Journal: Why I like XP, and Don't like Linux

I run Windows XP at home. I've run SuSE, Mandrake, RedHat, Corel, and Debian before, and there are things that I really like about Linux. The availability of applications and extensions is nice, and things like GLTron had me in there quite a bit.

What I use my computer for the most is Word Processing, Digital Art, and Playing Games. My program of choice for digital art is Bryce 5 from Corel. I was waiting, when they had a Linux Distro, for a port, but they dropped linux and a port never came. There is no comparable application in Linux for it, for either ease of use or interaction. Blender is great, if you've got a lifetime to devote to using it, but I do not. I've been using Bryce for years, and have not found a program I like more than it.

I also prefer Photoshop over Gimp, but that is mostly personal preference as well. I don't run a server, I don't have any use for distributed security models, and I don't do anything that would require any of the other features of Linux. As a programmer, I have never truly meshed with the Open Source Model, though I do see the benefit of it. That mostly comes from the almost religious air that it gets, and that nothing about software makes it so it should be free. If some people decide to do that, more power to them. I've shared code before, and that's okay.

I also play games, and WineX is not the answer. Porting is all well and good, when it works, and like it or not, DirectX is a nice API. OpenGL was great, but the lack of industry support has crippled it, and the 2.0 itteration of the technology has not yet convinced me that it is the better model. It was better, until about DX7. If Microsoft made the smart move, and opened the source of that completely so it could be ported to linux, along with Media Player, I would be very close to switching.

The word processing thing is also a big deal, because I do a lot of creative writing. I have been using word forever, and have never liked what StarOffice or OpenOffice have offered. Clippy is annoying, but a lot of other features in MS Office are useful. Outlook is my mail program of choice, and I have used others. What I would like from linux is the Window Manager format, since the ability to customize an interface based on need without cracking the shell is nice.

The argument of Linux being more stable than Windows is dependant entirely on the conditions the two systems operating under. Most people like to think it's the fault of the OS when it's in fact crappy hardware, or crappy software. Windows didn't break, KaZaA/AOL/PC Friendly/Norton etc. did. Sure, things like Me sucked, but I never ran it. I ran 98 for a year-and-a-half without lockup or crash issues. I was not running a server, so uptime was not an issue. I switched to 2000 when I upgraded my system, and had lockup issues. It was an error with the KT133 chipset on my Athlon board, and never a problem with the OS. Incedently, Windows delt with it better than Linux, which would lock whenever the 3D modes of the video card were accessed. It helped me diagnose the problem, since it was something on the AGPSet, but beyond that, Linux wasn't much use to me.

Since then, I could count on one hand the number of times I've had an error in XP that wasn't caused by me. Linux and I had issues with my Radeon and support for OpenGL, which were later fixed, but was still shaky in most apps. I could run similar things in Windows, and didn't have to worry about it.

And that's what it comes down to. I've tried Linux, in depth, so it's not a matter of me being an uneducated Windows user. I just happen to know what I like, and stick with it. Will I try Linux again? Most likely. But for now, I like XP more.