Linux over Windows..? Well, the argument continues

And here, I thought it was a visualization article,...

Not that I take umbrage with the author's point of view, but I have a couple of criticisms:

1) It seems that English is not the author's primary language. So, some of the sentences seem awkward or underdeveloped.

2) [The following will seem like I am an M$ fan-boy, which I certainly am not. But, I have to give credit where credit is due.] There seems to be a very short shrift given to what is undeniably M$'s biggest design strength, which is an attractive, usable interface. M$ spends a lot of time and money on developing their user interface. And, believe it or not, it's actually customizable. It's bloated, virus-ridden, comparatively expensive, in terms of overhead. However, it is attractively designed, fairly consistent and can be modified & extended with 3rd party add-ons. The author gives this one strength, basically one line, & that with a dismissive comment.

Overall, the article had some good points, but was something we've all seen before. I have to admit I was very disappointed that it wasn't a visualization article.

@JaseP, I can only respect and even envy that writer for whom English is not her/his first language. I consider my own monolingualism to be a handicap. I salute the author.

I agree that Windows has an attractive GUI and Windows 7 shows the evolution. With no sarcasm I do think the author might have included more had someone been discussing this with him not long before he penned the article.

I do understand you were disappointed that it wasn't a visualization article; a lot of people went to see "The American" last year and were sorely disappointed. I understand that because the promos were designed to get get people to voluntarily part with some cash and were deceptive (not that this author was). I had not seen any promos and I still find the movie to be loaded with meaning and nuances. It has tremendous tension which apparently would have been far more appreciated by prisoners who have about 90 days left before release. Its all in the context and the subjective perception.

Whatever an "attractive GUI" is remains a matter of taste. Some would say "anything+compiz", others "OS/X". That's another advantage of Linux, you cannot just customize, but choose. But is it useful? I would say that my old KDE3 "guesses" what I want more often than Windows - without interfering. For some odd reason my System panel in Windows always appears as a list while my directories insist on showing as icons. When I have to select a file, I have to make the same adjustments over and over again for repetitive tasks. So much for "usability". Compared with Linux, installing programs in Windows is plain horror. I have several installations of Ghostscript, because installers can't figure out whether I have installed it or not. Consequently, sometimes a program fails because I installed another. I can keep on going to list all Windows annoyances, for Petes sake, I've dedicated pages and pages on it on my blog. In short, "usability" goes much further than "an attractive GUI". Did anyone say "latency", for instance?