Okay, I've been suspecting this to be the case for sometime now, but since I've been doing my computing degree it has been confirmed.......Windows is a bit rubbish!
For years I have been turning the air blue with my foul language as Windows decides to freeze, or Windows decides to slow to a crawl, or Windows decides not to connect to a network unless I reboot, or Windows applications decide stop responding with no explanation as to the cause.
Many people have told me that I should buy a Mac, usually whilst their smug self satisfied selves are watching me thumping my laptop in frustration. Maybe I should "buy a Mac", but they are overlooking one problem, they are about double the price of a PC and I'm not Roman Abramovich! I have to agree though that Macs are good looking, have good quality hardware and their operating system is stable.
So I have had to explore other avenues. One of the reasons Mac is so stable is because Mac OSX is built upon the Unix operating system, the most stable system of all. Luckily this means that PC owners can also benefit from this stability. I therefore decided to try Linux which is also a Unix based system, and best of all it's completely free.
It's not a new idea for me to try this, I have dabbled in the past. There are many different flavours of Linux to consider from the beginner level Debian to the more geeky Slackware. I tried Mandriva Linux a couple of years back but had trouble with a flaky wireless connection and video that would only play sound with no picture. So back to Windows I went.
It wasn't until our resident Gameov3rite ed.kilverts mentioned that he moved to Kubuntu Linux that I decided to dabble again. The newest Mandriva, Debian, Mint and Kubuntu all gave me trouble with my internet connection. It wasn't until I tried Ubuntu that I had success with a driver for my wired connection installed 'out of the box', and my wireless driver recently being available on the internet.
I installed Ubuntu as a dual boot with Windows (just to fall back on if needed) and started to play. At a basic level it's a good looking beast with everything available in a logical place. Even better is the fact that Linux has a 'repository'. This is an application that allows you to download (again, for free) applications for pretty much any purpose you can think of. Simply type what you're after, mark the relevant application from the list that you wish to install and click apply, job done! You can also download Wine which allows you to run Windows programs in Linux with ease. It even comes with Open Office as standard so you don't need to worry about Microsoft Office.
Linux is by no means the most user friendly of operating systems. If you download an application from the internet rather than using the repository you will probably need to learn some commands to type into the terminal (the Linux equivalent of the Windows command line). Executable files are a rarity here so you have to embrace your inner geek.
My Uni lecturers will tell you that Windows architecture, ie the very bowels of the operating system that sits beneath the skin of what's on screen is poorly designed making Windows slow, long winded unstable and prone to security issues. Sceptical? Well, let me tell you that Linux doesn't require an anti virus solution. The architecture and permissions system on Linux means that whilst a virus can get onto your system, it stays contained and cannot do any damage. Windows on the other hand allows viruses do pretty much do whatever they want which I think says it all.
So I'm finding Ubuntu fast (no matter how much I install), stable (hasn't crashed once), good looking, logical and most importantly a usable alternative to Windows. If you are a person who has ever shouted "STUPID F'ING WINDOWS" or cursed Bill Gates, or even if you're just feeling brave, I would wholeheartedly recommend giving it a go. You could end up being like one of those Mac users who says "you should try Linux" in a smug tone.
I genuinely feel liberated to have finally escaped Bill Gates' clutches. Hang on, who makes the XBox? Oh s**t!!!!
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