Comments on: Returning to XP

By: druidbloke

druidbloke — Fri, 02 Nov 2007 11:26:28 +0000

Yep your right you should have tried it for longer ;o) And I’ve just come back to windows XP with a dual boot, and its not easier on the eye, the fonts on internet explorer and firefox under XP by default are uglier than ubuntu gutsy. Windows XP is good, and I have to have it installed for making music as in this area it still is better, but everywhere else, I prefer ubuntu, so yes it is a matter of taste I have used both system for a long time, you have not used linux long enough to have so many opinions IMHP.

By: Fabio

Fabio — Sat, 25 Aug 2007 17:54:09 +0000

Hi all

I have worked several months with Ubuntu. Even started a company offering services related with Ubuntu and Linux in general.

Well….using Linux and all the free software is pointless and is just for people who want to waste countless hours struggling with weird installation procedures and unexplicable errors.

Thanks for the advice on using the Ultimate Boot Cd because my old laptop is almost unusable after an unlucky uninstallation of Kubintu 6.10.

Thanks for the attention.

By: Ted

Ted — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 21:16:03 +0000

I’m very glad I found your blog. I installed Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty onto a partion of my tablet Toshiba m405 in May, spent a hours of my free time every day for weeks learning how to get it to work correctly, then realized there are no good replacements for my OneNote program. If Ubuntu isn’t ready for most computers, it certainly isn’t ready for tablets. Finally I learned about Vmware server, was able to install a non-tablet version of XP sp2 onto it, and then installed OneNote. But it was really slow, and the last disaster was when I tried to access the windows partition and it caused the destruction of that partition of my hard drive in the process. I lost a good amount of important data I hadn’t yet backed up. Fast forward to now. It’s working, I like many of the programs I have access to that aren’t available in XP. But I don’t care enough. Every time I go to a new wireless location, I have to do all this work to make it connect. Nothing is automatic. Ubuntu DOES freeze, and programs freeze, and sometimes I can resume from suspend and sometimes it fails to resume, without explanation. The hard drive whirrs all the time and the computer went from about 3hrs of battery life to about an hour and a half. I tried cpufreqd and edited the config file to be as miserly of power as possible, but all I get is a really slow computer when not plugged in. Ubuntu doesn’t suck, but compared to the time I’ve spent vexing over XP, I have to say it’s been substantially greater. The learning curve doesn’t level off the way it does with Windows. Every time I need to do something new, I have to spend hours learning how to do it or how to fix a problem I created that I had no warning I would get into. I think Ubuntu supporters have been irresponsible and remiss in their boosterism of Ubutu. I know they have an agenda, and it’s not to help average users make better, more efficient use of their computers, which is the ultimate goal most people have. I think instead, its to defeat “Micro$oft” and all that it stands for to them. Well look, microsoft is a corporation in a late capitalist economy. The problem isn’t microsoft, its the whole system, and spinning your wheels trying to change the world by taking down one corp isn’t going to cut it. Meanwhile, I think a lot of people have wound up ensared in Ubutu-land for dubious ends. Now I’m going to figure out how reinstall XP and maybe use Wubi sometimes for fun and access to linux programs.

By: Alan

Alan — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:01:43 +0000

Marklar, thanks for the encouragement to persevere with Ubuntu. Yeah, I’m new to it too and have wasted far too much time trying to get it to work, but didn’t I also spend a long time getting used to my first Windows back in ‘94? I am prepared for the learning curve but hope Canonical will invest more in hardware driver support in the future. People complain about Linux unfairly sometimes when Windows XP is the biggest offender of all, spoiling the mbr so neither Vista nor Ubuntu can be accessed. Ubuntu made a super job of the mbr with Vista preinstalled. Beware to lose stuff if you install XP after the other operating systems, and yes, I did install XP on a seperate primary partition to the others. And are there any drivers for my new hardware to run on XP? The Nvidia ones don’t work for starters, at least Linux will be supporting new hardware; with windows you’re stuck with Vista. XP is history unfortunately.

By: Marklar

Marklar — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 10:56:00 +0000

re: Grub error 17.

Format the drive? This is just a habit that comes from using something as ‘convenient’ as Windows, where most issues are ‘fixed’ with a re-install!

2 words: fix mbr

no need to format.

Dare i mention that windows does the same if you install it as a second OS with Ubuntu on first? It doesnt just take the boot record with it though, it will try and wipe out the whole OS!

re: piece of sheps comment about ‘it has to make it so Joe Schmo can install it and use it with ease’

Joe schmo struggles with windows, because its joe schmo whos always phoning me up asking me for help with his XP installation. It only ’seems’ easy because we’ve all had more experience with Windows.

If people spent the time getting used to Ubuntu that they spent getting used to windows, they’d never go back to the dark side.

All learning curves are frustrating, and linux will always be for the minority, but personally I’d rather help my mates (Joe Schmo etc..) fix their Ubuntu problems than help them fix their XP problems.

