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Moving from Linux to Windows Desktop?
slyall asks: "I work in the Network/System Admin team for an ISP. Our firm was recently bought by another company that has mandated that my team's desktops be switched over from Linux to Windows XP in the next few weeks. Some of us are have used Linux almost exclusively and going to Windows is a big change. Can people suggest any tips, books or websites to help Linux people shoved into the Windows world (especially those running lots of Linux and Cisco boxes)? We've all got years of experience on Linux but running Windows day to day is a big challenge. We don't yet know if the company will provide us with tools such as Cygwin or Windows Services for UNIX but we won't be allowed to install
random programs and may not have admin access. We're not happy with the change but we're unable to stop it. What we are hoping to do is reduce the performance hit that the changeover is going to cause." This is probably one of those situations where a LiveCD-based distribution, for use in an emergency, might help.
Just get the suits to spring for a fresh new copy of Hummingbird Exceed for each desktop. Stuff a Linux box with reasonable power under somebody's desk or in the server room.
You can cope with Windows if you treat it like a big semi-dumb terminal. It's a damned powerful terminal, and pretty stable if that's all you use it for, plus whatever desktop software they shovel at you.
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#1: Learn to love the hourglass icon, 'cos you're going to be seeing a lot of it from now on.
.scr is a screensaver.
#2: Get used to extension-based file typing, and remember that not everything ending in
#3: Develop a healthy sense of paranoia - they are out to get you, especially the ones that send e-mail with subjects like "Hello"
#4: Give thanks for the guys who develop Win32 ports of Perl, Python, Apache etc because they are the thin geek line that stands between you and Visual Basic, Windows Scripting Host and (ugh) Internet Information Services.
#5: Get hold of Mozilla, Evolution, and OpenOffice. Man cannot live on IE, Outlook and Office alone.
#6: Head on over to PacketStorm and stock up on some local admin exploits and the excellent Cain&Abel so you can take back the rights these no-good dirt-farming MCSE's are going to try to take away from you.
That should get you started.
Get yourself some free modification utilities, and etc.
p owertoys.asp
/? option for all info...it's back in XP, full-blast.
Also, I don't know what kind of access you guys will have, but this is assuming you're in fair control of your systems:
Some that I use:
ZoneAlarm (Firewall) http://www.zonealarm.com
Get the free version - does enough if you don't want parts of XP phoning home, or have trouble with LAN virii. I also use it when setting up a new machine, especially when directly connected to the 'Net. Stops most viruses from getting in, especially Blaster and the like.
FreshDownload (Download Manager) http://www.freshdevices.com
You have to register - but it's free. Haven't sold my email yet or anything, Resumable downloads etc...only one I've found not to be spy-ware ad-ware riddled.
FreshUi (Tweaking Utility) http://www.freshdevices.com
Same as FreshDownload, useful for changing those buried settings for various things, mostly interface based stuff, but some under-the-hood stuff too.
XP Powertoys (Miscellaneous) http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/
Desktop Manager - Gives you 4 desktops (I know, not as many, but still works)
Alt-Tab Replacement - Gives a screenshot of window Alt-Tabbing to...useful when have multiple unsaved docs open, etc...
TweakUI - Same as FreshUi, but different options, these two combined give you alot of different options.
OpenCommandWindowHere - right-click on folder option to open command prompt window at that folder...useful for deep or complicated folder names.
Azureus - Java BitTorrent client (allows all running in one app, shrink to tray icon)
Other programs abound, including Mozilla and OpenOffice if you need that kind of stuff.
If you're stumped on something, hit up the 'help' section...it oftentimes will actually help.
Anyone who used DOS and liked the command
General Tips:
Tab-completion is an option in TweakUI...ENABLE IT!
That's all I have time for right now...email me if need more tips...
There are 4 boxes to use in the defense of liberty: soap, ballot, jury, ammo. Use in that order. Starting now.
