The case against Windows
Why would anyone really want to switch from Windows? Do you even really need to ask me this? In sum, Windows is notoriously insecure, it imperils your personal information and requires several other products (usually also paid for) in order to function correctly. ‘Nuff said.
There’s enough threat out there on teh intrawebs that my own pc shouldn’t be a source of them, nor be vulnerable to threats that could affect my personal financial situation. As a self-professed computer expert and a small business owner, my office servers are penguin powered in a hybrid linux (Ubuntu) and Mac client environment. They systems are easy to back up, it’s easy to share files between computers, downtime is usually easily resolved (and usually due to hardware failure) and best of all, the linux machines were acquired cheaply, they’re PCs that are deemed too slow to run Windows now yet they still met the demands of the linux setup easily. This method allowed me to set up working business system for minimal cost, far less than I would have had to pay for a comparable Windows-based network setup, and my spam filtering and intrusion protection are better than a Windows-based system can offer.
The days of needing to have a supercomputer on your desk are over.Microsoft said today that Windows 7 will run on low-cost Netbooks.
It’s a well-known fact that users barely scratch the surface of what their computers are capable of, and if you don’t go upgrading everything in sight and keep your installation of bloatware to a minimum you will have far better performance and will be able to extend the lifespan of your computers. So what if we just all ran linux on the PCs that we have now. It would cost us nothing to obtain, and is easy to install if you choose the right distro (go for Ubuntu if you’re a novice).
I hear ya
The majority of people who run Windows do so because they either aren’t aware of alternatives (what is this Apple thing you speak of and why would i want to pod?), are afraid of change (these shiny buttons are different than the ones I’m used to—I could never get the hang of this!) or just plain old-fashioned cheap. I won’t ask you to reveal which category you fit into but in case you fit into the latter category (*cough*) you may be interested in Linux just by virtue of the $0 price tag alone. </li>
I feel ya
So I know enough about computers to know that Windows is not a logical choice for me, and I’m bursting to jump sidelong into my next computing adventure—how do I get started?
Good thinking! I’ve been working on this concept for a while now over in the lab and of the major productivity applications used in most offices here are the alternatives I liked the best (honestly). Check it out
Ever wonder why your computer is *actually* slow? If it worked okay before, why would it be slower now? Must be because you have to purchase something to make it faster, right? Wrong!
Addressing the “You Get What You Pay For” Myth
How much do you pay your employees per hour? How much do you pay your IT people per hour to manage your systems, remove viruses, troubleshoot why your computer is slow, remove password-stealing trojan horses? How many of your non-IT staff are aware enough to save themselves from danger. The people you have working for you are the same people that send hoax e-mails out to their friends to warn them about viruses that came out years ago and (attempt to) send out attachments large enough to sink the Titanic. On the whole, what are they doing on their computers? Spreadsheets, letters, e-mail and perhaps updating a CRM. Give them the tools they need to do their jobs and let them watch YouTube at home on their own PC.
You are costing yourself money by using Windows.
Seriously.
Lots of it.
Linux is my best bet when it comes down to price and productivity. The truth is that most users do S.F.A. on their computer that is actually demanding and if you’re a serious business user, then isn’t price vs productivity your most important factor? Hypothetically, if you switched your users over, trained them on how to use Linux instead and had all the systems working then you would have far less downtime caused by viruses and faulting applications. Linux is pretty good that way—if you take the necessary steps to correctly configure your system and maintain your system and keep the external threats out, Linux provides you with a very stable environment. Thanks to Gnome, the interface is very intuitive for first-time users, the productivity tools are obvious and the settings are complicated so a novice user is likely to be confused at first and then realize that they can’t fiddle with anything because they don’t have permission to break stuff. Huzzah. No fiddling with group policy required.
Linux loves me and I adore it, but we have our problems sometimes. Wine has always been a good little lubricant for the friction in our relationship but how do I get things running in a practical sense? Can I really end my “I’m with stupid” relationship with my PC and still run my printer, run Office, use my wacom tablet and Adobe Creative Suite?
Truthfully, Office has not been on my computer in years, I don’t own it, nor do I want to – I’m an OpenOffice convert and it’s super easy to use. It may not have all the formatting stuff that Word and Excel can render these days but my view, most of the fancy features are seldom, if ever used, and if you want to design something that looks good for an external audience, get a designer.
The most challenging things I’ve had to do is use the Adobe Creative Suite, which I can’t seem to get running smoothly under Wine (Wine Is Not an Emulator) and hence, I am not using my Wacom tablet on my linux computer. I use my Mac for design work but seriously, what serious designer ever used a PC anyway. Hello?
Don’t discount the wealth of online applications available (cloud computing), there’s some great stuff out there and a lot of it’s no cost or subscription-based. Here is a matrix of my preferred apps, both on and offline:
I’ve switched over most of my applications already but there a few laggers that need a kick in the *nix.
| Application |
Offline |
Online |
| Vector Illustration |
Illustrator |
Aviary |
| Web Browser |
Firefox |
N/A |
| Bitmap Graphics |
PhotoShop (I’m going to try GIMPShop) |
Aviary |
| FTP |
|
Filezilla |
| Word Processing |
OpenOffice Write |
Google Docs |
| Spreadsheets |
OpenOffice Calc |
Google Docs |
| Client Billing |
|
FreshBooks |
| Antivirus |
ClamAV |
|
| Time / ToDo Management |
N/A |
Remember the Milk and RescueTime |
We’re out there
I’m sure you’ve noticed us, we’re the ones with the killer curves and lustrous, shiny hair. Oh wait, that’s not nerds, I had us confused with Victoria’s Secret models for a sec there. Seriously folks, nerds are incognito now – we were nerds once but now we run your computer systems and some of us don’t play nice anymore. Time to smarten up and stop trusting your computer so much.
