ashdezign
August 6th, 2007, 06:48 PM
OK, it's late (past 1 AM) the following will most likely prove the axiom that it is never a good idea to post when you are half asleep, but I am to tired to proof read.
Apologies if it rambles and jumps around a bit. More apologies as this will probably turn into a rant. But I am tired of all the people complaining/comparing linux to windows and saying windows is easier to use or install.
I am a windows user for over a decade and an Ubuntu user for just about 5-6 months full time. I also provide tech support to several small business and a few larger ones all of them full of "average users". So I think I know enough to talk about what the AVERAGE person needs/wants from a computer.
First lets get one thing straight:
The average Joe will almost NEVER try to install ANY OS for themselves. They want it to come prepackaged, preinstalled and set up with all the applications they need.
For me, when I am putting a box together for someone I generally show them ubuntu versus the windows they already have - 90% of the time they are fed up with windows already but don't realize there is anything better. When I explain that a linux installation means almost no chance of viruses and that with a proper set up they can do everything they need to do + its free their eyes light up.
What does the average person need to do? Listen to music, watch movies, surf the web, check emails, look at photos, download files P2P, read, create office documents, IM, Voip.
Amarok, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird (with lightning extension)/Evolution, Picassa (not standard but easy enough to preinstall for them), Bittorent, Open Office, Pidgin (you mean I dont have to have 3 IM clients open at the same time?!), Twinkle ( I prefer it to Ekiga), Skype (for those who cant live without).
For your AVERAGE home or office user that's about all they need. Granted vanilla ubuntu may not have it all preinstalled with those specific apps, but if your talking about preinstalling you can (and I do) set it up for them easily enough with codecs and all.
Most people don't want a computer that requires them to 'get under the hood' in order to get things done, for them a computer is a tool and nothing more.
As such the average user simply expects to buy their computer, take it home, plug it in and start using it right away. Notice: no mention of installation there!
This is where Windows has excelled in the past: not because of ease of installation, but because of PRE-INSTALLATION.
Have you ever watched an average person trying to install/re-install windows?
Trying to reinstall windows on an average PC involves one disk for your motherboard drivers as Windows will not always find them automatically, one for your video card, one for windows, one for microsoft office, printer/scanner drivers is another disk. Hours and hours of updates. Installing antivirus, firewalls, then if they want photo apps, file sharing, voip and so on going to each site and downloading each one separately. I used to carry an external hard drive with all the apps the average person could want and I would still spend hours on just one install!
The average person will not do this. Because of this the average person is most often using a computer that does not do all they want and is insecure to boot.
And most people don't complain. If their computer is messing up, or not doing what they expect they will go weeks, even months in silent misery before finally asking someone for help. I have seen it happen time and again. And these were the people I was paid to assist, but they never thought to ask for help because "it's just a nuisance, nothing major".
The simple fact is that there is no single OS that a grandma can install! This Grandma test is bunk. A properly installed and preconfigured ubuntu installation is many times easier and safer to use than a windows installation,
The proof? My 3 year old son uses ubuntu. (he turns it on, opens firefox, goes to his websites which we have saved on his homepage, closes firefox when he is done and turns the computer off... ok, so not very advanced, but come on he is only 3!) My secretary, after a 2 hour walk through and 2 days of working with it uses ubuntu. She had been using windows for the last 10 years. Now she cant imagine using anything else except ubuntu. Most of the learning was "unlearning" the windows way.
Have you ever looked at an average Windows users program list? They are constantly installing things, most of which is unneeded and quite a bit downright dangerous. They more often than not have no idea what they are doing. The fact is that things are to easy to install on windows. Now this might go against the idea of freedom, but sometimes people need to be protected from their stupidity. It is far to easy to download and install a registry edit program and use it to muck up windows. It is far to easy to download and install spyware/adware in windows. And far to hard to prevent("Oh but when I installed program a it said I had to install b,c, d, e,f, g.....")
Yes freedom is great, but with it comes responsibility. thats what makes linux so great. Its hard sometimes to install things. To do anything that could actually damage your system requires in most cases CLI and root which means the average user simply won't do it.
