QOTD: Have You Replaced Windows with Linux?

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As my office desktop was broken last december, and got a new computer, I really left windows for my work computer. My desktop use fedora, replaced ubuntu, and just replaced by centos. While on notebook, I'm still rely on
bsd based Mac Os X :)

For server, I'm maintain at least 5 server all in centos/smeserver for years at office. And for internet gateway, I'm trust on BSD based pfsense.

But for home, I could not left windows, cause my kids 5 and 3 years play kids games that just available in windows. And pity, that kids games contain viruses, but i could not do much except playing with windows security to disable the virus. I really hate anti virus, and just use it when already infected rather than need to re-install the windows.


But basically Linux is not ready for mainstream. It still need a company that can make seperate OS, like Apple did on BSD. Then the company have connection to software developer to provide software on the OS.

Opensource is secure but just good for technical person/geeks.
For mainstream people, they just need a paid OS, and paid software. As the paid OS and paid software then the company have enough money to put customer support.

Like BSD, it's never getting success, until Apple make Mac OS X
I'm really hope Google Android can be success and make it's own environment and getting support from software companies. Think about Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere run on Android. Or might as big company as Google can making deal to Microsoft to make Office for Android (Not Office for linux, as also there is no office for BSD, but Mac OS X)
 
It is not so much that Linux is the problem but the support from 3rd parties that hold me back. In my country you must use a special DSL program to connect to the internet and the Linux version is almost impossible to install even the ISP in my city doesnt have people that can install it. I wish there was better and more convenient ways to do full disk encryption, like when is True Crypt going to have Linux full disk encryption and dual boot support for that matter. Libronix, a popular bible software that is not able to work with wine, only virtual machines for the moment. Also Open office can be a pain in the neck sometimes working with certain foreign languages, although I have no problems with MS office. Linux is awesome but the 3rd party support still has a long way to go.
 
Yes I use Linux full time. I switched at the beginning of 2005 to Gentoo, and have since gotten two new laptops and loaded them with Ubuntu.
 
Yes I did the switch and don't regret it. I have been using Linux since slackware 3.something and switched to Suse afterwards. When Ubuntu came to life I switched to Ubuntu. All this time working dual boot with Windows.

One and a half year ago I bought an acer laptop. Great machine with 2 harddisks (desktop replacement/ battery time not the most important thing) that came preinstalled with Vista (yak, bwah!). I kept Vista running alongside for about a year and they killed this bastard! Now I'm running on Ubuntu 9.04 and I am perfectly happy: can do all I want. Before (8.10) I still had to tweak to get my Wifi up and running, with 9.04 it works out of the box: as all the other hardware does).

I still have an old brick (p4 , 2,8 Ghz from Dell) running XP, well running... I haven't started this machine for 4 months or so: don't even know if it still works 😉.

I do run XP in virtual box though, because my employer runs MS software for time registration that doesn't work with Firefox or Internet Explorer running on Wine.

My gaming I now do solely on my PS3. I'm happy with that too. Gaming on a PC wasn't a great experience: always updating to the latest direct X for new games, old games that didn't like the newest direct X, Games that had trouble with my ATI graphics card etc. PS3 is just slot in and run...

Oh yeah, some tips for those who want to take the plunge. Use Ubuntu - most software and help is available for that distro. There is a free Ubuntu guide http://www.technospot.net/blogs/download-free-ubuntu-guide-ebook/ very good for starters. For how to set up multimedia look nu further than www.howtoforge.com

Wondering if you should use Gnome or KDE? It's mainly a matter of taste. Currently Gnome is more stable than KDE. KDE version 4 still has some annoying caveats: for example: the file manager will hang on big files. Gnome looks more plain vanilla, but is rock solid. If you install Ubuntu you can still use KDE programs.

Got another tip for people using Windows mobile pda's. Syncing your PDA with Linux isn't easy or even impossible. I solved this by installing oggsync on my PDA: this syncs your PDA with google calendar. With Evolution (mail prog in Ubuntu) you can import (online/realtime) your google calendar. Works great. Nice extra: if you forget your PDA but have internet access you can still access your calendar.
 
I find the easiest way to convert someone to linux is to show them some jaw dropping desktop effects with Compiz paired with a very neatly customized desktop. And show them all the software available on Adept or Synaptic with a touch of a button, DRM free and free.

The future of Linux, while still a way of is Ultimatix, its like Adept(Kubuntu) or Synaptic(Ubuntu), but streamlined with only great and very stable sofware even mainstream games, it comes with every Ultimate Edition release and gets maturer every few months. I suggest you try it out if you have any flavor of Ubuntu Desktop.

