Have You Tried Linux, Official OCC Poll #41 Options

[CPU_Cooker]

D3,
I hear where you are coming from, but a lot of it boils down to time. The fact is, I am a big fan of Microsoft. (Don't kill me for saying that, Please)

But the bottom line is, though it has taken them 12 years to get here, in most cases, Microsoft works with relative ease. I have spreadsheets that are 4mb in size when they contain no data. They retrieve information from the Net, they link to other spreadsheets, word docs, and even other applications, several of them in fact. I know it would take a significant effort to get up and running on "Free" software.
Let's say my time is worth the average hourly wage of about $16.
Download and install "Free" OS and Software....5 hours. Maybe you can do it faster, but I have never had an easy Linux install, add in 2 hours for figuring out which distro of all the Free stuff to download. You know where I am going with this. Let's say I had a good couple of days and got every thing working in a tight 20 hours, two 10 hour days. That is $320 right there in lost wages, which is not far from the cost of XP + an office Upgrade.
Then don't forget all the time needed to learn how to do everything all over again. Hey, I can drive an MS product right out of the box, in most cases no RTFM needed.

FREE is a relative term, and does not always apply to the Dollar figure attached.

I do use FireFox though.
As for MS terminating IE for the Mac, A browser, of which there are 5 free ones competing for market share....Sorry, that is totally not the same as an Office application suite.

Hey, I like the linux reveloution, it keeps MS on their toes. If Linux can do it and people really like it, then soon, XP will do it. That is the way MS works.

CPU_Cooker

[GameGuru1]

I've only ever used the Live CDs

[Jezza]

I started back in the day of Red Hat 6 and destroyed a fair few Windows installations in the process!!

I recently switced to Debian as a secondary desktop from Mandrake (been usinf it since Mandrake 7.1) Its secondary purely because of Outlook 2003, if I could run Outlook 2003 on Debian, I would probabally use it all the time. (Provided I can get DHCP working for my network... Sometimes I miss Mandrake's graphical network config utilities)

[Kamikaze_Badger]

I tried Knoppix. Didn't like it.


Personally, I like the plug and play style of Windows. It installs easily, has plenty of drivers so you can install and go, etc. Also, most programs are made for it.

I've never had issues with Windows XP crashing on me without something else contributing to it. It would "crash" (as in go to an IRQ error screen) sometimes while playing Kal Online, but that was because of a fault in the software I believe.

The only time I've really seen it truly crash, it was for either too high of an OC or too much spyware and viruses (on the family computer. You couldn't even boot into safe mode). Bad memory timings or too low of a vcore can lead to it crashing too, but that's a PEBCAK error entirely.

And, even though Windows is simple to use, it's actually a very flexible OS, with the tools included. I mean, spend some time in %systemroot%\System32, and you'll find a plethora of programs that you may find usefull. Such as Dr. Watson (logs any program crashes), the Windows Fault Checker, and eudcedit.exe (character editor). Also, the registry makes things easier for tweaking programs and program settings, including being more accurate with some Windows settings.


That's my opinion, though. I know that there are some people who prefer Linux to Windows for their own reasons. Most of the time, it's for a private server for people who can't afford the server edition of Windows, or when it's not practical to use that.




PS Linux != UNIX != world's most stable OS.

[CNUco2007]

ya know, i don't use Linux alot but i do use UNIX. i have an iBook and OSX is based on UNIX. Most of the time im on the computer, i'm just using the UNIX terminal.

[Bionix]

I don'thave a problemw ith windows.... I tried knoppix for a bit but i decided it's too much of a wasted effort to learn linux... since windows suites its purpose. Maybe somone can convince me otherwise though..

[Silverfox]

give me some time and i'll give it a go. otherwise, i like my pc the way it is it's nice to know that everything i like is the way it is etc.

although i know linux should get some of my attention some time....i just don't really know if i could make the time for it

[vaguy02]

Gentoo is the way to go!!

[kibitzer99]

There is nothing wrong with Windows as long as you take care of it. To some degree you have to take care of Linux too.

I like Linux because our first family computer was a DOS box. No GUI, no clickety click. I cut my teeth on a command prompt, and I loved it. Discovering Linux and how much you could do from the shell was a refreshing experience.

