Howto switch from Linux to Windows - a users experience
I’ve read articles like “Switching for Windows to Linux in five easy steps” or “How changing your operating system can make fun with Linux” or “Why you should give Linux a chance” for five years now but there are always people who say Linux is difficult to learn and Windows has much easier install routines and so on. But what if the first OS you’ve ever used wasn’t MS Dos or Win95 but some kind of Unix-based free system like BSD or Linux?
This is a text about a guy who has always used Linux and learned working with it when he was a young man when he had to use it at work. Imagine Linux is the standard OS and Microsoft is a small company offering so called MS Windows XP. This text is meant to be satiric so don’t take me serious! It is a fictional story that ought to be fun. So speak my words: I will not take it serious or otherwise not read it at all.
My first steps with Windows XP
I’ve heard of a new Operating System called Microsoft Windows the other day and wanted to give it a try because it is said to be easy to use and intuitive. Unfortunately the author offers no live-cd to test everything before I have to install. Instead of downloading it from the Internet as I always do I had to go to the computer store and buy it for a price of ‚Ǩ 150. There is also a so called “Professional Edition” but it would cost even more. The first thing when I came home was to open the box, put the included CD into my DVD-Drive and start my PC. The install screen consisted of a simple blue background and an easy-to-use menu. I wanted to backup my data at first so I tried to open a virtual terminal but the normal CTRL-ALT-F1 didn’t work (WTF?). I had to reboot, make a copy and restart the installation all over again. The menu presented an option called “Install Windows XP” and I selected it.
Then there was a strange message that said “End-User License Agreement” and that I have to accept it in order to continue. I have never heard about something like this in Linux so I read most of the long text. I am not allowed to distribute this product and I may not make copies for my friends. This was somehow the extreme opposite of a license I’ve previously heard of that is called Gnu GPL. After I accepted it with F8 the installation continued. Windows didn’t recognize that I had ext3 and reiserfs partitions on my system and told me that it had found an “unknown filesystem”. I always thought that they were standard but maybe I was wrong. There was an option to erase the whole harddisk and install WinXP and I chose it. The next curious thing was that Windows doesn’t create a separate partition for my precious data but only one big system partition instead. “Maybe Windows has a highly secure file-system that makes automatic backups in case of data loss” I thought. Because I have a relatively big disk I wasn’t able to select Fat32 and had to cope with NTFS. It took a while to format my disk.
Unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to select any packages from a list as I always do on Linux - Windows selected everything alone instead. The only adjustments I could make were entering the correct system-time, my username and something called registration key. This is a 25-digit number I had to enter manually before setup continued. After another reboot Windows was finally up and ready - well almost. Windows wanted to be activated at first. Within this procedure Microsoft tries to access the web to verify all registration data. No way! I canceled and Windows told me that I have a 30-days trial until I must register. That sucks!
The new user interface appeared and I began to forget all the initial difficulties. It was a bit strange that there was no prompt to enter a default user for daily work. At the moment I was in administrator mode and had root access. That made me feel a bit uncomfortable because my little sister would have the same rights on that system. There also was no option to adjust file rights (something like chmod) manually and this could be another possible threat on a workstation. I’ve looked for system documentation material to start adjust my new system just as I want it but I couldn’t find anything usable (F1 is really no help). Suddenly an ugly yellow pop up appeared in the bottom right corner. It said something like “New device found.” A window in the middle of my screen told me that I should insert the device driver CD for my printer and click on “Continue”. At first I didn’t know what that means but suddenly I knew that a device driver was something like a module. I remember getting a CD together with my printer and I found it in a box on my attic. I clicked on “Continue”. My new system warned me that the device driver has not passed the hardware compatibility test and that I should try to find another driver. I was a bit afraid to click on “Continue” but finally I brought myself to do it and - everything ran flawlessly. I was a bit irritated why this stupid message annoyed be but I didn’t have time to fuss. Afterward I installed all other hardware and was ready for surfing.
