Will Linux work for you so you can dump MS Windows?
ABC news has a story called Imagining a Microsoft-Free Life.
So many stories like this are written, usually not by the MSM, but they trickle in every year. They rarely get to the most important points. They are rarely written by people who are able to compare their experience with most people. These articles usually center around the fact that you can install a free Linux Operating System such as Ubuntu and just use that, no longer having to worry about the expensive Windows upgrades. This option sounds attractive, but nearly every article (except by those who are Pro-Linux) will typically end with “Yeah it sounds great right, but it’s actually not likely to work for you.”
I will enter this cesspool with my best effort.
Starting out. Microsoft sucks in so many ways. In particular, from XP to Vista. What a joke. Vista came out and had a new glossy black look and thats about it. Not only that, it was unnecessarily bulky and worse, very expensive. For a small number of new features and eye candy, you pay a lot of money. Also that eye candy which was a heavily pushed and highlighted feature (see task switching on every vista commercial) it’s actually not that great. The menu update is OK, but also a little difficult to navigate. The amusing thing is that all the glossiness is easily done in Linux. Linux users laugh or shrug their shoulders when they see that flashy Windows stuff shown. Because it’s free, faster and more flexible in the Gnome or KDE desktop environments of Linux. Before I move onto those, I’ll mention one more important feature of Windows Vista. DirectX 10 is an update to a 3D graphics framework only available in Vista. Clearly done purposely to influence gamers to upgrade. Many people said that it was a very pretty update to games, making things look more realistic, such as reflections and light and texture effects. But not worth it given the strong system you’d need to run it and the sacrifice you’d be making on overhead with Vista just running by itself.
So it must be known that there are some high quality free operating systems available using the Linux kernel. When it’s Linux, they call these operating systems “distributions” and in a lot of ways, they are similar. They have the start button menus you are used to, even if they don’t say “Start” on them. They have folders and files you can open and rename. They run programs such as office spreadsheets, image viewers, and solitaire.
I’ll center this around Ubuntu because it’s popular and very heavily worked on by both the community and a company called Canonical. Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux that uses as a default the Gnome desktop environment (controlling the menu / folder / window look). Certain things are branded Ubuntu, certain things work the way the developers wanted, that slightly differ in other distros of Linux. These are the core things of Ubuntu I guess. In the details, you have things like support for Wireless laptop cards, easy configuration of devices (hopefully) and lists of things that make Ubuntu unique as a distribution of Linux. Ubuntu is free, it has a very straight forward CD install and can replace Windows and work well for many people for a long time. It has many simple auto updates which means it keep itself up to date for you. And like most distros, it’s very extendable.
Will Ubuntu or another Linux distribution work for you? The significance or usefulness of these free Linux distributions come down to how you answer three questions.
- Are you tired of Windows or having trouble with it and prefer not to upgrade to the new Windows, and instead would like to take a shot at something new and slightly different?
- Are your computing needs general such as document creation, web browsing, photo viewing, watching videos, playing CDs?
- Are you willing to forego certain things such as specific games and applications in case they aren’t available on Linux due to the difference in program structure?
Most articles that are written about all this don’t cover this issue properly because the experience of computing is always unique to each computer user. The fact is you can dump windows easily replacing it with a dead-simple experience in general computing on several variants of Linux. Where things get a little hairy are some specific things that some people might like. for example:
- You want to use a certain online service that have only support for Internet Explorer. (When I see companies with limitations on browsers and ignoring other popular ones, I’m very disappointed and see it often as poor site construction rather than a reasonable limitation) Netflix is working right now to support the free and popuar Firefox browser for example, but aren’t quite there yet.
- You want to do animation with Flash or special Video editing perhaps using software from Adobe, Pinnacle, Avid, Sony or another. Video editing can be done on Linux, but there are lesser known programs that do it, and video codecs are often proprietary so if they can be used on Linux, it’s going to likely be a special install. Don’t be scared of that, just be aware. I personally think it’s worth exploring.
- Audio editing needs. Mac users get the free Garage Band software. Windows users don’t get anything free, but there are many available audio editors for music makers. Cake, Reason, Ableton Live and more. Linux has some audio tools too. RoseGarden for example is a very pretty program. Not having used it, I can’t comment other than it looks very capable.
- You need to support specific equipment and all it’s features. (Printer drivers for windows only might not be available on Linux and perhaps you won’t get all functionality such as scan to file and PDF OCR. Too many printers to run through. For me, the experience was my webcam would not allow outgoing video streams on the version of Skype I was using. Not a deal breaker, but a significant disappointment.
- Needing specific financial software. Being that financial software companies want you to keep buying it every year they seem to be closer to offering subscription webbased software in some cases. Intuit Quickbooks has this. But if a store has a certain Point-of-sale software running. Linux might not work for them. On the other hand, power users might be able to find and istall the equivalent. But to be fair, any Point of sale software install is likely going to be done by a technician anyway, so Windows isn’t winning the “easy” test here.
- Wanting specific games to run. Games are more important than people give them credit. They are driving the future of learning (realistic simulation). Plus games drive the advancement of personal computing. Most importantly, games are enjoyable and unfortunately the more elaborate commercial games are developed for Windows PC more than other operating systems. Here Mac has no advantage over Linux, like it does with Video and animation. Applications such as WINE and Crossover help to allow game play of some windows games. Some games are developed for Linux, such as versions of America’s Army and many free games. This will continue.
