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Friday 5 June 2009, 3:39 PM
Leaving Windows behind
The most frustrating element was the need to authenticate the Windows license. This entailed typing in the 25 character serial number, connecting to the authentication service, writing down a 54 digit number (because the wireless phone doesn't work propertly downstairs), and then writing down a 42 digit response number. And then I did it all again, because the serial number wasn't entered correctly.
There is none of this with Ubuntu linux, no scribbling numbers, no scrabbling for authentication. It Just Works.
PreviousComments on this post
Jake, you have my utmost sympathy. Having to go through that kind of garbage quite some time ago was one of the things that gave me the initial (huge) push away from MS Office. As you can tell from my blog, I frequently reload my laptops from scratch, for a variety of reasons, none of which is any of Microsoft's business. It doesn't take many reloads and re-authorizations before the authentication server decides that I must be stealing the software and using it on multiple systems, so it won't automatically authenticate any more and I have to call. Now, imagine going through what you described, but having to do it all in German! Ugh.
As you said for Ubuntu, I will say the same for OpenOffice. There is no ridiculous "authentication" procedure, no bogus 50 or 60 digit alphanumeric codes to write down, try to recite over the phone, or try to enter without errors. Just install it, and it works. Period.
Its a bit like the Coke Tasting Challenge - you line up two/three different type of Cola. There is Windows XP, and 'Windows XP' - This is both its saving grace and its downfall. The first individual has no idea about subtle differences in flavour - basically they taste the same. Visually they look identical, but they're contituently different.
The second individual has a good grasp of the differences in flavour.
They're the same but somehow the differences are the individuals' differences.
A good install of Windows XP with all its service packs (SP3), proper drivers - and only the software you require and need (no uninstalls/broken software) is a swiss army knife of usefulness, useability and robustness. Install a good browser - Firefox, have your search engine set to Google. Back this up with a good imaging program - Acronis - and a free antivirus - Comodo, you have a great everyday system that runs everybit of hardware, software you can throw at it and it holds up fairly well against viruses/dodgy websites (and if it doesn't 20mins your back to where you were - from an restore image/virtual image)
Problem is the other 'Windows XP' - at its extreme - little or no updates, annoying buggy 'genuine advantage' (no advantage to anyone but MS), nagging you. Bloated, graphically over the top Antivirus software that slows your system to snail. Broken uninstalls leaving garbage on your system/in your registry, so when you click on a certain type of file it opens the wrong software. No backup - so when it does finally screw up - by deleting something as simple as the boot.ini file, you left with the foregone conclusion the only real thing to do is re-install everything..and this is before the mention of viruses, malware.
The trouble is visually put these two systems side-by side at a certain point in time - its very difficult to see/find the differences. Windows XP puts a brave face on things at all times - I'm fine - arrogantly - nothing wrong with me - just ignore that little blimp. And its that little blimp that 3 months down the line means something else won't install/work properly and that little blimp that is sending your keystokes to server somewhere in no-mans land. It accumulates little problems and seems to hide them away - till one day it throws all its toys out of the box.
Life experiences taint it - just like humans wishing they could be that person that they were 5 years before. Its a this point you pull out that 'perfect' restore image and restore your Windows XP.
Windows 7 does give way to some of this arrogance - there is a repair feature on boot if it fails to boot properly - its much more - there are going to be problems but hey - we'll do our damn best to make sure there isn't. But it still seems to hide away its problems - its still very hard to see whats running is actually part of Windows and not some dodgy bit of code. You still need a good Antivirus, and they all work in a similar way to XP, i.e anything trying to trick you into installing itself on the system will still install - if you allow.
Is easy to see why Ubuntu is popular - and gaining popularity - hey you put in a disk and 9/10, it will boot to a working system with all drivers in place - a live boot disk - allowing you to test the system before you install it.
For day to day office tasks it is easily up there with Windows and no genuine advantage nags - its also legal for all those businesses in London that are being asked to fill in questionaires regarding the software licensing. As a business there is no reason to be running a pirated version of Office XP/2003/2007 - you have a good alternative and its free - OpenOffice.
I still like Windows XP, its vast usefulness is at times - quite incredible. When you have a working system and everything is just flowing perfectly - searches/documents/screen grabs/video capture/playback -you sometime have to stand back, to take it all in.
Its the hard work of having to grapple XP over the years (yes- the battered wife syndrome is probably in effect here - I must admit) - but for all its faults - it still does have some brillance at times.
I'm not yet at that level of indearment to Ubuntu - just yet, but then neither am I with Windows 7.
ja > "As you said for Ubuntu, I will say the same for OpenOffice."
You'll be pleased to hear I installed OpenOffice 3 in a matter of _minutes_. Plus a whole range of windows software culled from the OpenDisc project.
What is very cool (well, until it goes wrong!) is that I've cloned one complete install using CloneZilla, and I'm in the relatively swift process of installing it on the other PCs. What this also means is that once those pesky kids have messed everything up, it's a breeze to do a clean "reinstall" :)
Adam > Wow. I balked at the gargantuan and detailed comment, feeling duty-bound to reply but humbled by the scale of my offering.
So, in a word: yes. I know what you mean by having a neat and tidy set up, and as I replied to Jamie, I've used Clonezilla to create a handy disk image for quick reinstalls. The same applies for Ubuntu; I have my own neat and tidy set up that I use across all installs.
I think it's also important to give credit to Windows XP as well (I remember Windows 95....), wherever the ideas and inspiration came from, it is a solid piece of software, from which I'm sure GNU/Linux has taken many cues. It's just showing it's age now, and I don't know whether Windows 7 will be a worthy successor.
Not sure what you mean about the battered wife syndrome though??
I just added new hard drives to 2 of my desktops, and on one I eliminated windows completely. Running Ubuntu on SDA, and PCLinuxOS 2009 on SDB. I have removed VISTA from my laptop and am running Mandriva 2009 alone. I did do a fresh install of XP on one desktop that the grand kids use for games. The Linux installs were done in less than an hour each, and this included updates and adding programs. The XP had been installed for 11 months and had slowed to a crawl and would boot sans icons about 3 out of 10 boots, plus other annoyances. Took about 5 hours to get it installed and most of the programs reloaded. First thing is unplug the internet connection until you have your anti virus running. Then there are all the updates. Personally, I see no future for windows here at home, on any of my computers, as I have gotten used to the speed, reliability, stability, and security of Linux.