There was no firewall or anti-virus software installed and I felt a bit insecure when I first entered the web. I surfed for maybe two minutes before I received a message from “Al Dick” who offered a six-year-ration of Viagra. Despite I don’t need such things (really!) it was unbelievably annoying. I found a howto on the net to turn off such messages. The Internet Explorer doesn’t have a popup filter and seems to attract ads and after fifteen minutes my taskbar looked like a battlefield full of spam. I had to close every window manually. My former Browser Firefox had tab-functionality included but IE seems to have own browsing rules and standards. But that was just the beginning: When I wanted to chat with my friends I found out that Windows Messenger doesn’t support ICQ, AIM, TOM and Jabber. I was forced to create a so called MSN-Account to continue but I refused. When I wanted to watch a newly bought DVD I got from France Windows Media Player told me that I may not use my dvd on PC because of a so called “region code”. I was a bit confused about all this and asked a friend what to do. He told me that there is data transfer from a PC running Windows directly to Microsoft in order to check my hardware specifications and to make a genuine check of my software. I was shocked. I was paying a lot of money to own a stable, secure system that respects my privacy and not a buggy, talkative piece of crap open to others like a barn door. I wanted to take a look at the source code to see if those recriminations were right but I couldn’t because there was no source included! I don’t want to talk about the so called “file hierarchy” of XP where the systems config files can be accessed via C:Windowssystem instead of /etc. You don’t want to know what defragmentation is (there’s no need for it on a linux box), I won’t speak about the lousy terminal called “command” and why you should never ever open email attachments with Outlook Express.
After the system crashed when I wanted to burn a CD with the skinny burning tool included and at the same time do some spreadsheet analysis with Microsoft’s miserable OpenOffice alternative called “Office XP” that cost me another ‚Ǩ 119 (I got it a bit cheaper because I’m a student) I put everything back into the nice green box and took it back to my trader. At the same day I installed Linux again giving a review on a half-baked, single-user operating system called Windows XP that may be ready for desktop use in about five years. Until then I enjoy freedom with BSD, OpenSolaris and Linux.
The End
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Thank you for very much. It’s been a pleasure to read this entry and to think about migrations from another point of view.
Must have been lots of work!
Cheers,
harl
Thx. Took me about three hours to get everything together. Good to see that it was worthwhile.
Now that’s what I call a good read!
Cheers
pressh
That was somewhat amusing the first 9000 times it’s been done, now it’s pretty much just a childish rant.
Is this some kind of a satire? It’s not even humorous, so work on it.
So If you own a Ford, and you sit into another car, the first thing you’ll complain about is the absence of a Ford logo on the steering wheel, because you thought it was ’standard’. Gee…
I thought your piece was an excellent read. Even made me laugh out loud in parts. As with all good satire, the truth lies just below the surface, ready to bite.
The command terminal is ome thing that bugs me when I move from a linux box to a windows one. It’s a mess, really - even copy+paste with the windows command prompt is a headache.
Hahaha! I’m still laughing. Excellent post. After switching over to Linux I still can’t understand how I stood Windows for so long.
I like you article, and how you went the other way with it. It’s usually always “from windows to linux”
I believe you speak the truth as well, Windows is not ready for the desktop, the security is a joke and the os itself is crap.
Keep it up, Stian Karlsen.
@one more thing: this is supposed to be a SATIRICAL article (and it is). Get off your period (also known as bias towards systems other than Windows).
Hello, I’ve waded through the astroturf and dodged the trolls just to come and say, “Well done!” - and I might add, as a writer of satire myself, that you may measure success by the temperature of the flames you draw from those who take it seriously.
Those of us old enough to remember a time before Win95 know that the *majority* of the population felt this way about Windows when it first came out.
@ Count Dracula - Satire != funny haha humor, necessarily.
sat¬?ire
Pronunciation: ’sa-”tI(-&)r
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle French or Latin; Middle French, from Latin satura, satira, perhaps from (lanx) satura dish of mixed ingredients, from feminine of satur well-fed; akin to Latin satis enough — more at SAD
1 : a literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn
2 : trenchant wit, irony, or sarcasm used to expose and discredit vice or folly.
ridicule, scorn, irony, sarcasm. All in this story.
LMAO!
This highlights the bias of (narrow minded) MS Windows users.
I’ve been using Linux for 12 years now.
Your article “hit home” with me.
Here’s a good resource
for your next computer.
http://lxer.com/module/forums/t/23168/
you sound like a tool. why would you even TOUCH internet explorer, and NOT download firefox right away? and you were FORCED to create and MSN-account? come on…
wow, another d00d puling about M$… how original.
Maybe when Linux gets more than .1% of the desktop market, you can write a newer one. Oh… that’s right… it’s all because that evil monopoly is keeping Lunix down. Lunix is being held back by “the man”.
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
How to switch from Linux to Windows - a users experience…
A satire from Matthias Endler…….
