JTF.ORG Forum

General Category => General Discussion => Topic started by: Ephraim Ben Noach on March 04, 2013, 07:24:34 PM

Title: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Ephraim Ben Noach on March 04, 2013, 07:24:34 PM
Linux vs Windows 8? Which is better and why?

I have Windows 8 and I'm not really digging it ...
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: muman613 on March 04, 2013, 08:11:01 PM
I cannot comment because I have never even touched Windows 8...

I liked Linux over Windows 7 but there are some areas where Windows is better, such as gaming. I work mainly as a developer writing code and Linux suits me better for this purpose, and I can develop cross-platform applications on Linux (using emulators and virtual machines)...

The latest Ubuntu 12.04 release has a great GUI but some aspects of it are difficult to use (coming from a Gnome background)...

My company has not even evaluated Win8 yet...

So I cannot compare them...
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: briann on March 04, 2013, 09:45:17 PM
If you really wanted to start a fight, you would ask.... Windows vs Mac... 
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Zelhar on March 05, 2013, 07:13:50 AM
I haven't tried win8 yet. Well I tried to install the preview release on a virtualbox and it didn't work well enough to play with. My first impression was i didn't like the tile interface and I felt the OS is trying to limit my access to the system.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 05, 2013, 08:59:23 AM
I've tried win8 beta and surface at the microshaft store.
I think there's a chance both may go the way of windows vista.

the win8 touch screen software is flaky. touch any krApple or android screen, move icons around. now do the same with win 8 touch screen. first thing I noticed is that it loses track of my finger. so moving an icon around may drop it somewhere in between.
or to see it, try opening up a paint program. if you draw a single line, it may break several times.

the soft keyboard. try putting in an address in the address bar of a browser. that's hard enough. try filling out an online form with the soft keyboard. the soft keyboard covers fields so that there's no way to fill some parts of the form.

those big ugly purple rectangular buttons are hideous.

Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: HiWarp on March 05, 2013, 09:32:55 AM
I've tried win8 beta and surface at the microshaft store.
I think there's a chance both may go the way of windows vista.

the win8 touch screen software is flaky. touch any krApple or android screen, move icons around. now do the same with win 8 touch screen. first thing I noticed is that it loses track of my finger. so moving an icon around may drop it somewhere in between.
or to see it, try opening up a paint program. if you draw a single line, it may break several times.

the soft keyboard. try putting in an address in the address bar of a browser. that's hard enough. try filling out an online form with the soft keyboard. the soft keyboard covers fields so that there's no way to fill some parts of the form.

those big ugly purple rectangular buttons are hideous.

In my opinion, Microsoft tried to create a multi-function OS by using the one size fits all model. Namely, they wanted to have one OS for touch screen tablets, notebooks, and desktops. What usually happens when you attempt that is instead of creating something that does one thing very well, you create something that does many things badly. In that respect, I believe Microsoft has succeeded.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Ulli on March 05, 2013, 09:47:26 AM
I have not tried it yet, but I like it minimalistic. The more graphic the more confusing it becomes. Windows NT was great. I dropped it because of the missing USB support and of other non supported things. Windows 7 is for shure better than Vista. Vista I didn't liked.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: briann on March 05, 2013, 10:19:09 AM
I have not tried it yet, but I like it minimalistic. The more graphic the more confusing it becomes. Windows NT was great. I dropped it because of the missing USB support and of other non supported things. Windows 7 is for shure better than Vista. Vista I didn't liked.