Sure, Windows makes life easy, and I salute it for that. Microsoft has done a good job in that area. Linux can be a pain sometimes when it comes to doing certain things, such as installing software. But it's so much more satisfying after hours of profanity, wailing, and gnashing of the teeth to see your program finally start. Much more than Install-->Next-->Next-->Next-->Play.

Windows and Linux. Both have their strong points, both have their weak points. I guess it just kinda depends on what you're into.

[CNUco2007]

There is nothing wrong with Windows as long as you take care of it.  To some degree you have to take care of Linux too.

I like Linux because our first family computer was a DOS box.  No GUI, no clickety click.  I cut my teeth on a command prompt, and I loved it.  Discovering Linux and how much you could do from the shell was a refreshing experience.

Sure, Windows makes life easy, and I salute it for that.  Microsoft has done a good job in that area.  Linux can be a pain sometimes when it comes to doing certain things, such as installing software.  But it's so much more satisfying after hours of profanity, wailing, and gnashing of the teeth to see your program finally start.  Much more than Install-->Next-->Next-->Next-->Play.

Windows and Linux.  Both have their strong points, both have their weak points.  I guess it just kinda depends on what you're into.
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yup, u've defenitly got it. each OS has its trong points and its weak. whether its OS X, Windows, Linux, or UNIX, or any other crazy OS. They all have good points and bad. I like all the capabilities of linux and unix but they are not nearly as easy as windows. ive spent the last couple days trying to get XTERM to run NEDIT. I finally figured it out (thank you google) and now its great I do agree it is much more satisfying when you install something on a linux/UNIX machine haha

[r_target]

I managed to get Mandrake installed a couple of times last year, and I've got a Knoppix CD around here somewhere. I never really invested too much time in it just 'cause there was usually something else I wanted to work on.

For me, Linux is like reading War and Peace: I'll get to it someday, but not today.

[Aristotle]

I tried Knoppix. Didn't like it.
Personally, I like the plug and play style of Windows. It installs easily, has plenty of drivers so you can install and go, etc. Also, most programs are made for it.

I've never had issues with Windows XP crashing on me without something else contributing to it. It would "crash" (as in go to an IRQ error screen) sometimes while playing Kal Online, but that was because of a fault in the software I believe.

The only time I've really seen it truly crash, it was for either too high of an OC or too much spyware and viruses (on the family computer. You couldn't even boot into safe mode). Bad memory timings or too low of a vcore can lead to it crashing too, but that's a PEBCAK error entirely.

And, even though Windows is simple to use, it's actually a very flexible OS, with the tools included. I mean, spend some time in %systemroot%\System32, and you'll find a plethora of programs that you may find usefull. Such as Dr. Watson (logs any program crashes), the Windows Fault Checker, and eudcedit.exe (character editor). Also, the registry makes things easier for tweaking programs and program settings, including being more accurate with some Windows settings.
That's my opinion, though. I know that there are some people who prefer Linux to Windows for their own reasons. Most of the time, it's for a private server for people who can't afford the server edition of Windows, or when it's not practical to use that.
PS Linux != UNIX != world's most stable OS.
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This post is filled with ignorance. I use Linux 24/7 and Windows on my laptop to play games (radeon linux drivers suck). With gentoo, my main box banana, my system takes only five seconds to boot up. Show me a windows system that can do that. I do not see the practicality of using Windows as it does not suit my interests plain and simple. I don't use it to run servers and I don't run it to provide services to others.

Use the registry to customize how programs run? Pfft... With Linux why not just manipulate the source of an application to change how it functions or to customize? As of yet, I have failed to see the source for Outlook or IE so that a user may customize it to their preferences.

As for the logging and hardware troubleshooting, dmesg and /var/logs has everything one could need. Who needs watson when you can monitor every single aspect of your system?

Seriously, you can praise Windows all you wish but when someone who has used Linux for a significant amount of time such that their knowledge is superior to the beginner these simple praises do not hold their grounds. If you like Windows, fine. If you like Linux, fine. However, do not blame the use of Linux on the Windows specific ignorance of its users.