Troll.
I have encyclopedia britannica on dvd. How do you use it in Linux? I also run Tomtom navigator on my pocket pc. How do I get my linux computer to sync and even talk to my WM5 pocket pc? I wouldn’t have bought a pocket pc if there was an alternative that ran all the programs I wanted. BUT THERE ISN’T.
Linux is really good. I have Ubuntu installed on 2 machines BUT there is more quantity and quality of applications available for Windows. Wifi drivers are still a pain in the ass in linux.
Thank you Matthias. What a laugh. Like you I cannot imagine how an operating system which apppears to be so intrusive, open to abuse and amazingly expensive, can ever hope to succeed against Linux. This ‘Microsoft’ company (who they?) must be living in cloud cuckoo land to imagine that with its drawbacks the new operating system could ever hope to find its way on to more than a few desktops.
It seems to me that the only way this start up could survive would be by engaging in some very undesirable business practices, but as I’m sure it wouldn’t do that I imagine we will hear very little more of them.
Great stuff. It’s amazing how everyone got used to Windows’ annoyances. Some even tend to miss them on other OSes
Nice article. I however disagree with one point. Office 2003 rock, OpenOffice suck… Believe me, I use MS Office at work (because OOo does not allow me to do what I need) and OpenOffice at home (because it is free).
The rest is very true.
Wow, you are an idiot. Congrats.
Satires at least find some truths in what they take the mick out of. This is full of so much bull its unreal.
Loved the article, was brillant. I think the people who are critising have probably never used Linux .I’m a sys admin who has both windows and Linux servers (understandably not desktops) and I hear every word you say.
Man! you had it easy, you miss the BSOD!
That’s something worth to see.
some good points, and some pretty silly ones.
Well, this “article” clearly punctures a myth. The myth of Linux users being computer savvy individuals. Lack of basic computer skills transcends the usability of any operating system. I admit that Linux is a far better system for the novice, because it involves limited decisions regarding security and software. However, Windows provides a challenge in both areas.
After approximately an hours work, the security and desktop experince is easily better than any Linux desktop system in existance. All it takes is skill.
Lets see…..market share …. Windows 95%, MacOS 4% oh yeah and Linux….. 0.7%. I think the market speaks for itself. Linux would be much more popular if it ran the “popular” programs, you know the ones most average people use.
Tell me why would someone who loves Linux so much go and buy Windows…..except to be a dickhead. Oh and considering its 2006, this is a very old story so why repost it
Satire should really only be used when its actually funny
You are 100% right, windows is the suck. Very nice read
When you try a new operating system, you have to approach it with a more open mind. Things are going to be different. If Windows were just a rehash of *nix systems, there wouldn’t be any point in trying it at all.
Try to view this new OS as a challenge to be overcome, and don’t whine when you find something new and different in it.
How can you talk about “market share”. Is that the free market. Linux is free. It is used for other reasons other than being a portal to the http://www. O, it can do that too, for free, without virus problems. While MS is trying to own the www you can expect there to be security issues. As for Linux, thank God there are people out there that can supply working software for free. Linux is a desktop poser, But an incredible piece of software at that. Windows is plug&play, but takes your money and then tells you what you can & cant do with what (license) you bought.
HAHAHA….awesome read….recently migrated to linux and I can’t believe more than half the world still uses that buggy piece of malware (aka windows)
@yaz: Most of the stuff he says is true. stop being so blind to the problems
everyone else hu didn’t like this article are probably windows fanboys hu have never used anything else
Well done article!
Wait, the guy was running Linux and understood partitions, but not device drivers? Somehow i doubt it. Also, Microsoft didn’t invent region codes on DVDs, and XP SP2 comes with a firewall installed and enabled by default.
I’m not all about defending Windows, but this is just yet another fanboy rant (albeit slightly more creative than the norm). But hey, maybe you’ll get slashdotted and it’ll go full circlejerk!
And yes, I used Linux (Slackware and Gentoo) as my primary OS, desktop and server, for 4 years.
Very well said!
Maybe the setup disc of XP wasn’t SP2 and the story is fiction. It was fun reading though.
While windows out of the box is rather crappy in comparision to linux, it excels in two areas that linux hasn’t been able to touch: 1) simplicity, and 2) games.
