What's Keeping You On Windows?

schnell asks: "Here's something I've wondered about for a long time. While it seems that the majority of Slashdot readers are no fans of Microsoft, recent polls show that 47% of Slashdot Users are using Windows as their main OS (and I bet that number is much higher in server logs). So I have a two-fold question: 1) Is it just the 'vocal minority' that favors alternate OSes over Linux and 2) if not, what's keeping you from 'putting your money where your mouth is' - why are you using Windows? My own situation is that I use an IT-mandated Win98 (ugh) laptop at work, but at home I'm Mac OS X all the way. While I did pay Microsoft for Office for Mac, I try to avoid filling their coffers whenever possible, so for all the family/friends who rely on me for computer recommendations I recommend Mac or Linux. Do people like using Windows? Are games the driving factor? Or is it just 'the right tool for the job?'" It's a perennial question, and one that is fitting to review every so often, if only to see how far Open Source has come, and how far it needs to go.

Comments

waiting for a stable version of KDE

[badfish2]

I like linux a lot, but I'm tired of the constant updating I have to do in order to get features that already work in Windows. My biggest beef, however, is with the KDE, which doesn't seem to be very backwards compatible or upgrade friendly with every major release they come out with. So fuck 'em!

Let me get this straight

[WildBeast]

You want people to use Open Source, yet you use a Mac? Can you get any more proprietary than that?

Re:What keeps me on windows?

[Twirlip of the Mists]

Gimp is just as good as photoshop from what i've seen, though im not a graphix guy.

Obviously not.

No offense intended to anybody who worked on it or anything, but Gimp is an incredibly weak imitation of Photoshop. It's not suitable for any real work.

Wow, long answer, AC

[BiOFH]

Did you convince yourself of all the above yet?
You can write some more if it will help you feel OK about yourself. :)

Re:Two simple things...

[aziegler]

>> connect to source safe, upload code to the servers,
>I know nothing about sourcesafe, can't help you here.

SourceSafe is the "CVS" for Visual Studio. Except, like, it's actually usable for serious projects, unlike CVS.

-austin, hates CVS with a passion, can't find anything that he does like that's free or Free or just open source and works on Windows and Linux equally...