WinXP widens lead over Vista

[Veldor]

If Linux ever really took off and a majority of users ran it, it would have just as many flaws and problems. There are a few reasons for this.
1. Hackers and the like don't target whats not popular. Its all about the numbers and proliferation.
2. Today the average Linux user is far more PC Savvy than the average Windows user. Knowing what your doing helps a lot regardless of OS.
3. Statistically speaking some published reports actually say Linux has a history of more bugs and security problems. They just don't get much media attention. This was for the year 2005 or 2006 I believe.
4. Average Linux box for end user experience usage is far better hardware.
5. Less software on average is installed on a linux box. Less software = less problems and bugs.

[sabre100]

Veldor -
 
Very nicely put,  I agree with you 100%, people need to keep that in mind.  Same argument you get from the Apple crowd that Mac OS X is so much more stable and better then Windows.  Now don't get me wrong I have Macbook Pro with OS X as well as Windows hardware and I do love Apple but if Microsoft had a closed hardware platfrom like Apple does and only supported certain hardware then I think it would be a different story.  If the roles were reveresed between apple and microsoft where apple had to support every known hardware out there as best they can I think they would be in the same boat as windows.  Not that I support Windows or Apple or Linux I am neutral.  I was a big Linux fan before but now I think Linux killed it for me there are so many different Distro's it just gets totally ridicoulous and not to mention confusing for new users,  they release a new version like what every 4-6 months with some minor change like KDE 3.1.1 to 3.1.2 or some weird number like thar using KDE as an example here only and this justifies a new version  of the distro ?  Only Red Hat finally is doing things right by releasing a new version every couple years I think ?  Then as far as updates you get so many for Linux also maybe even more then Windows if you really look close at it. 
 
Just my 2 cents.

[leastonh1]

Yes, there would be flaws and problems with Linux, I agree. However, the difference is:

1. Linux costs you nothing other than the download and blank disc.
2. You can run it on almost any hardware, regardless of age.
3. You aren't forced to run software you don't want or need.
4. It's far more secure than Windows.
5. No viruses!
6. Honesty, openness and integrity from the devs.
7. Choice - literally hundreds of variations on a theme.
8. No licensing minefield compared to Windows.
11. Open source!
12. Wine.
13. Crossover Office.
14. Virtualisation.
15. Compiz.
16. Live distributions.
17. USB stick installation!
18. No bloatware!
19. Regular updates & bug fixes.
20. No file fragmentation.

And so on...There are probably lists just as long with problems on them! [;)]

Linux is no more difficult to use than Windows. It's just different. I don't agree with your take on an average Linux user either. Historically, that may be true, but with the advent of Ubuntu, I think it's a misconception now. I disagree with your point 1 too. Hackers do target Linux yes, but they just don't get anywhere unless you are dumb enough to log in as root. No user in Linux has admin rights, which is why hacking is harder and why viruses simply don't work or are pointless to write. It's got nothing to do with popularity.

Your point 5 doesn't make sense to me. How do you know less software is installed? If anything, my Linux box has more on it because it's all free and I can afford to install lots of software.

I don't think Linux is perfect, far from it. I do think it's a good OS and a definite viable alternative to Windows, even now. Linux may have more problems, I don't know. But, generally, you don't have to wait months for serious bugs to be sorted.

Sabre, MacOS isn't free or open source. It's a commercial product, so how can you compare with Linux in that way? The number of Linux distros is great. Want a dedicated firewall? Easy, download one. Want an OS specifically targetted at musicians or kids? No problem. You can even install your fave distro, change everything to your hearts content and then remaster the disc(s)! You then have your own OS. Try that with Windows. How can regular releases be problematic? Linux devs release often to fix bugs and introduce new/more features and software. Windows has a monthly cycle of bug and security patch releases too. So why is it a problem for Linux, but not Windows?

Regards,
Jim

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Jim_H

1. Linux costs you nothing other than the download and blank disc.

How can we get excited about a product that its creators place no value on?

[Zap]

I thought number six would be a good reason to get excited.

6. Honesty, openness and integrity from the devs.

[mjk428]

ORIGINAL: Zap

I thought number six would be a good reason to get excited.

