Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 7th Mar 2007 18:05 UTC, submitted by Luis
Complaining about Windows Vista is a national past time on Internet forums these days. Windows Vista 'costs too much', 'has onerous product activation', 'requires too much hardware', etc. These complaints are often followed up by a very simple boast: 'I'm just going to switch to Linux'. But in today's landscape, how viable is that statment? Is the threat to switch to Linux an empty one, or is it entirely possible?"
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RE[2]: Talk of going to linux
by TaterSalad on Wed 7th Mar 2007 19:20
in reply to "RE: Talk of going to linux"
Member since:2005-07-06
RE[3]: Talk of going to linux
by Doc Pain on Wed 7th Mar 2007 22:13
in reply to "RE[2]: Talk of going to linux"
Member since:2006-10-08
"I never said it was impossible, just said people talk a big game about dumping windows then never do."
That's correct as far as I experienced. Ut seems to be because of all these little problems, such as a serial mouse not working, a video card not supported or no idea how to install a scanner driver.
As it has been mentioned before, the myth of "But I need it!" is one of the main reasons. Most people treat their PC as a better typewriter, some use it as a gaming console. They simply do not know about alternatives, they don't care about security (their own and the one of others) and they expect everything to work by itself.
Most people (at least here in Germany) use pirated software, famous programs they get from their neighbors, coworkers, friends. This software is the reason they use "Windows", it's not the OS itself they're interested in.
So I could say about Linux (as it has been said about MacOS X): The underlying OS is nearly irrelevant as long as there's a GUI and all the functionalities (not "all the particular programs"!) available. And regarding Linux, it is, that's a fact.
I've installed SuSE Linux (one year ago) on my father's laptop. Until now, he even does not know he's not running "Windows", and he hasn't had any problem using the machine. To add a personal line, I didn't own and use any MICROS~1 product for all my life. Maybe I'm a bit old fashioned. :-)
RE[3]: Talk of going to linux
by twenex on Thu 8th Mar 2007 20:55
in reply to "RE[2]: Talk of going to linux"
Member since:2006-04-21
News
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/25/13 0:45 UTC
"So in summary... Google has pulled the plug on support on a protocol they've helped popularize, after years of promising interoperability, for reasons that are dubious at best, and in a way that leaves people who don't jump to the new Hangouts app unable to talk to their contacts without any feedback that their IMs aren't getting through... And they've done that with no warning to anyone. I imagine there's a bunch of people out there wondering where some of their buddies have gone, or why their messages aren't getting responses, because this isn't documented anywhere." Google really messed this up. Such a dick move.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 23:59 UTC
The Tizen Greek Community has some screenshots of a very recent build of Tizen running on a Samsung GT-i8800. It looks wholly unremarkable.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 22:33 UTC
Joint statement to The Next Web from Microsoft and Google: "Microsoft and YouTube are working together to update the new YouTube for Windows Phone app to enable compliance with YouTube's API terms of service, including enabling ads, in the coming weeks. Microsoft will replace the existing YouTube app in Windows Phone Store with the previous version during this time." Good to know these children stopped acting like little pricks. Can we have full Google support in Windows 8 now, please?
Linked by Howard Fosdick on 05/24/13 21:41 UTC
Yahoo is acquiring Tumblr, the microblogging and social networking website, for $1.1 billion USD. Tumblr offers little revenue but lots of eyeballs if Yahoo can monetarize them. Now Yahoo is bidding for Hulu, the streaming video service. After years of ineffective responses while Google, Facebook, and others took large chunks of the online advertising market, Yahoo is fighting back. Can Yahoo reignite the momentum it had at the turn of the century? What do you think?
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/24/13 14:44 UTC
"Sources have described iOS 7 as 'black, white, and flat all over'. This refers to the dropping of heavy textures and the addition of several new black and white user interface elements." I couldn't be happier.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 23:22 UTC
"Ilja van Sprundel, a security researcher with IOActive, has discovered a large number of issues in the way various X client libraries handle the responses they receive from servers, and has worked with X.Org's security team to analyze, confirm, and fix these issues."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:04 UTC
"Google is facing a new antitrust probe by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission into whether the company is using its leadership in the online display-advertising market to illegally curb competition, people familiar with the matter said." Sucks to be Google today, apparently.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 22:01 UTC
"In the midst of the major press blitz surrounding its annual I/O Conference, Google dropped some unfortunate news about its instant messaging plans. In several places around the web, the company is replacing the existing 'Talk' platform with a new one called 'Hangouts' that sharply diminishes support for the open messaging protocol known as XMPP (or sometimes informally Jabber), and also removes the option to disable the archiving of all chat communications. These changes represent a switch from open protocols to proprietary ones, and a clear step backward for many users." That's why I always say: only suckers trust companies.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/23/13 17:52 UTC
"The wave of departures is a sign of internal struggle, but amidst all the bad news, there is a glimmer of hope. According to an anonymous HTC executive cited by WSJ, the crucial HTC One is selling 'pretty good so far'. The executive revealed that HTC sold about five million One units since launch, a performance that is deemed encouraging. However, sales have been limited by the persisting supply issues that still plague the production of the HTC One." Finally some good news for HTC. Five million units amidst supply constraints is very impressive.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/22/13 22:23 UTC
"Sony gave the PS4 50% more raw shader performance, plain and simple (768 SPs @ 800MHz vs. 1152 SPs & 800MHz). Unlike last generation, you don't need to be some sort of Jedi to extract the PS4's potential here. The Xbox One and PS4 architectures are quite similar, Sony just has more hardware under the hood. Weâll have to wait and see how this hardware delta gets exposed in games over time, but the gap is definitely there. The funny thing about game consoles is that itâs usually the lowest common denominator that determines the bulk of the experience across all platforms. On the plus side, the Xbox One should enjoy better power/thermal characteristics compared to the PlayStation 4. Even compared to the Xbox 360 we should see improvement in many use cases thanks to modern power management techniques." AnandTech does its usual in-depth thing.More News »
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2006-03-14
It is entirely possible to dump Windows.
I Dumped Windows 2 years ago. The only place I use Windows is at work where I have no choice - but I use open source apps wherever possible.
My main workstation is a Mac, my laptop Runs OpenSuse 10.2, and I have a server running Novell Open Enterprise Server (based on SuSE Linux Enterprise Server)
Thinking I would 'need' Windows, I even put boot camp on my Mac..LOL what a waste of space..I've never booted into Windoze since installing it and testing it.
Heck, after I started using open source applications: OpenOffice (and I write tech documentation for work - thousands of pages, so don't tell me OO doesn't work or isn't up to the task), FireFox, Operal, 7-Zip, Gaim, etc,etc,etc.. I found the OS irrelevant, so I switched to better OS's that I don't have to worry about viri, etc.
I have yet to find a reason to 'Need' Windows..just doesn't exist for me. If I want to play games, I fire up the game console, or run the Linux versions of the game or run them in Wine, if I must - but I find I rarley play games.