QOTD: Have You Replaced Windows with Linux?

[Guest]

Yes,four years ago I started researching Linux.
I got tired of always worrying about getting bot netted,spywared,etc..Even though security was always important to me and I never used Outlook.
I also hated all the DRM . I also resented the way Microsoft behaved like a greedy bully..I had real problems with their corporate "ethics".
Four years ago I heard about the Lindows/Windows fight and decided to try Linspire...I ran it live and fell in love. It only took three days and I was hooked.
I've never looked back.
My favorite distros are Mepis,Fedora,Mint and Cosmosis.

 

[Guest]

I've replaced it one year ago. Only have 1 box that has windows due to one of my scanner/printer not supported on Linux (Lexmark was a bad choice of HW that I regret making when starting to work from home).

Whenever I have to use that box I have nightmares of the old days. I would never go back to windows due to the fundamental design choices made since Vista.

 

[Guest]

I have Ubuntu on my Mini 9 & it has been a real pleasure to use. The only programs it won't run are Turbotax, Photoshop CS4, & new games. As my Windows XP ages out I will be moving my desktops to Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty Jackalope

 

[oldyellowcat]

To many people claimed "I do everything on linux", I have to ask, what does "everything" mean to you?
Web surfing, email, doc and DVD watching are 90% of our daily use, but it is less than 10% of the real "everything" out there.

Quick and simple ...where is tax prep software for linux? sorry no web based ones, as they have lots of restrictions. Those are about $50 a piece for Windoze ...but far too boring for any linux developer to write. $50 for turbo tax on Windoze or $500 to HR Block part time workers ...and you are telling me Linux comes at no cost?

When it comes to professional software, there is really no comparison at all .. next time when you see your doctor, pay attention to what OS is running the x-ray machines, ultra sonic machines or their accoutning systems -- either Windoze or a flavor of commercial UNIX, which is usually 10 times more expensive. No linux, I wonder why?

For those people who claim Linux is more secure, have you really looked at linux code, or just follow everyone else is saying? Face the fact that it is too small to be a target and if hackers really want to attack, it will have more holes than your tennis racket.

 

[p05esto]

Windows just works. If MS can clean UP Windows7 and make it lean, fast and just an OS for gods sake I'll have no reason to switch. If the bloatware continues I will seriously start exploring my options. Vista was a mistake, even XP was bloated (I liked Windows 2000 Professional so far the most, it was very similar to XP really, just a little leaner).

 

[Guest]

Yes, I have switched to Linux. I currently have Ubuntu 9.04 on my laptop and Ubuntu 8.10 on my PC. I emulate Windows (XP) on my PC when I need to do some photoshoping

 

[Guest]

I first learned about Linux when the servers at a law firm where I was working were set up with Linux. I abhor monopolies in general and the Microsoft's near monopoly in particular. There is a serious defect in the human psyche. The loyalty for Microsoft products that some individuals display is analogous to the loyalty and fervor displayed by descendants of those on whom Islam was forced at swordpoint. I have four major gripes with Microsoft. The first is its anticompetitive, monopolistic behavior. The second is the bloat that characterizes all of its software, whether it be operating system software or application software. The Vista operating system is nothing short of abominable. The third is an operating system architecture that promotes rapid degradation of the registry and fragmentation of files on disk drives. The fourth is the massive problem of attacks by spyware, malware, viruses, and trojans. The fifth, and final straw, is the onerous and invasive Microsoft Genuine Advantage program that has been imposed on users. Any one of these five problems is more than sufficient grounds to dump Microsoft. I feel absolutely no loyalty whatsoever for Microsoft products, and if I have used them at all, it has been out of necessity. Those necessities are becoming fewer and fewer. GNU/Linux is functionally superior to Microsoft operating systems in every way. The fact that 411 if the world's top 500 supercomputers run some form of GNU/Linux while only 5 run a Microsoft OS is a very telling statistic. Any additional training required to deal with the eccentricities of Linux is time well spent. By the end of the year, I plan wean myself from all use of Microsoft OS products.

 

[Guest]

I switched over to Linux 100% about 5 years ago and I have never looked back since. Now I find Windows very difficult to use, I liken it having one hand tied behind my back, everything seems so dumbed down and awkward. I remember the last time I tried Windows was a couple of years ago, someone had sent me a Word document that Open Office was having trouble with. Having waited an age for the thing to boot (this was XP on a Laptop that I had borrowed) I just got bombarded with silly popup windows telling me I needed to delete icons from my desktop, update my virus checker, download a load of critical patches and god knows what else when all I wanted to do was open a document. For some reason the OS seemed to think that it new better and I have not got the patience for all that sort of nonsense any more.

I think playing games is about the only real reason there is for sticking with Windows and I grew out of wasting my money on that years ago. If I do feel so inclined I can just use the Kids Wii, it's a lot more fun that some 1st person shooter and you get to use your brain (a little) too.