With all that said, I still love Windows to, I use Ubuntu at home, Vista at work, loved Vista from beta, been very stable and kind to me. When a customer wants to buy a new brand name PC I will always advise them on whats the best Windows for their needs and specs. But when a customer comes to me and wants a affordable custom build, I always advise them to go Linux first. I usually end up customizing their Ubuntu quite a bit til its very beginner friendly, with a few nice games like Open Arena and some productivity software.
Needless to say they end up very happy customers, and never look back. Some, to my surprise even, when I hear from them a few months later, have installed the latest distro and tinkered it to their liking(Sniff, they grow up so quick)

There you have it, I promote open source where and when I can, but MS and Linux is evolving a great deal, and they learn from each other. I find both of them equally effective for my uses.
The only place where Windows excels for the regular consumer is games, u can for that part justify the cost of Windows, its buy Windows or use Linux and buy a Xbox 360 or whatever console.
 
[citation][nom]thearm[/nom]I also work on computers all day every day for Honda. So when I get home, I just want things to work. I don't want to configure a bunch of settings or look up a problem on the net to find out why something is not working (Unless I have to). Windows is trouble free because everything is compatable with it. I have been running Vista since it came out with no problems and I'm now running Windows 7 with no problems.[/citation]

Ubuntu 9.04 is actually easier to do things with than windows... well, It's easier to get it to do what you want. With linux you also get free support from thousands of geeks to spank it to anything open-source.... with windows, you may not have those problems in the first place... but when you do, you get the wonderful opportunity to talk to a telemarketer (it seems) with broken english.
 
Crap I forgot to add, I dual boot. I prefer ubuntu for anything except for gaming. The only other thing I do in windows other than gaming is video editing because I haven't bothered to learn how to use openvideoeditor.
 
I switched basically cold-turkey in 1997. I've used Windows at work or at friend's houses since then, and I've consistently installed betas of various OSes (includeing Windows), but I've never gone back.

There are certain trade-offs: I'm not a big gamer, and I have a console for that; I limit my use of certain kinds of media; I have to be careful of my hardware purchases.

Most importantly, I get my work done productively. I spend virtually NO time on system maintenance and instead spend that time on either getting work done or, when I run out of that, doing what I want to do.

Daeng Bo
http://blog.ibeentoubuntu.com
 
Back in the fall of 2002, I learned about Windows XP's activation system and did not like what I learned about it AT ALL! I'm not advocating software piracy or anything, but to me, since you always have to add memory (or buy a new computer) just to make Windows run at a decent clip, and since adding hardware could cause XP to falsely claim that you had pirated the software, I wanted nothing whatsoever to do with XP! Oh, and Vista is an even bigger racket, too!

However, I had also remembered hearing about Linux back in 1998, and began looking into Linux and what it was like. I took my time with the planned switchover and started by downloading Windows versions of software that was also available for Linux on my Windows 98 installation, and for a long time, I never quite felt comfortable with leaving Windows behind.

But that all changed in January of 2005. At the time, I had Windows 2000 Professional on my computer, and kept getting this error message every few minutes. Eventually, that started happening every few SECONDS. I backed up everything and tried a fresh re-installation of Windows 2000, and was STILL getting those error messages. I then went for broke and wiped that off and installed some CD's I had downloaded of Mandrake Linux, and Mandrake handled whatever hardware problem that was PERFECTLY, so I decided right then and there I was stickin' to Linux on my computer! 🙂 I later learned that the problems I was having in Win2K were due to an incompatibility with the Pentium III processor I had in my computer at the time, but by that time, Mandrake had already won me over, even if I had to enter a few commands to install stuff.

Since that time though, I've had curiosity get the better of me from time to time about other distros, so I've also had Mepis and PCLinuxOS on here, too. As you may have guessed, I was a definite KDE guy from the start. But all that changed when KDE4 was introduced. I tried it, and it was very confusing to use and very unstable, and in my opinion, downright ugly. I had never really cared for GNOME at all up to that point, but I had dabbled with changing themes in GTK themes on Xfce, and felt comfortable enough with the idea to switch to GNOME, so I've been a Ubuntu guy ever since January of 2008! 🙂
 
I switched to ubuntu, I dont miss windows. The reason I switched was because my computer was running slow on xp. No I wont switch back.
 
Tried several distros over the years, liking the recent Ubuntu best. PC-BSD isn't bad either. Tried on both desktops and laptops.

The down side is this-- doesn't talk easily to our network server at my workplace, doesn't do the popular games, and most important for me does not have good open source audio editing (like Wavelab) or video editing (like Avid Liquid 7, etc.).

I'd think for work where we use nothing more sophisticated than the usual "office" programs, e-mail, and web browsers, it could be the ticket. But! 3 of our key company officers STILL INSIST on using AOL (even over broadband). Far as I know, AOL don't do Linux. So much for implementing it in the workplace.
 
