Microsoft Offers BestBuy Employees Anti-Linux Training

OSNews ^ | September 8th | Jordan Spencer Cunningham

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

According to a leak from a BestBuy employee, Microsoft is initiating a sort of "Anti-Linux Training" course for the employees, and those who take part in the said training are rewarded with a copy of Windows 7 for only ten dollars. The leaked screenshots of the campaign show Microsoft's comparison of its own system with an obscure "Linux" and how Windows is better in every way including security, "free downloads", and software and hardware compatibility.

When Microsoft said a few weeks ago that its biggest threat was Linux, I suppose a campaign such as this was to be expected. We've seen the Laptop Hunter ads against Apple as well as that "Apple Tax" report. Now Linux is the target, apparently.

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

We know what threatens you, Microsoft.

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

.

[dalebert]

lol i am thinking of changing to Linux

[sierrahome]

I have a little Asus Eee Netbook that has Linux on it. That was my first exposure to Linux about a year ago and along with Linux I discovered Open Office. Fantastic!

[Hodar]

I agree, Open Office does almost everything MSFT’s Office does, and instead of costing $300+, Open Office is free.

I like free, I can afford free ...

[ShadowAce]

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Good for you.

Be prepared for rough edges, all software has them. Some rough edges aren’t really rough edges, they’re just a change of habit.

And be ready to ask questions. No matter how stupid you may think it is. There are no stupid questions, what’s stupid is keeping yourself in a state of frustration.

Linux supporters love to support newbies.

[Boucheau]

Will you add me to your ping list, please?

[ShadowAce]

You’ve been added. Welcome Aboard!

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Linux is an enormous threat to Microsoft. People love to claim it isn’t, but the fact is that cross-platform apps like Pidgin, Firefox, and Thunderbird are gaining market share every day. Those basic applications make OS switches much less of a shock for the end user.

[B Knotts]

There’s a long way to go to challenge Microsoft, but Linux is gradually gaining users.

[KoRn]

I’ve often found that doing the opposite of what a Best Buy employee recommends is the better decision to make.

[Tribune7]

Got Dad a Dell Linux laptop (not netbook) for Father's Day. It was a good choice.

And does Best Buy even sell computers with Linux?

[Tribune7]

I’ve been using Gimp on a Mac. Not as good as Photoshop but you can’t beat the price.

[Lazamataz]

Yeah, if you want to sign onto China’s OS.

[ozark hilljilly]

I have a little Asus Eee Netbook that has Linux on it.

I got my kids Asus netbooks for Christmas last year and they love 'em! My uber geeky nephew was blown away that those lil' things had a Linux OS on them. Now he wants one!

[Dr. Sivana]

People love to claim it isn’t, but the fact is that cross-platform apps like Pidgin, Firefox, and Thunderbird are gaining market share every day.

I'm getting more impressed with some of the new, large niche apps. Openproj looks like a keeper, and Microsoft had 90+% of the "project" software market, and hence could charge REALLY exorbitant fees for their decent product.

I am waiting for a Linux database program with a useable front end. The one that comes with OpenOffice is awful. Ideally, something that reads and writes SQL, Access and the old standards (DBF, Paradox) but looks more like FileMaker Pro.

[unixfox]

There’s a long way to go to challenge Microsoft, but Linux is gradually gaining users.

For how many years now?

[hosepipe]

I went Linux about a year ago..
I havn’t looked back..

At some stage developers will have to start to include Linux drivers and setup..
I am surpised they already don’t/mostly..

[Hodar]

Used Gimp, it’s not as user-friendly as Photoshop (ok, user-hostile is a better term). But for 99% of what I do, Google’s free photo-editing Picassa is the best deal I have seen. The only thing this free program doesn’t do, is erase images from a picture. I expect a new version will enable that feature too. If you haven’t tried it, give it a whirl.

[B Knotts]

16 years. There’s no hurry. There are enough users now that we get plenty of good stuff.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

I use Mysql with PHPMyadmin as the frontend.

I love it, but it’s what I’ve been used to using for about 10 years, so your mileage may vary. :)

[Dr. Sivana]

For how many years now?

On Internet servers, close to 15.

On the desktop, not so much. I don't see it happening until one release aimed for the desktop becomes dominant. Ubuntu is a decent candidate for that.