I have no plans to try Windows 7, I have never even used Vista, Why? - I have simply no need to. My PC does everything I need it to running Linux. It is not a philosophical thing with me either, it is simply that I am so used to having the power to do what I want in the way I want to that I don't feel inclined to give it up without a very good reason - I prefer working with both hands and I like to be in full control of my machine. I don't believe that is something Microsoft has offered their users for many years and most of PC users simply don't know any better.

Mac OSX is the same, all to fussy. I want a computer not a night nurse.

 

[garydale]

Switched exclusively to Linux years ago. After running Corel's (Debian based) Linux for a while, I switched to Debian and never looked back. Two years ago, I went pure 64bit. At one point I was running a few things under Wine (WinRAR, WinZip, M$ Word Viewer, Acrobat Reader) but haven't needed them for a long time.

Linux has better tools that what I was using under Windows for the most part. And the rest are at least competitve in terms of quality and features. Plus the Linux desktops are simply better. Going back to Windows (XP) at work is like dropping back the stone age.

I don't know what Martin Maat was running that he finds too buggy. Maybe I'm spoiled by Debian, which is known for its stability - although I actually run the testing version on desk - but I've never found XP to be even close in terms of reliability / freedom from bugs.

I admit that sometimes (rarely) when I'm setting up a computer for someone, I may to dig a little to get everything to work properly, but then I have to that also with Windows installs. It's a fact of life when you don't have it preinstalled from the manufacturer.

The big difference is that I can set up Linux in under an hour while getting Windows up and running, complete with office suite, etc., can be a full day affair. This is partly because Linux installs are integrated. Everything for a workable system is included in the initial install, so I just have to add a few extra applications. The install gets me all the current patches as well, whereas with Windows they are added after the install. Then there are all the various activation keys, etc. that I don't need in Linux. And Linux installs don't need the endless reboots that Windows requires.

 

[garydale]

re. Dual booting: Why bother? It's easier to install Windows as a virtual machine within Linux. OK, so gamers don't want to do that, but people who actually use their PCs to accomplish something will probably prefer virtual Windows over dual-booting.

Or use Wine/Crossover Office/Cedega to run Windows applications that aren't available in Linux (I'm assuming here that you need to run a specific application, because Linux has alternatives for almost everything available in Windows, not to mention a lot of things that Windows doesn't have). Lots of games even run under Wine or one of its derivatives.

Dual booting has been available forever and still works. However there are alternatives that probably work better in a lot of cases nowadays. Try them before assuming you need to dual boot.

 

[garydale]

[citation][nom]duzcizgi[/nom]I wish Visual Studio 2008 Pro would have worked under linux. Then I would have switched in a second, without even thinking.[/citation]

Why not use Eclipse instead? Or one of the other IDEs available in Linux?

 

[psalc1]

Out of 4 machines on the home network: 2 run Linux (Debian and Ubuntu Studio) for programming, scientific and music composition applications, 1 FreeBSD server, and 1 Windows box for the kids (heavy duty gamers and for Microsoft certification practice.) I do not miss the commercial operating systems at all and I cherish the freedom and carefree operation of the Linux systems.

 

[mamw93]

Nope. I use Linux frequently and enjoy it but it doesn't beat Windows by far. If all the Linux creators banned together and made a super version maybe.... but not until then.

 

[fulle]

I went through a phase where I installed Linux distributions in a 2nd partition. For a little bit, I'd install a new disto, tinker with trying to get different things to work, do my best to get most of my key application running, having to resort to sometimes insane workarounds.

Finally, I grew out of it. Who freaking cares if you're running WoW in Linux. Whoopty-freaking-doo! Each patch, I'm up in 2 seconds, you're fucking with Wine. You got Blue-ray working? Thats freaking amazing! and it only took you 2 days? Hold on, getting it working on my sister's computer, she's missing a codec.... there we go. Oops, 20 seconds. I guess you're in it for the experience tho, right? Yay, you got apache running... but, don't we do that at work all freaking day? And... why the fuck haven't you shaved this month? You look tired...

 

[deck]

Been running linux for 10+ years now (Slackware/Fedora). All I use windows for now is running a VM to check my web development for IE compatibility. If IE ever becomes standards complient, I will remove windows altogether.

 

[Guest]

I switched to Linux SUSE 6.1 back in 2001 and in 2004 I put windows where it belongs the rubbish bin!! never ever looked back again I grew up with Apple II then ZX spectrum and finally the great Commodore Amiga but very unfortunately they went bankrupt and I was forced to use Winbloze 98 and then 2000 for 2 years of my live. I call it my dark IT days as I never ever seen such a rubish screwed up system like winbloze. I am a programer and have used many systems over the last 20 years but never seen anything as bad as Microsoft really!
For you folks that like to play just get a PS3 or Wii cos apart from games LINUX does it all if you fancy a better quality hardware then pay for a MAC which is good quality hardware with equally decent quality operating system based on UNIX.
For those who still use winbloze virus insecure, unreliable OS I fell sorry for you masoquists . But there is hope and we are living the renascence of IT.

