEMs (Dell, Gateway, HP, etc.) switch to the "latest and the greatest" (and I use the word greatest loosely) we are still recommending (and usually selling) the older Windows OS. Why? Because it’s stable and most of the bugs are worked out.

As an ISP/Hosting firm we are also bound to use whatever the customer needs. However, when choice is given we use Linux for our servers. Point in fact, we have a 7 to 1 ratio of Linux to Windows servers and more users are vacating the Windows hosting platform. For ever 10 new hosting clients we get 9 of them opt for Linux which wasn’t the case 4 years ago. We also have 2 customers leaving the windows environment for every 1 that opts for that direction. Slowly but surely our Windows server farm is shrinking.

Now as far as desktops, Linux still has a way to go before it’s really ready. While the desktop specific distributions are pretty solid and fairly well made and can easily be installed in most cases, the problem is software more than anything. Many users want specific software that isn’t available. While there are alternatives, they aren’t up to "enterprise" level of abilities. One earlier comment about Photoshop being an excellent example. My designers have to stay on windows or emulate windows to be able to use their design tools. Which brings me to another problem.

Emulation on Linux and the development of is a bad idea. It doesn’t encourage developers to use more open standards. Gaming for example. As developers continue to use the painfully inadequate DirectX over OpenGL cross platform games are difficult if not impossible to port to other platforms. Yes, that includes Mac as well. If developers would follow the lead of companies like Id software and develop in OpenGL in the first place there’s very little that has to be done to make their software available for Mac, Linux, AND Windows all at the same time. A perfect example of this is Quickbooks, I’ve seen many companies who I’ve done pilot programs of Linux on the desktop have to find another solution because they tie their product directly to Internet Explorer. Not to mention Symantec and McAfee. These products have also been known to have problems as soon as Microsoft releases a security patch for IE because of changes in the code. Sometimes those changes have even stopped those products from functioning completely. Who said integration was a good thing?

So, long story short (too late), We will continue to do what we always do and recommend XP over vista even on new systems. When we can no longer get XP, I will have no choice but to go with Vista. However, that won’t stop us from mentioning Linux and we have always offered it as a dual boot option. I believe in the proper tool for the job, and quite frankly, Vista is the proper tool for Microsoft’s leverage against it’s user, but not necessarily for the user’s productivity and enjoyment of their computer.
I have a mac, And a PC. Honestly. I’ll be using the mac ALOT more.
Macs only have a one button mouse?

*looks at my Logitech mx510*

Really? That only has one button?

*Takes another look*

I’m counting eight, plus the scroll wheel. Who says you have to use Apple’s own mice? Oh, wait, those are four button mice. Rats. Where are you guys getting this one-button-mouse shit? They haven’t sold computers with one button mice for years.

People these days...
If there are billions of linux developers, why couldn’t someone make a linux app that works as good as MS built-in apps. IE Windows Media Player and Windows Explorer (not IE). There are no Linux replacements for these programs that are half as good. Linux is pretty but not so useful for gamers. Good luck getting your DX9 game to play. Yeah, DOOM works, great. That’s only 10 years old. Supposedly things will run under WINE, but how much time do you have to tweak and configure every freaking program? I’m tired of the linux people saying how wonderful it is, then we windows people jump over and immediately find that 1) it’s really easy to break the Linux OS 2) The WINE support is very lukewarm 3) Linux still can not reliably write NTFS or FAT32 file system 4) No good file manager 5) no good media manager 6) Of course, no decent native linux games. What do you expect for free anyway?

I’ve considered a move from XP to Ubuntu. The only things I would still need Windows for would be Visual Studio.NET and also for gaming. I’m getting really tired of the WGA functionality that continues to be added.
I would like to know how many people participated on this experiment.

I am a mac user since 3 years ago... I am still using the same powerbook I bought when I switched.. and it was the most expensive machine I ever bought.. but at the end the cheapest... never a pc (and I had IBMs, DELLs, ...) performed that well that long!

Regarding to the gamer.. Well, macs can now run also windows natively using bootcamp dualboot system.. You can run linux or every windows OS using parallels virtualisation software as well...
I just priced a Macbook vs a Dell Laptop that has the EXACT Same specs and features the mac was $300 cheaper.
Vista is definitely a costly affair in the third world countries like china and india with price tags starting at US $ 200 which converts to around 9k of local currency, with which people can actually buy a new computer here. So forget about capturing makets in these countries, Microsoft is encouraging piracy in these places.
Macs are too expensive. Those who say otherwise are flat out wrong. I priced out a mac notebook, and and hp notebook with comparable capabilities, and the mac notebook was about $1000 dollars more than the HP. As far as linux unfortunatley it doesn’t have the apps I need. I use Photoshop a lot, and I can’t get that for Linux, and don’t try to tell me that Gimp is just as good as Photoshop. Gimp is a piece of junk. It doesn’t hold a candle to Photoshop. The interface is backwards and it is slow. Windows PC is the right choice for me.
Lets see, I use mac because of

