Scott Leighton said:
You are flat out wrong. There is no similarity in ease of use between Linux distros and XP. XP wins hands down. You have an agenda you want to push, the author doesn't.
I like Linux and am now a SuSE user of a little over 1 month. I have no intention of going back to windows, but the fact is that none of the Linux distros are ready for home desktop use by the typical non-technical user. It is far too complicated to get things running and configured correctly and the author of the article hit it right on in his points.
The problem is that Microsoft has sold the world a bill of goods that computers can be made easy to use, without the user having to know anything. Take your average user, hand them a set of install CDs for XP and your favorite Linux distribution and see which they can install and which installs faster. Microsoft products come pre-installed and pre-configured on many new PCs. If the same were true for SuSE, RedHat or most other distributions the user experience would be similar. My grandchildren have no problem using Linux. They don't have the preconceived notion that all computers should work the same. It's only those people that have been using Microsoft for years that have the idea that "that's how computers should work". I started with Unix on my first computer. When I started using Windows/DOS, the first time, (1992 or so) I found it to be inconsitent and difficult to use. Much of the functionality I expect from a computer was missing. I've been using Linux as my sole desktop computer for more than 5 years. I've never had a virus, though I've had hundreds sent to me over the years. If the only tool you have is a hammer, everything looks like a nail. Why does each new version of Microsoft change the interface? Why do commands like "winipcfg" change from one version to the next? Why is there such inconsitency in the way various Windows programs work? Why do so many Windows programs insist on poluting the desktop with icons? Why does windows insist on installing programs to access ISPs I'll never use? Why does one version of XP include crippled networking facilities? Why does the latest version of XP cost nearly as much as a low end PC? I've heard complaints from Windows users since I started using Linux. Get a clue, it's not Windows, so it doesn't work like Windows. If you want Microsoft products buy them. If you want to run something that's exceptionally stable powerful and capable of running enterprise applications, take a look at Linux. Don't expect it to run like Windows, don't complain that you can't run Microsoft programs on it, it wasn't written by Microsoft and Microsoft has made it very clear they'll never port their applications to Linux. And don't complain that your Windows machine gets viruses every other week and have to reinstall the whole OS and all the applications on a regular basis as a result. -- Neil Schneider pacneil_at_linuxgeek_dot_net http://www.paccomp.com Key fingerprint = 67F0 E493 FCC0 0A8C 769B 8209 32D7 1DB1 8460 C47D Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks. --James Baldwin