Ubuntu has come a long way towards eliminating #1, but if you break something there’s no way you can run average people through using bash over the phone. They press long before you’ve told them the entire command, they mistake letters for different ones, don’t know the difference between / and \ or ` and ‘, and are otherwise beyond help unless you can ssh into their system and can fix it remotely.
People also expect everything to work: why can’t I view quicktime previews for the latest Superman movie? How do I play these streaming windows media files? How do I sync my pocket pc with the computer? Why doesn’t World of Warcraft work?
For most things, there is a linux counterpart for common windows applications. There are a few shortcomings however — there isn’t a linux edition of Turbo Tax for example. Similarly, most games don’t have a linux port. So while I can use linux for surfing the web, wordprocessing, photo editing, dvd burning, etc. I still can’t use linux for gaming or for every task. (there’s also no linux port or replacement for outlook, which makes it difficult to replace exchange).
Windows isn’t the golden child; there’s a lot that is lacking, however those lacking areas don’t detract from overall functionality of applications. Sure, I can’t emerge or apt-get new software and the command shell doesn’t know what grep is, but I can still do *more* from an applications perspective in windows. Until that changes, people will still consider linux to be “incomplete”.
What is it with Wintel users always coming back to “but it can’t play games”. Like the PC was invented for gamers. Those of us who don’t play games on the PC (but do on the actual game platforms) could care less if WOW,DOOM or Mario would run on out PC.
That’s why these people use Macs and/or Linux……
This was good reminds me of a conversation with a friend, I have a friend from africa that went to school in europe. She started with linux and talk about the “dumbing down” he had to do when he move her and had to work with a Windows machine for the first time.
It started off funny, but then degenerated once the user went into Windows. The installation peice was right on, tho’.
It is an interesting perspective — what if the tables were turned. This type of question was asked in the movie “White Man’s Burden”, where whites were the minority in the US and blacks were the majority. The article addressed a similar issue in the beginning and pulled it off well.
But once he went into Windows, the article took a nose dive. Obviously functionality can be different but the author wrote it from the perspective as though XP would be just like Gnome.
What’s more, it’s inaccurate. Windows DOES come with a firewall (albeit a bleak one) and Linux does NOT come with Antivirus by default.
It started off as good satire and then ran out of ideas.
Nice read. I just recently started using Linux, so I experienced this backwards. I agree w/ root access in Windows… not a good idea.
-Tom
Dude
Evolution is a great replacement for Outlook. While you’re at it, why don’t you check out http://en.opensuse.org/ . It took me just a little longer to figure out, but on my computer, it works better and looks better than Ubuntu Dapper.
Suse does have better hardware support, but yast is slow as hell (on my not-so-powerfull 1.5GHz celeron laptop).
Anyways, just wanted to say it’s been a pleasure reading this article, but I can’t understand why people are defending M$ and telling that Linux isn’t being held back by M$ but complain about not being able to sync their M$ piece of crap with their desktop M$ piece of crap… Take a look at handhelds.org first, then try to spend some time understanding what you’re doing, and then, if you still think Linux is crap because you fucked everything up by not reading the instructions on installation/configuration JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP CAUSE YOU’RE A MORON AND SHOULDN’T EVEN BE ALLOWED ANYWHERE NEAR A COMPUTER.
Sorry, I get upset sometimes …
Pretty nice. Although NewsForge has done a similar article before:
http://os.newsforge.com/article.pl?sid=05/05/18/2033216&tid=149&tid=73&tid=16
As a Linux user, I applaud your intent. Sadly, your entry is about 90% FUD. My response is here:
http://www.jonwatson.ca/node/1070
Wow… I laughed most of the way through that. So true… anyone who thinks Windows is easy compared to Linux is smoking some true grade goods. Can you imagine the look on a Linux user after installing Windows… “Where the fresh hell is GRUB?!?”
I posted a response to Jon Watson’s response… http://www.jonwatson.ca/node/1070#comment-1798
Well THAT was an objectiv article @_@… it was’t infact it was a singlesided point of View.
People seem so simple, they start with computing and the OS they choose at first they tend to ‘defend’ and claim it to the ‘one & only’ OS in the (theirs) world.
Apparently MS Windows has pros and cons this article is (IMO) a funny read for Linux users, MS users will not agree on many views of the article
In my opinion the artcile is not serious and seems very limited in its details.
What the web would need would be a serious MS Win vs. Linux Comparsion.
But if u think a second those 2 cannot be compared directly since they use entirely diffrent concepts. Just beginning to compare the “Desktops”… Linux uses an oposite concept, there are “many” desktop environments.
