All Things Microsoft > Microsoft Software
Are there any good things about Windows??
Aloone_Jonez:
Yes the registry is terrible, but what do you do if a when your installing some software it's installation program fucks up thus corrupting some of your configuration files?
In Windows XP I could just restore the system back to how it was before.
I still like the driver roll back feature though, and the automatic switch to a generic 16 colour VGA mode helped me with installing a new graphics card.
EDIT: spelling
[ August 24, 2004: Message edited by: Aloone ]
mobrien_12:
quote:
4. The Windows swap file is part of the same partition as your data which means the swapfile's size can be changed on the fly. Linux's swap file is a different partition all together, so if you want to increase the size of the swap file, you have to delete the swap partition as well as a data partition. If you only created 2 partitions on your Linux machine, / and swap, you have to format the entire hard drive.
--- End quote ---
That is, to be quite blunt, ignorant.
The reason to put the swap file on its own partition is that it increases performance. You do not take performance hits from either resizing the swap file or having it be fragmented.
Its also easier to put the swap file on a hard drive other than your primary hard disk, which also increases performance.
You can, and should do all these things in Windows if you care about performance.
Linux also supports swap files on a regular filesystem. This is the only way Windows does it. You can use only a swap partition, a swap file (on a normal filesystem), a swap partition and a swap file, etc. etc. etc.
Windows swap is not superior to Linux swap.
[ August 24, 2004: Message edited by: M. O'Brien ]
hm_murdock:
I can do better than you at replying to his post. No, not better, just more Jimmy James-like.
quote:Windows has lots of good stuff
--- End quote ---
It sure does.
quote:1. Easier to network than any other OS.
--- End quote ---
Um... Yes and no. Networking is a black mark on all OSes currently. I've had Windows boxes hook right up to a network and immediately see each others' file shares and open them. I've had Linux just work, as well. I've also seen both of them just not work. Shitty.
quote:2. Easier to get support when you need it. Linux users will yell at you to RTFM, and Mac users will turn your question into a list of reasons why you are still better off using a Mac instead of a PC.
--- End quote ---
Not all Linux users are like that. I hate people who say "RTFM, n00b. and if u want teh manuel u haf 2 GOOGLE, N00B". I thought the same way a while back, because the only exposure I had to Linux users was here at fuckMicrosoft, and they, honesty, were none too helpful.
I, however, will go out of my way to give you a hand, and so will many others.
quote:3. Better driver support. Buy an ATI video card, benchmark it in Windows (with a game like RTCW), then benchmark it in Linux. You'll find that the game will run significantly slower in Linux.
--- End quote ---
My NVidia GF4 is faster in Linux than in Windows.
quote:4. The Windows swap file is part of the same partition as your data which means the swapfile's size can be changed on the fly. Linux's swap file is a different partition all together, so if you want to increase the size of the swap file, you have to delete the swap partition as well as a data partition. If you only created 2 partitions on your Linux machine, / and swap, you have to format the entire hard drive.
--- End quote ---
I think bedouin covered this very well, save for the fact that he failed to mention that Windows NT can be easily made to use a dedicated swap partition.
quote:5. Windows has the settings in a more logical location. For example, if I want to change the resolution of my monitor in Windows, I can do it by right clicking on the desktop, click on properties, then go to the settings tab. In Mandrake 8.0 with KDE, you can't change the resolution by clicking the right or middle mouse buttons on the desktop; you have to go into the mandrake control panel.
--- End quote ---
Yeah, but since when did anybody say that it was a rule of human interface that the DESKTOP was in any way related to the display. It's much more logical to associate the display with other hardware or system settings than it is to associate it with colors and desktop picture.
quote:6. Windows users don't need to run around downloading dependencies just so they can compile a program they want to use. Try compiling WINE on Mandrake 8.0 and you'll see what a nightmare dependencies can be. There are at least 10 different dependencies you need to track down before you can even try to compile WINE, and even then it's kind of tricky.
--- End quote ---
It's called apt. Get it, use it, love it.
quote:7. Games. Having to emulate Windows in Linux just to play a DirectX based game is ridiculous.
--- End quote ---
But it works, and works well. I've seen many DX games that run BETTER in WineX.
quote:8. I'm not sure if this is still true, but in the past Linux would have problems trying to use integrated hardware. Windows doesn't have problems with integrated hardware.
--- End quote ---
In the past and present, Windows XP still does not support the USB host controller on my dad's 1999-ish Dell workstation. Why is that? Who knows. Linux supports it.
quote:9. In Windows, everything is GUI. In Linux... blah ...you were trying to do.