6. Honesty, openness and integrity from the devs.

Totally unimportant to me as a home user. As a business user, I've never been mistreated by any OS maker.

Anyway, my previous post was just a joke.

I really don't spend much time worrying about any OS - and that's a good thing IMO.

[Zap]

"I really don't spend much time worrying about any OS - and that's a good thing IMO."


Agreed, I just like that motivation(honesty and integrity) by anyone in the business field. Those virtues tend to keep a business man(company) from cheating his/her buyers. Like a frivolous OS upgrade. (honesty and integrity)Its one of my soap boxes I get on.

[sabre100]

Jim_H

I know and understand that Mac OSX is not freeware or open source I just paid a pretty penny for the upgrade to Leopard.  However my point is that you have Linux and Mac users bashing windows and if the roles were reveresed would it be the other way around ?   

Also as I said I used Linux before and I used to like it now it just a windows wanna be and nothing excites me about it.  Also from history if you don't have any 3rd party support you will never survive or make a big impact just look at Nintendo 64, IBM OS/2, etc.  Yes Linux is free and I can get freedom however if I can not run the software and games and do what I need with an OS then what good is it for ?  Yes I know there are many open source software that compares to commercial one's like gimp, openoffice, etc.  But in the real world if I want to use Photoshop, Games like Matrix sells, and so many more apps out there that only runs in Windows then what good is the OS and yes there is Crossover and similar for Linux but they are limited, and leave a LOT to be desired and only work sometimes and with limited amount of software.  Sure I can browse the internet and read email and if that is all I do that is fine but I want to be able to run that cool app or game that runs only on windows.  Until companies develop software that majority use and make games for Linux I dont think it will get very wide-spread.  Sure Ubuntu is cool and easy to use but it is the same linux that tries to be a Windows clone minus all the cool games and software that run on windows.

[anvl]

I have to agree with sabre 100. My experiences exactly.. with one more issue

hardware is a problem. From contemporary graphics cards to modems.. sure,,you can get a linux modem,,and it may work.. otherwise it takes a lot of time just to get a modem working.. and then there is the graphics card,, even when the big two come out with drivers,, the card is not always fully functional.

yea,, yea, i know,, some people can.. but,, there are many who cannot as well,, and even those being pretty computer savvy as well...

but hehe,, I'll prolly try it again sometime soon..

On my next 'puter build, i am going to use the older one to connect to the internet,downloads,email,etc,,and this will be some version of linux..

My win box will be for games,graphics,photos,and all the other stuff that linux just doesn't have top quality software support for...

gimp for graphics? naa,, not for me,, same with whatever nle's are avalable for my camcorder,,just cannot compete with the top three or more avalable in windows...

but there are more free Go games for linux than windows,, hehe go figure...

anvil

[leastonh1]

I'm not going to argue with anything you guys wrote in reply, because you're right. I run both Linux and Windows and they both have faults and plus points. Linux isn't better than Windows, it's different and does some things very well. I don't like Windows because MS charge so much for an unfinished product that is full of unnecessary software and unnecessary bugs. If Linux had the same resources as Windows for development and Windows had the same integrity and development philosophy, we'd be in a much better position as consumers. I don't know enough about Macs to comment, but I know it's supposed to be a good OS.

I guess none of us will be completely happy until things start to change and MS do lose their monopoly status. I'd be happy using Windows if all the things I've written were changed [:D]

Regards,
Jim

[Charles2222]

Y'all might find this interesting:
http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,140283/article.html
 

[ravinhood]

Y'all? [:D]

[HansBolter]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

Y'all? [:D]

He IS from Texas!

You pokin fun ata us suthanahs?

