Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

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Linus MacWinfrey

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Linus MacWinfrey »

MartyMint wrote:
TheWebaholic wrote:Since I've been involved with the Linux and open source community, I've been treated with nothing other than respect.

I take it you've never visited the Gentoo forums...

:|

On other Linux forums:
  • Pecked and banned for a week because the word "ubuntu" was in a sentence i wrote
  • seemingly old geeky gurus lurking in dark corners to zap at noobs who make the most trivial of mistakes
  • treat newcomers like they are new army recruits
this is one of the biggest reasons why people do not want to use Linux, I think.

Mint Forums is a very friendly place, even though not quite active. Getting support sometimes take very long, if ever. Yet it is civil and hospitable.
ZorinOS forums ditto ditto ditto
Shunjoss

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Shunjoss »

NeoGeo64 wrote:I found this awful article by this misguided author about how he'd rather use Windows 8 instead of Linux. His "reasons" he writes about are absolutely ridiculous and insult the FOSS community as a whole.

What do you guys think? This is really stupid and makes me very angry ! ! ! ! !

Here is the article, if you still feel like reading: http://www.zdnet.com/article/five-reaso ... han-linux/
I did not even read but for me the unique reason is to play games. Unfortunately, linux lacks support in games, and gaming (and wine is not really a solution).
The only weak point of Linux.
I had windows 8, I was one who found the GUI fun and usable. But I had freezes in general after some hours (uptime), because it took all of my 8 Go of ram (= bad OS).
And w8.1 was worse. So bye bye windows.
So I hate to say but Linux is lacking of non free software community support (e.g : games, MS word, -keyboard and mouse-) yet.
I choose Linux now because it's the only way to call the interest on it. It's a great platform with some weak point.
Now the quality : Linux (mint) is easy to use,customizable , truly multi-task, beautiful, easy to install and update. And (almost) never need to reboot !

PS That article was wrote by a hater
TheWebaholic

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by TheWebaholic »

I just wanted to clarify my earlier post - I can only speak for myself when I say I've faced no hostility from anyone in the open source community. I tend to stay away from online forums where there's a lot of obvious hostility, so that probably helps explain why I haven't faced any problems myself. For example, I've never been a member of Slashdot as I don't like the way so many people there seem to post personal insults and use harsh language. It's just not necessary. So I tend to read rather than participate in those forums. On the other hand, I've found a lot of the Linux groups on Facebook to be very good, including Mint's own Facebook group. I think it largely depends on how well the rules are enforced.

Sadly I've seen a lot of harassment from Microsoft supporters online too (again, not targetted at me). For example, I often see posts suggesting that people who don't agree with Microsoft are somehow mentally ill or deficient. Only this morning, someone on Slashdot who made a joke about Windows malware was told by a fellow commenter to harm themselves! However, the author of the original article seems to suggest that nastiness is worse in the Linux community. I think you can find nasty people in any community if you look for it.

I don't like to see anyone being insulted, regardless of what operating system they use. Whenever I see someone being mocked for using Windows, I think that's more likely to put them off getting involved with open source rather than encourage them.

The way the author worded his article made it sound like he was specifically out to find fault with open source, especially the way he ended by saying "Go ahead, comment, rant, prove me right". It's as if he wants to provoke a reaction, like flamebait.
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Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Mr_Reed »

His reasons are rather flimsy and few. I'm relatively new to Linux, but I certainly would not choose Win 8 over Linux. I think he just totally misses the whole point. The reason there are so many fanboys, is because there are so many distros. Everybody is going to be a fan of whatever they choose depending on their wants and needs. Windows 8 simply won't run on some computers. However there are Linux distros that WILL run. You can also find plenty of Mac/Apple fanboys. It's just people's preferences.

In my limited experience you just try to research, match your hardware to whatever distro you want. It's pretty easy to find 32 or 64 bit versions. In the case of Mint people have different choices among XFCE, Mate, Cinnamon etc... I think that has to do with desktop environment? Others feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

Then with live CD's and USB you have the ability to try it out and see if it works with your system. If it doesn't, then just move on to another. Windows won't tell you that. You sort of have to find that out the hard way. Blue screens, lack of drivers or wrong drivers. With Windows you have to install it onto the hard drive to see what happens.
This guy probably bailed out on Linux before really getting a feel for it. He should definitely try it again.
slayde

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by slayde »

Running Mint 17.1 Cinnamon from a USB stick (created with LiLi USB) attatched to an HP2000 running Win8.1.

