Comment Re:Lack of competence (Score 1) 823
I'll agree that some of the people here are building up XP's flaws and toning down Linux's drawbacks, but i think you're doing much the same in the reverse. in a corporate environment, with a nice speedy internet connection, and prebuilt images, 20-30 minutes to get a windows desktop going is feasible. in this situation, you're lucky to have a poor 'broadband' connection. any updates needed will take a -long- time. the fact that sp3 is fairly new makes including it in an image cut down on your update times now. but what about 6 months ago, what about 6 months from now?
i've installed many a windowsXP box as well, and if you aren't just tossing an image on the drive, i don't know that i've ever seen just the install take less than 30 minutes. much less the format and update/configuration. now, if you have a customized, up to date xp image that includes all the patches/service packs, and configuration changes that you commonly make (understandable for someone that does reinstalls regularly) 30 minutes to 1.5 hours is about right. but, how much time are would you spend per month keeping that disc up to date? shouldn't that factor into the time it takes you to do your installs?
there are exceptions to every rule, obviously. however, i'd say with some certainty, if you are reasonably familiar with both OS's (ie, you're equally comfortable setting up a linux pc and a windows pc) it's much simpler to set up a linux system for use as a generic email/internet workstation. if there's specific hardware issues, or a specific software requirement, that changes things. but the same can be said of windows versions. (there may only be a vista driver, or only an XP driver if you're installing vista- an app may only run in a certain version of windows and compatibility mode might not cut it- just as wine might not cut it in certain situations)