Does Loving Linux Make Us Dislike Windows?

Years ago, I was a reasonably content Windows desktop user. Then something remarkable took place that changed everything: I began stumbling upon various open source projects that I found to be nothing short of amazing.

The first open source application I happened upon was a project called "Firebird." Destined to become what we today refer to as the Firefox Web browser, Firebird offered me a whole new way to look at software.

Even back in the early days of the Firebird/Firefox browser, I knew it was going to take off like crazy as development began to pickup. As time went on, I found myself using open source software over that of the freeware/shareware alternatives. Software cost was certainly part of the reasoning for my change in computing habit, but so was the speed of application development.

Today I'm a full-time desktop Linux enthusiast, who is familiar with dozens of popular distributions. I'd consider myself very comfortable with Linux on the desktop. What's interesting though, is the change in how I view Windows.

These days, I avoid Windows as much as possible since I feel much more limited with it. Perhaps this is what Windows users trying Linux feel when stepping outside of their regular computing routine?

Whatever the issue happens to be for others, I've found myself disliking any non-Linux experience on the desktop. The reasons for my view of Windows are bountiful. However I can't say that everyone reading this is going to agree with them.

Regardless, this is simply a deeper look into what makes me embrace Linux and avoid Windows whenever I can...even though I own a Windows 7 PC.

Based on my own experiences with Windows 7, the software included is laughable. There is no default office suite, the productivity software is missing out of the box and most of the time the driver support is painful to behold.

Just to make the Windows 7 desktop usable in my office, I must hunt down software solutions that mirror my Linux desktop experience. Though, to be fair, there are some very solid applications available for Windows users. Claiming otherwise would be disingenuous.

However, finding these software titles can be tedious. Worse, I find myself using search engines and shareware websites to fill in software gaps for application discovery. Considering that Linux software is available from Linux software repositories, along with the plethora of apps already installed, Linux has software availability won hands down in contrast to Windows.

I've also found that many of the applications I've come to love on the Linux desktop aren't always available on the Windows desktop. For instance, one example occurs to me from the video editing space. I could go with VirtualDub for Windows, however I'd rather stick with OpenShot instead.

There are other Linux software titles I've run into this with, but this is one example that is something I came across recently. We are victims of what we consider familiar, I suppose. However this is hardly true only for users of proprietary desktop operating systems. It seems that Linux enthusiasts can also suffer from platform shock when going back to a non-Linux experience.

One thing I find most annoying about Windows is how I must spend extra money every time I update the operating system. I'm not saying this happens with each Windows release cycle, rather with every two of them.

The problem is that even if I stick to open source/freeware applications on the Windows desktop, Windows 7 seems to "dislike" peripherals aged more than 3-4 years old. It amazes me that I could take brand named devices, connect them to a Windows 7, only to watch as the installer coughed up excuses instead of getting the devices up and running. Even peripherals that worked out of the box in Windows XP failed miserably with Windows 7, due to drivers.

To be fair, this is not the fault of the operating system so much as the idiocy that is today's peripherals marketplace. Apparently many peripheral manufacturers stop producing new drivers after a device hits a certain age.

Seems these short-sighted companies believe there is no money in ensuring a decent experience unless you own the latest and greatest peripherals. In contrast to that experience, I've found that modern desktop Linux distributions support peripherals both new and old alike. Thanks to the community backbone making sure devices of all ages receive driver support, every peripheral in my home office works out of the box with Linux.

The software differences and the maddening driver shortcomings have indeed made using Windows a "non-starter" for me personally. And after inquiring with others who use Linux on the desktop, I was shocked to hear I was not alone.

The reasons for disliking Windows for these individuals was less about software politics and more about the desktop experience itself. Despite the Linux desktop often presenting similar challenges for newcomers, at least those challenges can be overcome without a shopping trip for new peripherals. At worst, it's a matter of a small learning curve or some minor troubleshooting.

During several discussions with Linux users, the topic of store-bought software and peripheral driver CDs came up. If you've ever run a printer driver installation CD, you know exactly what I'm about to say. Installing a Windows driver using these discs is an exercise in patience and sanity.

Not only are you left to play "dodge ball" with software installations that you never asked for, the installation process itself takes entirely too long. By the time the driver CD is finished, I might as well have carved pertinent details of the document into a stone tablet.

Then we have Windows networking configuration. You've got to be kidding me, Microsoft. While I believe that networking two Windows 7 PCs is reasonably easy thanks to the provided tools, cross-platform networking with Windows 7 requires more patience than I have on tap during any given day.