If a flawless XP emulator (for running the apps) ever got developed, that would help a lot. (Flawless includes painless).

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Mint is much more polished than Ubuntu.

[Tainan]

Sounds like a good deal. Win 7 is spoken of as being a good OS.

[Dr. Sivana]

I use Mysql with PHPMyadmin as the frontend.

I will give it a try. I must admit, I really hate, hate, hate this tendency to put "MyThis" and "MyThat" in so many products. It makes the product sound like a teenage girl's purse instead of a real piece of useful software. When I dset up users' XP and 2000 boxes, I have the 2000 interface, but rename the "My Network" and "My Computer" icons.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Oh, and try Virtualbox. It’s not an emulator, but it’s pretty close to flawless. And in ‘seamless’ mode, you don’t even know you’re in a virtual machine. Installs in a couple of clicks and is extremely easy to use.

[Señor Zorro]

Linux is an enormous threat to Microsoft

Perhaps some day, but not quite yet. Microsoft believes in preventative medicine. Corporately, I think they still remember how Gates made his way to the top and are afraid of being blindsided by the next big thing. So, rather than worry about which thing is the next big thing, they try to kill or take over it all.

[Dr. Sivana]

Mint is much more polished than Ubuntu.

I don't doubt it. And GEM was better than Windows back in the day. And DR-DOS was better than DOS. And Intuition was more advanced than Mac System 7 and Windows 3.x. If there is a new contender every year and a half, the Linux crowd will have more difficulty getting critical mass.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

No, it’s a big threat to Microsoft. If I had said it had already conquered Microsoft, then I’d agree that ‘not yet’ would apply. :) Rest of your post is spot on. :)

MS is reading the tea leaves. There is also going to be a serious threat from the new Ubuntu ‘app store’-like program that will be the new front end to Apt. The easier things get for the uninitiated, the more of a threat they become. The streamlining of software installs is a major part of that.

[zeugma]

This kind of stuff  makes them look weaker than they really are.

 Zeugma is 100% microsoft free, and has been for years.

~ :) uname -a
Linux tanstaafl 2.6.29.6-217.2.16.fc11.i686.PAE #1 SMP Mon Aug 24 17:16:21 EDT 2009 i686 i686 i386 GNU/Linux
~ :)

[perfect_rovian_storm]

I recommend Mint because it’s basically Ubuntu with some extra polish on it and it comes with everything working. With most Linux distros, you have to install the non-free stuff like Flash and codecs and stuff. With Mint, it’s all working from the second you’re finished installing. You can fire up Firefox and watch a youtube video first thing. You also can use the Ubuntu forums for any issues you might have, since it’s basically Ubuntu.

[IYAS9YAS]

Can one go between Open Office and Office 2007? That is, to say, are the files compatible?

[Syntyr]

“I’ve often found that doing the opposite of what a Best Buy employee recommends is the better decision to make.”

Thats assuming that I would ask a Best Buy employee any question other than “Wheres the restroom?”

[Arkansas Toothpick]

We bought an Acer netbook at Walmart that has Windows XP loaded. It is OK, but we also own an iMac, and I hate the sluggishness and bloated feel that is Microsoft software. I get sick of the constant worry about viruses, plus the inevitable slowdowns as the registry corrupts. No operating system is perfect, but Mac OSX and Linux are far superior in terms of day-to-day usage reliability. It just works when and how it is supposed to work.

[Pearls Before Swine]

lol i am thinking of changing to Linux

Works great after a little tinkering. I run Fedora 11 with a virtual XP machine on tap for those occasional programs or videos that need WIndows. I'm using a laptop with a Dual Core processor (about 2.5 GHz clock).

[TChris]

I am waiting for a Linux database program with a useable front end.

The sad part about your comment is that you apparently believe Access is a real database program. Real databases don't HAVE a user-level front end. They leave the front end for an application developer to create.

In the world of real databases, Access is a sad joke. It's useful for two things, in my experience:

1) It's a good way to import and/or export stuff to a real database since it speaks many "languages". (There are some limitations here though. A large table with too many fields or indexes will make Access choke.)

2) It has decent reporting capabilities.

A big part of my living is replacing old Access dbs with something stable that multiple users can work in simultaneously. (Oracle for big stuff, Firebird for small to medium stuff)

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

Red Hat is chinese? How about Suse?

