Why I Still Use Windows Despite the Peer Pressure

I just read this “I still use Windows” statement.

It hasn’t always been pretty (see: Windows ME), but through it all I’ve figured out every little trick there is to know about running Windows. I’m a monster on Windows.

Many times in the last ten years I’ve been told to switch to either Mac or Linux, and look!, I’m still using Windows.

One day I’ll do a list of my grudges, one of which is why on earth does Ubuntu run so nicely on my laptops from a live CD and fails miserably to do the same when installed (special keyboard keys, anyone?).

And every time I get a “Did you download the latest and greatest version?” from one of my geeky friends or the other.

And every time I get grumpy: I did download and burn a lot of distros in the last ten years, none of which did the trick. I gave away 25 distros on CDs a few months ago. That’s right, twenty-five! And I tested them all in all those years!

And I know all the ethical DRM problems with Windows etc., and I do agree with open-source people that the Windows way is not the right way.

(By the way I’m all for open-source, basically the only main non-open-source software I’m using is my OS.)

Don’t bother replying if it’s just to flame me or tell me how much better those other OS’s are. Ten yeas ago I would have listened, because I wanted to learn and hack things together, now I don’t have the time and energy for it. I want things to work for me, and Windows does the trick. I want to do web stuff and listen to my legal MP3s and view my photos and answer my email. And I want to be able to use all the Windows shortcuts that are now second nature to me.

We’ll see, one day. When Vista is the only breed of Windows available, I may reconsider.

(Via the Standblog)

Comments

  • Pierre (1 July 2008)

    Ah ah!

    Last time we chatted about that (like 2-3 years ago), you gave me exactly the same arguments. Did you keep the exact same laptop for ten years? Naaaa I don’t believe it. I know you’re oldschool, but still...

    Anyway, it took time before I decide to switch to Linux for good, because I was really scared to have to learn everything again (I was thinking of how long it took for me to learn all the DOS/Windows tricks, and I was really scared to have to get the same learning curve under Linux). Finally it went quite smoothly, and I think the latest versions of distros like Ubuntu are really made for users who just want to do office stuff, surf the Web, play legal music and watch and sort their photos... oh, by the way, what are you doing with your computer? Ah, yeah, ok.

    Next year, the big corporation I’m working in will start using Vista instead of... Windows 2000. Hopefully I will be far away when this is going to happen...

    By the way, consider buying a eeePC: they’re made for Linux! ;) and very usable in the train...

    Reply to Pierre

  • Stéphane (1 July 2008, in reply to Pierre)

    it went quite smoothly

    There’s a lot to say about this “quite”. :)

    Before my laptop I had a tower, and friends told me “oh but wait, next version of such-and-such distro will be OK for you”. And then I changed my tower, linux wouldn’t do the trick, and they went “oh but wait” and so on and so forth.

    So: my laptop works quite smoothly with Ubuntu. If I want my CPU to run at 100% all the time and my screen to be turned to full-light all the time. Battery time: 20 minutes. Yay.

    “Later” is my new migration date. As in “oh no, not again”. ;)

    (And of course I’m not just doing office stuff but I wanted to be qick. I’ve got an httpd and a mysql server and a PHP server etc., and I don’t want to bother with learning user rights and linux tricks at the moment. First, get two years’ worth of sleep. Then we’ll see)

    Reply to Stéphane

  • Juju (1 July 2008, in reply to Stéphane)

    I think what you need is someone to sit beside you and help you resolve all the little problems you may have. Or, just resolve them when you’re not looking 😉

    No no, I can’t be this one 😉

    Reply to Juju

  • Pierre (2 July 2008, in reply to Stéphane)

    That’s why I emphasized quite, hehe... My current laptop is the cheapest Asus I could find when I was in Taiwan two years ago. I fought to get rid of the Windows XP licence, I acted like the perfect little FOSS integrist. I regret my hardware choice, not my software. It’s all a matter of not-supported hardware... but who’s fault is it? Linux or the hardware makers for not publishing Linux drivers?

    So I have to say my display simply sucks (but it sucked on Windows too anyway, it’s a cheap SiS chipset), but it’s ok, next time I’ll buy a computer, I’ll buy it accordingly to its Linux compatibility... :)

    Reply to Pierre

  • DirtyF (10 July 2008)

    I can only agree with this statement, everything is not working out of the box with Linux, mainly because of the lack of official drivers from the manufacturers.

    But I couldn’t think of buying a new laptop and have to install a firewall on top of the windows firewall, an anti-virus, an anti-spyware and so on, i wanted my CPU all for the tasks I needed. I wanted control on my computer and not undergo the system.

    As I spent too much time on Linux configuring my hardware and not always finding the right application I dreamed of, I decided to try the last solution I hadn’t tried yet : Mas OS X. And a new life began ...

    Reply to DirtyF

  • martinb (27 July 2008)

    So Ubuntu isn’t *quite* there for you.

    Fine.

    And your reason for not trying (or mentioning that you have tried) OSX is?

    Assuming your household is like ours - a multi-machine house - then it doesn’t have to be all or nothing.

    Reply to martinb

  • Stéphane (18 August 2008, in reply to martinb)

    Oh, we’re not as advanced in our geekiness as you, Martin :) Our network is a simple Linksys with two laptops.

    I’ve tried OSX at work on a testing machine, and I don’t see the point of making the jump to Mac either. I feel it’s the same kind of philosophy as Windows, so for me it falls in the same category. (although I know it’s Debian-based etc)

    So, either I jump to a full open-source configuration, or I keep my Windows which I know through and through since I’ve used the OS for the last 20 years.

    Reply to Stéphane

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