 

[Guest]

well, i was beta testing for Ubuntu when it first started out, and gaming pulled me back into Windows.
Currently I reformat my computer with Win XP every 2 weeks. I do it now in under 20 minutes (including all programs, Office2007, etc.) At this point, XP is as fast as any Linux distro for me. And I do things from word processing to full-blown video editing/websites. The reason for reformatting every 2 weeks is how fast XP deteoriates, haha.

 

[mikeytag]

Yes, I first began my Linux journey on the server side. Now in our company all we run in Ubuntu on every desktop. Been doing that for a few years, and let me say that you couldn't pay me enough to go back to Windows.

 

[Guest]

I use Ubuntu exclusively on my desktop and laptop. The only reason I would consider Windows would be to play games, but I don't really need any more anti-productive timesinks anyway.

 

[ahslan]

If all my tablet's functionality worked in linux, I might be willing to give it a try...but I must admit, I am currently loving Windows 7 + Onenote for my tablet...just wish intel would release vista drivers for my video chipset...

 

[Guest]

I stopped using Windows 2 years ago. My main distro is Ubuntu, but I also have machines running Mandriva, Fedora, and Moon OS in the house. Quite frankly I'll never run Windows again.

FYI, the reason I switched, was Windows had blown up again. Over the years I've spent an inordinate amount of time maintaining Windows. Since I switched to Linux (and OSX on a MacBook) I've spent NO time maintaining the operating system. So I'm way more productive.

I'm amazed that people are still using Windows. Windows is technically deficient. OSX, Linux, BSD, and Solaris are far more advanced operating systems.

 

[Guest]

First Used linux (Slackware) in the mid-90's out of technical necessity of developing CFD codes with a robust set of compilers and debugging tools, after complete with graduate school used what everyone else was using. About 11 years later, in 2006 tried it out for a 180-degree opposite reason; tired of the malware/registry cancer/crapware laden PC world of the windows ecosphere. Now, I just wanted something that worked (but also passed on OSX having been put off by the Mac fanboy snobbery) and was floored at how far mainstream LINUX distros (here Freespire and Ubuntu Edgy/Feisty/Hardy) had evolved, there are almost at the cusp of primetime, two or three release cycles at most - which in the open source world is 12-18 months total and they are there. Folks THIS is the OS for the 80-year grandmother.

 

[Guest]

Bought a Dell Mini 9 last fall and that was my first Linux machine. I then had my 14 yr old nephew add me different distros until I found one I liked more than Ubuntu (it ended up being that I dont hate Ubuntu as much as I thought although that brown default look reminds me of Win98) and he installed me some that ran KDE.
This gave me the courage to run a dual boot on our home computer by Xmas.

Now, I run Mandriva 2009 with the beautiful KDE4.2 desktop and my XP partition has been replaced with XP running under Virtualbox.
We do all our gaming with a console but my sons play Chessmaster and David Douillet Judo games which require XP so that's why we still keep it around.
Switching was easy since we already used FF, Thunderbird, Audacity, OO, VLC on our computer. Other stalwarts are Skype, Kopete (for Yahoo, MSN, ICQ), XMMS/Amarok for audio.
Using Gvenview and its space/backspace commands is as easy as Irfan and KDEnlive is not bad to put together home videos.
Our 9 yr old Thinkpad and 6 yr old Acer laptop are also running the latest distros now as well even though they are considered ancient hardware.
My 7 yr old has already used 5-6 different distros himself over the past few months and when I asked him if he minded the changes, he just looked at me quizzically.
"Its all the same dad." he tells me. Which is exactly how I feel about distros. Let's face it, once you use a certain desktop, the remaining differences between distros seem to be minor and cosmetic.

I've shown my dad my laptop and he would love to have the KDE4 look we have on the netbook. He loves the zoom option and 4desktop split and he keeps asking "So, this really didnt cost you a penny?"
Dad might appreciate freedom but he loves free as in beer even more.
And in these economic times, not having to pay unneccesarily is a good thing.

 

[Milleman]

I think the question would be remade and only ask people that DOESN'T use their PC for playing games. Asking a PC-gamer if he have or would like to switch to Linux, is ridiculus.

For myself, I'm using Ubuntu Linux for my every day work and actions for over 2 years now. Just love it! And I don't play games on PC. I've got a XBOX for that!

 

[dapperdan_61]

Switched to Linux around year 2000. I used SuSE for up until 2007 until I had an onboard video driver issue (BTW I never had Linux driver issue until then). That is when I made the switch to Ubuntu. I switched to Linux for security reasons after a hard fought battle (which I finally won) with spyware and virus infection. I do not game, therefor I do not need Windows. Ubuntu has everything I need; Open Office, Music and Movie players, Photo managers, etc. I have been a huge fan of multiple desktops since I have used Linux.

I use Windows at work and have had the common Windows issues. I have always thought that 2000 and XP were great OS's. I prefer Linux at home simply because of Spyware and virus attacks or lack there of. I'm not as 'religous' about Linux as some people are