Slightly random topic, but I dare to make an attempt at it. Long story short, I’ve been reading a number of amusing articles recently on how certain Linux users view Win7 and the other way around. I have little experience with non-Windows OSs, yet I am in a constant search for something for my mum. Try not to laugh.
I’m not an IT-pro, as in it’s not my profession, however I guess, while it’s not impossible for WinXP/Win7 to trick me, I can dodge most of the bullets, as I’ve been playing with the versions and their settings since around 1997. Unlike my parents, who’d panic if the Word icon moved a column. Then they’d Skype me, saying, “Johnny, my computer esta muy loca!” (well, kindof. I’m not Johnny, and they speak Hungarian [only]). So I set out on my quest once to try to find them an OS that requires minimal intervention on my side. I’m willing to learn and get my hands dirty, not the least because I can sandbox with virtual computers without harm. Try to ignore the legal aspect of the question for now.
- OSx: is a problematic one. The main issue is twofold: 1), it needs a Mac. I know, “no shit, Sherlock!“, but still. Although there are ways around this slight problem, I don’t really want an OS on my parents’ computer that keeps bitching about hardware glitches and lack of drivers, or just offering poor performance bcs of limitations. I think this is a bit of a deal-breaker here, because the price of Apple products are out of bounds with reality. While I genuinely admire the “Jobsian” marketing machine, I am slightly unsure that a) my parents need an i7 with an SSD [or anything similar], b) Dell’s i7/SSD combo is really £800 worse than Apple’s, especially considering that they are both made by Foxconn. The other problem [2)] is that the system is very closed. Though there are software that can run Windows programs or even emulate it, that defeats the purpose. They don’t have any other Apple products. Furthermore, I don’t actually find the OSx to be that user-friendly. There are a lot of good functions in the OSx that can be useful for people who understand why iCloud is a great idea, but as long as my parents keep mixing up Picasa with Gmail and Dropbox (seriously), I wouldn’t force them too much. Perhaps this hinders the whole switching process, I acknowledge that.
- Ubuntu: I have a very amusing experience with this. Well, irony. As said, I’m somewhat inexperienced with Linux distributions, so, trying to be genuinely in the shoes of my parents, I downloaded what is supposed to be the most n00b-friendly distro, Ubuntu. Although installation went well, problems ensued when I tried to install Chrome on the system as I was asked to get a C-compiler. Well, compile my ass. Seriously, if I was my mother, I’d then be stuck with a system that doesn’t speak my non-technical language, and no Skype to call anyone to help out. Yes, there’s a version of Firefox, and people can google around for solutions, but that’s not for dummies. Parents are dummies. The same applies for downloading software for Linux. Many of them are poorly documented, and require in-depth knowledge of the system to install/work. I have found the package manager to be more confusing than helpful. Someone was complaining that Windows does not have a package manager. While this is true, I think the everyday user doesn’t need to get involved with the depths of update-installations. Just update for god’s sake. On the positive side, there has been a positive progress in the recent years towards the ability to run Windows-software. Again, this somewhat defeats the point, yet going cold turkey with the parents is likely to cause an awful lot of headache for me.
- Unix: I didn’t even bother trying it. It’s not for people who get lost at the first prompt.
- Windows: what else, it’s still in the pot of options. In all fairness, I’ve still found Windows to be the most parent-friendly OS, but not at all costs. It requires a lot of testing. My parents were switched to Win7 only about a year ago, when I became assured that any silly things that crop up I can handle via TeamViewer. (TV is available for some other OSs, I know.) Win8 is completely out of the question, it won’t happen. Metro would freak them out. And me. Yet Windows is a very mysterious software. It doesn’t work out-of-the-box, because if reinstalled, it takes a long and expensive overseas phonecall to discuss where the (W)LAN drivers might be. And that’s to assume there are any at hand, otherwise, it’s dooooomed. That aside, computers that come with Win pre-installed come with a lot of crap on them. I need to remotely clear all of that. And then hope things work. I spent the last few weeks being annoyed the constant BSODs of my Win7 on a newly built computer, just to find in a forum post that D-Tools can cause cockups like this. No sign of it in the BSOD analyses, no sign of it upon running verifier, nothing. What’s dreadful about Windows is that one can get lucky, and have a (properly maintained) installation that lasts 5-6 years, or one that you do your best to maintain properly, and still dies every two months.
As a conclusion, I’d say two things. Since I’m pretty much an expert at what Windows can throw at a home user, for me that’s home turf, so I’ll probably have an affinity to it. This also means that I was an expert at say Linux, I’d most likely feel similarly about it. At the same time, I still think that once set up properly, Windows does a better job. This doesn’t require constant maintenance if the user understands that downloading all sorts of crap is not a good idea. I guess the last thing is simply that as long as the majority of computers run Windows, and the majority of software are written for Windows. This is an issue, when they need stuff like drivers and interface for a heart-rate monitor and what not. You can call this special needs, but in all fairness, I’m not sure it’s really that special. Perhaps mobile-based software will offset some of the current desktop computing in the future, but that’s still to come. And needs to speak Hungarian, or any other language for that reason.
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