The article seems like flamebait. I like Win8.1 ok, but several of the criticisms leveled here against Linux can also (as y'all have pointed out) be applied to the nth power against Windows. I've been watching some of the flame war b/n diehard W7 and WXP folks and the people who insist that those who dislike 8.1 are whiny crybabies who just won't cope with change. Plenty of Windows fancreatures that are every bit as obnoxious as their Linux counterparts.

The complaint about lack of software is a bit overblown by now. I'd say LibreOffice, Blender, and GIMP (to name a few) are serious software that's ready for primetime. The musician in me wishes that Ableton and Native Instruments would port to Linux, but hey, maybe someday!

As far as "Windows is just nicer"? Well, if you're used to it, sure. The writer fails to take into account the far-greater NATIVE configurability of the typical Linux DTE. Changeable Window borders and decorations are things that can only be had in Windows if you buy Stardock products. And it's only now that, what, 20 years later that Windows 10 will have native virtual desktops?

I like choice, so if someone wants to use Window8.1, cool. I'm using it because I've got it and have software that only runs there. i'd dual boot with Mint if I could figure out this crazy UEFI stuff.
Linus MacWinfrey

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Linus MacWinfrey »

@slayde, the software apps you mentioned run as well under Windows, so therein is no conclusive argument.

Linux Mint Forum is a bit friendlier than most and so is Zorin Forums. Some Linux forums are so unfriendly that I will never set foot there again, ever. They even had me off using Linux altogether and I used Mac instead. Frankly, if some forums were friendlier, Linux may have had more disciples.

Sometimes the experts are intolerant of the newcomers or less educated users out there. They then zap them with lightning bolts instead of educating them.

If an OS starts losing its lustre, if its competitive advantage is lost, what is the point in using it?

Windows 8 performed very well for me on very limited hardware. What it really needed was a TOUCH interface which my laptop did not have. Metro is no mouse friendly. It ran sweet on just 2GB RAM and I used the full MS Office, Chrome, Firefox and Opera. It also had OneNote (standalone) that is the app to beat by any other vendor. Already Outlook worked way better than Thunderbird, although I used Thunderbird even on a flash drive.

The main attraction to Linux is its relatively more secure operating environment and the fact that it can run on almost any old computer as well. Mint comes polished and presentable, stable and secure. That should be a primary consideration when making a choice.
slayde

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by slayde »

@Linus MacWinfrey

My point about software on Linux was to rebut the contention of the article's writer that Linux distros lacked high-quality software. The writer also fails to consider that typical distros already contain far more software than the average-Joe/Jane Enduser is going to use anyhow. The most-noted disparity is in the area of games, but I'm no big PC gamer. Speaking of that reminds me that someone once observed that what open-source software really needs is open-source hardware; i.e. hardware manufactured not be run by blackbox, binary-blob device drivers. I never really understood why device divers needed to be secret - it seems to me that open-sourcing drivers would only increase your customer base.
DrHu

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by DrHu »

I'd also like to add the caveat, that he is listing a user viewpoint: vendors such as Google Apple, Oracle, Microsoft are under no illusion as to why OSS (Open Source Software) is useful and important to their own ventures.
--and they are not even handicapped by the GNU source code licence agreements, if they manage their OSS aided projects well.
OrangeShark

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by OrangeShark »

Don't worry guys, Microsoft later failed him. :lol:
http://www.zdnet.com/article/2014-the-y ... y-loyalty/
Toshiba_NB7

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Toshiba_NB7 »

Hi all,

Happy New Year !

I kind of follow zdnet.com for the IT news (not that I like some of the articles).

To be honest with the topic - what is being discussed now is an article published an year ago. If you follow this author, you will see, he "kind of" changed his mind and is now Unix/GNU/Linux user quite a lot because he runs Google Chrome OS with Chromebook devices and Macs:

2014: The year Microsoft lost my loyalty
http://www.zdnet.com/article/2014-the-y ... y-loyalty/

Enjoy ! :D


EDIT - Pst - sorry. I didn't read the whole forum thread, just the beginning and posted too early. I see this like was posted already. Sorry one again.
MasonF

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by MasonF »

Short Answer
I'd rather use Linux than Windows 8.1 and I make that choice every day.

Long Answer
I can understand why some people, many even, would rather run Windows that Linux. I'm relatively new to Linux and I like it a lot, but there are things that are easier to do in Windows, mostly because of the lack of support that even major electronics corporations provide for Linux.

