I know the Microsoft fanboys are going to pop up and comment negatively as soon as they read this (if they read this), but I don't care. Entire cottage industries have been formed around Microsoft training, whether it be for Access, Excel, Word or one of their other specialized applications. If software applications require special training programs, something is wrong and it's time to move to something else.
What about the Operating System?
Speaking of cottage industries, why do they exist to fix the Microsoft operating system problems? Microsoft has dominated the OS market since the early 1990s and since then, we've found that every version of the Windows OS has been full of bugs and security problems. It's so bad that Microsoft has to issue patches every month, regardless of which OS version is being supported.
Even with all the patching, Microsoft Windows (again, regardless of version) is responsible for the spread of viruses and other malware across the entire Internet. Fanboys will be quick to say that it's due to all the pirated copies of the software, but it doesn't take a genius to figure out the software started out buggy. After 15 years (since Window 95), you'd think that Microsoft would have its act together.
If Microsoft was "all that", so to speak, then why are third party applications required to fix the registry, defragment hard drives in a reasonable amount of time and the list goes on.
Move to Linux and Set Yourself Free
The primary reason I'm switching to Ubuntu Linux as my desktop operating system is that I'm tired of reinstalling Windows every time something stops working the way it should. Considering the fact that I spend 90 percent of my time in a web browser, it's just silly to keep having the fix the OS that runs it.
I'm still using Windows XP on my netbook and I'll still be using Windows XP as a virtual machine under Ubuntu on my desktop computer once I make the switch — and then the netbook will follow suit.
The problem is that I still have software applications that have no Linux counterpart and I still need to use them, even if not on a daily basis.
What about…?
The greatest thing about Linux software applications is that you can get help from just about anywhere in the global Linux community, regardless of what application you're dealing with. With Microsoft, you either get authorized Microsoft training or you have to teach yourself. Very few people, especially those who have paid for Microsoft training, will go out of their way to get you through a particular problem.
I've used the Windows counterparts to some Linux software applications and the documentation is enough to get you through the easy to medium level stuff. It's only the extremely hard stuff that requires help. I've found Microsoft documentation lacking at all levels. Before the fanboys start pelting me, I'll inform you that I have a ton of Microsoft applications, which I've paid for over the years, that I refuse to use because it's easier to use the non-Microsoft equivalents.
I'm not Linux fanboy either. I've been using Windows since the 3.11 days and besides getting prettier and easier to use (gradually) as each version is introduced, I haven't been impressed. I simply refuse to upgrade to Windows 7, just like I refused to upgrade to Windows Vista, because it doesn't offer anything more for what I use computers for in the first place. Using Linux (even though I've had a wee bit of experience with it, along with other UNIX variants) is pretty much virgin territory for me.
I look at this way: If Ubuntu Linux is half as good as the Linux fanboys make it out to be, I'll still be doing better than what I'm doing with Windows which, by the way, crashed on me again yesterday for absolutely no apparent reason.
Similar Articles:
- Using Windows on Linux
- Why I'm not Running Ubuntu Linux on my new Desktop PC
- The Macintosh vs. the other Personal Computers
- Reasons to like Linux as a Desktop Operating System more than Microsoft Windows
- Alternatives to Windows Office Products
This article is published as: Moving from Microsoft Windows to Linux Anything – No Microsoft Training Required
Thank you very much for your article! It is very interesting and useful, especially for people who work with computer. To tell the truth, I am not good at programming and similar things, but my work is connected with computers, that's why I would like to hear a professional meaning about different operating systems. Sometimes it is very useful to read similar articles written by people who understand in these things. I think that I will follow your advice.
Linux is fine but not a user-friendly OS. I got confused when I used my uncle's computer because he is using Linux. Well, I can understand how it works but I'm still into Windows. It's where you're good more comfortable at anyway.
With Linux, it depends on which distribution you're using as to how user-friendly it is. Both Ubuntu and Debian are very user-friendly whereas Slackware and others like that aren't.
Almost anything new doesn't seem to be user friendly. At first, I thought that Windows Vista wasn't very user friendly until I got used to the new places and labels Microsoft decided to use for the same tasks I've done for years. The first time that I sat down to a Macintosh, I was a bit intimidated (by the way, I've been using computers for at least as long as RT has) but, once I played around with it, it was just as friendly as any other operating system or graphical interface.
If you want to know what's not user friendly, go backwards in operating systems. Been using XP for years? Try going back to '98 and see if it can claim the "user friendly" logo (especially if you have to do something with your networking).
The point is that anything new will intimidate. But, after a bit of exploration, you can soon discover where everything is and what it does.
.-= My last blog: The Uncanny Silence =-.
"by the way, I've been using computers for at least as long as RT has"
Really? All the way back to 1980? The first computer I used only had enough memory to hold a kernal.
I cut my teeth on a Commodore PET and the first one we owned was an old TRS80 Model 1. It was decked out with a cassette drive and one of those 6" foil-paper printers.
I guess it'd be close as to who had the first computer experience.
.-= My last blog: The Uncanny Silence =-.
How old were you? I was 19/20 in 1980. We were working with the first portable computer IBM ever made and it was as big as a suitcase (and not really portable either). The mainframe counterpart was the IBM Series I. In 1981, I was at an automated services center where we were using Burroughs mainframes with punch cards as well as the IBM. The leases were horrendous, like $20K per quarter (I did the contract payments). We had a TRS-80 in the main office with the cassette deck attached and about the only thing we did with it was play Lunar Lander. The real fun started when we had use ticker tape to transmit data from a ship in 1983.
I was 10 at the time. I remember sometime later going to a compute show with my mom. We were drooling over a KayPro II, which was a suitcase-sized portable computer with a tiny 6" or 7" screen.
.-= My last blog: The Uncanny Silence =-.
When I bought my new laptop, my sales agent installed temporarily openoffice.org software just to test whether all other installed programs are working. I thought of installing MSOffice package but when I learned that I could avail of similar functions and results using openoffice, I decided to stay on. One feature which has added to my typing speed is the predictive text, where the software propose the possible word that you are typing and all you need to do is press enter and presto, your intended word is displayed even if you have just typed a few letters of the world.
.-= My last blog: How to Keep Children Entertained At Your Wedding =-.
Switching from windows to linux can either be a great experience or a bad one depending on how much the user is experienced going into the new transition. When I tried linux unprepared it was not a good experience at all!
.-= My last blog: The History of Gillette =-.
That's what I found when I tried gardening for the first time, unprepared.
.-= My last blog: First Impression after Upgrading from Ubuntu 9.10 to 10.04 =-.
I am not really a computer geek, but my job is related in computers so it is very important for me to have a good system of my computer. I find your blog as interesting one so I spent time to read it! I realized that I made the right decision, this post greatly helps me. Thanks for sharing this post! Thank you…