[proxy_user]

You can boot from a CD and try it before installing it. Use Ubuntu for modern computers, and Puppy for old obsolete machines.

[MrPiper]

I loaded puppy on a disk,,, it would not do anything. No thanks.

[cc2k]

Bump for a later read. This thread should get interesting, if I remember this crowd.

Now for a totally unrelated sig:

---

I stand with Jason Sager in Florida's 5th Congressional District.

[Conan the Librarian]

I have a Windows 7 machine with a Fedora VM running on it.

I also have a XP VM, and I am working on getting a Win95 VM.

Why give up one for the other?

[Moonman62]

Linux provides you with freedom and freedom of choice.

And incompatibility.

[pnh102]

Cygwin for the win.

[wendy1946]

You need to keep one windows machine around until you die for apps which need it, that’s it.

[NYer]

Does it work with VM?

[Fantasywriter]

I am not technically oriented, and that is an understatement. I use XP as a word processor in which to write fiction. Should I consider LINUX, and if so, what would be my biggest hurdles?

Thank you in advance.

[ct_libertarian]

11) Your computer savvy nephew is SICK of having to defrag, unvirus, and reinstall your damned pc.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Mish-mashing straw-man and false arguments never helps the Xnux cause. That list is terrible.

[Magic Fingers]

“...the alien Windows 7...”

?? I have had zero problems with Windows 7.

[Minn]

If you've attempted an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you know what pain is.

I don't remember any trouble. It took maybe an hour total, with perhaps five minutes of attention necessary.

[OCC]

If you've attempted an upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 7, you know what pain is.

Yeah, some mouse clicks and some typing was a huge pain! What the hell are they talking about?

[Dr. Sivana]

I like all three major players, but I more or less disagreed with the gist of the article.

1. Commercial Support
2. .NET Support
3. Unix Uptimes
4. Security
5. Transferable skills
6. Commodity hardware
7. Linux is free
8. Worldwide community
9. Linux Foundation
10. Regular Updates


First, I would take issue with some of the assertions. Under transferable skills, it is saiud that since Unix skills are transferable to Unix, that is an advantage. That is not a reason to switch, as there are more Windows boxes than Unix and Linux and Mac combined. It would be hard to maintain that the skills are "more" transferable. Also, some differences between versions of Unix can be very important. One company I worked at had improperly done backups off of their HP/Apollo systems (many years ago) in part because the Unix guy had worked with a different flavor of Unix.

The same section stated that once you go to command ine, you never go back, except if you do, there are many options. The original PCs had a command line, it was called DOS< regular users hated it. Many users don't know how to use booleans, switches, masks and pipes to their advantage. The people who do can make up their own mind and will learn nothing from PC Mag.

Regarding the point about crashes. I have no difficulty getting Windows, MacOS and Linux boxes crashing. They just do it at different times.

Now my TOP TEN List why desktop users shouldn't go to Linux:

1. TOO MANY OF THE DRIVERS STINK. TOO MANY OTHERS DON'T EXIST. (This applies more lightly to Windows 7 x64, which forced me to retire my trusty Paperport Strobe Pro.) The fact that a lot of hardware is Windows-centric is besides the point.

2. A lot of vertical apps are still designed for Windows. Here I'm thinking of ERPs (e.g. MAS90/200). The many companies that run on these major products cannot move them over on a whim.

3. Install problems. Yes, they still exist. Fedora behaves pretty well, but SUSE and Ubuntu have been finicky in my experience. Finicky is bad.

4. Speed. I have found Linux to actually lag both MacOS and Windows in graphics intensive apps. Whether that is because it TRULY doesn't allow direct calls to the hardware for security (which Windows NT allowed, but I don't know about newer releases) or bad programming for apps or drivers, it doesn't matter.

5. Clunky Apps. Even the big name Linux apps have some serious design issues. The database that comes with OpenOffice is unusable. Almost as bad as WordPerfect Mail for Windows. On the other hand, OpenOffice does not force you to use a "ribbon" that no one asked for.

6. I SHOULDA-ITIS.
A:"I just installed Ubuntu..."
B: "Ubuntu?! You moron, you should have used Mint."
C: "Mint?! Are you some kind of newbie? SuSE or at least Red Hat..."
D: "SuSE? Are you some kind of Microsoft street-walker?!" A: (to himself) "What did I do?"

There is always the lurking feeling that whatever install you choose, you could have done better.

7. NEW LAPTOPS. If you buy a new laptop, some of the proprietary features built-in may be inaccessible if you blow away the Windows on it. If your drivers aren't up to snuff, you are hosed, as the laptop manufaturers aren't gonna help you with anything but the original OS. There are laptops with Linux, but that reduces your selection 99%. It reduces your choce of Linux, as well.

8. CLOUD APPS. I can run "gotomypc" or "logmein.com" on PCs or Macs, accessing them from each other. I don't believe either company allows Linux hosting of such types of things. (Of course, you can still use the Linux box to access a "gotomypc" through the browser. Many popular cloud apps ignore the Linux market.

9. MANUALS. Yeah, Linux's worldwide support base is great. But there is no substitute to being able to download well-laid out and formatted manuals. DOn't get me wrong, when Linux has serious manuals, they are unsurpassed. I am sure that the VI manual is the OED of software manual-dom. But that support is uneven at best. Some man-pages leave much to be desired.

10. Interfacing with consumer electronics. The software that comes with my digital camera will never have a Windows version. WINE is a bad gamble at best.

Now, if I wanted, I could come up with a similar list promoting/denigrating Windows or MacOS. Frankly, I think each serves a useful purpose. And each is an important check and inspirer to the others. I just thought the article didn't make its case all that well.

[ShadowAce]

[tophat9000]

I used Ubuntu.. but they still have driver issues with my laptop wifi

[shorty_harris]

I wish Microsoft sold a slimed-down version of an OS that was aimed exclusively at gamers.

[Doohickey]

Where’s the “not this crap again” guy?

[SonOfGriz]

Biggest issue for most companies with replacing your old Server 2003 box and your Windows XP/Vista/7 PCs with Linux: Active Directory and GPOs (not to mention Exchange integration). IMHO, you will not find a better solution for managing settings, shares, security, app deployment, etc for thousands of systems in multiple locations. Microsoft pulled the directory services rug right out from under Novell by making it easy to use and maintain.
As far as OS support goes, Server 2003 is almost 8 years old, and Windows XP is almost 9. I was esctatic at moving away from both (Server 2008/2008 R2 are phenomenal). Better performance, better hardware support, did I mention better performance?