Windows or Linux?

[Darkmere]

You could try partitioning your hard drive, so that you have the best of both worlds on one machine

That or put a full install of LINUX of a USB drive and take it anywhere you want

 

[Eugen Jung]

.

 

[theislandcrew]

You could try partitioning your hard drive, so that you have the best of both worlds on one machine

My laptop is for productive work so Windows alone is all I need. I dual boot Windows and PCLOS on desktop, though.

 

[Darkmere]

Sure, but that's because of familiarity. They are used to doing things "the Windows way", and anything different seems confusing to them. In his article "Linux is Not Windows", Humphries reckons that computer novices find Linux less confusing than Windows power-users do.

Just out of interest, what parts of Linux do people think are most confusing?

The problems I see most is with general layout. They are mostly flustered with multi terms and the package installer esp if something goes wrong or you have to do other small things to get it to work properly. So I should say it isnt LINUX they mostly complain about it is the GUIs

 

[essellar]

Linux is a turd. That's not to put Linux down, really, since all OSs are turds. Windows, OS X, iOS, Android, and so forth, are also turds -- but they're polished turds housed deep inside a jewel-encrusted reliquarium. If you really, really want to look at the turd, you can, but most users neither know or care about the turd. Linux forces you to look at the turd.

There has been some argument here (and elsewhere) about the "dumbing down" of the user base. Well, you know what? Most users don't give a flying [dropkick] about their computer. They don't care what the filesystem looks like; they don't care about registries or library isolation or any of that crap. They simply want a tool that lets them do the things they want to do. Frankly, they don't really care how their refrigerators, toasters or televisions work, either, as long as they do. The average computer user doesn't care about whether a device is "just another file" or not (or even whether or not something belongs in /dev or /etc), they want to be able to plug things in and make 'em go. A writer cares about writing, a designer cares about designing, a gamer cares about games. Not a one of them should have to concern themselves with sudo (or whether grep or some full-text database is helping them find files, etc.) -- it's okay to inform them that what they are trying to do can be risky and ask for confirmation, but if anything that looks like the command line (or even smells like the command line) pops up, then we've failed as tool builders.

We wonks can get all uppity about hygiene and "the right way to do things", but the simple fact of the matter is that we are weird -- we care about turds, and nobody else can understand that (athough they might still have us over for dinner occasionally, careful to avoid letting conversations drift into the area of sewage management). That's fine and dandy -- we need people who care about the turd so that we can perfect the turd. But that's just us -- the stuff going on behind the scenes ought to be the technological equivalent of the Hogwarts house elves, busily working away unseen and unnoticed.

The problem with Linux is that the people who write and maintain it (and its various GUI layers) is that they don't understand why other people might not want to become sysadmins. I don't need to be a mechanic to drive a car; I don't need to be an electrician to make toast -- and that's the way computers should be to the average user. They don't care what goes on under the hood, and they shouldn't have to.

 

[DanielWhite]

I use both, however I lean towards Windows more.

Windows 7 is awesome. 8)

 

[gouri78]

i love win 7
smother faster n easier . . .

 

[jrfweb27]

Microsof has improved with each version of your OS, Windows 7 has been a great system, Linux has always been synonymous with stability and confidence.

 

[Darkmere]

Microsof has improved with each version of your OS, Windows 7 has been a great system, Linux has always been synonymous with stability and confidence.

Except Vista ... even Microsoft says that OS was one of the worst screw ups they ever done

 

[midataz189]

I think windows is very easy to use unlike linux,i don't like it but i can use after!!

 

[palmerx6414]

What's your favourite? Windows or Linux?

I personally support Windows 'cuz there are many apps that only work with Windows.
About Linux, well... I like Linux but not for daily use. Only sometimes to relax....

Also Linux has more security. :lockd:

It's the opposite for me. I use Linux, mainly, but once in a while I use Windows for gaming and stuff.

 

[dano967259]

Linux. Windows can run under VirtualBox so if it crashes it will never truly die. Whenever I want to do something Dangerous (capitol D) I just clone it and use a new virtual machine.

 

[palmerx6414]

Linux. Windows can run under VirtualBox so if it crashes it will never truly die. Whenever I want to do something Dangerous (capitol D) I just clone it and use a new virtual machine.

Also the same for me... When in doubt, run Windows in VirtualBox.
Unfortunately the system I'm stuck with using right now has insufficient memory and an older CPU so that part is a little hard for me. So as stated before, I just dual boot with how my setup is now, Linux as primary partition and Windows as secondary. if the Windows partition dies when I'm using it, oh well, re-install.

 

[captaindata]

Unless you need a particular Windows app, there's no reason to run Windows as your primary operating system. Even if you do, you can run Windows from within Linux using Virtualbox which is a free download from Oracle. I run the latest version of Ubuntu on my Dell laptop, and have had no real problems to speak of. Right out of the box it installed flash, shockwave and all the plugins to view Quicktime and Windows video content. The only plugin I had to manually install was libdvdcss, so I could play dvds. I still have Windows XP on a separate partition, but I almost never boot it.

You can also run Apple's operating system on non-Apple hardware. I have several desktop systems running Mac OS X, only one of which is an Apple system. For those on a budget, this is a viable option. I like Apple's operating system and software, I just don't want to pay for their overpriced hardware. But this is a topic for another forum.

 

[apisds]

Linux for work. Windows for playing games. Not much games available for linux (compared to Windows, that is). Dont start me into "WINE runs blahblahblah...". It's just me. Linux=work; Windows=play.

 

[zurfyx31]

I prefer linux because of the amount of things you can do with the console.
I feel more hacker with it

But what I use most is windows because its easier if you have to work with it.
And also to programm exe is the most logic OS to use.

 

[jlgagertech24]

I prefer Windows because of gaming. Also i program with visual studio and you need Windows for that.

 

[zurfyx31]

I prefer Windows because of gaming. Also i program with visual studio and you need Windows for that.

I have the same problem. There's no way to program with visual studio in linux

 

[wongers]

thats cause visual studio is full of lose and fail!!
FOR THE TUX!!

 

[mikerowe29]

Linux is best for internet. I don't do gaming but keep WinXP on a partition for hardware that wont work with Linux - printer, microscope,oscilloscope,etc