Sure, I've done it successfully. However, it's easier to cross-platform a network with OS X to Linux, than with Windows 7. Even Windows XP made this easier, which is pretty sad considering the age of the OS release.

Next up on my complaint list is software management in Windows. Earlier I discussed my grief with software discovery, now it's time to roll my eyes at how Windows handles software removal.

On a Linux system, just run the proper commands from a shell. If you need a GUI, you have solutions such as Synaptic, among a few others. Yet when I use Windows 7, I must remove software one-application-at-a-time. To the very best of my knowledge, there is no method to safely remove more than one application at a time.

To me, this is time wasted and if I was more daring, I'd bill Microsoft for each moment I lost during the experience. The entire experience is dated and in dire need of an upgrade.

Anyone who has paid attention in recent years will admit that the two worst releases of Windows have to be Windows Me and Windows Vista. The reasons varied between the two releases; however, both shared their need for deeper development and bug removal.

The point here is when each of these Windows releases came out, there was no current Windows alternative available. The only option was to stick with an earlier Windows release or just deal with the flakiness of the newest release.

For Linux enthusiasts, on the other hand, we are fortunate in being able to "distro hop" whenever the urge happens to strike us. Unlike Windows, there are plenty of release options out there to choose from.

The best part is that most distributions offer fairly substantial differences with regard to their desktop experience. From varied desktop environments out of the box, down to the applications installed by default. Even the control options made available tend to flow in different directions from distro to distro.

I would be doing everyone here a disservice if I claimed that the popular Linux distributions available all do everything 100% correctly out of the box. Obviously this isn't the case. However, fixing something that's amiss on the Linux desktop comes with a greater chance of success than with the Windows desktop.

The same issues that might plague a Linux newbie are a sign of control to the more advanced Linux enthusiast. Whether it be a tweak here or a "config file" edit there, most issues are easily fixed once the problem is diagnosed.

The same isn't always the case with the Windows desktop. When something like a wireless dongle isn't working, there is little recourse available other than to try another driver. With Linux, you'll often find the solution is to tweak the driver that was installed to gain the desired result. While the circumstances on both platforms can be considered a pain, the latter isn't waiting on the manufacturer to "correct" whatever the problem is.

By now, many of you might believe I happen to dislike Windows and all things Microsoft. The truth couldn't be further off.

I do have a strong distaste for Windows 7. It's a buffed up version of XP in my opinion, with some minor improvements sprinkled along the way to make it feel like a new operating system. Unlike Windows XP, however, Win7 has offered nothing of value to the end-user in my opinion.

This view, not a dislike for Microsoft, is why I avoid newer Windows products like the plague. Fact is, Windows XP has a much larger spectrum of peripheral support than Windows 7. Think I'm wrong? Do some testing with older peripherals and you'll be amazed. Running a PC shouldn't require maintaining an active balance on one's credit card.

My reason for sharing this article is to show what it's like to read "Linux reviews" written by proprietary OS shills. The difference with this report, however, is that I share my own honest experiences with both desktops as used on a daily basis.

Unlike many of the Windows-using "Linux reviewers," Windows 7 is my secondary desktop here in my home office. While I avoid using it whenever possible, I do run it out of necessity due to the nature of my work. I need it to compare how things work in contrast to Linux, what advancements have been achieved on the platform, and so on. I do not use it with any of my software, documents or anything that takes place in my daily life. It's used for testing and research only.

The title of this article begs the question of whether using Linux makes end-users such as myself "dislike" Windows. The answer for myself is, no, it doesn't make me dislike Windows at all. Hating an operating system is silly.

I will say, however, that Linux has made me rethink how I spend my money and how I spend my time. Linux is most definitely not a magic bullet for all applications nor is it a match for all computer users. Many of you may be better off with Windows.

But for those who are willing to walk on the wild side, Linux is a tool that has the potential to reshape how you use a computer overnight. However, your own mileage during such an experience may vary.

I've been around computers since the punch card days. While I'm NO fan of Windows, this article is nothing more than another whining "my dad can kick your dad's butt."

I only go back to paper tape and core memory, but you are quite right.

There has been ample shareware, freeware, trialware etc. since the CPM days. CPM, AppleDOS, 680x0 MacOS, MS-DOS, Windows, OS2, Amiga, BeOS and a boatload of others have always had these.

