• 12-27-2006, 12:09 PM
    kexodusc
    That's it...I'm done with Microsoft Windows!!!
    Had a hard drive failure last week - long story short it forced me to reinstall Windows on the replacement drive. I'm sure some of you know how time consuming that can be, finding all your drivers, etc....Man, I hate to say it, but I shoulda stuck with a Mac...:frown5:
    Anyway...after a few driver issues, Windows kept getting caught in a restart loop. It took about 3 install attempts to finally get my sound and video card drivers installed on a stable Windows (odd I didn't have problems installing them when I bought them). :confused5:

    Lo and behold, Microsoft's stupid Genuine Advantage crap kicks in and decides my 6 month old computer (don't get me started on the Seagate drive dying on me already - thank god for warranty) is not the original computer that OS was installed on...warning messages and a big "you are a low life crook stealing from Microsoft" banner appear on the screen for all to see - I know motherboards can't be switched on OEM OS's, but hard drives? c'mon. :out: I guess the anti-piracy crap in Vista is worse...Man I hope MS doesn't frick up HD-DVD for everyone!

    After an hour or so of waiting on the phone, I finally got to talk to an MS techie guy who was a total a$$hole. He actually accused me of trying to pirate Windows on my machine at one point. :mad5: After about 2 hours of troubleshooting on the phone, dude was convinced my XP copy was legit, so he stepped me through reactivating it...bye-bye intrusive anti-piracy banners.

    That's it. I'm done with this crap. :incazzato: Linux all the way man. I've been using it a few months off and on now anyway. It works. Works better than Windows at some things. And nobody's accusing me of a being a thief.
  • 12-27-2006, 12:19 PM
    GMichael
    Now that's a lot of unhappy faces.

    Sorry to hear about you MS problems Kex. Hope you have better luck in the new year.
  • 12-27-2006, 02:21 PM
    tin ear
    I feel your pain.

    I may get a Mac laptop next time.

    I swear I spend half my logged on time just maintaining Winduhs.

    :incazzato:

    -Jon
  • 12-27-2006, 02:41 PM
    earwax
    Apple laptop next time for me too.
  • 12-27-2006, 03:36 PM
    bobsticks
    Merry effin Christmas from Microsoft. Nice.

    Sorry to hear 'bout yer trials and tribulations, Kex.
  • 12-27-2006, 03:50 PM
    kexodusc
    I have an Apple laptop now, but its kinda suppose to be for work only. The machine at home was Windows based PC....was....
  • 12-27-2006, 05:14 PM
    tin ear
    Linux?
    Which Linux distribution are you using, Kex?

    I have Ubuntu v6.10 aka "edgy eft" which I have not gotten around to installing yet. Supposed to be pretty good on my Dell laptop model.
  • 12-27-2006, 05:18 PM
    kexodusc
    Yeah, I have Ubuntu and Suse. I like Ubuntu better, though I've just installed it as a dual boot OS, so I haven't quite figured out the best way to run all that.
    I've mainly used Ubuntu as a 2nd system OS on an older machine. Web surfing, .ogg playback, and some office suite, but that's it.
    Never hurts to learn these things. There's plenty of online help for them.

    Suse is more user friendly, but I think is less impressive over all. Don't think it's free, either.
  • 12-28-2006, 12:19 AM
    Dusty Chalk
    Yeah, I really need to get started on my linux install...

    STICK IT TO THE MAN!
  • 12-28-2006, 02:13 AM
    basite
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by GMichael
    Now that's a lot of unhappy faces.

    quite some yes...

    LINUX RUULLES!! (!!!)

    i know what you're talking about with your windows disasters, happens quite alot when windows decides to f*ck himself up again.

    but, i'm stuck to it, since i like to play games from time to time, and i refuse to buy a $$$ game console...
  • 12-28-2006, 05:06 AM
    kexodusc
    Well, I suppose I'll be stuck with Windows as long as systems keep coming pre-loaded with them. But I'll only use it as a last resort from now on.
    My previous and current job use Linux - And my laptop has OSX on it too which I use occasionally. So I'm not a Linux newbit. But I've never had to install, configure and try to make it do everything my other OS's have done. Live and learn I guess. The key is to not get frustrated.
    Don't laugh - you'll all by singing songs about me when I've vanquished the evil MS empire once and for all...

    Linux is actually taking off - In the server market, it's grown its market share to over 30% in just a few years. According to Red Hat, over 50% of businesses expect to switch to Linux on their next upgrade within 2 years. That'll kill Microsoft's 50-55% share.

    In the desktop/home market, it's a bit more complex to get market share info. Windows accounts for almost 90% with Mac and Linux around 3.5% each. They both expect to reach 6-7% in 2007 but we'll see. The catcher with these stats is that they only account for market share based on sales. Most Linux installs are of the free variety and aren't included in sales data. And alot of Windows users have dual boot Linux systems. I haven't been able to find a more accurate number but I suspect the actual market share for Windows is considerably less than 89%, maybe below 80%.