Yes, Vista has caused me major headaches..... and I can't stand the long loadup time.  Windows 7 is fine for the time being.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 05, 2013, 10:48:51 AM
In my opinion, Microsoft tried to create a multi-function OS by using the one size fits all model. Namely, they wanted to have one OS for touch screen tablets, notebooks, and desktops. What usually happens when you attempt that is instead of creating something that does one thing very well, you create something that does many things badly. In that respect, I believe Microsoft has succeeded.

yes great job. good going mr ballmer.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 10:53:29 AM
In my opinion, Microsoft tried to create a multi-function OS by using the one size fits all model. Namely, they wanted to have one OS for touch screen tablets, notebooks, and desktops. What usually happens when you attempt that is instead of creating something that does one thing very well, you create something that does many things badly. In that respect, I believe Microsoft has succeeded.
Windows 8 is bad enough to do some serious damage to Microsoft's market share of the PC business... The thing is so unworkable that I have heard people say they just walk away from the computer in disgust... The desk top takes a bit of getting use to and Microsoft is constantly trying to get into the computer owners business by asking you to sign up for a Microsoft account and information sharing... I would avoid as much of that as possible because once you start to get into it Microsoft will run you around in circles since whatever they are trying to do there really does not work correctly... Skip it and just download Mozilla Firefox and work from there... For folks who need some of the Microsoft apps may G-d help you and keep you sane. :::D
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 05, 2013, 10:56:18 AM
Windows 8 is bad enough to do some serious damage to Microsoft's market share of the PC business... The thing is so unworkable that I have heard people say they just walk away from the computer in disgust... The desk top takes a bit of getting use to and Microsoft is constantly trying to get into the computer owners business by asking you to sign up for a Microsoft account and information sharing... I would avoid as much of that as possible because once you start to get into it Microsoft will run you around in circles since whatever they are trying to do there really does not work correctly... Skip it and just download Mozilla Firefox and work from there... For folks who need some of the Microsoft apps may G-d help you and keep you sane. :::D

yes i do believe they're shooting themselves in the arse.
i know we're supposed to hate billy gatus, but under his rule, microshaft only improved.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 11:17:20 AM
Yes, with windows 8 they are giving the people who buy it the microshaft for sure.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: HiWarp on March 05, 2013, 11:38:10 AM
yes i do believe they're shooting themselves in the arse.
i know we're supposed to hate billy gatus, but under his rule, microshaft only improved.

That's true, if you leave out Vista. But I guess everyone's entitled to at least one mistake.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: HiWarp on March 05, 2013, 11:41:15 AM
Windows 8 is bad enough to do some serious damage to Microsoft's market share of the PC business... The thing is so unworkable that I have heard people say they just walk away from the computer in disgust... The desk top takes a bit of getting use to and Microsoft is constantly trying to get into the computer owners business by asking you to sign up for a Microsoft account and information sharing... I would avoid as much of that as possible because once you start to get into it Microsoft will run you around in circles since whatever they are trying to do there really does not work correctly... Skip it and just download Mozilla Firefox and work from there... For folks who need some of the Microsoft apps may G-d help you and keep you sane. :::D

I was in the market for a new notebook a few weeks ago and I simply refused to buy anything with Windows 8. It took me nearly two weeks to find a decent machine with Windows 7. Luckily I was looking for a low end model. If I was looking for a latest and greatest model, I'd probably still be looking.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 11:52:01 AM
That's true, if you leave out Vista. But I guess everyone's entitled to at least one mistake.
Vista was nothing like this... It seemed to develop some underlying conflicts that never seem to be correctable and actually got worse with service pack 2 but they were more of an annoyance than something that actually stopped they system from working.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 12:10:33 PM
I was in the market for a new notebook a few weeks ago and I simply refused to buy anything with Windows 8. It took me nearly two weeks to find a decent machine with Windows 7. Luckily I was looking for a low end model. If I was looking for a latest and greatest model, I'd probably still be looking.
7 seems like a good system I have a few others here that I use from time to time ranging from the old Me up to 7... They all have their good and bad points... In all honesty the first few months is always the worst when a new OS comes out... Most people however will get use to 8 because it works very much like the touch screens on most cellphones... The only problem I actually see is Microsoft's intrusiveness into the users business... I know someone who just bought an 8 system and got so disgusted with it they wanted to return it to the store for a 7 system... I actually talked them out of it because I felt that things are changing so fast now it is actually kind of counter productive to step back like that... Whatever the issue with 8 is it's not going to go away... They will tweak it a bit and possibly remove the more annoying features but that format is here to stay... I think it's possible to unpin a good part of the unneeded  garbage on the desk top to make the system easier to deal with. Sometimes it just best to move along with the prevailing tide because sooner or later it's going to be unavoidable anyway.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: briann on March 05, 2013, 12:17:05 PM
Lets talk about browsers... I keep going back and forth between chrome and firefox... they both have their advantages.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 12:42:37 PM
Lets talk about browsers... I keep going back and forth between chrome and firefox... they both have their advantages.
I loved the first few editions of Firefox however I find the ones they have now slightly annoying and some of the add on downloads problematic... The early editions were so easy and trouble free they were a pleasure compared to what Microsoft Explorer was offering back then... Chrome is a nice browser however it's tracking features are a big turn off... I was using it for a while however I have since started reusing Firefox and Explorer again.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: The Noachide on March 05, 2013, 12:50:22 PM
I liked Linux over Windows 7 but there are some areas where Windows is better, such as gaming.

