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Making the Switch To Windows "Workstation" 2008
snydeq writes "Disenchanted with Vista? Why not convert Windows Server 2008 into the lean, efficient, reliable 'power user' OS that Windows should be? InfoWorld's Randall Kennedy, who has been using a converted 'Workstation' 2008 as his primary OS since hitting a wall using Vista as a Visual Studio development platform four months ago, says the guerrilla OS has turned his Dell notebook into a well-oiled machine that never gets sluggish and rarely needs to reboot. Those interested in making the switch should check out win2008workstation.com, a clearinghouse for 'Workstation' 2008 tips and techniques. Kennedy also offers a link to a Windows 2008 Workstation Converter utility for those looking to quickly convert a fresh Server 2008 install without hacking the registry or manually installing/enabling lots of services and features."
We live in great times... imagine, a Windows Server that is actually good for SOMETHING.
The Admin and the Engineer
Linux is free and performs great on new hardware and old hardware alike.
It's also extremely unpleasant to use if you expect software to just work and be in a finished state. (Hi, KDE Project!) I write OSS code and I respect the work of Linux developers, but it's absolute shit on the desktop and will remain so as long as there are eight thousand different distros all zooming in diffrent directions.
Considering modern Linux distros have UIs which are easier to use and more productive than windows (give windows users a few days adjustment, of course)
Um, no. Modern Linux distros have terrible, terrible UIs. I spent six months using nothing but Linux, except for my dev tools in a virtual machine. I was never more happy to get back to Windows. You have no idea how shitty the Linux UI is to those who don't have any interest in bending their brains around weird, unintuitive paradigms that a bunch of nerds (they're nerds--geeks have social skills) find useful.
And I'm saying that as somebody who wanted Linux to be good. As it is, it's barely usable. It's unpleasant for anyone who just wants to sit down and do something, as opposed to fight with the system in order to get to the point wheere you can do something.
the only reasons left for running Windows are legacy apps that only run on Windows, difficulty with drivers and games.
Are you a child or something? Are you posting from your mother's basement? How about Windows application development (so actual people, and not just a tiny segment of the population, can use your software)? How about using those very-fucking-much-non-legacy apps that are required to do work? "Legacy" is not defined as "running on a platform that doesn't give RMS a boner."
And no, WINE is not the answer to using those non-legacy apps on Linux; I respect what the WINE guys do but their execution remains shitful.
The critical failure of Linux advocates like you is in assuming that other people want to work to make their computers do what they want them to do. Linux expects that. You expect that. Normal people will tell you to fuck off, like I'm doing now.
"You can either have software quality or you can have pointer arithmetic, but you cannot have both at the same time."
*sighs* Server 2k3 was also viable as a home OS just as the wife's car is perfectly capable of taking the Kimbal Pond Road... A steak knife is perfectly capable of being a screwdriver but a tool that fits the job description is better suited and just because you can use super glue instead of solder doesn't mean that it is the best solution in the real world. In other words, sorry but no... The OS isn't designed to be a home based OS for the masses. Using it as such is okay by me and most anyone else but, really, ... Oh wait... You have a nickname of "fishwithahammer" and I'm telling you that you can fish with a fishing pole and have easier (maybe not better) results and you find that offensive? Please go read what I wrote (unless I was mistaken in my typing and in that case keep fishing with your hammer) and come back with something more informed than "idiotic." If one isn't going to go to Vista then the alternatives (to remain on common hardware) are XP and Ubuntu for the masses. Anyone fishing with a fucking hammer is too stupid for words but at least I tried to make it simple for you.
"So long and thanks for all the fish."