Final Cut Pro
Shake
Logic Pro
Digital Performer
DVD Studio Pro
Motion
Aperture

Those are wonderful programs that I use almost daily and they are mac only.
Also, my MACs just work unlike my windows box’s



Hmm, can’t see why anyone would want a Mac. They don’t play well with much of the hardware that’s out there and it’s god awful slow compared to Windows.
The reason to pick Linux over Mac...You don’t have to buy a new computer. Other than that, there’s nothing wrong with moving to Mac.
Add my vote to Linux. Actually I really already have. But on 2 systems that I dualboot with XP, I won’t be upgrading the windows partition to Vista. It offers no benefits and lots of drawbacks. Linux > Windows
I love how mac-ignorant users have such low opinions of a platform they rarely - if ever - use.

Mentioned earlier: http://www.apple.com/mightymouse
I made the move to Linux cold turkey in March. Part of it was boredom with XP for various reasons. Another part of it was I already knew that I wouldn’t be moving to Vista and figured I might as well get comfortable with a different operating system since it was obvious Microsoft would do its best to push and bully people into using Vista so staying with XP for very long wouldn’t be an option. Now I cannot say that I’ve ever been as happy with my operating system. It just purrs along. :)
I’m also a developer, at a large company, in Phoenix, AZ. I use (and fairly well like XP). I also have a dual boot pc at home with Vista RC2. I relly like Vista, at least up to this point.

I would NEVER buy a mac. Not for any reason. There is nothing a mac will do, that my pc can’t. The mac is UGLY to begin with. Yuk, white plastic. And a one mouse button. What a joke. The little I’ve used a mac, I haven’t been impressed.

Linux? Why? Why would I want to. I’ve tried several ’Live’ versons. Most don’t find all my hardware. In fact most can’t handle my Samsung LCD monitor. Available software just isn’t as good as what’s available for Windows. OpenOffice is horrible, imnsho.

Will I move to Vista? At this time it’s really hard to say. I kike the RC2 a lot. Even teh 64 bit version runs well, and 32 bit programs (Office 2003, SQL 2005 Express, VB 2005 express, etc) run well. I’ll probably wait for a while to make a decision. No OS is perfect. not even close.
> What does anyone want a mac for?

1. It’s pretty. No matter how much you dislike the OS or prefer another, you cannot deny it’s visual appeal.

2. You can run industry standard apps on a mac. Adobe/Macromedia, MS Office, as well as a host of Mac-only alternatives puts the mac high on the list of Vista alternatives for me.

3. It’s got BSD guts so I can geek out if I want to. Download the source. Compile. Live in bliss.

4. Support. Linux is free, but support isn’t. If I’m going to pay for support, I might as well get something nice.

5. You get what you pay for. I’m working on a much older 17" PowerBook right now and it just keeps on ticking. Sure you pay a little more for the product, but, it lasts.

My two (or five) cents.
I hope the Linux companies are gearing up for a media campaign. Plenty of folks are going to want to switch to a new OS, but nobody will want to download ISOs. Make it easy for the non-technical folks and Microsoft might loose a large chunk of their market share.
"Mac is a nice platform but they have over priced laptops."
Not anymore. Same hardware pool, same price pool. Macs are actually either cheaper or just a little bit more expensive than a lot of their PC counterparts.

"Why would anyone choose to use a Mac? To start, they only have ONE mouse button. I won’t even go further than that, cause yuck."
although your comment was made in the height of ignorance, i’ll dignify it with a response.
http://apple.com/mightymouse
Mac is a nice platform but they have over priced laptops. Seeing mac is based off BSD it has a nice unix terminal. And it can run Mac OSX, Windows, even linux with some tweaks.
People wanting a Mac over a PC running Linux? I think not. I already own a great PC, I’m not buying a whole new computer, just replacing the OS.
I’m a contract developer who’s worked on Win16/32 plying my trade. I’ll be going Vista as it’s my remit to stay involved in the area of technology where my expertise is and I earn my cash. However, I must say I have my doubts. Win upgrades have always been power hungry processes, but Vista could be a killer. And the control MS is trying to exert with Vista is stifling. It is now so much more than just an OS. One of the reasons why MS has done so well in getting their OS into blue chip business is their dedication to backward compatibility. But are layers of compatibility, combined with reams of showcase graphics just going to swamp the hardware one step too far?