    Join the revolution dudes:
    http://www.ubuntu.com/
  • 12-28-2006, 06:16 AM
    Feanor
    Linux, Mac OSX: got apps?!??
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by kexodusc
    Well, I suppose I'll be stuck with Windows as long as systems keep coming pre-loaded with them. But I'll only use it as a last resort from now on.
    My previous and current job use Linux - And my laptop has OSX on it too which I use occasionally. So I'm not a Linux newbit. But I've never had to install, configure and try to make it do everything my other OS's have done. Live and learn I guess. The key is to not get frustrated.
    Don't laugh - you'll all by singing songs about me when I've vanquished the evil MS empire once and for all...
    ...
    I've fooled around with Linux at least three times in the last five years and abandoned it in each case. The first version I tried was a hackers delight: lots of text file configuration, etc. Subsequent versions were a lot better but still and administrator's nightmare, especially security; (geez, talk about Windows). But in the end I abandoned them too because of lack of applications compatible with what I had been using, and necessarily continued to used, that require Windows.

    So what's the selection of apps like today? For a start, what's fully interoperable with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint? Is there a Linux/OSX equivalent to my X-over Pro and BassBox Pro programs?

    More importantly, can these OS run Microsoft .NET based Web and client applications? (Where I work, developers are tending to program more and more in .NET since it cuts develpment effort in half versus Java.)

    Nevertheless if I were to go for a dedicated media server, I'd give serious consideration to a Mac.
  • 12-28-2006, 08:54 AM
    kexodusc
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by Feanor
    I've fooled around with Linux at least three times in the last five years and abandoned it in each case. The first version I tried was a hackers delight: lots of text file configuration, etc. Subsequent versions were a lot better but still and administrator's nightmare, especially security; (geez, talk about Windows). But in the end I abandoned them too because of lack of applications compatible with what I had been using, and necessarily continued to used, that require Windows.
    This echoes my own sentiments and personal experience with Linux in the past...Actually, I didn't last long on them at all. This time I'm finding things a lot easier and more user friendly - and there's far more quick-access help available on line than previously. Seems designers have caught on to the fact that making the transition from Windows easier is in everyone's best interest.

    Quote:
    So what's the selection of apps like today? For a start, what's fully interoperable with MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint? Is there a Linux/OSX equivalent to my X-over Pro and BassBox Pro programs?
    There are office suite softwares that are interoperable with MS Office, and even Adobe (nice feature). On my Linux distro, they came included with the OS. At my office, our portfolio risk managment team uses a Linux based spreadsheet program exlusively which is fully compatible with Excel. I'm no macro pro in excel so I'll take their word for it being better. There's a full range of compatible audio/video media apps out there too that work with all codecs. There's some licensing issues when it comes to mp3, but what else is new?

    X-over Pro and BassBox Pro (seriously, why are you still using BassBox Pro? :prrr: ) would probably have to be run from a Windows emulator within a Linux OS to work properly. Or you could seek alternative software (maybe spreadsheet based software and convert it to Linux - Passive Crossover Designer and Unibox, for example). Maybe your software providers offer Linux support? Probably not. Running apps in an emulator like WINE is your best bet.
    Gaming, like with Macs, is severely limited in Linux. I suspect that will remain until OSX and Linux grab 10% market share, maybe more. Then they'll be too significant to ignore as an untapped market.

    Quote:
    More importantly, can these OS run Microsoft .NET based Web and client applications? (Where I work, developers are tending to program more and more in .NET since it cuts develpment effort in half versus Java.)
    My first instinct is to answer yes - we run .NET apps off our Linux stuff at work. Dont' ask me how, this isn't my area of expertise at all. But I'm no guru and can't say ALL apps will always work 100%. I can say that .NET apps don't always work in Windows 100%!!! :D

    Quote:
    Nevertheless if I were to go for a dedicated media server, I'd give serious consideration to a Mac.
    Great!!! I'm not even 100% sure what a dedicated media server is. Would TiVo be a media server?

    The thing with Linux is you have to learn - you're giving up years of Windows power using.... How much you're willing to invest in the effort will be directly reflected in the reward for moving to Linux. God, I'm googling every 3 minutes to find out how to do what would be an instinctual operation for me in Windows. Bottom line - the world's gotta change - 90% of such a fundamentally important market cannot be vested with one entity. I'm not a Microsoft hater (well, I'm pretty pissed at them right now) but I struggle to find the advantages to having society dependent on Windows only. Licensing and end user rights are sucking the effectiveness out of home computing. It's finally got to the point where false positives are being generated - case in point: me! This isn't good for anyone.

    If any other customer of any other product went through a comparable experience to what I just did with Windows, they'd switch brands in a heartbeat unless they had no self esteem and loved abuse.. I'm not going to go crawling back to Windows without a fight. I never use to care, really. Now I'm pissed and I do. Grrrrr...
    I just hope a few others come with me. The more that do, the more support from hardware and software developers there will be.

    Windows has a good legacy of innovation (and taking credit for merely immitation). They're not going to stop trying. But maybe they'll start trying harder as alternative OSs continue to chip away at the dominant market share. I'm glad Apple pre-loads an OS in their systems. Wish more PC makers would load Linux, too. I think it's 100% fair to say that most consumers don't choose Windows. And that's the problem. The industry is set up to limit choice as much as possible.