Home: Dual boot puppy linux and xp. I use xp only for gaming and watching tv, linux does the rest, its the only way to avoid all the malware. At work: puppy linux on a cyrix mII 300, I rarely touch any of the 11 windows xp pro servers.
 
I made the decision about 5yrs ago to never boot windows again or use windows only games/software after paying 300 bucks for a winXP cd and having to call their voice recognition software and read 60+ numbers and get confirmation just to "unlock" my system after hardware/software upgrades.

Couldn't be happier :)

If something doesn't run on linux or to a greater extent isn't GPL, then I just don't use it.

This is a personal choice on my part, and I couldn't be happier.
To each their own, this works for me.
 
I replaced Windows with Linux on my laptop quite a few years ago- I did that in 2003 if my memory serves me correctly. I originally did that as I had a couple of devices that had terrible Windows XP drivers but ran fine under Linux. I ended up really liking the OS and have been using it ever since. I dual-booted for a while, but when the HDD in that laptop died in 2005, I never reinstalled Windows as I rarely ever used it. I haven't dual-booted since then; it's just been straight Linux.

Today it would be difficult and expensive for me to run Windows. Only my current laptop has a valid Windows license as I built (and assembled from old surplus parts) three others and none of them have Windows licenses. My desktop (A64 X2 4200+, 4 GB DDR-400) is the only one certainly powerful enough to run a current version of Windows. My HTPC is a bit iffy (Athlon XP 3200+, 1 GB DDR-400) and my file server (Pentium III 1.0B, 256 MB PC100) would have its hands full running Windows XP, let alone Vista. I don't really have anything against Windows as MS has shaken most of the bugs out of Vista with SP1 and XP with SP3. I have installed it on computers I've built for others and used it on others' machines and it is a decent OS. I have used it at work and you can pretty easily tweak Windows to have the about 97% of the same functionality of your average Linux distro by installing many of the same or equivalent open-source apps I run on Linux (the GIMP, OpenOffice.org, Firefox, PuTTY, Notepad++, etc.) I use Linux because I find it to be a much more economical and flexible choice for my particular uses.
 
I am totally Windows free, I use only Linux (Opensuse) and I do not like gaming.
In many respects I am pleased that my Windows days are over.
 
One thing I'd like to add. Too many people make this into some sort of emotional issue. It's not. It's an operating system. If you can save some green and get done what you need to get done, then it's better than the alternative. If you need the alternative, then that is where you should be. If you are getting angry about features in an operating system, then you need to turn the computer off, go outside and get some fresh air and a bit of perspective. Life is way too short to waste some of it on heartburn over Ones and Zeroes.
 
After running ubuntu for my web server for a year or so and seeing the power that the distro enables as far as settings and control. I have made the jump and installed kubuntu on my main PC, laptop, media center PC(for playing h.264 content on HDTV) and my wife's PC. I keep a dual boot with winxp for my wife in case one of her uses isn't fulfilled in kubuntu.

I'll eventually setup a partition and put winxp on so that I can play a game or two. But as far as day-day computing/work goes my household is now windows free. I'm amazed I didn't make the jump sooner as the experience I get from kubuntu blows windows out the window.

The only reason I can ever see using windows again is to play a game, or use the CS4 suite.
 
My home computer is still Windows... so it's my gaming machine. My work computer is my portable and it's 100% Ubuntu.

I have yet found anything that I cannot do in the workplace with my portable. Wireless is fine, email is fine... etc.

I have happy as a clam in mud. 🙂
 
I've used linux for a decade, but only last couple of years as a pure linux install. I used most of the common distros. But since 2006 I only use Ubuntu because it's easy and it just works. Ubuntu 9.04 with the New Wave theme is the best yet. I have one dual boot machine with XP because my second internet bank demands windows for it's security programme.

I recommend Ubuntu 9.04 with all of my heart!
 
I have Linux machines and some Virtual Linux instances, but find that I still need Windows machines for occasional gaming or apps that aren't available in Linux (e.g. tax software).
 
First linux install, Slackware 3.0 in 1995. I do have some Windows machines (wifes laptop notably) but all in all, I'm a *NIX kind of man, with OSX, Ubuntu, Gentoo, OpenBSD, Solaris, all on various machines doing various jobs.
 
I've completely migrated to openSUSE the two machines (a 2008 iMac and a Latitude D620 laptop) which are exclusively used professionally. It's preferable to keeping the original OS X (or XP, respectively) "just in case" you need them. Yeah, this makes firmware/BIOS upgrades a lot harder (fortunately, I didn't have to do one yet on the Mac) but this way you don't feel obliged to keep the "just in case" OS up-to-date with security updates.

For my home use, I dual boot openSUSE and Vista. Most of the time, I run Vista. There's just some stuff I like to do "for fun" that doesn't work--or doesn't work satisfactorily--on Linux, not even with Wine. Netflix comes to mind, as well as some Pro Audio software and some games.
 
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