One thing’s for sure, you’ll be back ….. ; )

By: Ivo

Ivo — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 04:59:02 +0000

I have at home both Windows Vista amd64 and Ubuntu 7.04 amd64. I can say that I like Ubuntu better. But this is a matter of taste and a matter of needs. In general before Ubuntu 7.04 I wouldn’t recomment Linux to any newbie at all. Now starting from Vista I wouldn’t recommend Windows to any newbie either. The thing is Microsoft as always tries to make a fool proof newbie user friendly OS, but something went wrong down the line… My wife, who is an experienced user, hates Vista. Yesterday she couldn’t find the print button in Word 2007… hell I couldn’t either :o( I know for print the combination is CTRL+P (luckily it still works). She has troubles going to C driver as well. Some one at Microsoft wanted to make the new OS “I am reading your mind and I will do any thing you wish for”-wise, but the reading part somehow doesn’t work. I still cannot make my Vista understand that when I connect my PDA it should sync my contacts with Outlook.
With Ubuntu the things are the otherway around. It can do anything, but it won’t try to read your mind, it will ask questions, which although in English to a newbie will be all Greek. I wouldn’t recommend Linux to a newbie, unless the newbie has a friend who is experienced with Linux and has the patience to explain the new OS or the newbie has a book dedicated to the specific distro. I have installed a few months ago Ubuntu 6.10 on the laptop of friends of mine and so far only one problem has occurred. Word would close with a system message “unexpected termination”, but that was due to the fact that the PC had only 128MB of RAM and even part of it was dedicated for the video. After installing more memory every thing runs smoothly.
My advice to the Windows users who are willing to try Linux is either get a book or find a friend that is a Linux geek. Otherwise go and get some painkillers and be ready to endure the blisters on your bottom and the ichy eyes. Start with Ubuntu 7.04 (for those who like the pain go for SlackWare ;o) ). If you don’t have the patience or the need for Linux don’t even try, stay with XP. One day when XP is not supported by MS try Vista and Linux and then decide which one is better.
A little “did you know” part
1. I don’t know how you uninstall Ubuntu (or whatever OS in general), guys, but the only proper way is to delete the partinions. Then in Windows there is a nice small little tool called fdisk. Run it with options MBR and it will fix your master boot record for ya. In XP there is a separate command for this, just read the help.
2. Linux might not start up (although it will boot), because of your video (most probably). Did you know that in Linux there are 7 consoles and you can switch between them with ALT+CTRL+N where N is one of the keys from 1 to 7? When starting up Ubuntu will go to console 7 to show the graphical interface, but dump some start up messages on console 1. Even if the graphical interface doesn’t start up you still can go to console 1 and fix the problem in text mode.

Cheers to every one!

PS
If you cannot drive with manual shift then stick to automatic, it is as simple as that.

By: Tudor

Tudor — Sat, 02 Jun 2007 03:35:15 +0000

Great post. I see a recurring theme, tho. Just because things are named similarly, that doesn’t mean they are the same. I notice a comparison being made between updates on Unix/Linux and updates on Windows. These are not always the same thing. Almost all updates on the unices are _preventative_. A bit like a vaccination shot. Someone saw in the code that there was a potential hole and put the fix in before people could exploit it. On the other hand, updates on Windows are almost always after-the-fact. It was too late. Someone exploited the hole, damaged a whole lot of people’s systems and Windows was forced to release a “cure” - which will only patch the hole, not return your system to its original state. Such is the problem of noone being able to see the code - closed source.

While it is true that you are not and don’t want to be a coder, some of your friends clearly are, and with Linux, you are therefore placing your security in your friends hands. Aside from the obvious opportunity for bugs and the difficulties for your friends to find them and get the software maker to fix them, people who build closed-source products are always at some point forced to make an economic rationalisation of your security that is hidden from you.

By: Aaron Irwin

Aaron Irwin — Wed, 30 May 2007 22:26:02 +0000

I’ve had Kubuntu 6.10 installed on an old Dell Inspiron 1100 laptop alongside Win XP for a while now and I really believe that I would use Kubuntu a lot more if I could only get my Netgear wireless PCMCIA card to work (no joy since October 2006). The Kubuntu community have bent over backwards to be helpful, but an OS is there to make the computer work and thus to aid me in whatever it is I want to do with my computer. In the case of my laptop, 85% of the time that’s surfing the web (and other internet stuff) and Kubuntu simply doesn’t let me do this. Interesting, when dual-booting into XP, everything works fine. I don’t want to tempt fate by trying to remove Kubuntu, but XP will probably be used until the laptop finally gives way in a few years.

By: Harden Stuhl

Harden Stuhl — Wed, 30 May 2007 19:38:12 +0000

I have to ask with all sincerity, “Why do all of you try it Windows is so great?” The logic is not registering. Again, if Windows is as easy as everyone mentions, “What would compel you to try something that is harder?” It truly seems that none of you are happy with Windows and you were looking for an out. What you found was something that wouoldn’t let you be lazy. Just remember lazy isn’t always convenient…

By: Dan

Dan — Tue, 29 May 2007 10:52:06 +0000

I agree with you that Linux isn’t ready yet. How can it be with all the different hardware configurations out there and nooone to test them all? Ubuntu booted fine the first install.. and then NEVER AGAIN! So now i face the uninstall of the Grub bootloader.. joy of joys.. i might try it again in a year or two.