Time to dump Windows?

[Daniel ~]

Written by Daniel
Monday, 18 February 2008

Can it be done? Is it the right time? Find out what it'll take to finally switch to desktop Mac OS X or Linux

By Galen Gruman
February 17, 2008
Infoworld

InfoWorld's "Save XP" petition asking Microsoft to keep Windows XP available indefinitely, not end most sales on June 30 as currently planned, has prompted many readers to suggest that maybe the best answer for those who don't like Vista is to switch to another operating system completely.

Front Page

[ccperf721p]

Infoworld should do a little better job screening their authors. The author is a little (ok a lot) dated with his information and wouldn't go to the effort of doing a little research. I guess it would have been too much trouble to download and burn a modern distro before writing about it.
Get a Unix based OS because Linux is behind the times? At least it comes with a 1-800 number..

[Daniel ~]

Yeah, I grabbed it mostly to keep "The Idea" of something besides MS before our readers.":O}

What I find of significance is that you never heard this kind of talk 5 years ago. Now it seems just about everyone concedes the need and/or desirability of getting away from MS if we can...as soon as we can...":O}

[Redroar]

The fact is that the hardest part of getting any OS to really work is the hardware compatibility and installation. On off-the-shelf Linux systems that's already done. I've had nightmares with Windows on driver compatibilities upon changing hardware, and right now the only computer that won't work with my printer is OSX. So, honestly, compatibility on Linux is pretty good IMO.

[Daniel ~]

The only thing I didn't get complete compatibility with was my C-Media Sound card, new chip on th card, no Linux, or Vista drivers as yet. Cliff has even set me up and shown me how to O/C my video card! ":O}

Personally, with the exception of running games, which still takes way to much time effort and knowledge to install non Native Linux games, imho. I have found in Fedora 7 and 8 complete replacements for MS windows, to which I boot only for games and less and less as my Windows games fade in interest for me...

But then I bought a PS3 to tide myself over until Linux gaming is all it can be...":O}

I think the only way someone can know is to try. After all there nothing on the line here! If you don't like it or aren't n the mood to learn a new OS, go back to you favorite flavor of windows no worse for the ware... after all it's free! ":O}

I have to admit to feeling a bit smug about not paying for software...anymore...ever... unless I want something special. Ah well, to each there own! ":O}

[dsio]

Originally Posted by ccperf721p

Get a Unix based OS because Linux is behind the times?

Choice quote there showing the author's level of understanding.

[Daniel ~]

I know I'd hate like hell to have to write anything definitive about Ubuntu after just 5 days of effort...unguided effort it would seem...

Anyone here master windows in 5 days? "The more precise the tool, longer it takes to master."

One of my teachers here should write the poor fellow tell him we will get him up and running Ubuntu if he can make another 5 days of effort... be interesting to see how interested he was in learning it in the first place...and bringing one more Ms user from out of the outer darkness can't be a bad thing...":O}

[dsio]

When I learned RedHat Linux it was a very different story, installation problems, little online help, no google, and it took a long time.

Dan didn't learn it in 5 days, but it didn't take him nearly as long as it took me, because of how much modern distros like Fedora and Ubuntu have evolved. The ASUS EEE PC sold 300,000 units in 2007, thats 300,000 Xandros linux users, most of which are just normal people looking for a cheap PC to do email, web and office tasks.

The EEE PC is set to ship several million units in 2008, as its being sold in India as well now. Theres a new British version made by another company soon, same basic idea.

Its not going to come close to competing with windows in market share any time soon. It is definately going to replace MacOS as the number 2 OS in the next few years though, and the more hardware prices drop, the more market share will grow.

When an AMD AM2 system with current hardware can be built for $250, why would you pay a further $250 for the OS.

[Daniel ~]

Exactly right! I NEVER learned Linux! I know no more about the back end of Fedora than I do about 2000 Pro. Why would I want to? I understand why others do! I thank God for them everyday!

But code is not my thing! I didn't get better, the interface became usable for almost all my needs. And, partly, but now only a small part, I was investing my time on the bases of Fedora progress. In two years I'll be very surprised if any of my current problems (Games) still persist.

Another thing... When ever I find out I need something and post for help, it almost always turns out that all I need do is go into add and remove programs and check a box...in short it's already available, I just hadn't learned what name it goes under...

Because of my difficulties with running games, I thought Fedora 7 was to soon, it wasn't, Fedora 7 was ready for me and my needs...is just can't do games with out way to much help... Native Linux game such as Quake4 4 are the exception.

Quake4 under Fedora is a thing to behold! ":O}

[dsio]

UT2007 is meant to be available on linux, they just havnt gotten around to finishing the client yet.

[Necorum]

MS will always have a market as long as games are produced on Windows X.

Everyone seems to have a wretched time with the new OS and I have no idea why? Linux free --- takes up alot of time setting up --- time is money ----- less time making something work to me means more money and time to do the things i like and as of right now (minus hardware failure itself) windows is fine i like it... You pay for what you get most of the times stress the word most.

My uptime with many moves and mobo failure and working alot.

[dsio]

Hmm... if I was getting 16 days uptime, I'd be worred that there was a severe hardware failure in my machine. My Desktop:

[ashley@Torias ~]$ uptime
05:30:31 up 217 days, 6:16, 1 user, load average: 0.92, 0.80, 0.70
[ashley@Torias ~]$ free
total used free shared buffers cached
Mem: 2074712 2034780 39932 0 74600 795200
-/+ buffers/cache: 1164980 909732
Swap: 2040244 47756 1992488
[ashley@Torias ~]$

This is the machine I play World of Warcraft on, which BSODs at least three times a day under WinXP, particularly in Alterac Valley for some reason.