Again i try to sum up:
-The article is strong “pro-Linux”
-no serious comparison
-just another flame war starting article , the author seem to be a student, yet such a bad argumentation (even from this good uni!) its simply a shame
When will ‘Linux’-users start to realizse that people use Computers or OS’ in diffrent terms?Try to put ur Grandma in front of a PC and let her use it…u will notice that windows desktop & software is more intuitive then the Linux pendant.(not always but still in most cases!)
Its not a shame to be realistic and to accept that Linux has way to go in certain areas.
Linux is nice and has advantages( using it as embedded OS for example for a NAS Server or as router, Webserver) But Linux as Desktopsystem still as a long way to go.
In my Opinion it would be false to say : Linux ‘IS’ the ultimate answer ( as it ’strangely’ seems to me when i read this and many(too much!) other articles which simply repeat themselfes again, again and again…)
It would be more accurate to say that : Linux ‘could’ be the Ultimate answer.(and IMO Windows is NOT and also could not possibly be)
The reason why is (IMO) :Freedom
With Linux ( besides the License) u are free to configure ur OS. I consider this as a fact.
With Windows huge parts of ur system are not free to configure.
If u certainly ook at that Freedom, its good since u can do what u want, on the other hand concerning Linux this “freedom” > u often to use e.g. the terminal.
And thats basically the point, as long as Linux don’t offer the Option to do all things with a GUI which u can do with Windows it won’t succeed.(since THAT would be REAL freedom)
One of my favorite quotes(from digg):
“..no average user in windows has EVER touched a command line, nor do they ever want to.
Everything packed into a simple gui is the only way ubuntu (and linux as a whole) will ever become mainstream”
Depending on how “good” or fast e.g. ubuntu distribution “solves” those problems depends the “ultimate” success for Linux.
Ubuntu is a nice example that there is developement in a much needed direction. Whether the Linux/ ditrubution communitys accept and solve that challange will be determining the “mainstream”-factor of Linux.
I’m looking forward for them to solve it!
PS: Also i’m looking forward for much better articles than this non-informativ and non-profound article which i comment right now)
wbr Windows & Linux User ( :O yeah such a thing esist and yet i dont start anytime i can a flame war…)
Stop taking it seriously.. it was ment as a joke (based on a true story) and it should be taken as a joke.
Microsof has a “how to remove linux and install windows” tutorial by the way..
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q247804/
Cheers
Okay, I couldn’t get through all of the comments, but I applaud you for this piece. I have not read an article from this perspective before, even though a few of your commenters seem to think it is tired. I think it’s a bit tired to write the Windows to Linux pieces that are too abundant.
The only way IMO the linux desktop will ever gain a significant userbase is for [us] advocates to continue touting its benefits. And honestly, I wish I could look at computing from the perspective that you portrayed. I have been hooked in the talons of microsoft due to thousands of dollars spent on software that eventually no longer works because it is superceded by something more current.
I just wish all of the software vendors that offer free versions for MS and MacOSX would release the same quality free software for linux (ie. flash, skype). (I know someone’s going to say that Adobe is about to release flash9 for linux, and skype is available for linux. Bu,t there was never a flash8, and flash 9 still isn’t released. And oh by the way, linux skype is only on version 1.3 BETA(but it performs like pre-alpha). The other versions are 2.0+.)
Great piece and great satire. I enjoyed every minute of it.
One Word: Troll
This was pretty humorus. Every computer I’ve worked with has had it’s moments, and I’ve worked with an awfull lot of computers, starting with Punch Cards and an IBM-1130 with a 10Meg disk pack, and 16K of core memory, One typo and it was re-punch the whole card. Drop the deck, and it was run them through the hollerith card sorter to fix the mess, or sort them by hand.
Eventually technology worked it’s way to the predicesor of Linux — the UNIX workstation, and X-windows. There were only DOS single tasking machines at that time. These brutes were great for engineering work — but cost $30,000 each.
I’ve finaly downloaded a few free Linux Distro’s for use on the desk-top a few years back, and with the latest releases, things are getting pretty interesting in the desktop engineering and education realm — Linux
wise. The 64bit/multicore versions of some engineering tools only come in Linux versions, There are useable compilers, IDE’s, even WINE that runs most of my XP apps. I’ve not had it crash to where I lost data — something I can’t say for my XP machines.