When I install ubuntu for an average person I make sure its preconfigured with everything they will need. Add a few pre-created folders to their bookmarks menu (documents, pictures, video, music). Add launchers to the panels for their major applications (browser, email, IM etc). I then edit the menus and REMOVE all extraneous entries as well synaptics and add/remove programs.
I figure when they figure out how to add them back to the menu they are ready to try use them.
For older users that have bigger screens I make the panels super large for them which has caused quite a few comments on how much easier it is to find things.
Its been 3 or 4 months since I did my first install for someone else, since the first one there have been dozens of others. They have not once felt they needed to install anything that wasn't already there. They have noted on several occasions how much easier and friendlier and faster their computer is. One person notoriously resistant to change has said, "finally my computer has gotten out of my way and let me get my work done".
I do the same thing for each person.
1) A pre ubuntu explanation and evaluation to make sure what apps they need, what printers they are using and so on.
2) A post install walk through for 2 hours on day one
3) A 2 hour refresher on day two
4) A 4 page "how to guide" that covers all the essentials they will need and gives a x=y for each windows application and its corresponding linux variant (Microsoft word = Open office and so on).
So what's the point of all this?
No OS is easy to install, but ubuntu is easier than most.
There are 2 ways of comparing windows to ubuntu: self install, and preinstall. The two are very different. Self installing ubuntu has its own challenges just as windows self install does but in most cases I have experienced has proven much easier. Preinstalled/preconfigured ubuntu mostly "just works" (from the end users perspective) and is getting better all the time.
Most users don't need access under the hood any more than most people need access to the engine of their car. (really how many people do you know who actually look under the hood of the car AND know what they are actually looking at?). More importantly, the average user doesn't want to look under the hood. They just want to turn on the tool and use it to get the job done.
When comparing windows to ubuntu for the average end user on a Pre Installation basis (the computer given to them ready to go. everything already installed and configured), especially for general office environments, ubuntu wins hands down. Windows just cannot compete. It leaves to many options available, makes it to easy to install extra and unneeded applications, far to easy to install dangerous ones and is to resource intensive.
For most people that I have read complaining about ubuntu when comparing it to windows the issue is not one of ease of use, but of familiarity.
The majority of comments of those who have tried ubuntu and given up, did so because they were really not yet ready to explore. They liked the idea of exploring, but like the young kid having adventures in their backyard they really just want to pretend the familiar is unfamiliar. And that's ok , heck that was me one year ago when I first looked at ubuntu (although I didnt post a "Ubuntu didnt work for me..." thread when I went back to windows. In fact the reason I went back to windows was my clients all used windows. I have since decided to phase out support for windows.) . And the way Ubuntu is maturing and gaining acceptance when they ARE ready for some real exploring Ubuntu will still be here waiting for them, easier than ever to use.
Only by the time that happens they will probably just go out and buy a preinstalled, preconfigured computer with ubuntu already on it.
That might upset a few long time "Linux is not mainstream" ubuntu users, but then they are plenty of linux distros for them to move to and that is a big part of what makes the land of opensourcia so great. Freedom. Of choice, of access, of control.
Apologies if it rambles and jumps around a bit. More apologies as this will probably turn into a rant. But I am tired of all the people complaining/comparing linux to windows and saying windows is easier to use or install.
I am a windows user for over a decade and an Ubuntu user for just about 5-6 months full time. I also provide tech support to several small business and a few larger ones all of them full of "average users". So I think I know enough to talk about what the AVERAGE person needs/wants from a computer.
First lets get one thing straight:
The average Joe will almost NEVER try to install ANY OS for themselves. They want it to come prepackaged, preinstalled and set up with all the applications they need.
For me, when I am putting a box together for someone I generally show them ubuntu versus the windows they already have - 90% of the time they are fed up with windows already but don't realize there is anything better. When I explain that a linux installation means almost no chance of viruses and that with a proper set up they can do everything they need to do + its free their eyes light up.
What does the average person need to do? Listen to music, watch movies, surf the web, check emails, look at photos, download files P2P, read, create office documents, IM, Voip.
