I remember when I was 10 or 11 and we got our first 386 DOS/Windos 3.11 system. I loved to play around on it and taught myself all the DOS commands. My favorite was format c: because it counted up from 0 to 100% and at the end my parents would be furious because they lost all of their data. Their punishment (which I feel was/is cruel and unusual) was to make me learn to fix all the problems I created and from then till my dying day I will be required for any and all tech support they may need 24/7.
Ok, I've been using M$ products since DOS and windows 3.11. Up untill recently I never really thought of switching. One of the main reasons is that I'm an avid gamer and it's extremely easy for me to install a game and be playing it within a few minutes. That being said, it is my only compliment I have to give. I have become a pro at reinstalling that friggin Windows OS time and time again because of one virus/worm or other malady that windows felt like striking me with (often driver related). I won't go with macs because they are grossly overpriced (I can BUILD a comperable machine for 1/3 the price *excluding the mini which is the best decision mac has made*). So my choice has fallen on linux. The problem (so far) has been: which one. Well, let me tell you, I've tried a few. Mandrake was the first, Debian (shuddering at the pain in the ass install which was never able to boot into the gui), Suse 9.1, and Ubuntu (the one I've decided to go with). Linux is a really beautiful OS. The customizeability of EVERYTHING is a real dream come true. The multiple desktops and task switching is truely a gift from god. The speed and reliability (hardly any crashing) is impressive, even on old machines (I'm running the LiveCD off of the office PC). That being said...WTF is with installing software people. I understand the concept (mind you, the concept) of running command lines and compiling, HOWEVER, linux couldn't make it any harder to do (as far as a windows user is concerned). Granted, the selection of programs that comes automatically on the OS is great (love gimp and gaim), but they make it so friggin hard to install any other program that doesn't come with the OS (compared to Windows or Mac). I also had a few problems figuring out the networking configuration, but nothing TO far out of what I'd expect. I feel that linux has great potential and could even knock M$ off of it's throne, but if it really wants to indear itself to the general public it's going to have to fix the above mentioned problem (I haven't mentioned games or windows apps because I know that wine and cdega work even though I haven't been able to install either in ubuntu/suse). So, there's my big first post ever, do what ya gotta people.
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I remember when I was 10 or 11 and we got our first 386 DOS/Windos 3.11 system. I loved to play around on it and taught myself all the DOS commands. My favorite was format c: because it counted up from 0 to 100% and at the end my parents would be furious because they lost all of their data. Their punishment (which I feel was/is cruel and unusual) was to make me learn to fix all the problems I created and from then till my dying day I will be required for any and all tech support they may need 24/7.
Ok, I've been using M$ products since DOS and windows 3.11. Up untill recently I never really thought of switching. One of the main reasons is that I'm an avid gamer and it's extremely easy for me to install a game and be playing it within a few minutes. That being said, it is my only compliment I have to give. I have become a pro at reinstalling that friggin Windows OS time and time again because of one virus/worm or other malady that windows felt like striking me with (often driver related). I won't go with macs because they are grossly overpriced (I can BUILD a comperable machine for 1/3 the price *excluding the mini which is the best decision mac has made*). So my choice has fallen on linux. The problem (so far) has been: which one. Well, let me tell you, I've tried a few. Mandrake was the first, Debian (shuddering at the pain in the ass install which was never able to boot into the gui), Suse 9.1, and Ubuntu (the one I've decided to go with). Linux is a really beautiful OS. The customizeability of EVERYTHING is a real dream come true. The multiple desktops and task switching is truely a gift from god. The speed and reliability (hardly any crashing) is impressive, even on old machines (I'm running the LiveCD off of the office PC). That being said...WTF is with installing software people. I understand the concept (mind you, the concept) of running command lines and compiling, HOWEVER, linux couldn't make it any harder to do (as far as a windows user is concerned). Granted, the selection of programs that comes automatically on the OS is great (love gimp and gaim), but they make it so friggin hard to install any other program that doesn't come with the OS (compared to Windows or Mac). I also had a few problems figuring out the networking configuration, but nothing TO far out of what I'd expect. I feel that linux has great potential and could even knock M$ off of it's throne, but if it really wants to indear itself to the general public it's going to have to fix the above mentioned problem (I haven't mentioned games or windows apps because I know that wine and cdega work even though I haven't been able to install either in ubuntu/suse). So, there's my big first post ever, do what ya gotta people.