One thing I will say about Linux is that you have to think things through a bit better, and while tasks take about the same amount of time overall, With Linux it tends to be a bit more studying and planning the task and doing some things yourself, MS tends to involve 1) working more hours of engineering to pay for all the SW fees, 2) More hours of “robo-installing” the apps where you have to be near the computer, but are not really able to do a lot of other things effectively. 3) Viruses and Spyware + Malware tend to take up more time.
Keep Microsoft Honest — Donate to the Free Software Foundation etc.
Nice article as a switcher from XP to Ubuntu I can see the humor in it.
My opa runs Ubuntu since the activation thing was over. He was wondering why it was costfree and provided with a bunch of common applications :>
this article is just amazing.
i woke up a few mins ago, and this is the first thing i’ve read on this day.
pretty humorous
Wow, there’s a lot of people knocking Linux here and in an unconstructive way too !
@brickbat : Palm does GPS too and has good Linux connectivity. You should get out more. Also online encyclopedias exist nowadays, including the britannica. Why buy a CD ?
@the guy who said he should just download Firefox : Firefox comes prepackaged in lots of Linux distros, so there is no need to download.
But I must note that a few of the authors remarks were not completely correct, such as the creation of accounts when you install, and the firewall (lol, Windows firewall)
Hi Matthias,
I liked your article ! I made a french translation on my web site : http://cafcom.free.fr/spip.php?article18.
Enjoy !
Hi guys, I had Windows until about 3 weeks ago and then switched to Ubuntu. I do not think that there is any validity in this article. To summarize my experience with Ubuntu, i will say that although it has a nice interface and good code, it is not and will never be a good alternative to Windows. Just after I got it, I was extremely excited. Beautiful interface, a different look (Hell, it almost made me feel like I had an overpriced Mac lol), and easy to use at first…. until things started to change. When I insterted a CD for my French class, Ubuntus weaknesses started to appear, as the OS does not recognize .exe (executable) files. My hopes didn’t end here though, as I found out about Wine, and went ahead and downloaded it. However, to my amazement, it took me more then 30 minutes to actually find where Wine was in my filesystem since Linux ofcourse uses a completely different method in organizing files (which is think is extremely, extremely hard). And then I read on and on about compiling the program and then installing it (wasn’t that bad since I was used to unzipping, unraring and inflating pirated games before:).) What pissed me off however was the fact that even though Wine was able to open the executable file, none of the Flash material was showing, so basically 90% of the CD was useless. So sure, I thought, hey, its such a great system, it won;t hurt be just because it does not run .exe files. So on I went and downloaded a couple of videos, none of which could actually open. But hey, i remmeber that I had VLC on windows, which was such a great player, that could run almost anything out there. On I went and downloaded VLC, this time using the built in Synaptic package manager.So i got excited, until I found out that even the trust VLC player could not play the .wmv files, or the .mpeg files. WOW, now I was beggining to get a little concerned with the OS. The next day, I went to school and was very happy that Ubuntu connected to my schools WLAN without a problem, until it started to drop the connection every 10 minutes or so, and every single time, I had to reconfigure the SSID, and WEP key (which is something you only do once on Windows). The build in Mozilla Firefox also has a lot of problems displaying a lot of things on websites. On myspace for example, it has the tendency to put my friends too close, and overwrite one name on top of each other. I have therefore come up to some conclusion about Linux:
1) Linux is a great system at a hard time. Windows has such a high market share, that theres almost no software for it whatsoever (especially specilty software like my French CD and my Physics CD).
2) Linux is extremely stable, and never crashes or has ever given me a single error to date, giving me a sign that the developers knew what they were doing.
3) People who have been using Windows for their whole lives, and have the ability to even do advanced tasks on it, will be newbs when switching to Linux, because of its extremely different features.
4) If you are part of a larger organization which deals with strictly Windows software and Windows peripherals, you will be extremely fed up with Linux.
5) Things which require very basic knowledge in Windows will make you rip your hair on Linux lol.
Overall however, I can see that Linux has the ability to be an extremely good alternative to Windows if it had the support of 3rd party software companies. The last time I checked, none of the games that are currently out support Linux. I do not want to bash anyone with what I am writing, but people must really think hard before they decide to switch to Linux. If you just want a computer for web browsing, Linux is for you, if you do gaming, then you must stay away from Linux, OR have a Dual Boot system which I was stupid enough not to do because of my extremely high level of excitement.