We’ll know where we stand three years from now.
I too have tried Vista RC1, and I have to say I am not impressed. I am a dual-booter anyway (XP/FC6) but if XP support did die then I would ditch Windows altogether,

To the person who said people would obviously get a Mac over Linux: I find that hard to believe, the ridiculous overpricing of Macs turns most people off. Why pay all that money for a doorstop?
I made the switch to linux Kubuntu just last week end. I already had the last version of it installed and was dual booting to windows usually. But I decided to try to upgrade to the new edgy distro. Really it didn’t go too well this time, it was the first not so good upgrade that Ubuntu has released. So I did a fresh install instead. I didn’t have anything worth keeping on it anyway at that point.

The Fresh install of Kubuntu went wonderfuly. I like the new features and the ease of use immensly. Also with geting the Automatix 2 installer afterwards I was able to get all of the funcionality of windows that I could want. I can open PDF’s with adobe, run java and flash plugins in swift fox, a faster version of firefox and I didn’t even have to configure a single thing at all. It totally recognized all of my laptops hardware and wireless router settings and even had plug and play on my usb mouse. It has totally taken over my windows experience now. Also you can emulate a lot of windows programs with Wine and there is also a program you can get that will run windows hi end games written in direct x or other formats. It can run even the most cutting edge windows games.

The only recomendations I would make is seting up the system to dual boot windows and linux in case there is a program you want to run in windows that will not work in linux. Also if you do upgrade to the next Ubuntu distrobution I reccomend waiting a month after the upgrade has been released so they can get the last of the bugs out. I also recomend Kubuntu rather than Ubuntu because I find the desktop enviroment more engaging and fun. KDE is also much more customizable than Gnome or at lease was easyer for me.
I want to switch to Linux or OSX, but the problem is that I am a PC Gamer, and the way things are right now, all of the games that I want to play are coming out on the PC through Windows. So unfortantently I am stuck with the OS. But beleive me. If gaming was better on a different OS, I’d make the switch in a heart beat. I am so sick and tired of having to call up microsoft every single time I want to validate my copy of Windows XP whenever I decide to reformat my HD and reinstall it (And when it comes to Windows XP, it’s practically mandatory to do that once every 6 - 8 months, to keep things optimal). Apparently for Windows XP, you are allowed to validate windows through the internet a total of 2 times, and then you are FORCED to call them up and go through the phone automation process... to only fail that, which THEN brings you to a live representative that can validate windows for you. ARRRRRRGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHH!
We`ll never see anything like DSW (Damn Small windows) and that 3d desktop shows off that Linux development looks and feels better than Windows will ever be.

Its around 5000 programmers Versus millions and millions and millions of Linux developers (guess i exagerate a bit xD)

Yet, gaming industry might just make the change to vista look not so stupid as it looks now...we need to make gaming companies build linux ports for their games now. Its the only line behind linux and windows...for gamers, that is.
Another reason this savy user is gearing up for Linux is the price point of Vista. I am being priced out of updating to the new Windows version. Money always matters, and I’m not even close to budgeting for a $400 OS or even a $300 OS. That’s the bottom line.
I call bullshit. Obviously people would want to go with a Mac over linux.

http://www.gimme20.com
If you add the "Stay on XP" with "Switch to Linux" numbers, you get almost 70%. This can’t look good for MS in the short run. In the long run, however, people will switch to Vista the same way they did with XP; by buying new PCs from Dell, HP, etc.
>What I wonder os if Microsoft casn force an upgrade in XP or Vista by killing features when they decide to stop supporting it?

most probably, although is there any support for XP currently? =P

No doubt they’ll make Vista look like a world beater but I’m not convinced at all, RC1 was impressively underwhelming and although it’s not the final version, it’s a good indication.


I moved to Linspire Linux this year due to the directions i see Microsoft going in.
What I wonder os if Microsoft casn force an upgrade in XP or Vista by killing features when they decide to stop supporting it?
I think the article says it all with an exception of what XP users who stay with XP will do after Microsoft stops supporting XP - then what? Which direction will they go then? As you stated, there are already viable, solid alternatives (PCLinuxOS and Ubuntu are just the tip of the iceberg with that regard) which an "average Joe" computer user should be able to get along with just fine. By "average Joe, I’m talking people who just want to get online to surf, email, chat and do some light/medium office-related activities.

Oh, one more thing, "It was an all too slow affair for my liking with a RAM footprint King Kong would have been proud of." That’s the quote of the week!
Installed Ubuntu over XP last night. Good so far!
Sweet, nice article.
I have already started to switch to Linux (Mandriva 2007). It looks like it is developing really fast. 3D desktop in Linux already looks and works much better then anywhere else. Not to mention that you can get it free and you don’t have any troubles with viruses, worms and spyware. Stability is also great and I like it that you can customise so many things, from how the system works to how the desktop looks.
win for the Linux community?

what does anyone want a Mac for? ^_^


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