If you're a Vista-wary Windows user who would rather switch than fight, should you move to a Linux distro or Apple's OS X? InformwationWeek asked a Mac fan and a Linux advocate to lead a guided tour of each OS.
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Member since:2007-02-17
Otherwise, you will end up installing 1001 distros of Linux and find the one that can work.
By the time you find one Linux distro that works, your hardware is obsolete.
FUD. Pure and utter FUD. You have been called on it.
Member since:2006-12-05
Actually... there is *some* truth to that. I've had a hell of a time with wireless cards, for example. A cheap D-Link USB dongle drove me insane... never got that thing to work on Linux, and just gave up on it. When I decided to replace the USB POS in my mom's computer, I printed out a list of supposedly "Linux-friendly" internal wireless card, and took it with me to Staples and Wal-Mart. I ended up finding a whopping ONE card, at Staples, that was on the "compatible" list and reportedly had the friendly "Ralink" chip. Exact brand and model number and everything.
Got home. Put it in. What happened? Didn't work. I'm down to a measly TWO distros--Ubuntu and PCLinuxOS--that work with this card, and nothing else. Turns out that this card actually has the Atheros chipset, instead of Ralink, requiring MadWifi and some binary-only driver... apparently they changed the card without changing the model number, or something, but I got screwed over. The machine's a cheap piece of crap with a Sempron and only 192MB memory, so obviously these two distros are not very impressive on it.
As for installing Madwifi and the binary blob myself... I've had enough headaches with just trying to figure out the problem and trying to get it work (nothing but failures), I honestly don't feel like screwing around with it any more. One thing's for sure: wireless card support needs to improve dramatically before a chip ever gets installed in my system (which is unlikely to begin with--wired seems more reliable). It's honestly got to be the biggest PITA I've ever experienced in computing, right up there with adware.
Also, I might as well add, wireless has also been one of the biggest annoyances in Windows, too. But at least I can get it working. Well, for the most part. Thankfully, because I connect using an ethernet cable, I can install any distro I please and (usually) get instant Internet connectivity. Overall, I prefer Linux, but this wifi crap prevents me from replacing Windows on all the computers in the house (only one is mine anyway).
"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.
"The Verge has learned that HTC's Chief Product Officer, Kouji Kodera, left the company last week. Kodera was responsible for HTC's overall product strategy, which makes the departure especially notable on the heels of the global launch of the make-or-break One. It's not just Kodera. In the past three-odd months, HTC has lost a number of employees in rapid succession." I really hope HTC pulls it together.
"It is with huge pleasure that the Debian GNU/Hurd team announces the release of Debian GNU/Hurd 2013. This is a snapshot of Debian 'sid' at the time of the Debian 'wheezy' release (May 2013), so it is mostly based on the same sources. It is not an official Debian release, but it is an official Debian GNU/Hurd port release." Important note: 75% of Debian packages are supported bu Debian GNU/Hurd. Impressive.
"The first killer app was VisiCalc. This early spreadsheet turned the Apple II from a hobbyist toy to a business computer. VisiCalc came with room for improvement, though. In addition, a new architecture and operating system, the Intel-based IBM PC and MS-DOS, also needed a spreadsheet to be taken seriously. That spreadsheet, released in early 1983, would be Lotus 1-2-3, and it would change the world. It became the PC's killer app, and the world would never be the same. On May 14, IBM quietly announced the end of the road for 1-2-3, along with Lotus Organizer and the Lotus SmartSuite office suite. Lotus 1-2-3's day is done." Impressive 30 year run.
"There's a disconnect between how Apple CEO Tim Cook sees his company's tax strategies and how some members of the US Senate view it. That became clearer than ever today after Cook and two other Apple executives testified before Congress, explaining why they're holding most of their international income in Irish subsidiaries like Apple Operations International, which declare no tax residency anywhere in the world. AOI hasn't filed a tax return anywhere in the world for the last five years, yet it earned $30 billion in income from 2009 to 2012, according to a Senate report released yesterday." Just because something is legal, doesn't mean it's just. Apple, Google, Microsoft, and many more - these companies might not be breaking any laws, but it's obvious to anyone that what they are doing is scummy.
The new WebKit Opera for Android has been released. "Opera 14 for Android is built on top of Chromium 26, with a total overhaul of the UI in native code, making it fit well with the latest Android design guidelines. Go get the build from Google Play or point your browser to m.opera.com, and give it a spin!"
The Verge pointed me to a blog post by Leap Motion - which reveals how their Kinect-like motion control works with Windows 8. "From the second you plug in your Leap Motion Controller, you'll be able to browse the web and interact with your computer just by moving your hands and fingers in the air. With Leap Motion technology and Windows, you can do everything that's possible with multi-touch inputs - without actually touching anything. This also means that existing applications in Windows 7 and 8 will respond to your natural hand and finger movements. Soon, we'll show you how Leap Motion will work with Mac OS X." Quite cool.PocketNow interviews Marc Dillon, and there's an interesting note about why Jolla is keeping the display properties under wraps: "We're leaving some of those details out because we do understand that there are a lot of really big players in the market and they tend to take certain components in the market and dominate them. We created the ability to actually be able to run Sailfish on multiple hardware displays and be able to swap components, so this is part of the demand and supply planning phase. We are committed to this industrial design which is a 4.5-inch display, an 8 megapixel camera on the back and a front-facing camera at the front, and the exact specs of the display we'll provide when we're close to delivery." Something you rarely hear anything about.
"This is my NeXTstation Turbo Color booting the Mac System 7.1 Operating System using a hardware add-on called 'Daydream'. The Daydream has a Mac ROM and a few custom ICs in it and hooked up to the NeXTs DSP port. Turns your NeXT into a full fledged 68k powered Mac." So cool.
"The NetBSD Project is pleased to announce NetBSD 6.1, the first feature update of the NetBSD 6 release branch. It represents a selected subset of fixes deemed important for security or stability reasons, as well as new features and enhancements. Please note that all fixes in the prior security/bugfix updates (NetBSD 6.0.1 and 6.0.2) are also in 6.1."
Member since:
2007-03-07
I totally agree with you. With Linux, you must try to find out whether the distro can support the hardware.
Otherwise, you will end up installing 1001 distros of Linux and find the one that can work.
By the time you find one Linux distro that works, your hardware is obsolete.