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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.
I recommend this excellent title.
Think of it as a "howto" for your specific needs.
It actually contains some excellent humor, espescially considering the subject matter.
*posted anonymously for obvious reasons*
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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That was exactly going to be my recommendation. At a previous employment, I was faced with a very similar situation. It took me a few days but I came to the decision that I would not continue to work in such an environment. The next day I told my manager that if I was forced to use an OS which limits my abilities as an employee, I would no longer continue my position. He was surprised and amazed, but took it seriously -- my coworkers and I were allowed to keep our environments.
I eventually left for other reasons. Quitting is always an option. It probably won't net you the same outcome, but I would never stay at such a blinded company.
#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.
- SSH for Windows - works great for terminal access and secure file transfers.
- Teraterm - network device access via either telnet or serial port. There is an SSH add-on, but I prefer the "real" SSH client above.
- TightVNC - for your Windows boxes
- Superscan - great port scanner and all around TCP/IP utility
- Cygwin - for all your real *nix shell and utility needs
Those are the ones I use most of the time. I have them on my main computer at work, my home computer, and the laptop I keep in my work van.Jason
"FORMAT C:" - Kills bugs dead!
Don't listen to him. He just wants your job before it's shipped overseas. :D BTW, when you quit, where can I send my resume?
- 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.Now, as for learning Windows, take the good advice of some of the other posts and install, learn, rinse, repeat until you have a better understading of Windows. It wonn't be fun, but it is worth it. Knowledge has always been key to advancement at anything and you should see this as our opportunity grow as a professional and as a person. Griping about it will not help your situation and as the saying goes: "If you can't take the heat, get out of the kitchen".
I don't agree with their decision, but I am pretty good at interfacing with managers. I can tell you how they are thinking (if they are so big as to be able to buy out other competitiors). Their first thought is that all branches of the company should use the same technology. This allows for a centralized support staff, and it allows for easy transitions from one branch to another. It's also easier to order equipment and hire personnel when everything is standard across the board.
Please understand, this doesn't mean it's the best solution for all branches, but it is the best solution from the viewpoint of upper management, and they are the ones calling the shots. It can be good to have each division handling their own affairs and deciding which technology is best, but in my experience, this requires an amazing amount of competence and integrity out of your lower level managers, which is quite difficult to find.
Now that they have switched your company over to Windows, you are now a liability. You are paid for your technical expertise, which is no longer needed. If you drag your feet and show that you are not proficient in Windows as well, you become an even bigger liability. At some point, they will ask themselves if it's worth paying to train a UNIX sysadmin to work with the Windows system, especially when they apparently don't want to. It would be cheaper and easier for them to hire Windows sysadmins, and you would probably be happier continuing your work with UNIX elsewhere. At least, that's how they'll justify your firing.
If they've already switched another shop over and experienced these problems, then you may already have a target on your head. Just be thankful that it's fairly hard to fire employees and hire new ones in their place. So, they may just be waiting for you to trip up and show your incompetence and unwillingness to change as a reason for your dismissal.
If you like, after you've adapted to the transition, you can write a document that shows the impact cost of switching over, and possibly this may sway their decisions the next time they take over a UNIX shop. If you want your desktop switched back to UNIX, you're also going to have to show that the switch back over to UNIX isn't going to cost them any money now (new hardware and software) or the future (do your own tech support) AND how it will directly benefit the company as a whole -- this means "how will it make us money" in business talk. Remember that everything in business ultimately boils down to cost and profit.
Best of luck.
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Based on the criteria as given, you've kind of talked yourself into a corner. If you're not allowed to install "random software", then most of the people here recommending various random software packages aren't going to help here. If you're thinking that you're not going to get any software support, then you're hosed; twiddling preferences in Windows just isn't going to do anything.
What I would recommend is trying to dig deeper. Why aren't you being allowed to use your preferred environments? Do they need you to run on Outlook? If so, rather then buying everybody a full Office load + all the other Windows crap, buy everybody a copy of Ximian Connector and let everyone run Evolution. If it's Office compatibility, why don't you examine the documents the company is generating and see if they're doing crazy stuff with VBA and ActiveX, or if OpenOffice can cut it. If they want compatibility with other developers, see to what degree they are talking about.
You need to talk their language, which is of course money, and you've got at least a certain degree of leverage in the fact that the company is going to have to buy a lot of software that will not be free. Ximian + OpenOffice is cheaper then a full Windows+Office+Support suite. Most free software is much cheaper and just fine.
Moreover, once you find out why you're making the change, you can probably quantify the hidden costs of the transition... and potentially strategies to defray it, perhaps convincing them to purchase (or, in the case of things like Cygwin, allow) the other software. Personally, for instance, being stuck in the sorry excuse for a Windows desktop I'd lose 10% or 20% productivity off the top, because I've become very proficient with multiple desktops being a single keystroke away. (Yes, there is a Powertool that does this but it doesn't match my usage patterns; I want a "move right" key, not just a "Move to Desktop 2".)
You may find they have legitimate reasons, or you may find that they have delusions. ("We develop in Windows so we want you to apply your Perl skills to our VBA apps."... yeah...) Either way, you'll be better off to talk turkey with them if you get more info. Assuming they've got good reasons, you'll know where to focus on for the software you want to ask for.
Now, please read the following carefully so you know what I'm saying: If you're stonewalled and if you can simply not get more information of this nature, then it is time to start polishing the resume and looking for a new job unless there is some compelling reason not to. Not because they're forcing you to Windows, per se, which with support could eventually be livable (and a job's a job, right?), but because this is a clear and unambiguous sign that they are completely unwilling to support their developers and deal with them as professionals, rather then children who need to be protected from themselves. Now, if you're OK with being treated as children, that's OK, but I'd be surprised; Unix doesn't encourage that attitude. I am not saying that being forced to Windows is a reason to think seriously about leaving; I am saying to think seriously about leaving if the new company doesn't understand how to best utilize developers (which happens to be the same as keeping them happy, for the most part), and to use this issue as a touchstone. If you can't get this basic information at this stage, it's not going to get better, and it's extremely likely to get worse.