I have installed both Linux and WindowsXP. I use Linux for net browsing. Now my problem is that I want to open my files that I have downloaded directly in Windows. For the time being I have to restart my PC to access another OS when I am using another. If any software is available, please inform me through email. My ID is mrpradeep_ele@indiatimes.com
Well you just need to mount your windows partition in your filesystem…
sudo mkdir /mnt/win_c
sudo mount uflag=0 /dev/hdxX /mnt/win_c
where x is your hard disk (a, b or c etc), and X is the partition number…
Not that difficult, you just have to understand what you’re doing. Under windows, you are not.
Want to understand everything you’re doing? Learn 10 thousand things, and still be willing to learn? Try to install Gentoo, using the old interface, installing the whole system in console…
You’ll learn so much, it’s really quite amazing. The docs are proeminent, and rather very clear, also, even if you don’t want to use gentoo afterwards, it’s just a good thing to do for any linuxer…
Oh, and last thing, it’s kinda rude to ask people to contact you through your email address, rather than where you asked for help.
@ Mathhias: I’m really surprised to see this, really good sence of humour, just loved the whole damned article
Somehow it makes me feel like I’ve read this before. Like 2 years ago. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. But yeah, this is very unoriginal.
Hi Matthias. Your article made me laugh and that is always good so thank you for it. I did a translation in Dutch and published it on my weblog here at:
http://www.kletskous.com/2006/10/11/overstappen-van-linux-naar-windows-een-gebruikerservaring/
It always amazes me to read how upset some people get after reading a bit of satire that touches home about their own feelings on the subject. ROFL!
Regarding the whole Linux vs Windows thing, what Linux needs is peoples help to shore up it’s shortcomings, not people complaining about it not doing this or that.
Does anybody REALLY want a world where MS has total domination of the desktop computer market? Competition is GOOD for everybody, and MS needs more competition so the consumer not only has a choice, but a QUALITY choice. Imagine if there was only one car manufacturer or one (put product name here), do you think you would get as good of product as those produced in a market with competition? Of course not!! Want Linux to get better, support it! Want MS to get better, support Linux so they have some competition!!
=)
Linux wants to grow a lot. Until then windows is the king of the Market.
Wow … what a revelation! Thanks for letting over 90% of desktop users know that Windows is not ready for the desktop.
Oh ya, Windows is not ready … M$ got there by its monopoly … of desktop PCs. This is why linux will continue to be the premise of techies while M$ continue to enjoy its monopoly. Linux users just cannot stop being so self-righteous and egoistic with their self-indulgences.
Gr8! I’ve been trying to move to linux for a month now, and i feel uncomfortable. I don’t understand file heirarchy. What can you offer for that?
Have you tried a search engine called “Google” !?
I did a quick search et voila:
Two good explanations:
http://www.freeos.com/articles/3102/
http://www.linuxnovice.org/main_focus.php3?VIEW=VIEW&t_id=126
Why the Linux filesystem hierarchy is better:
http://blogs.ittoolbox.com/linux/locutus/archives/why-is-the-linux-file-hierarchy-better-12916
Here is a pdf version explaining linux filesystem structure:
http://www.comp.hkbu.edu.hk/~comp2650/tutorial/notes/lab_notes_3.pdf
Hope that helps you out for the moment. Keep on learning - it’s the only way to master the system.
BTW: Thanks again for all the interest on this article
Thanks for the article. It occurred to me the other day how good it is that MS Windows is so flaky and that the company follows aggressive capitalist logic to fanatical extremes because this spurs us all on to produce something wonderful. I believe that computer technology is not yet ready for most people whose expectations are more in the realms of sci-fi. Of course that is how it is marketed. What amazes me most about the MS product is not how far short of people’s expectations it falls but rather how do they have the audacity to charge for it!
Great! I loved it. Defiantly worth my time… ;). You did a good job putting everything in perspective.
Very humorous take. You should update it for Vista.
Nice take on those things MS users take for granted as part of computers in general You should update this piece for Vista.
Ha Ha, really funny.
You should hear the people when you do this the other way around. The whole Linux community would be angry.
And if you such another article (which is supposed to be funny) get your facts straight.
Thanks for all the comments. Please continue posting your ideas no matter you agree or disagree with the article.
Martijn, there are a lot of articles doing the “windows to linux” thing and yes the linux guys are complaining about all the angry statements on free software or a special distribution (and those statements can sometimes be very biased).
