I have been using Suse linux for years now,and I do believe that linux will become the way,the truth,and the light…
but still a way to go for the average user…
[quote]ZedLeppelin wrote:
I’ve been using linux for years now, and I fix Windows PCs for a living. I’ve also used Mac i reasonable amount, but not as much as the others.
If your operating system does everything you ask of it, why are you angry? I personally use linux (currently Kubuntu 7.10) but load up Windows XP for games. For anything other then games I cannot stand Windows.
My recommendation is that if you like what you currently use, stick to it. If you have an interest in computers and want to play around use linux. Don’t try it, use it properly, because its not windows, you’re going to have to learn a few new things. [/quote]
I’ve been thinking about doing that, and did at one point, but it just becomes too tedious for me.
But for the most part I loved linux when I used it, other than some compatibility issues I had when trying to get certain programs to run. Who doesn’t like free stuff?
And I’ll also have to give a nod to Kubuntu as well. The KDE interface is awesome…
Its always funny how people complain about Vista. I have Vista Ultimate 64. If you’re using a 32 bit version, what is wrong with you? The 64 bit version is much more responsive.
Most people are complaining about only 2 gigs of ram working in the 32 bit versions. Thats not even correct. XP 32bit supports 3-3.25 gigs, with simple modifications. If you want 4 gigs+, get a 64 bit OS.
Vista also benefits from more than 2 gigs of ram. I am not sure why, but things load faster. In terms of software being slow, that is rubbish. Run a program called SuperPi and see how long it takes you to computer Pi to say, 1M places. I doubt you’re going to see a major difference in either OS.
Most people seem to be running this OS on very slow hardware and do not understand how to manipulate the OS enough make it run efficiently.
It seems to me that Vista at this point is more stable than XP was before SP1. I run all my software on Vista now and I’ve had 2 conflicts, both of which involve overclocking related software which was easily circumvented. All games, new and old, appear to run fine.
I also run xp 32 bit and kubuntu desktop 64bit. I could not install other versions of linux (suse, gentu, ubuntu w/o kde) due to no support for p35 chipset w/ IDE dvd/cd drives. This might be fixed, not sure.
The OS is only as bad as the person using it. Granted, I am NO fan of MS. Bill gates pisses me off. Windows causes me more troubles than anythign else. The problem is this, I do two things that require windows: Overclocking / benchmarking (no software for mac or linux to help w/ this) and gaming. OSX has no games (at least that i could give a damn about) and linux doesn’t support any other than ID games.
Server 2003, as someone mentioned earlier is a great OS from MS honestly. I’ve never had issues w/ it. XP 64 runs on the same kernel. VERY stable compare to their 32bit counterparts. In general, 64 bit seems to be the only way to go since drivers are now common.
Sorry for the rant, I got carried away…
I guess I was blessed to the daughter of a geek. I’ve had my own computer since I was four (an amiga!), and currently own 5 different laptops and 3 desktops. I built two of those desktops and they are as powerful as I can humanely get them.
Most of the laptops are hacked for different purposes. One simply runs a cypher program I wrote in an attempt to crack the last K4 cypher.
I currently use XP, Vista, Ubuntu (gnome and kde), Linux Mint, OS X, FreeBSD, and a weird system I tried to create and mostly screwed up.
Having used all the systems there are, I can honestly say that there are pros and cons to all of them, and at each of their current development, it falls to a matter of choice and necessity.
Windows:
XP is decent. It meets all the needs of an average user with the tech knowledge of a baboon (not meant in a bad way), and will even satisfy the night-time and aspiring programmer. It doesn’t have many problems with blue-screens, although updating frameworks can somethings cause this. Overall, it’s the best Windows option right now. Nearly every program out there will run on this, and most companies use it.
Vista: from an average users point of view, it is also okay, though it will irritate some people at certain times. It has nice eye-candy, especially compared to XP which is the most 2D system out of all the current ones available. It’s still buggy because its new, and doesn’t currently support a lot of programs.
From a programmer/techie point of view, Vista sucks many balls. It is a hardware hog. It sucks up hard drive space way too much, and occasionally bogs down the CPU for reasons the average user won’t understand. Sometimes, after updating key frameworks, it refuses to log in. Really, the biggest problem with Vista is that, while pretty, it comes with two many problems and is essentially useless. Really, XP is the best Windows from every practical point of view; MS was simply getting pressured to get a new version out, so they handed us Vista.
MAC:
What to say about OS X… I like it and I hate it. Mostly, I hate Apple and the greed they exhibit. I do like the OS X desktop in comparison to Windows. It’s not better per se, I just prefer the way OSX works. It is prettier, though that is a matter of choice. I like the fact that programs can be readily compiled and run without hitch. Windows sometimes freezes/crashes when compiling. Also, the apple doesn’t need restarted after installing to ‘finalize’ it. It also comes with more options OS-wise than Win.
Linux:
I, having a good understanding of programming and OS’s, love Linux. Unfortunately, however, it will never become mainstream until it gets ‘dumbed’ down for the average user. I mean, the elimination of certain functions being Terminal specific. Most users would spaz at the need to use Terminal and code and the .conf file just to change screen resolution. Most users just want to be able to do everything right out the box, which is perfectly fine. Having to hunt down codecs and do a few tweaks for graphics and sounds are too difficult for most.
I personally love the Terminal, and the vast amount of control I have in Linux. The ability to tweak certain aspects of my graphics card to increase fps, etc, in a way that Windows and OSX won’t allow is awesome. The control is amazing, it just scares a lot of users who want to be led and given parameters. Again, nothing wrong with that.
Linux is freaky powerful. Peer into the powerhouse code that is Linux and the reality of what it is capable of is knee-buckling. One day, it will become a mainstream OS, and when it does, I believe it will satisfy nearly every current MS and Apple user, since both users have a hand in creating Linux. It is still too far off to be mainstream, but it will have its day… Perhaps the best part of it is the distros. The worst thing that could happen to Linux would be for it to be unified. Different distros open the power of Linux without the need for everyone to use the same things. KDE, GNOME, Mint, etc. each have a different feel and look while being essentially the same.
Then, of course, there’s UNIX, FreeBSD, etc. but those are completely different.
In case anyone cares, I run a dual booted XP/Ubuntu laptop. The Windows side run VirtualBox with Gentoo, Ubuntu side runs Compiz-Fusion, which is awesomely sweet.
Sorry for the long post, my inner-geek was activated.
Nice post and I agree with it mostly.
The problem with Linux becoming a mainstream OS is that in order for that to happen it would have to become unified. Becoming unified would essentially kill what makes Linux “great” in most peoples eyes now. You said it yourself, the Distro’s are the best thing about it.
The new MS OS sounds promising, though… I guess I shouldn’t say OS, I should say the new kernel.
[quote]JokerFMJ wrote:
Nice post and I agree with it mostly.
The problem with Linux becoming a mainstream OS is that in order for that to happen it would have to become unified. Becoming unified would essentially kill what makes Linux “great” in most peoples eyes now. You said it yourself, the Distro’s are the best thing about it.
The new MS OS sounds promising, though… I guess I shouldn’t say OS, I should say the new kernel.[/quote]
I hate the unified thing. I’ll cry like a baby if that happens. It would be nice if the programs worked better together, however. Amarok doesn’t work so good on Gnome…