Finally I Don't Do Windows
(Technology • )
The other day I bought a new and beefier desktop computer for the company and, as usual, I was forced to buy a Microsoft operating system along with it. I meekly complied because I’d been unable to get my aging printer to work with the version of Linux Ubuntu I’d been using on the company’s other dual-boot desktop.
I’d been able to keep the printer working under Windows XP, but it turns out the new desktop includes Windows Vista. Vista represents a step backward in Windows performance, as far as I’ve been able to tell, but a big step forward in shiny plastic-looking memory-hogging animated icons.
Along with Vista, Microsoft also has served notice it no longer will support my old printer and some of my best software. No surprise to those forced to tread this ground already, but it turns out Vista sucks, and is only better than XP at violating its customers’ privacy by snooping through their files to sniff out copyright information.
Luckily, I no longer have to use Microsoft’s invasive and bug-infested products, now that I’ve re-paid for them over and over and over and over again.
Because the latest version of Ubuntu detected and made friends with my old printer, scanner and other hardward as soon as I installed it. The only other reason I’d stuck with Windows so long was that I’ve become somewhat proficient in and used to Photoshop, and the Adobe people who make it can’t handle Linux.
But it turns out that the open-source graphics program Gimp has made leaps and bounds and, with a tweak here and there, can help me produce just what I need in terms of web graphics.
When I started using Linux a few years ago, I just tried it for fun. Turns out I am spending much less money on software, and I’m probably more productive on Ubuntu than ever in Windows, and for absolutely sure on the clunky Vista.
OK I’ll turn off the geek now and return you to your regularly scheduled program.
→ B.Dunn, Oct 23, 2009, 08 08 am
