[discostu]

A yes the Linux guy telling me about Windows. Sorry charley, Windows is easy to use. The only time Windows is a problem is if you approach it like a geek. People that like to tweak their computer and juice performance out of it will have a hard time with Windows because it wasn't meant for that. People who want to turn on the computer and go have no problem. My latest machine had XP installed, took 20 minutes to go through the personalization section of the install (timezone and stuff) and 10 to get tweak the look how I like it. After then smooth sailing and just installing software and going. No crashes, no problems. Even my old favorite DOS games (still a sucker for those SSI D&D games) run right off the bat.

John will care when his software is running in 32bit emulation mode on his 64bit PC and his Mac user friends run their apps in native 64bit mode and everything do just seems faster.

You're so funny. John Q Public doesn't even understand that sentence. And with Mac only having 5% of the market share the chances of JQP even having a friend that's a Mac user is slim to none. I went through the 16 to 32 change over. Highly anticipated in the geek commnity, out in the real world people didn't care. We jumped up and down saying "look it's faster" and their response was to ask if they could go to bed now (32 bit on the PC got unveiled at midnight after all).

JQP approaches computers the same way they do cars. Some people know all about cars and can list off every vital stat of every model made in the last 20 years, going into a long descriptions of normal asperation vs turbo and on and on. Most people though just want to get in, turn the key, and go to work. They don't know that other stuff and they don't want to know and if you try to tell them their eyes glass over and they stop hearing a word you're saying. Same thing with computers, they don't know what a bit is, they've never heard of benchmarks, and they've been told by reliabe sources that if they download anything from the internet they'll get a virus. They just don't care about all the technical crap that people like you and I obsess on, and if the history of the car is any indicator they never will.

[Dimensio]

Windows is easy to use. The only time Windows is a problem is if you approach it like a geek.

Actually, Windows is a problem when a geek who doesn't know what they are doing tries to tweak it, but it can also be a big problem for those who don't understand the importance of security. When Nimda first hit, I could go through several megabytes of firewall hits every week -- and I doubt that they were all coming from "geeks" who were trying to "tweak" their system. More likely it was non-savvy users who just want to "turn on the computer and go have no problem", without bothering to ever check Windows Update. It's also a problem for people who download and install every "cute" or "neat" application they find and who insist on having every possible instant messaging client available (and naturally they use the commercial versions rather than third-party freeware, ensuring that they get a nice dose of adware to go along with their client) and load up the system with countless heavy (and often useless) processes, then wonder why the system crashes so often.

I am a "geek". I manage a small Linux server box at home and I run it on my personal machine as well. I deal with Windows 2000 as a necessary evil and while I don't claim to be an expert I live with someone who is such. I've resorted to "tweaks" only when necssary (I had to disable ACPI support because of bizarre file corruption with it enabled -- try explaining that to a non-geek) and I've kept my machine clean and crash-free. I've also dealt with the Windows installs of non-tech friends and their systems are typically a mess: desktop cluttered with unneeded icons, system tray icons that stretch through 1/4 of the toolbar, Windows updates woefully out of date, various bizarre crashes at any time.

Don't tell me that Windows is just fine and dandy if you don't like tweaking your system. Keeping a Windows box stable and secure requires a little bit of effort and many non-technical people just don't know to make that effort.