You will see cygwin (which others will recommend) totally left out of the recommendations. That is because I find it slow and oversized and I am not a huge fan of it. #1. Get FlashDesktops, you have to pay for it, but it is utterly wonderful. Multiple desktops on windows as fast as Xwindows. http://flashdesktops.com/ #2. Get UxUtils, NATIVE ports of lots of great unix apps. http://unxutils.sourceforge.net/ #3. Get The Bat!, it is a wonderful email client, fast, simple, can be totally driven by keyboard. http://www.ritlabs.com/en/products/thebat/ #4. Get FireFox, it is a wonderful browser on linux AND windows (I actually prefer the windows version). http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ #5. Get gVim, vim is great on linux, great on windows too! http://www.vim.org/ #6. Get OpenOffice, great on both platforms. http://www.openoffice.org/ #7. Get WinSCP, a wonderful SCP/SFTP client for windows. http://winscp.sourceforge.net/eng/ #8. Get Putty (and friends), wonderful ssh client and other utils. http://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/
#9. Get everything from sysinternals, a ton of wonderful stuff here, too much to mention, but will let you track every file access, every registry write, every debugging message. Look around, it gives you control of your box like you expect on a *nix. Ton of great command line tools too. http://www.sysinternals.com/
#10. ClearTweak, a tool to let you customize your ClearType settings (a must for LCDs). http://www.ioisland.com/cleartweak/
#11. Daemon Tools, lets you mount up to 4 ISO's as drives, and can emulate security protection. http://www.daemon-tools.cc/portal/portal.php
#12. Memstat XP, lets you monitor memory usage in tray, small and simple. http://memstat.sourceforge.net/
#13. NetMeter, lets you monitor network usage in the tray, small and simple. http://readerror.gmxhome.de/
#14. TrayMeter, lets you monitor cpu usage in the tray, small and simple. http://www.thmundt.com/traymeter/
#15. TweakUI, get control over some things you might want (like hover-to-focus, autologin, other). http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/p owertoys.asp
#16. WinRoll, lets you roll up windows just like in lots of windows managers on linux. http://www.palma.com.au/winroll/
#17. XP Log Reader, lets you watch the XP firewall logs. http://www.winxpcentral.com/windowsxp/fwlog.php
#18. WinRAR, unzip anything you want, supports tar.gz, zip, rar, arc, and much more. http://www.rarlab.com/
#19. Beyond Compare, best tool for comparing directories or files, great for syncing backups. http://www.scootersoftware.com/
#20. Nero, the best CD writer for windows. http://www.nero.com/us/index.html
#21. WinDVD, watch movies! http://www.intervideo.com/jsp/Home.jsp
#22. WinImage, create images from CDs, very easy, very clean. http://www.winimage.com/
- Simon's Win32 Cheat-Sheet - Written by a Unix fan who has moved to Windows when he started working for Microsoft.
And some software that I use on Windows:- PuTTY - Probably the best Windows telnet / SSH terminal.
- NMap - yes, there's a Windows version of this port scanning / network security tool
- Windows XP Powertoys - the TweakUI control panel toy is probably the most valuable - it lets you set up X-Window like focus that follows the mouse
Finally, read The Unix-Hater's Handbook.check out putty before you pay for ssh access.
Traceroute and ping are included with Windows. Hell, finger is included too! Other things like whois, dig, etc. can be done on Windows the hardcore way. Put netcat and some RFCs (for reference) on a floppy and send straight protocol commands.
But seriously, I admire your efforts to adapt to the changes the new owners want to impose on you. I do hope you find a way to get your job done and that you can continue in your job without undue restrictions.
But think long and hard about this new company. Will your work with them help take your career in the direction you want, or will you forever be pigeon-holed in the company as "one of those lunix freaks from that company we bought a while ago"? What other changes will they bring to your workplace?
If you can't see yourself working happily for them in five or even two years, start looking now. Take the time to put together a nice, tight resume; maybe even read up on current job-related news, refresh your interviewing techniques, maybe even read a bit about management skills, and start making contacts - all the time keeping your poker face on at work.
It is much easier to find a job while you have a job. Its a stronger bargaining position for you and it is proof to the interviwer that you are employable.
"In a hierarchy every employee will rise to his level of incompetence". The Peter Principle
Considering the jbo market we're in, I doubt quitting is a viable option for him.
As much as I dislike Windows in general, I wouldn't mind having to use Windows 2000 in his situation. But WindowsXP?!
Most large corporations not only don't require WindowsXP - but outright forbid it from being installed on the network (my company, for example). Besides, I tried WindowsXP Pro at home for awhile and found that it was terribly unreliable. On two different systems, I encountered explorer.exe (as in the file manager, not the web browser) crashes dozens of times per day.
I need a Windows machine around for gaming, so I wiped XP and went back to Windows 2000 Pro, which I have found to be the most reliable OS Microsoft has ever released. Not that it's saying a lot . . .
Here is a tip from another *nix geek stuck with a windows desktop. Convince them to set you up with Cygwin (make sure you include the X server). Run ssh-keygen in cygwin to create a public/private keypair. Copy the public key to one of the linux boxes you admin that has an X server (it should be in $HOME/.ssh/authorized_keys). On the windows machine create a .xinitrc file in your cygwin home directory that contains the following line only:
xterm -iconic -e ssh -X username@linuxbox "blackbox"
Now all you need to do is startx in cygwin and you get your nice *nix desktop :) If you don't like blackbox substitute in gnome-session, startkde, fluxbox, or whatever you prefer. Cygwin is nice, but I find that many things don't work quite right: ctrl-c is always grabbed so the only way I can quit emacs is F10 f e which is a pain and my esc and backspace don't work right in vi so that isn't an option either. It all works beautifully in an Xsession though. Besides, it just feels good to treat windows as a terminal.
You may need to tweek the firewall/# X sessions allowed/ssh settings/etc on the server. However, I think you will find it will make Windows much more comfortable for you. I have a dual monitor setup and frequently one monitor is X/Linux and the other Windows. If you can get them to give you Cygwin then give it a shot (if not then I pity you). I've found that it doesn't get much better than that for Windows. As always, YMMV.