I said earlier that whether moving to Linux is a good idea depends on the individuals unique needs. So let me give you a short case study of myself. I don’t like Windows all that much. I don’tcare about it. I own a Mac but I don’t like doing a lot of my graphic work on it because the mouse handling feels mushy to me. The actual cursor, not the mouse device. I’m not alone here even if you think I’m nuts saying that. Trust me ok. I also despise Windows Vista and the entire campaign with the seven different versions, the limits placed on cheaper versions and the audacity they had of complicating Vista instead of simplifying it. I’ll say again SEVEN VERSIONS to figure out which one to buy? What the hell Microsoft. People all along the chain of that decision need to be stabbed. And during that time, Apple releases one version of it’s OS X operating system. That’s how you do it. One option that handles it all./end rant.
So you’d think I’d be the likely candidate to try Linux. And I have. But there are problems that prevent me from being ‘Microsoft-Free.’ Those problems aren’t due to a lack of computer experience. They are genuine limitations. I want to use the Latest Adobe software on a system that feels non-mushy. Because Linux can’t run Adobe CS4 Photoshop, Flash, AfterEffects, Premiere and more, that leaves Windows. I also enjoy the game franchise Call of Duty. I also like being able to print photos with my Canon scanner / printer. I also like to use certain wireless mouse and keyboard features that only the windows drivers support (switching buttons)
Linux can probably get me pretty close to my goal. Despite Canon not making Linux printer drivers, somebody else has written them. I might not get every printing option or be able to see ink levels in the system tray like I can on Windows XP, but still if I can print good prints on the right paper, I’m happy. Whether I can do that without a nightmarish install process is a question though. Because anyone configuring their mother’s computer knows that seeing you five hours into it, they are frustrated with Linux without having touched it. My mom might reject Linux because it SEEMS complicated, even though I take care of the difficult one-time stuff.
One more case study: My wife. Linux helped her a lot because of an older laptop and a missing Windows disk. We weren’t able to legally load Windows for her after a hard drive failure left her with a blank slate. We recovered files, loaded Ubuntu Linux and I did my best to configure it nicely. She was used to the “My Documents” folder and where it was located. With a little walkthrough, she learned the new best location to save files. Her problems with the webcam were evident, and her favorite greeting card software wasn’t available. We couldn’t find an alternative to that. One big problem for her might be small to somebody else, but when we were able to Install Windows again, she was ready to because of it. For whatever reason when she wanted to attach a photo to an email, she could not view thumbnails of the photos for attaching to Yahoo mail. Maybe a silly small thing but that was her need. And you can’t argue with that. She did really well for the few months Linux was running, despite some printing challenges, which again would have been perfect with the Windows driver. It’s nobody’s fault, it’s just personal preference and in a lot of ways, expectations.
It must be known though, that Linux kicks Windows behind in so many areas too. Such as the sheer number of free applications, many chat channels for help, ability to learn new things, ability to make many massive theme changes with less overhead. And it’s only gonna get better with the cross-platform Adobe AIR and the slow migration of favored programs. Some pressure is on companies like Canon and Logitech and Nvidia to create drivers for Linux users. It’s in their best interest to support as many as they can. There are also some Linux-only programs that are exquisite and you’ll take advantage of those. e.g. Rosegarden which I mentioned previously. There’s a lot more there to be discovered. And Linux can be installed with a ready-to-use webserver. Admin tools are strong, as well as programming tools.
In conclusion, whether you can enjoy Linux, Mac or Windows depends on your expecations, your individual needs and what software supports those needs. I cant’ tell you how many small needs I have that NO computer meets. So to say that Windows is better than Linux, or Mac is better than any of them is just ignorant and biased. I think being free and supporting old hardware is a big advantage of Linux. Wouldn’t it be great to spend $90 on a used laptop and outfit your college student with free office, browsing and learning tools? That is very possible and that may be an enormous significance to people who are willing to try it. I love that Linux gets better constantly, Ubuntu releasing new versions every six months and people are trying to get things to work with popular devices.
2 Responses to “Will Linux work for you so you can dump MS Windows?”
December 10, 2008 at 6:12 pm | computers, learning, mac | 2 comments
Thanks for the mention of CrossOver–we think it’s a great solution for many Windows compatibility needs.
Best Wishes,
-jon parshall-
COO
http://www.codeweavers.com
Thanks for all YOUR hard work on CrossOver Jon. -ms
Very well written article… I’m a linux convert (some- no- make that most would say a Linux evangalist) that has come to believe in everything you said in your article. Microsoft Windows has its strong points. Mac’s are wonderful. Linux is free and useful if you are willing to part with the Windows mentality. No one system is perfect…and all are good in their own ways. Give them a try…
Thanks Scott for the comment. I think the world has seen too many articles like I’ve written, but I felt I could contribute a little with it, as I feel I’m in an unfortunate niche. I’d actually like to read an article with the exact opposite concept in mind. What troubles does a Linux pro have moving to Windows? I bet the gripes would be just as plentiful and justified. ~ms