I've used CP/M, MS-DOS, and every Windows up to and including 8.1. (I've never liked Apple computers.) Windows 8 was a huge, and typical, screw up on the part of Microsoft. However, 8.1 is easy for a Windows XP or 7 user to adapt to. The start screen, as it comes installed, is annoying. It's larded up with what are essentially commercial tiles of several different sizes. Personally, I think that makes for a messy, disorganized layout. Fortunately, Windows makes it easy to delete all the extraneous stuff and resize the remaining tiles for a more efficient start screen. For those who are used to the desktop and start button, both are there in 8.1 and there is no rational reason why they shouldn't heve been included in Windows 8. Their absense was just one more example of one of the big names in tech trying to force unnecessary and often counterproductive changes on unwilling customers. Google does is all the time, but it's easier to get away with it when your products are free. Firefox, when it moved to Australis created a huge amount of ill will. Suddenly, things that had been easy to do before (like put the tabs where they belong -- below the bookmarks, address, and search bars, IMO) were no longer possible. Fortunately, because Firefox is open source, someone immediately created an add-on to allow users to customize Australis. I was amazed by the negativity on Mozilla Firefox's feedback page. Negative responses ran at 80% and above. Of course, people who are unhappy complain; happy people just smile, take their happiness for granted, and much less often openly express their satisfaction.

I have three computers -- a relatively new computer running a triple boot system with Windows 8, Windows 7, and Deepin Linux 2014.1. The other computers, an old desktop and a middle-aged laptop are both running dual boot systems with Windows Vista and Linux. The desktop in running Mint 13 (I couldn't get 17 to work on it), while the laptop is running Deepin 2014.1. I like Mint a lot, but there are things about Deepin's setup that I like better. If Deepin didn't exist, I'd be perfectly happy running some form of Mint on all my computers. It's a great OS.

At this point, I expect to run and use Linux as my main OS for the rest of my life (I'm pretty old.) Altogether I've tried almost twenty different Linux distros and my three favorites are Deepin, Mint, and Elementary OS. I keep Windows around as a backup and in some cases to run legacy software. I've found it's really nice having a second computer computer for times when the main desktop isn't working correctly -- whether because of hard- or software failures.

Windows 7 is a good operating system. People with more expertize than i have, have written that both 7 and 8/8.1 are now much more secure than older versions of Windows. But it's still necessary to run various anti-virus and malware software. In addition, I have found Canon printers to be easier to install and use in Windows, but I recently picked up a used HP all-in-one printer/scanner/copier and it was easier to install in Linux and it took much less time. Unlike Lexmark, and to a lesser extent, Canon, HP provides real support for Linux. It's been a long time since I had an Epson printer, so I can't offer an opinion about using them with Linux.

I could live with Windows 8.1 as my only operating system, but I'd rather use Linux day in and day out. If tech companies, including ISPs, would provide the same level of support for Linux that they do for Windows and Macs, Linux would be a lot more popular. Or I think so. In my opinion, there is no good reason why my ISP – CenturyLink (my only choice) – doesn't treat Windows, MacOS, and Linux equally. But they don't provide any technical support for Linux. Of course that is going to scare people away. In fact, it did me, years ago when it was a lot harder to get Linux to connect to the Internet. I had a computer that came with Windows, hardware and software that were compatible with Windows, and it was a lot harder to get Linux to work with modems/routers, printers, and other hardware. Plus, MS Office wouldn't work with Linux. Today, I have Libre Office installed on all my computers and MS Office, which does still do some things better than Libre or Open Office, is just a memory.

I wrote this on my laptop computer running Deepin 2014.1. And it's nice being able to say "Windows? I don't need no steenking Windows!"
MartinShields

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by MartinShields »

Just looking at his little profile picture on the article tells me what kind of person he is. Sounds more of an opinion from him than a professional journalistic article.
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Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by curtvaughan »

The most interesting facet of reading the "I love Windows" link was to read all of the replies following the article. I'm typing this from my 2006 MacBook Pro, where I replaced a no longer Apple supported OSX with Linux Mint. With tweaking of the fan control software available, this 9 year old box is still alive and working famously - thank you Gnu/Linux! 8)
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ktheking

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by ktheking »

I can perfectly understand why people rather turn to Windows 8 instead of Linux.
Main reasons are in order of importance :

*Lack of Patience
*Lack of knowledge
*Lazyness
*Not able to run specific hardware or software (for example iphone/games)
*Having too much money