That's changing rapidly.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/linux_users_come_out_woodwork_latest_steam_hardware_survey2013
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 01:06:51 PM
That's changing rapidly.
http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/linux_users_come_out_woodwork_latest_steam_hardware_survey2013
When they start offering Linux as a factory  option on new systems then I'll see it as a viable option... Right now Linux could be as good as gold but remains on the sidelines... They have been around for quite some time now still however they seem to have been unable to cross  the mainstream threshold that Microsoft has maintained for years now.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: muman613 on March 05, 2013, 01:20:45 PM
When they start offering Linux as a factory  option on new systems then I'll see it as a viable option... Right now Linux could be as good as gold but remains on the sidelines... They have been around for quite some time now still however they seem to have been unable to cross  the mainstream threshold that Microsoft has maintained for years now.

Several manufacturers offer Linux systems, or at least they have, but they usually are not offered in the retail outlets...

http://content.dell.com/us/en/enterprise/linux-solutions.aspx


http://www.techdrivein.com/2010/09/7-providers-of-pre-installed-linux.html

http://vimeo.com/10518151
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: muman613 on March 05, 2013, 01:34:53 PM
http://techcrunch.com/2012/07/18/dell-gives-linux-laptops-another-chance/

Quote
Today Dell announced its official re-entry into the Linux laptop market. Project Sputnik, first announced in May, is graduating from Dell’s internal incubator program into a real product. According to project lead Barton Geroge, Dell will sell a special “developer edition” of its XPS13 Ultrabook starting this fall.

The laptop will come pre-loaded with Ubuntu, a user friendly distribution of the open source operating system Linux (or GNU/Linux to purists). George said the laptop won’t be able to dual boot Windows. But Dell made available an Ubuntu install image customized for the XPS13, so you could buy the Windows version and install Ubuntu yourself if you require dual booting. George says the developer version will be the high end configuration of the XPS13, with 4GB of RAM, an Intel Core i7 processor and a 256GB solid state hard drive. This model currently sells for $1,499, and George says the Linux version will sell for a little bit less than the Windows version.

Dell started offering systems with Linux pre-installed back in 2007, due to popular demand on its online suggestion box IdeaStorm. But the company quietly stopped advertising Ubuntu as an option on its online store sometime in 2010. The Ubuntu option was too confusing to average users. “It wasn’t reaching the right audience,” George explains.

But the demand from power users never really went away. Since the original announcement of Project Sputnik Dell has gathered extensive feedback on IdeaStorm – enough, George says, to justify bringing a Linux laptop back into production. He says that although Dell hasn’t fully decided how to market the new product, it will be more clear to buyers that this is a computer for power users.

Dell won’t be alone in the Linux laptop market. There are several “white box” vendors offering Linux laptops, but no major vendor is selling fully featured (non-netbook) machines with Linux pre-installed. The closest thing is EmperorLinux, which installs Linux on laptops manufactured by major vendors and sells them along with technical support (check out this site for a round-up of Linux laptop vendors).

Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: briann on March 05, 2013, 01:52:06 PM
I loved the first few editions of Firefox however I find the ones they have now slightly annoying and some of the add on downloads problematic... The early editions were so easy and trouble free they were a pleasure compared to what Microsoft Explorer was offering back then... Chrome is a nice browser however it's tracking features are a big turn off... I was using it for a while however I have since started reusing Firefox and Explorer again.

I havent touched Explorer... its been such an awful browser... but Ive heard the latest additions are finally on par with 'normal' browsers.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Rubystars on March 05, 2013, 02:31:04 PM
I like Internet Explorer because it's what I started browsing with so it's familiar to me. I use other browsers for playing game sites and things though because for some reason they work better, but IE is good for just browsing around. I can't find the URL drop down list on Chrome for some reason but I like the ad block add-on so I use that when I'm watching a livestream so that commercials don't interrupt the show I'm watching except for the actual tv commercials. On the game sites I tend to pick up viruses for some reason if I am using IE because of bad advertisements so the ad block is good to prevent that too.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Zelhar on March 05, 2013, 03:38:24 PM
I bumped into this geeky review today, I think he makes a good point.
http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_desktop_pains.html
Quote
it's a bit strange. 10 years ago, Mac just works, Windows is annoying but works, and Linux, the new kid on the block under the limelight (Slashdot!), is doing intensive catchup. Rumor has it that Microsoft might be out of business in few years. Now, 10 years has passed. Seems, Mac still just works, Windows is still just annoying but works, and Linux is still just for geeks.
I like Linux very much but I can't in recommend it to 95% of the people. It just doesn't come ready for hustle free use out of the shelf. It may look like it does, but sooner or later you will run into some sort of issue that requires a special solution.

Windows of course is full of troubles too, but Linux is less friendly.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: muman613 on March 05, 2013, 03:53:50 PM
I bumped into this geeky review today, I think he makes a good point.
http://xahlee.info/linux/linux_desktop_pains.htmlI like Linux very much but I can't in recommend it to 95% of the people. It just doesn't come ready for hustle free use out of the shelf. It may look like it does, but sooner or later you will run into some sort of issue that requires a special solution.

Windows of course is full of troubles too, but Linux is less friendly.

Windows is buggy, often difficult to configure through GUI's, has been slower than Linux in many areas, and is a magnet for viruses and malware. Except for the purpose of gaming I see no reason to use Windows for anything...

If you have a quad-core machine you can use Linux as your primary OS and run Windows in a Virtual Machine as I do. I trust the Linux kernel better than Microsoft because anyone (who has the ability) can get the sourcecode to Linux and make any changes he or she wants. It is also easier for the average person to monitor what is going on in Linux so one can catch processes which are hogging the CPU.

Aside from gaming I cannot see any reason to even run Windows. While I don't need all the fancy features of MS Word, I find OpenOffice and Google Docs to be satisfactory replacements and very powerful applications on their own. For web browsing and email Linux is more than adequate. The software for Linux has matured, and there are several developers working on modern Gaming titles native for Linux.

I swore many years ago I would never purchase another microsoft product. And with Linux I have never had to install Windows (other than on machines at my work, where I still primarily use Linux but I also port my applications to Windows using the wxWidgets cross-platform library) and I am happy....

Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 05, 2013, 04:06:49 PM
Someone mentioned apple?
Let me knock on apple.
Why does apple fix their bugs so fast? Why is it that it seems apple has less bugs?

Who makes apple software? Apple
Who makes apple hardware? The factory of apple's choice, foxcon for example.
There are no variables in apple hardware.
Who makes IBM PC clones? HP, Dell, Asus, micron,  and hundreds of others.
Who makes apple clones? No one. Anyone who tried got sued by apple.
So, there are no hardware variables. So when there's a hardware problem apple fixes it once.
When there's a PC hardware problem. First, what part? Who makes it? So there could be numerous fixes to be made.

We can compare PCs with apples when they start making apple clones.

Same story with android and apple ios.
There are countless android hardware makers.
The iphone is made by foxcon - that's it, no one else.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Zelhar on March 05, 2013, 04:07:21 PM
Windows is buggy, often difficult to configure through GUI's, has been slower than Linux in many areas, and is a magnet for viruses and malware. Except for the purpose of gaming I see no reason to use Windows for anything...