Then theres the fact that latencey in WoW is significantly better under Fedora than it is under XP (XP requires several hacks just to get the lag managable), and then the fact that on my single core desktop, I can't play WoW on one screen while watching a DivX/OGM movie on my TV. The movie just jitters like hell as the task scheduler confuses itself.

Having a computer that actually works propperly is a luxury you quickly adjust to

[Daniel ~]

I shut down when not in immediate use...but I installed Fedora 7 when she was young and upgraded to Fedora 8. My 8800Gts gets it's driver updates as soon as they are released automatically...

I had a few lock ups when experimenting with Beryl Cube, but other than that, it's a rock.

Once installed some setup is indeed not straight forward and you should have a guide, that said, with a guide, it can be a very enjoyable experience.

AOA has more than a few people one can rely upon for help. I'm not saying you should do this Necorum, I'm just saying you won't know until you try. And that trying is NOT the hell it once was for me.

Trying can be a lot of fun and a real eye opener. I am not at an age where I readily enjoy having to learn new things just to do what I've always done before in another way...

Fedora has made this more than worth my time. It has given me real and tagible improvements over W2K. I'm a happy camper evey time I boot up! ":O}

Something I just learned about games, really, I had no Idea... but PC games are being buried by the consoles...to the extent that the Devs are getting together to try and do something to revitalize PC gaming (See our front page)... they will most likely fail...imho

"In light of the recent NPD report that the PC gaming industry only accounted for 14 percent of retail game sales in 2007"

The reason? I paid very nearly as much for my 8800GTS alone as I did for my PS3.( and the PS3 is the MOST expencive console! ) I really like PC gaming, but I can no longer afford it. That combined with MS domination of the OS they play upon is driving me away. I can't see this colalition coming up with anything that doesn't require more money (Nvidia would like me to buy three or four cards in the near future!! Nvidia is a MAJOR part of this colition!!)) or in the end, they will come together to.... build a console...":O}

[Redroar]

Ah, well.

Today I will try FreeBSD dual-booting with OpenSUSE, wish me luck!

Oh, but on the note of gaming, I gotta say, my PC is driving me up the wall. Honestly, now that the format war (FWIII? after Beta v VHS, and DVD v Minidisc?) is over, a PS3 is looking very attractive. I recently got a nice big HDTV for simple movie watching, and the idea of 1080P gaming on a 42" screen is pretty enticing. Really, I think having a FOSS OS that is rock-solid, fast, and does what I want it to is good for me.

Now that I'm looking into it, FreeBSD might be a bit more trouble than it's worth, but perhaps not. Looks like it doesn't 'just work' like OpenSUSE, Fedora, or Ubuntu usually do. Much more user-reliant. However, the idea of ports (makes me think of Gentoo) is intriguing. I don't think I'll be doing a custom kernel anytime soon though. But I have time, and this is something I enjoy. It's all a learning experience, and I may really enjoy FreeBSD.

[dsio]

FreeBSD is a brilliant OS but its more a server OS than a desktop one. I have a couple of FreeBSD and OpenBSD machines mainly at people's request and I've always liked them, but I wouldn't want either on my main machine anymore (I briefly had OpenBSD on a main machine, it just wasnt practical).

Oh and that reminds me... I have some friends that own HD-DVD players that really need their noses rubed in it.

[Redroar]

What have you heard about PC-BSD? It seems more in the category of OpenSUSE/Fedora, but on the FreeBSD core.

[dsio]

The difficulty is in that if you have a problem with OpenSUSE/Fedora/Ubuntu, you google it and there is no doubt you will find 20 other people that have had the problem, and solved it.

With BSD it will never quite be so.

[Redroar]

True. Right now I'm thinking that the speed OpenSUSE is running at is getting me. True, this is not a new computer, and it is running faster than WinXP did, but hey. Who doesn't like faster? What I like about FreeBSD is how lean it is and how the ports compile to the system. The same could be said for Gentoo with portage, but honestly I am interested in something that's not quite the same thing I have right now. I may just confuse the hell out of myself trying to switch back and forth between BSD and Linux as far as where things are, but I'm hopeful. One of the things about PC-BSD that doesn't really attract me is that it looks to be pretty much what Fedora and OpenSUSE are, with a different kernel. Not that that's bad, but if I already have it, why would I need another one?

[Daniel ~]

To Wander:
To venture forth without a known or stated destinanion, to travel without a known or stated pourpose. To encounter the world in innocence...":O}

[noob]

I use Ubuntu as a media PC, on an old dell GX110 with the intel 810i graphics chip. I have no problems with this machine at all.

For my main machine I use predomitly XP 64bit. The only reason is that I am having problems connecting wireless over WPA-TKIP without broadcasting the ESSID, and trying to get visio to install (nothing else opens/saves vsd files and they are for work).

XP only connects because of the Gigabyte util that is windows only and interacts directly with the driver. I have got Oblivion, C&C3, Freelancer (just) and the X series to run under wine hoping to also get Dark Messiah working when I get it, video playing/encoding is faster than in windows, just have to get used to the different apps.