So this sums up the typical western teenager behaviour profile between 10 and 21 :-)

I've recently re-installed my childrens computers into linux Mint ,and so far there weren't any complaints.
I yet didn't manage to do iphone synching ,and had to run Virtualbox for the specific windows applications that weren't able to run on Linux.
But achieving this wasn't for the faint of heart. It's not a straightforward path.
/dev/urandom

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by /dev/urandom »

1.618 wrote:Windows for children...... leaves linux for the grown ups!
ktheking wrote:I've recently re-installed my childrens computers into linux Mint
:mrgreen:

Leaving that aside, Windows 8 (after the 8.1 desktop fix) has some advantages compared to Linux, not only the second-to-most advanced exploit mitigation subsystem of all operating systems.

As someone who's been watching the Linux "community" since the mid-90s, I noticed the following:
  1. Most people coming from Windows will be sucked into the stream of "LOL WIND0ZE" blokes, some of which even appeared in this thread.
  2. Everyone changing his working operating system to another working operating system "for ethical reasons" is usually making a huge mistake.
  3. Linux "communities" hate each other; "Mint sucks", "Gentoo sucks", "Fedora sucks", "Ubuntu sucks" (ok, it really does), ... - except Slackware, maybe. Slackware has no offensive enemies. Whyever. / edit: Oh...
  4. Linux is developed into the wrong direction. Lennart Poettering's "OneLinux" philosophy is not what I would call "freedom".
  5. People mistake tools for a religion. An operating system is comparable to a hammer you use to drive the nail into your wall, not to the whole house you live in.
It's not the "Linux is better" or "Windows is better" part. It's not the money ("too much money" is usually wrong; most people I know - including me - get their Windows upgrades with a new machine or for free from their university/job/whatever).
It's all about the ethics.
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Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by InkKnife »

The Windows ecosystem and culture is full of criminals and thieves.
Sound too harsh? Not when even well known, "respected" Windows sites pollute their offerings with all manner of spy-ware.
http://www.howtogeek.com/198622/heres-w ... d=noscript
i7 3770, 12GB of ram, 256GB SSD, 64GB SSD, 750GB HDD, 1TB HDD, Cinnamon.
/dev/urandom

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by /dev/urandom »

How is that Windows's fault?
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MartyMint
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Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by MartyMint »

/dev/urandom wrote:How is that Windows's fault?

Just allow people to rant. It's a healthy way to blow off steam.
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Night Wing
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Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by Night Wing »

Coming from Windows 7, I used Windows 8 for three weeks and just hated it. Played around with Windows 8.1 for two weeks, but I still didn't like the operating system. Speaking only for myself, the only good thing about Windows 8, it "drove" me to take a good long long at linux where I discovered Mint. Everything I can do in Windows 7, I can do in Mint 17. The Windows only program called ImgBurn, since it didn't have a linux version, kept me tied to Windows, but it's linux equivalent program named K3B finally allowed me to escape from the clutches of Microsoft's Windows. Since Mint 17 and 17.1 are both supported to April of 2019, I will be using Mint 17 until then or if a better version of Mint comes along which I like better than 17 or (17.1).

This is kind of off topic below since it isn't about Windows 8.

Windows 10 is supposed to released to the public sometime this summer. I've played around with preview version of Windows 10, but again, it's not my cup of tea when compared with Windows 7. Now, this might be gossip since I don't have a Facebook account, but I hear tell Facebook can tell you what your operating system platform is. I've heard it through the grapevine if one goes on Facebook and can find the Facebook setting which tells you what your operating system's platform is, those running the preview version of Windows 10, Facebook sees Windows 10 as Windows 8.

If Windows 10 is nothing more than "Windows 8 in sheep's clothing", then Microsoft will have a very hard time trying to get Windows 7 users to give up Windows 7 and move to Windows 10. If this does happen, then Microsoft is going to learn the hard way Windows 7 is the new XP since Windows 7 will have security updates until January of 2020.
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/dev/urandom

Re: Why I'd Rather Use Windows 8 instead of Linux

Post by /dev/urandom »

Night Wing wrote:those running the preview version of Windows 10, Facebook sees Windows 10 as Windows 8.
That's easy. I guess it's this (pseudo-code):

Code: Select all

switch ($osver) {
  case '6.0': return "XP";
  case '6.1': return "Vista";
  case '6.2': return "7";
  case '6.3':
  default:    return "8";
}
Time will tell.
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