With Linux, you get critical mass for some of these products, but OpenCalc still ain't Excel. None of the database front ends are as good as FileMaker Pro or even Access. The best of the apps get ported to Windows as well.

Linux provides an important function, as do major Unixes (AIX, HP/UX, BSD), MacOS and, yes, Windows. All of them have a role, which is why so many large organizations have some of each.

I hope nobody misunderstands my comments. IMO a person should use whatever OS they want and what kind of box they want.
For me, and I think for most people, a computer is just a tool. Nothing more.

AMD/Intel/Mac(which I guess is Intel now)/Win/Linux/home-built/custom built/built at the factory/ whatever. If it does what you need it to do...good.

I've had all my computers built to the specs I wanted. I use Win XP 'cause thats what I know and it works for me.
Somebody wanna use something different...no sweat to me.

I do get a bit annoyed at the Apple fan bois & gurlz though....but I think annoying is part of their genetic assembly...heh heh heh

since college papers turned in (online classes) must be in Word Doc format, is it possible to still use Linux?

Generally, Yes. Almost all of the Linux based word processors write & read .doc file format. But, there are some things in recent MS Office .doc file formats that may cause problems. RTF is pretty universal if you have a failure on that type of document. You can try Abiword ported for Windows to test and see if it will work for you. It is not an office suite, but a pretty fair word processor and it is a light application. Open Office and Libra Office are much more advanced if you want to try them.

Go to http://www.linuxlinks.com and look at the software listing.

The word processors are here: http://www.linuxlinks.com/Software/Wordprocessors

Abiword is downloadable here: http://www.abisource.com/download/

I am of the opinion that computers (and the software that runs on them) are basically tools. If someone wrote an article that said that “Just because I love my shovel does that mean I have to hate my rake?” (notice I didn’t say hoe LOL), that would be an absurd statement, at least in my view. The analogy is perhaps not an exact one but it gets the point across.

I admit to being a bit of a linux fanboy myself, but my rational side would say “just use the best tool for the job”.

“I prefer not having to upgrade or outright replace my computer every time a new version of the OS comes out. (typing this on a 6 year old Dell, that was at best middle of the road for performance when it was new) “
^^^^^^^^^

I’m typing this on a 10-year old computer with 512MB RAM on Ubuntu 10.10 and it handles fine. I’m going to move it to Linux Mint XFCE and it will be even quicker.

I'm in a good situation here--while the official desktop is Windows, I am allowed to use my Linux laptop. My business case for it is that (since I am a Linux admin) I can connect to the servers I'm responsible for a lot easier. It makes my job more productive.

I have a windows laptop at work that does exactly one thing - outlook. It's basically a couple of thousand dollars worth of an email terminal, because the underlying OS just doesn't work the way I do.

I need multiple desktops, and a real shell with tools that will actually let me automate stuff that would otherwise take far too much of my time, or not be possible at all without an in-house programmer. I need to have direct shell access both to and from my box, along with a webserver, ftp (anonymous only), and scp server so I can move files from one place to another without the hassel of 'shares', and other artificial weirdness.

I'm sure windows is fine for people who don't actually have to do multiple tasks simultaneously, and can focus on their one program they are working on at the moment. I'm sure it's fine for people who don't value their time enough to put up with scanning for viruses, malware, and other crap that seems to be attracted to Microsoft operating systems like a big Hoover vacuum. I just don't have the time to mess with all the crap that comes with being a MS-Windows user.

I also like knowing that by backing up my /home partition, even after a catastrophic disk failure, I can get my entire system back within a few hours (most of that time is the data restore) in exactly the same condition it was today right down to the individual tweaks I've made to my personal desktop settings.

I'm glad there is choice out there. Different people like different things. Different people have different needs and requirements. Thank God we have the ability to choose that which works best for us as individuals. Mac users can be happy, MS-Windows users can be happy, and Linux users can be happy because they have what is best for them.

I’d love nothing more than to switch to Linux. But I’m trapped here in a windows shop.

As a service tech, I feel your pain. I very much prefer linux, but my business is driven by an ability to fix windows. So i am invariably drawn back to, and basically stuck on windows. It's ubiquity is it's greatest strength.

However, IMHO, there are parts of this OP which do not ring true - It is no easy thing to set up a cross-platform network with linux either, especially for a n00b... Samba config is one of my biggest b*tches about linux, and one of the most important things left undone by automated installation processes. Printers and peripherals are not always easy either. And Man pages necessary to linux config are probably worse than the troubleshooting available for windows - if for no other reason than the sheer number of manpages available - and their relatively obscure locations. I have literally scoured the web for days trying to solve a bug or annoyance.