[BlindOldUmp]

AFAIK Home or Office Basic is worthless. M$ pulled too much out of the "Premium" versions to cheapen the price. I think they should just drop the "Basic" version and upgrade EVERYBODY to "Premium. 'Course that will cost some hardware money so you may disagree with me [;)] I have "Ultimate" on my newest home personal machine and nothing less than Office Premium on the work machines. Some of our work machines are 64bit as well. Runs well on Quad Core with 4 GB of memory. No arguments. Now - I REALLY don't like the UAC but it has gotten used to me at home. Work machines are a mix of people who have turned off UAC (Most) and some who are still arguing with it for daily tasks. We update ours a lot with the software we develop. and are trying to figure out how the Doctors who use our software can deal with Vista. I'm just the techy so don't ask development questions but mostly I agree with the guys who said that the OS is OK if you actually buy a machine or upgrade a machine so it has enough horsepower for Vista. Of course we have nothing but 2Gb and Dual or Quad Cores here because OUR software wants it to run fast enough for the Docs Even our normal day to day XP machines will run Vista just fine though my old home machines won't. I'm building an new XP machine and turning that one into a server for "educational" purposes. ...

[ShadowB]

My current OS is Windows XP Professional, SP2. As a gamer, I find no use for either Apple nor Linux. The vast majority of games aren't compatible with them (same goes for some applications), so all the improved efficiency and the fact you get the most out of your hardware is rather irrelevant if you don't have anything to exploit that advantage with.

Granted, as a workstation (for, say, serious graphics and video editing), at least Apple is a much better option than Windows for the aforementioned efficiency and Mac OSX's stability.

As for Vista, well, I totally agree it's laughable. It's perhaps even worse than WinXP when it came out. However, I know it'll gradually improve and be as good as XP is right now. It's been the same deal with every Windows to date, as far as I know.

[Charles2222]

ORIGINAL: ravinhood

Y'all? [:D]

I think that's about the only southerism y'all will get out of me, but I do use it somewhat profusely. It sounds better than "you all" anyway. One thing that sort of boggles my mind, is I'm a pretty big Three Stooges fan, and they did some Civl War era shorts, and when they were posing as southerners they kept saying "you all" all the time, which virtually nobody says that down south. It certainly did sound southern they way they used "you all" but it's words that aren't ever used. I guess way down south in New York City the southerners say that there[:D].

Look away
Get away
Get a way-tress, we're hungry

[Adam Parker]

Goodness me PC World is milking the hype wagon for all its worth in that article.

Despite the big bold headline, the article doesn't even relate to it. The guy is going back to XP because his sound driver won't work and he admits it could be because of his configuration error?!

@ Skip:

Are you referring to Vista or Office? I'm confused. If it's Office 2007 you're talking about, I agree I don't like it either. Too many UI changes for no point but I'm stuck with it now.

Btw, Vista presented me with 200+ megs of Windows Upgrades the other day. Office 2007 SP1 came up included for download too. Vista SP1 is close...

[JamesM]

I see that Microsoft has release win XP service pack 3.

[BlindOldUmp]

ORIGINAL: Adam Parker

@ Skip:

Are you referring to Vista or Office? I'm confused. If it's Office 2007 you're talking about, I agree I don't like it either. Too many UI changes for no point but I'm stuck with it now.

Office 2007 is a hit below the belt. Complete waste of time but I'm guessing I'll have to learn it because - Like Vista - our machines are shipping with it. Vista is .... :-/ um Survivable. If the Eye Candy meant anything to me I might find it enjoyable I guess. I hear it works ok with video. fortunately most of my video is old home movies. I do have difficulties with some of the CDs I ripped to XP (where they play just fine) not wanting to play on the Vista machine using WMP. I'm having similar problems though with a Phillips MP3 player I got. Hopefully I'll find a solution. (Besides I-Tunes) I can't switch completely to Linux because nothing I have to use runs on it except our servers at the office. We have 2 on Gentoo, 4 on Fedora Core and 1 on Win 2003 server. Still trying to find a good way for the users who mostly want access to the Samba shares on the Linux machines to also have an AD sign-on without messing up their lives [:)]

Btw, Vista presented me with 200+ megs of Windows Upgrades the other day. Office 2007 SP1 came up included for download too. Vista SP1 is close...

Yep - I had a Vista machine come through for updates yesterday (Lunchtime) and it was still downloading when I left for the day [:D]

[BlindOldUmp]

ORIGINAL: jamesm
I see that Microsoft has release win XP service pack 3.

Not unless you want to be a Beta Tester which IMHO requires more than one machine [:D]