If you have a quad-core machine you can use Linux as your primary OS and run Windows in a Virtual Machine as I do. I trust the Linux kernel better than Microsoft because anyone (who has the ability) can get the sourcecode to Linux and make any changes he or she wants. It is also easier for the average person to monitor what is going on in Linux so one can catch processes which are hogging the CPU.

Aside from gaming I cannot see any reason to even run Windows. While I don't need all the fancy features of MS Word, I find OpenOffice and Google Docs to be satisfactory replacements and very powerful applications on their own. For web browsing and email Linux is more than adequate. The software for Linux has matured, and there are several developers working on modern Gaming titles native for Linux.

I swore many years ago I would never purchase another microsoft product. And with Linux I have never had to install Windows (other than on machines at my work, where I still primarily use Linux but I also port my applications to Windows using the wxWidgets cross-platform library) and I am happy....
Installing any software except what's on the default repositories is harder on Linux. Configuring sound, keyboard, and i18n support is harder on Linux. If you install Linux out of the Box and browse a Hebrew website, the fonts will look awful. You have to install msttcorefonts or some other font package.

There are all sort of little stuff that can make one crazy and miserable on Linux. For example, after I upgrade my OpenSUSE to the latest edition, Google Chrome Browser couldn't be updated. There simply wasn't yet a google repository ready for it. I had to wait for weeks and manually checks out when I could add the google repository. Someone with less know how or attention would have just leave the system the way it is and so his chrome browser would have never been updated. Similar things might happen with any software you install from non-standard repository.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 05, 2013, 04:18:59 PM
Installing any software except what's on the default repositories is harder on Linux. Configuring sound, keyboard, and i18n support is harder on Linux. If you install Linux out of the Box and browse a Hebrew website, the fonts will look awful. You have to install msttcorefonts or some other font package.

There are all sort of little stuff that can make one crazy and miserable on Linux. For example, after I upgrade my OpenSUSE to the latest edition, Google Chrome Browser couldn't be updated. There simply wasn't yet a google repository ready for it. I had to wait for weeks and manually checks out when I could add the google repository. Someone with less know how or attention would have just leave the system the way it is and so his chrome browser would have never been updated. Similar things might happen with any software you install from non-standard repository.

thats the consequence of opensource software like linux. you can customise the entire software, but its hard.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: Zelhar on March 05, 2013, 04:31:38 PM
thats the consequence of opensource software like linux. you can customise the entire software, but its hard.
I know. And it is very important for it to exists, otherwise the Apple and the microsofts would charge whatever they like for their product and make them ever more restrictive.

That's how things used to be before the PC clones and the the open source came to be.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: cjd on March 05, 2013, 06:44:22 PM
I havent touched Explorer... its been such an awful browser... but Ive heard the latest additions are finally on par with 'normal' browsers.
I never liked the old Explorer editions and I always felt they were open to virus attacks... When my old windows 98 and ME systems were no longer able to  be updated to the newer versions of explorer I switched to the original Firefox and was able to use the computers for many more years... Firefox started going bad around edition 4 before then it was great... The new Explorer seems like there have been some major improvements put in place however for now I will stick with Firefox.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: HiWarp on March 06, 2013, 07:32:59 AM
thats the consequence of opensource software like linux. you can customise the entire software, but its hard.

Which is why Linux has had the "it's just for geeks" moniker for so long. Geeks have no problem making configuration changes and recompiling the kernel. In fact, many actually like it. Your basic everyday home user, not so much.
Title: Re: I feel like starting a fight!
Post by: angryChineseKahanist on March 06, 2013, 08:56:55 AM
Which is why Linux has had the "it's just for geeks" moniker for so long. Geeks have no problem making configuration changes and recompiling the kernel. In fact, many actually like it. Your basic everyday home user, not so much.


Who are you calling geek you nerd. Just kidding. Geek is a badge of honour these days.