--- End quote ---
Yay. I can do nearly anything via GUI or the shell. Same in *nix and Windows.
quote:10. Windows can uninstall things. In Linux, you can only uninstall things that were installed through RPM. Programs installed by compiling a source cannot be uninstalled unless you just happen to save the source, but then again, who saves the source to every program they compile??
--- End quote ---
I've found that in my experience, typically *nix users don't uninstall things. That just doesn't matter.
ShawnD1:
quote:Say I'm near an open wireless connection. In OS X my computer automatically joins and configures itself to use it, with no intervention on my part. No wizards; no steps. It just works, whether I just woke it from sleep or had it open for 2 hours.
--- End quote ---
Well I've never tried wireless, so MacOS probably does wireless a lot better. For wired connections with a router, I just plug computers into the router, turn them on, and they're automatically ready for sharing.
quote:Join a Windows support channel sometime, packed with individuals who are supposedly 'certified' to deal with its problems. If the problem isn't beyond the realm of a simple fix, they will either ignore you or suggest a reinstall (usually the later).
--- End quote ---
When you have a Windows problem, you should talk to real tech people, not some certified jerk who knows nothing. Places like Ars Technica and Anandtech are where you should go when you have a Windows problem. Hardware enthusiasts are usually familiar with operating systems as well. ;)
When asking Linux questions, the people at Anandtech and Ars Technica are not so bad. The people you really need to avoid are the people in unix-only type forums and newgroups. If you ask a question that requires anything less than an IT degree to answer, they'll just make fun of you. :mad:
quote: [about drivers]This was addressed in my last post. The most popular OS will naturally have more support; that says nothing about the inherent quality of the OS itself, especially when certain manufactures refuse to release specifications for their product that would allow improved driver support to occur.
--- End quote ---
I agree that better driver support is not because Windows is a better OS, but using Windows still gives the advantage of better drivers.
quote:And you do realize swap space can be resized with a partitioning utility right?
--- End quote ---
Not with Mandrake's utility, Disk Drake. If you try to resize a partition, it warns you that everything on the partition will be deleted.
quote:why do you keep referencing a two-year old Linux distribution (Mandrake 8?) It's at 10 now you know.
--- End quote ---
I used Mandrake 8.0 longer than any other Linux versions, so it's what I'm most familiar with. I tried 9.0, and it was pretty much the same. 10 is probably the same as well.
quote:Maybe you should be upset at the game developers who chose to use proprietary tools, not an OS that cannot natively support them.
--- End quote ---
I'm not sure about the Linux situation, but I know DirectX can be ported to MacOS fairly easily with the use of MacDX. Devs who stay away from porting to the Mac are doing so because they don't think they can get a return on the time and money spent trying to distribute a Mac version. It doesn't have anything to do with incompatibility. After all, BF1942 was ported to the Mac.
quote:I'm assuming by integrated hardware you mean stuff like onboard sound cards and video? See answer to #3.
--- End quote ---
The problems were not about "good enough" Linux drivers. The problems were about a total lack of compatibility. Those problems are probably fixed by now though.
quote:And in Linux if you don't know what you're doing there's man, which tends to tell me more than I need to know. There's nothing stopping you from poking around in console.
--- End quote ---
Man only helps you if you almost know what you are doing. You can type "man chroot" to get help, but if you didn't know the command chroot before that, there's not really much you can do with the man pages.
quote:Uninstalling in Windows would be nice -- if it actually uninstalled everything. That means cleaning up my registry, and not leaving files or empty folders behind. Not to mention those instances where the uninstaller malfunctions, and ends up creating more problems. Or how about those wonderful spyware apps I clean off my friend's computers, that require one to be on-line to uninstall?
--- End quote ---
Although the uninstall process is really half-ass, it at least deletes the bulk of the files. When trying to remove a Linux program installed from compiling a source, you have to hunt down every file it created. A few files in the libraries, some under usr, a few in the man pages, the binary in one of the bin folders. If you use Linux for 1 year, you'll find that your hard drive is just a mess. You have garbage files everywhere that are pieces of programs you wanted to get rid of. In Windows, garbage reminiscence is usually just left in the registry where it can be removed by one of the many free registry cleaning tools. Garbage files left in Linux are not as easy to clean because you can't just run a program to detect if the files are useful.
flap:
quote:Not all Linux users are like that. I hate people who say "RTFM, n00b. and if u want teh manuel u haf 2 GOOGLE, N00B". I thought the same way a while back, because the only exposure I had to Linux users was here at fuckMicrosoft, and they, honesty, were none too helpful.
--- End quote ---
People only say "RTFM" when someone is being lazy i.e. asking someone else to answer a question that they could more easily answer themselves.
And if you search this site's UNIX forum for the phrase "RTFM", you get about 10 hits from the last 2 years, and most of those aren't actually people telling someone else to RTFM.
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