Switching to Windows, Not as Easy as You Think

rchapman writes "Mad Penguin writer Simon Gerber has published an amusing review of Windows XP as seen from a Linux users point of view. He really makes you feel like you are trying to use Windows for the first time after exclusively using Linux. The article covers everything from the hideous installer and its lack of partitioning/formatting capabilities to the utter wasteland that is the Windows desktop, devoid of useful applications and everything in between. A fun read."

From BSD to BSOD

[jkrise]

is neither easy, nor amusing. It's the same from BSOD to BSD.

Ellen Fleiss

[Slashdiddly]

I was typing one day, at work. Just typing, tapping the hours merrily away, and suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, my computer rebooted.

Ellen Fleiss, is it you?

Firefox?

[Exitar]

"Whenever I launched Firefox the program would run, but I couldn't type anything into the address bar. The menus were all frozen, too."

Are you saying that no XP user can use Firefox?!?!?
Well, probably I'm writing this post only in my imagination...

Re:Not Easy?!

[ozmanjusri]

Switching from Linux to Windows is like switching from girlfriend to wife.

Nah, that's bullshit. Windows goes down on me all the time.

Re:XP is a bit older

[rbochan]

...Maybe the M$ release cycle is just uselessly slow for today's hardware market?

Yes, it's a pretty sad indication of Microsoft's release cycle when Debian actually gets out 2 new Stable distros (Woody, Sarge) within the time period of Microsoft WindowsXP and LonghH^H^H^Vista.

Re:Devoid of useful applications

[arose]

Are you saying that Microsoft's bussines model hurts users?

Re:Ellen Fleiss

[Virtex]

I was typing one day, at work. Just typing, tapping the hours merrily away, and suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, my computer rebooted.

Ellen Fleiss, is it you?

Nonsense! If it was Ellen Feiss, it would look more like:

I was, like, typing one day, like, at work. Just typing, tapping the hours, like, merrily away, and like suddenly, with no warning whatsoever, my computer, like, rebooted.

Re:Devoid of useful applications

[Flammon]

What if Real delivers a buggy adware piece of shit to be bundled?

IE is bundled with Windows and no one seems to complain.

Wait a minute, do you mean ... Oh never mind.

Re:Ever heard of Ghost?

[rkcallaghan]

Backup and restore with Ghost is a piece of cake, do it on a regular basis for many different versions of Winders, no need to reinstall OS. Keep all of my data in a separate \files directory for all applications and I can backup just that then use a current Ghost image to put the OS and Apps back in about 40 minutes, then just restore current \files directory. I Ghost anytime I add a new app, both before and after just in case.

Ghost costs $70 [symantec.com]. You mean I have to pay another $70 to a third party after paying for Windows itself, just to repeatedly reinstall the OS "easily", and save my data? Man, what a deal!

You're right, Linux and its stability and recommended practice of seperating data from functionality is just too complicated. I'd much rather just reinstall all the time and pay someone else to be sure my data stays safe whenever I need to do so.

~Rebecca

Re:Switch to Windows in one easy step

[Blakey Rat]

Are you a Linux writer? Out of ideas?

I know! Why don't you write a "switch to Windows" article? It's bound to be hilarious and I'm sure nobody has ever done it before.