Please don’t forget it’s all fun. Don’t waste your time being angry about software because coding and using programs are the things we love to do! There are lots of serious issues in this world (such as bad english
but information technology should never be taken for granted. It is one of gods best jokes.
When going back to windows i got massivle annoyed by all the reboots i had to do all the time, to install drivers, programs, adjustments, even more drivers and small programs.One reboot when finish installing everything should have been enough, or none at all.
Finding the rigth software was a mess when out of touch with the “hip”, reliable software who do not drag along a lot of spyware or other helpful features like searchbars from hell or just invading my system (winamp!)
Yes i did go for the familiar ones, firefox, gimp, opera, thunderbird openoffice. But it did not cover it all.
-haha and yes: finding things on my system. i guess it is suppose to be an adjustment fase. But why do they mix documents and settings?
I miss apt/synaptic. And there is no place like ./home
listen, you have no idea what you are talking about, granted windows xp service pack one was extremely buggy but once service pack two came out it was nearly flawless if you knew what you were doing, you obviously didnt, if you had known anything before you had “surfed” the internet you would have downloaded and installed some opensource anti-virus software and a firewall, your windows media player error message was because you didnt have the right codec for watching a dvd and if you had spent more time on windows you would have realized you can have as many users as your hard drive has space for. Don’t get me wrong i’m not saying that windows xp is flawless and in all ways better than linux but in some major aspects it is and if you had any brains you would’ve realized that
First i read windows to linux but then I see what it really is. I think “WTF who idiot install windows over linux!?!”
Fun text. I like it.
Nice job man. I think that if you were born in a linux world you’d hate Micro$oft and viceversa. XP run everything in bad or good way, linux is open and free but software companies don’t support all the free stuff. So, are the blondie girls better than the dark hair ladies? Tastes are personal choices. Bye.
If you prefer windows:
1. Have to use some proprietary piece of crap
or
2. You are an idiot.
XP doesn’t run everything.
About ladies: you get too many popups, man!
well… is it rally possible that linux user would be such a complete software/OS ignorant?
I know, it was suppose to be satire… but is it?
That is a great read, i am glad to finnaly find a view from the other side! I am unlucky and landed with windows from being a child, im 15 now and i started linux 1 year ago, GOD its an amazing os! no lag, no crashing (1 or twice in the last year) beryl (linux version of vista aero) I am a beta tester for Microsoft. To tell the truth, Vista has a while to go yet, but i have looked at sp1 for vista, and i might have a go as that looks interesting. But Beryl is incredible its so quick! can you send me an email?
im the windows guy ur the linux guy.
If you wouldn’t mind i would like a chat, ask stuff bout linux as you are the linux version of me
my email : Jad@webplanethosting.net
msn: jadthebad10@hotmail.co.uk
Thanks
Jad
This was a very fun read. And to all the posters who complained that the writer of this article was overdoing his naivety on Windows XP, go and work a job as helpdesk for personal computer support. We all here know what needs to be done to get Windows XP stable, but your average grandmother or adult doesn’t. I’ve had numerous times where people have called in after getting their fabulous new PC set up and they can’t figure out a thing about the system, much less get it protected with a firewall and AV program. I’m not saying at all let’s get rid of Windows and move everyone to Linux…there’s an obvious much harder learning curve with it. But to say people aren’t this out of touch with their PCs is a very wrong assumption, and I personally deal with it every day.
My dear, why have you ‘reviewed’ Windows XP instead of Vista SP2 or Windows 7 RC1? Or better, why dont you compare XP with some distro from 2001? You lusers are really miserable..
Actually, if you look at the date when the article was published you will notice that it was in 2006, where Windows 7 was just a dream.
I agree with the review. I also agree with the statement that the Linux distributions are not friendly enough for most of the nowadays users. At the very least - the gaming on Windows is on another level, there’s no place for considering installing a Linux if you use your computer to play games.
Yes, I am aware of the WINE and CEDEGA emulators, however, they does not support 100% of the games running on Windows. Also using an emulator eats more resources of running it directly.
To sum up - yes, Linux is a fine alternative, but it lacks gaming and multimedia experience.
I am working since many years with Linux (now Ubuntu). The problem is, that many professional programs are not working with Linux and Wine or other emulators are not really helpful.
A simple thing like connecting a webcam can be a pain for not so savy linux-users.
This blog post is a complete shitpile. And I’m a linux user. Get a Life pal.