All Things Microsoft > Microsoft Software

Will you ever go back to M$ OS?

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WMD:

--- Quote from: MarathoN ---Looks like this 'old fart' got pwnt. ;)
--- End quote ---

Either that or he was a drive-by troll.  We've gotten those before.

dishawjp:
Ok, I gotta respond to this thread.  Although I read this forum regularly, I don't post a whole lot lately.

First of all I am an "old fart."  I'm 53.  And I've been using PC's for at least as long as Wings.  And I did start with using Microsoft software.  DOS 3.3 to be exact.

Secondly I will not go back to using Microsoft.  OK, I do still have a Win98 box at home, old and slow enough to not be worth updating to Linux.  I do use it once a year to do my taxes, and maybe once or twice a year for other reasons.  But when that thing dies, it will not be replaced with another box running Microsoft.

And I do have to eat and pay bills and do not see myself as a "revolutionary," just someone who needs good reliable software to get his work done.  My "main" home computer is a FC3/FC4 dual boot.  At work, my full time job, (Director of Facilities for a college) I will shortly be running NLD (Novell Linux Desktop).  I also have a part time job as a New York State Judge and my court has been running Fedora Core for years.

I don't do non-linear video editing or any intensive graphics work, so those particular things are not important to me.  I do need a good office suite, and OpenOffice meets my needs there perfectly.  I do like to play CD's when I'm working, and although as a practical matter, I rarely watch DVD's on my computer, I do make sure that I have the ability to do so.  

My wife prefers Linux to MSWindows, altough for quite a while that was a bit of a battle.  A couple of years ago she had to do some work at home and wasn't able to open her MSWord document on our Win98 box with MSOffice97.  Her office had upgraded to MSWord2000.  I showed her how to work with it in OpenOffice on one of my Linux boxes.  Then she found popup-free tabbed web browsing.  Pretty soon I had to build her a decent Linux box or I'd never be able to use mine :-)

My kids have managed to do pretty well for themselves without MSWindows.  My oldest daughter runs Fedora, my younger has a dual boot Slackware/FC4 PC and a G4 Mac desktop.  My oldest daughter graduated college a few years ago, never used MSWindows or MSOffice and has a great job.  My youngest daughter has a 3.8 GPA, is studying neuroscience and already has grad schools offering her full tuition, housing, and stipend scholarships and she still has another year of undergraduate work to go.  Oh, yeah, she doesn't use MSWindows or MSOffice either.

Now to respond to the troll Wings:

--- Quote ---
Now kids, let me tell you this; most pros in the fourties like me don't waste their time on forums like these.

--- End quote ---

Fair enough

--- Quote ---
People have a choice as which OS the should use? No, people don't always have a choice and that's the whole issue. The fact is that it's almost impossible to use Linux without touching any Windows software, unless you
--- End quote ---

worker201:
Nice work, Jim!

Of course not everyone has Void Main to help them out.  Or, more to the point, not everyone realises that there are great knowledgeable helpers like Void Main out there.  Really, Linux is like having 5 or 6 personal advisors for every program on my computer!  If you get into the community and report bugs and ask questions and watch mailing lists, you'll be Linuxized in no time at all.  As I have said before, the learning curve of Linux is only a problem to the stupid and lazy.

Jenda:
I cannot but agree with the last two posts. Nice work indeed.

dishawjp:

--- Quote ---
Of course not everyone has Void Main to help them out. Or, more to the point, not everyone realises that there are great knowledgeable helpers like Void Main out there

--- End quote ---

That's true.  Without the help I've received from Void Main and so many other people on the various Linux forums, I probably would have not been able to completely convert.  Or, if I still had made it, it would have been a lot more difficult.

But then I don't claim to be a "network engineer" or a computer guru of any sort.  I'm a heck of a lot closer to "Aunt Tilly" or let's make that "Uncle Oscar" than this guy claims to be.

I use computers to get stuff done and really don't have any formal education in computers, operating systems, scripting, or anything else.  A lot like your typical MSWindows user.  Except I did make the effort to move to a better OS.  

I guess what I really want to say is that for *most* typical users, Linux can do everything that MSWindows can.  Also, if a Linux system weren't more reliable and easier to operate and maintain (once you've gotten past learning the basics) I might still be using MSWindows.

When some clown represents himself as a computer expert of any sort and starts bashing Linux like this Wings guy did, then I have to jump in.

Jim

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