An enjoyable read.

Story: Inconvenient truths: PC vs. Mac, Windows vs. Linux, us vs. them, et al.Total Replies: 6
Author Content
Aladdin_Sane

Jun 08, 2007
7:24 AM EDT
Easy to digest, thoughtful, broad spectrum. Perfect for a Friday morning or whenever. Goes well with coffee and Dire Straits.
dinotrac

Jun 08, 2007
7:29 AM EDT
Agreed.
dcparris

Jun 08, 2007
7:39 AM EDT
Steven, thanks for the high compliments!
jdixon

Jun 08, 2007
7:40 AM EDT
Well, except for his point about Windows being fast. :)

All non-Vista Windows installations which aren't saddled with crippleware (see: Dell, HP, Toshiba, et.al.) are fast when you first start them. Give them six months and see how they do, then again a year later, then again at 18 months. At 24 months you'll be screaming at the machine to hurry up and do something, anything, to let you know it's still working.
Steven_Rosenber

Jun 08, 2007
4:19 PM EDT
jdixon, I totally agree -- Windows installations tend to get kind of creaky with time. I think you need to religiously back up your data and reinstall the OS from scratch on a yearly basis. One of the great things about Debian is that you can always upgrade from one version to another with little or no trouble.

I've had some really doggy Windows 98 boxes, but my current Windows XP box at work has been running for almost a couple of years now, and it shows no signs of such a slowdown. I'm locked out of the "administrator" level, so I can't even check on the file fragmentation, but I think that XP takes care of the box in that regard better than previous Windows versions.

One thing: Even though I can't be the "administrator" on this box, I can pretty much install any app I want --- although sometimes the system won't let me remove one. I can usually do that anyway, but security when it comes to actual users of Windows boxes is pretty much a joke -- another area where Linux wins big.
dcparris

Jun 08, 2007
5:02 PM EDT
I have always disliked Windows' user management. I never liked it in Win3.1 or 9x. Not sure I really care for 2000/XP either. Although it might be Windows policies, it just seems like so many of my MS Office settings get reset every time someone else logs into our shared box. If I set the toolbars one way, log out, and come back the next day, I find them re-arranged or entirely new toolbars added that I don't use. Actually, that's one reason I installed OOo for my account - so no one else can screw with my freaking settings.

Meanwhile, my resentment of Windows continues to build...
jdixon

Jun 08, 2007
7:23 PM EDT
> I've had some really doggy Windows 98 boxes, but my current Windows XP box at work has been running for almost a couple of years now, and it shows no signs of such a slowdown.

It takes longer with 2000/XP, and the slowdown isn't as dramatic, but it's still there. If you could do a side by side comparison, you'd be able to see it.

> I'm locked out of the "administrator" level...

That's probably a good chuck of the reason right there. Not being able to make changes to system files seems to greatly extend the life of a Windows box.

> but security when it comes to actual users of Windows boxes is pretty much a joke -- another area where Linux wins big.

Again, completely true.

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