Microsoft, that big bully
First, bear in mind this is an opinion article and thus it can’t be objective. I’m not a computer wizard, but I’m not dumb either. This is based solely on my own experience. And now, after the mild warning, if you still want to read, go on, you’re welcome to post if you want, too 
Freezing, crashing, blue screens, kernel errors… you have guessed it, I am talking about Windows. No matter what version: Xp, Win2k, ME, 98 or Vista… they all are the same and operate the same way. Erraticaly. The solution? Patches, actualizations, more patches to patch what was supposed to be patched… Come on Microsoft guys, take it seriously!
Again if you’re the average user -no mean to offend anyone here- who only uses the computer to work/chat/navigate the internet you might be happy with what you have been given. Well, I’m not. You might remember what I said at the beginning, that’s right, I know a couple of things or two about computers -not an expert though, remember it well- so I know how annoying it can be to delve into Microsoft’s OS’s innards. If you are a gamer -and a heavy one like me- you might have reasons to be even angrier, especialy after the recent launch of the new Vista OS. For those who don’t know it yet, Vista “categorises” your computer, assigning it a level -1 to 5- depending on the overall quality of the components of your computer. If a program -be it game or not- needs a certain level of performance and your computer does not meet it, even by the tinniest aspect, you are fried. No matter what, you won’t be able to run it.
Here goes a non-specific example: a game requires 512 RAM memory, a 3GHz processor and “Z” graphic card and I have 1GB ram, a 2GHz processor and luckily the “Z” graphic card. Well bad luck for you, if you are running under windows Vista, supposedly you won’t be able to run it -and I say supposedly since I have not tried anything with that OS from Hell-. Here you might say “Hey! No problem! I run under WinXp/WinME! I can run it!”. Well, it depends. It really does. There is already Vista-Exclusive software -Halo 2 anyone?- so my guess is that more and more software will be Vista-Exclusive. This shouldn’t be a problem, Microsoft has been doing this since Win98, but never so soon. You’ve heard about compatibility haven’t you Mr.Gates? At least before you left a margin to run software with both OS.
So, with only a quick glance at the panorama and my restricted knowledge in economics, I would say this is not a too subtle strategy to force customers to buy Microsoft’s new OS and consequently forcing them to upgrade their machines if they want to run the new upcoming software. Gamers will have it tough here. Some of you might shout “unfair!” and ask how such situation is possible. Well, its simple. Microsoft’s OS are “the most common”, the one that most people have on their computers and thus most applications are designed for. I myself use Windows, but that not means I’m satisfied with it.
So, do we have something left? Is there a way to escape from the claws of this monster? Well, there’s a few alternatives, and the best one I can think of involves a penguin…
That’s right, I’m not mad -not too much anyways-, I’m talking about Linux, the open-source development OS. Open-source, that’s the bunny. It means that anyone can modify the source code, enhancing it, correcting errors and a big etc… Pretty much anything can be done with Linux. For free. And better than with Windows. That’s important. Linux is faster, more reliable, secure and user friendly than Windows. Sure, it may be a bit complicated at the beginning, with all those commands -which are not strictly necessary-, different versions and new features to get acustomed to. Well, changing from Win 3.11 to Win 98 wasn’t easy neither, it’s just a matter of good-will.
I admit I was a bit reticent to try Linux. Reticent and scared too. It seemed too much to handle at first but in fact it wasn’t that painful. Moreover, it was a beautiful experience. I decided to install Ubuntu Feisty version -the “linux for noobs” as one of my friends likes to say- and everything went smooth. Almost no need for later configuration, every driver installed correctly and as a bonus Open Office installed too. Everything in less than 20 min -I think Microsoft can learn something about that too. 40 min at least to install an OS? With no extra perks like Microsoft Office installed? Come on…-
What’s more, Linux is gaining more and more adepts, especialy companies that needs heavy computing activities -I’m thinking about servers, processing data etc…- since its free -and more reliable- they don’t need to spend a fortune on licenses for multiples computers, which is always a pain in the ass. IBM, Hewlett-Packard, Novell are some of the big corportations that support linux and as far as I’m concerned I support Linux too. Sure, it may be of small comfort for the linux comunity, but if all people support it maybe a difference can be made.
Because, you see, Linux is far from perfect. Every 6 months an actualisation comes out; it’s a double edge thing: it can be good, since there’s a constant evolution and improvement, but it can be bothersome since it means every six months you’ll have to reinstall Linux. But the biggest problem Linux has is the lack of compatibility. There’s simply not enough companies developing tools and programs for linux, or at least linux-compatible. Again, if you use the computer to work/navigate the internet, I believe Linux would be a good alternative since you’ll find pretty much all the tools you need for those everyday activities: picture editing, compressing, emailing, music, writing etc…
That leaves one issue only. Gaming. Well, if Mac OS is not very gaming friendly, Linux is even worse. Some companies such as Id Software -bless their minds- always released their games’ source code, so at least Linux users can enjoy some masterpieces like Doom3 or Quake4; but otherwise porting Windows games to Linux does not seem to be economically viable. Which is a shame, since everything would work smoother. And again, this is due to the fact that windows is the most extended operating system. Hopefully some people have already realized this, and are trying to find a solution, a solution named Cedega. Cedega is a free tool that permits playing Windows games in Linux environment with high compatibility. Note the “high compatibility”. Not everygame is supported, and not all the games supported are fully supported. It’s a shame, but it’s better than nothing.
Well, after all this I could say “Windows bad, Linux good”, but I believe things are more complicated than that. I now use Linux to work and pretty much everythin else, and Windows when I want to spend some leisure time. And you? Tell me, how is your relationship with Windows?
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