Will Vista be good news for Linux?

[the lemming]

Do people think that the release of Vista will prompt people to seek out other operating systems that are not made by microsoft?

For my own experiences this is the case. I bought a legitimate OEM of vista and became frustrated after using it for a month.

It wasn't until I vented my frustration on a Climbing Forum that I learnt about the world of Linux and its potential.

[smoker]

hi,

i think the fact that vista seems to be a hugh disappointment to many people (i've heard it referred to as 'ME 2'), will mean that a proportion of users may find their way to linux, though i think most will revert back to XP.

as ms support for XP slips (seems sp3 isn't going to happen!), and manufacturers like dell, and hopefully others, offer linux preinstalled, then i think uptake of linux will increase, which may be the reason ms seems to be going overboard with the FUD about fictitious IP infringements.

i briefly tried vista (free copy of course) just to see what all the furore was about, and quickly found it was 'much ado about nothing', a resource hungry monstrosity full of drm, wga/ssp, and apart from looking nice! (but in no way approaching the beauty of my own linux desktop), had nothing imo that justified it taking up space on my hard drive. it has been removed, never to return.

so i think it will be a slow trickle of vista users that will eventually come to linux, and i think apple will probably also benefit here, but hopefully that trickle will be constant and grow as time goes by:D

[cunawarit]

To be honest, no.

People have been having a few issues with Vista, but any user who thinks that they will ease their transition problems from XP to something else by opting for Linux over Vista is deluding themselves.

[feest]

I don't thinks vista is good for linux but i also don't think its good for linux. The main problem of linux is that not many people know what it is what it does and what it's capable of. Another windows release won't solve this problem.

[jperez]

Being frustrated with the constant onslaught of errors, random restarts and bad OS coding, I looked for an alternative other than Mac OSX because I knew that Linux existed and wanted to try it out (again).

Most people don't really know Linux exists. I'm sure that if more people knew they had other options, they'd be more inclined to search for them, but that doesn't guarantee that they will automatically switch over to Ubuntu, or Linux all together.

Now, while it's a nice idea to think that's what most people would do, it's not very practical since, again, the knowledge of Linux being an alternative is lacking within mainstream society. If I still lived in Texas, I could probably bring more people into Linux at my local Flea Markets back in McAllen/Mission (Rio Grande Valley), but as I am stuck in Colorado, I can't really showcase Linux to anyone here. If there could be a convention of some sort to showcase it, I would. That would let people see that there are alternatives to Windows AND Mac.

Windows can have it's days when it behaves itself and for the most part is a usable system for whatever you can't run in Linux, but Vista is showing the signs of poor quality in upgrading the OS.

Many have stated and I'm willing to add this myself, that Vista is bloatware. A simple GUI on top of Windows XP is pretty much all it is. Such as Windows WAS a GUI for DOS, Vista is a pretty GUI stacked on top of another GUI, stacked on top of a running sequence of scrambled code that used to be DOS and was once *nix.

Real topic though, is that Vista is not a god send for the Ubuntu/Linux community making it's users scramble to find something new and cheaper. It may help those that don't like it and know that Linux exists besides Mac, but it won't guarantee a victory.

Vista's bad coding and new errors will give Linux some leeway, but not enough to make a huge dent in Microsoft's consumer base, but you never know. Only time will tell, right?

Just my 2¢

Jesse~

[LaRoza]

Anybody with a brain will see Vista and run to Linux.

I installed Ubuntu over Vista the first time I used Ubuntu.


-edit By brain, I mean "knowledgeable about computers", NOT general intelligence.

[cunawarit]

Anybody with a brain will see Vista and run to Linux.

What issues make Vista unusable for you?

[LaRoza]

After I installed it on a "vista compatible" computer,

1. It ran extremely slow.
2. Aero was not usable.
3. It gave me a BSOD every time I changed a display setting.
4. It peppered me with vague pop-up boxes asking me if I wanted to continue.
5. I caught "Unhandled Exceptions", they even have special pop-ups for that.

Ubuntu, running live, was faster, stable, and actually useful, so I installed it.

When I got Vista, I had hoped it would be all that Microsoft said it would be, but it seems like they (MS), decided they had enough of improving XP and decided to start over.

[cunawarit]

I haven't used Vista on a day to day basis yet, so I can't judge it fully.

But I'm generally of the opinion that OS preference is a very personal thing, and most of the well developed OSs out there offer something to entice many a potential knowledgeable user.

It should be pointed out that one user's experience on a couple of machines does not mean that the OS is unsuitable for everyone, the variety of hardware, and software in existence, as well as user's personal preferences means that no OS will suit everyone. My little'ol form factor PC has lots of issues with Ubuntu Feisty and XFCE, the default XFCE terminal makes X crash for instance, but it works great on my newer machine with GNOME... Despite this issue Feisty is still a great OS.

[LaRoza]

Even without hardware issues, Vista still has its own problems. It is usuable, it can be useful, but I can not let myself trust it.

(It randomly deleted 2 GB off my hard drive after telling me it can not boot)

An Operating System is a personal choice, as mentioned above, and Vista is one of those choices, however, I would not recommend it.

I still have Vista on another computer, (a dual core CPU with 2 gigs of RAM), but it is on the second hard drive. I use it daily, along with Ubuntu and other Linux distros.

[NumPy]

The answer is simply no. There are a plethora of reasons for this. The major one being that; there is a big difference between standard users, and advanced. The standard users will buy a PC (or have it designed for them) that suits one purpose; to appease the need of instant usability and follow a standard they are accustomed to in an operating system.
While there are many of us out here that use an "alternate" OS, the number for people that just want to pick up and go with no strings attached, no learning cure, a simple click and go attitude, is still MUCH higher. Myself I have not used MS products in over 8 years now. However I still support MS and hold current certifications in it. So looking at my client base, and comparing it to what I see with OpenSource alternatives, MS still holds the torch here. (on a desktop level only) So no, MS will continue to plague users with security issues, instability, incompatibility and a barrage of other inconsistencies. But that is the nature of the beast, and I'm thankful for this. :) As it is my bread and butter.

[oomingmak]

Do people think that the release of Vista will prompt people to seek out other operating systems that are not made by microsoft?.
I have not used Vista (and I'm not sure that I ever will) so in my case it would not be Vista itself that prompts me to move.

However, I can say with 100% certainty that when (or if) I start using Ubuntu (rather than just testing if from time to time as I do at the moment) then it will not be because of anything that Linux or Ubuntu has done.

There is nothing that any Linux distro could (realistically) do to make me want to use it, it will be Microsoft that will push me into the situation of having no option but to look for alternatives.

From what I have read on various other forums, quite a few people feel the same, so I imagine that over time Windows will prompt people to move to non Microsoft OSs.