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Windows User Experiments With Linux for 10 Days
An anonymous reader writes "Clarence Ladson over at Flexbeta decided to kick Windows to the curb for 10 days in an experiment to find out just how hard it would be to 'quit cold turkey' and move entirely to Linux. It's amazing how many day-to-day operations require the inadvertent use of Windows in our daily lives."
Until Linux gets a pervasive implementation of COM, I will not be switching anytime soon. It is used in Windows for just about everything, form OLE to shell extensions, clipboard management, component re-use, app automation etc. and for good reason. It is a great technology, and something that is completely missing under Unix/Linux - and I can't see it coming anytime soon due ot it being a standard, and a long standing one at that. Something an existing OS can't just pick up at a later date.
I.O.U One Sig.
I don't think the alternatives are quite up to snuff yet. That's a problem. I mean, I have a laptop, so Linux won't even install, but asside from that...
The GIMP vs Photoshop? Photoshop wins. Open Office vs Office 2003? Office 2003 wins.
About a year ago I was still on Office 97. The UI was pretty annoying, so I figured I needed to upgrade. Trying to save money, I gave OO a try instead of buying Office 2003. After a week, I was ready to go back to Office 97 over OO. I ended up going and getting Office 2003 after all, though.
Sure, things could've changed since then. Still, I don't think Open Office can compare to Office 2003. Yeah, you can adapt with annoying quirks, but I prefer to not have those quirks.
If there's one thing Microsoft has, it's R&D. Their engineers know how to create a functional UI.
As a never-Mac-owner intrigued by the OSx86 business, I have looked around on Mac forums online--and they look pretty much the same as Windows support forums, just without the spyware and virus problem threads. You still see programs and hardware that refuses to work right, and you still see operating system utitities that won't work right. Right now there's threads polling who has installed the latest two security updates, because some people's machines will not boot afterwards, or will only boot partially. There's one topic posted around concerned with if refurb G5's are covered under the "exploding capacitor" warranty that Apple is providing original owners for their G5 machines that fail due to this problem. There's not really a lot of solid ground to claim that Mac is any better than WinXP at anything except at running Mac applications. If you want to use the word "perfect", then let me know when Apple offers a money-back crash-proof guarantee on their OS's.
Aso I noticed: when anyone asks about office software in general, most people say MS is simply the best. Neo Office lacks many features, and nothing Apple themselves provides even approaches the features of MS Office. Often you don't need all those features, but when you do nothing else has them. And note: these are current Mac owners, not my opinions.
I'm still intrigued by running OSx86, but would have to buy the hardware to do it fully. The other thing Mac users gush so much about is that "kick-ass graphical interface", but I'd just have to spend time trying to use one to comment on that--but I have not yet heard of anything involving it that is really significant. I *do* like the Linux GUI feature of multiple desktops--especially if you only have one screen--but then, what's even better than multiple desktops is having the hardware priced cheaper, so that you can [i]afford to buy two screens[/i]. But when I think of "Apple" and "low-priced hardware", somehow that just doesn't compute.....
Try learning to use the spell checker on your serious computer. You're not doing anything on "behalve" of anyone, retard.
"Beware of he who would deny you access to information, for in his heart, he dreams himself your master."