[Dr. Sivana]

I see that PhpMyAdmin is PHP based. I am actually more interested in an old school non-browser based DB front end. Not all of us are programming for web sites. PHP always feels like a boat anchor in execution. Regarding Mint, if it is basically Ubuntu with smoother edges and more functionality (just as Ubuntu itself is polished Debian), AND it can installed seamlessly over existing Ubuntu installs, it could be a player. If it still requires the user to load a fresh kernel, etc. Then it still has the same headaches.

[kevkrom]

Can one go between Open Office and Office 2007? That is, to say, are the files compatible?

For the most part, yes. The biggest issue I've noted is that things sometimes tend to lay out differently in Word/Swriter documents -- a big problem for desktop publishing, where layout is crucial, but not so much of a big deal for memos, letters, etc.

I have three personal computers -- an iMac, a Fedora desktop (that I post this from), and a Windows XP laptop. I use OpenOffice, GIMP, and Firefox on all three, which gives me a pretty seamless experience with the most common applications. I sync documents using Dropbox, which makes working on something a lot easier when I'm bouncing from location to location, working on different machines.

[Lazamataz]

Red Hat is chinese? How about Suse?

Here's a picture of Ms. Suse wearing a red hat.

So you tell me.

[TChris]

Or, check out the powerful, open source Firebird db and the excellent IB Expert (free for non-commercial use) tool for administration and development.

ODBC, JDBC, PHP, etc. drivers are available for Firebird, so nearly any programming tool (including Access) can be used for the user interface.

[Dr. Sivana]

The sad part about your comment is that you apparently believe Access is a real database program. Real databases don't HAVE a user-level front end. They leave the front end for an application developer to create.

Of course it is a "real" database program. It is a real database with am integrated user front end. Any program that can re-sort and organize data is a database program. dBase II is a database. WHen the front end was added to dBase III+ it was still a database. The piece of crap in Microsoft Works is a database. Even Lotus 1-2-3 is a type of database. A lot of the stuff that I work with is flatfile and doesn't require high-end relational capabilities.

Saying that real databases don't have integrated front-ends is as ridiculous as saying that real text editors and word processors don't have integrated print spoolers and preview modes. I don't want to go back to TECO, XSET and SuperWYLBER.

I have never represented my self as being a big shot database developer. People I work with use Access. I prefer FileMaker Pro (another unreal program). And, as it turns out, the reporting capabilities (using Excel data) is what my associate mainly uses Access for.

[Buckeye McFrog]

wow, Microsoft seems so evil....I had no idea they were in the health insurance business....

[Halfmanhalfamazing]

halfmanhalfamazing’s been microsoft free for about 6 years.

:-)

[KoRn]

"Thats assuming that I would ask a Best Buy employee any question other than “Wheres the restroom?”

This is true. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever asked a BB employ a technical question. Though I do some people that have. I know a guy that asked a BB employee what he would need to buy to setup a networked printer. He ended up walking out of the store with around $550 worth of hardware, most of which he obviously didn't need. I spoke with him afterward, and set him straight. He ended up taking most of the stuff back.

[papasmurf]

Taking technical advice from a BB employee, is like asking a McDonald’s employee for their wine recommendation.

[TChris]

People I work with use Access. I prefer FileMaker Pro (another unreal program). And, as it turns out, the reporting capabilities (using Excel data) is what my associate mainly uses Access for.

If that meets everyone's needs, then great. :-)

The reason you don't find that sort of software on Linux much is because of its "big iron" heritage from Unix. In that world, a database is large and multi-user.

If a spreadsheet qualifies, then OpenOffice.org has a very capable application. Its database might be fine for you too, once you get up on the learning curve for differences vs. Access.

I take it you've tried OOo's database. What did you not like about it?

Access is the most expensive part of MS Office. I suspect the db is the most complex part of OpenOffice.org too, hence the last to the party as far as features.

[The Great RJ]

From my experience with employees of Best Buy asking them for advice on anything other than the location of the men’s room is pretty risky.

[papasmurf]

If you’re using a MS sql, then here are two for you...

http://www.knoda.org/ Knoda will connect with MS sql and vanilla sql’s using ODBC

Aqua Data Studio works with them all. http://www.aquafold.com/downloads.html