There is no question that Linux is the superior system, by nearly every measurable standard. But by the same token, to the uninitiated, it is also the more difficult to manage. I service some few SOHO and residential Linux boxen, and those brave individuals have had a tremendous learning curve to accomplish. Not that that is entirely a bad thing - informed users are safe users. but I am still loathe to create a linux installation that doesn't pick up everything from a live disk run or a WUBI install... Those occasions where I deny Linux to a client are becoming less frequent, to be sure (Ubuntu was the hallmark distro that really changed that drastically), but still more often than I would prefer.

In that perfect condition, a n00b can be up and running (functional) in mere hours, operating quite freely using most apps, and functioning well in most user-only type operations... But the journey from n00b to intermediate level (say, power user) is an excruciating process.

but the biggest feature is the security.

Much ado about nothing - most virus authors have gotten around UAC by now... and that is the main sec difference between XP and Vista/Seven. Give me 20 seconds on a win 7 box (ANY win platform actually) as a guest and I can be sitting on a SYSTEM desktop (not Admin now, but SYSTEM). I do it all the time in order to kill tough bugs or delete files that will not die... getting admin on a cold start is a piece of cake. So is shutting off UAC on the next restart from a cold box... elevating from user, too. nothing has changed much.

Its human nature, people like to "pick sides", as if they have too. But it is especially compelling to pick the side, if they are the underdog. Then they become haters of the other side. That explains the Apple fanboi's. Linux users can be similar. It feels good to be a part of the brethren.

Politics and sports are similar, once you pick a side, you tend to hate on the opposition.. just human nature. I try my best to avoid that.

Oh, you ain't kidding! One particularly egregious example: I was once doing some programming work with my laptop in a customer's facility. When I wanted to print, I naturally decided to use one of their networked printers and downloaded the "driver" (70MB!!). So then I install the thing, and it gives me all sorts of spyware and other feces-ware along with the driver. So I use Windows uninstall, which WAS provided, on the other crap, and it uninstalls the driver along with!!

They've designed their crap to actively PREVENT you from cleaning it out of your system, by taking the 2MB you actually WANT along with it! Crapware being provided with drivers has been a severe pet peeve of mine ever since and I make it a point to defeat it, even if it might be harmless in a given case, just on the principle.

My official work desktop is sitting on my desk, running headless, mouseless, and keyboardless. I remote into it whenever I need to use the one and only Windows app that I can't get running on Linux--Lotus Notes (the only reason I can't get it running on Linux is that I don't have the install disks available).

VMware (and other VM software for all I know) will let you clone an existing physical machine into a VM that you can run on your Linux box. See, no Notes reinstall required! It doesn't even know it's running on new (virtualized) hardware. The only way I could see that not working is if Notes has copy protection keyed to HD serial numbers or MAC ID's or something like that. Those are probably not coming along to the VM. In a way, running stuff from a VM is even safer IT-wise because you can backup the entire machine and restore it on new hardware even easier than restoring a HD image.

Got a PC question....my PC’s running slow and occasionally freezes even tho I regularly defrag,disk clean,update and scan. I’ve heard lots of ads on doublemyspeed.com....are these online programs really that good? Is there anything i’m not doing to improve the speed/performance? I use Registry Mechanic and Avast to keep things clean. I’m running windows XP home ed. Any ideas? Thanks!

I still run XP Pro on several video editing PC's at home, but for anything requiring Internet access, I use Linux exclusively. To deal with all the maintenance issues you mentioned above, Windows costs money, time and aggravation. I don't have those issues with Linux. Above all, Windows XP is a virus magnet. I make good money on the side by cleaning up XP machines for clients. At home, I don't have the time or inclination to deal with that mess (especially 'cuz I'm not being paid!). After my son's computer got clobbered twice, I got fed up and started trying various Linux distros. None of the home PC's even run A/V software, but I have yet to identify any problems after two+ years. So, if you have some special application that will only run on Windows, I understand. But, if you don't, try Linux, you might be impressed.

You’re talking about having physical access to the machine. No one is dumb enough to claim secure without physical security.

What you describe means OSX and Linux are just as vulnerable.

The key is over the network attacks and that’s where they security is greatly improved. Now the attacks are pretty much social engineered attacks.

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