Amarok, VLC, Firefox, Thunderbird (with lightning extension)/Evolution, Picassa (not standard but easy enough to preinstall for them), Bittorent, Open Office, Pidgin (you mean I dont have to have 3 IM clients open at the same time?!), Twinkle ( I prefer it to Ekiga), Skype (for those who cant live without).
For your AVERAGE home or office user that's about all they need. Granted vanilla ubuntu may not have it all preinstalled with those specific apps, but if your talking about preinstalling you can (and I do) set it up for them easily enough with codecs and all.
Most people don't want a computer that requires them to 'get under the hood' in order to get things done, for them a computer is a tool and nothing more.
As such the average user simply expects to buy their computer, take it home, plug it in and start using it right away. Notice: no mention of installation there!
This is where Windows has excelled in the past: not because of ease of installation, but because of PRE-INSTALLATION.
Have you ever watched an average person trying to install/re-install windows?
Trying to reinstall windows on an average PC involves one disk for your motherboard drivers as Windows will not always find them automatically, one for your video card, one for windows, one for microsoft office, printer/scanner drivers is another disk. Hours and hours of updates. Installing antivirus, firewalls, then if they want photo apps, file sharing, voip and so on going to each site and downloading each one separately. I used to carry an external hard drive with all the apps the average person could want and I would still spend hours on just one install!
The average person will not do this. Because of this the average person is most often using a computer that does not do all they want and is insecure to boot.
And most people don't complain. If their computer is messing up, or not doing what they expect they will go weeks, even months in silent misery before finally asking someone for help. I have seen it happen time and again. And these were the people I was paid to assist, but they never thought to ask for help because "it's just a nuisance, nothing major".
The simple fact is that there is no single OS that a grandma can install! This Grandma test is bunk. A properly installed and preconfigured ubuntu installation is many times easier and safer to use than a windows installation,
The proof? My 3 year old son uses ubuntu. (he turns it on, opens firefox, goes to his websites which we have saved on his homepage, closes firefox when he is done and turns the computer off... ok, so not very advanced, but come on he is only 3!) My secretary, after a 2 hour walk through and 2 days of working with it uses ubuntu. She had been using windows for the last 10 years. Now she cant imagine using anything else except ubuntu. Most of the learning was "unlearning" the windows way.
Have you ever looked at an average Windows users program list? They are constantly installing things, most of which is unneeded and quite a bit downright dangerous. They more often than not have no idea what they are doing. The fact is that things are to easy to install on windows. Now this might go against the idea of freedom, but sometimes people need to be protected from their stupidity. It is far to easy to download and install a registry edit program and use it to muck up windows. It is far to easy to download and install spyware/adware in windows. And far to hard to prevent("Oh but when I installed program a it said I had to install b,c, d, e,f, g.....")
Yes freedom is great, but with it comes responsibility. thats what makes linux so great. Its hard sometimes to install things. To do anything that could actually damage your system requires in most cases CLI and root which means the average user simply won't do it.
When I install ubuntu for an average person I make sure its preconfigured with everything they will need. Add a few pre-created folders to their bookmarks menu (documents, pictures, video, music). Add launchers to the panels for their major applications (browser, email, IM etc). I then edit the menus and REMOVE all extraneous entries as well synaptics and add/remove programs.
I figure when they figure out how to add them back to the menu they are ready to try use them.
For older users that have bigger screens I make the panels super large for them which has caused quite a few comments on how much easier it is to find things.
Its been 3 or 4 months since I did my first install for someone else, since the first one there have been dozens of others. They have not once felt they needed to install anything that wasn't already there. They have noted on several occasions how much easier and friendlier and faster their computer is. One person notoriously resistant to change has said, "finally my computer has gotten out of my way and let me get my work done".
I do the same thing for each person.
1) A pre ubuntu explanation and evaluation to make sure what apps they need, what printers they are using and so on.
2) A post install walk through for 2 hours on day one
3) A 2 hour refresher on day two
4) A 4 page "how to guide" that covers all the essentials they will need and gives a x=y for each windows application and its corresponding linux variant (Microsoft word = Open office and so on).
So what's the point of all this?
No OS is easy to install, but ubuntu is easier than most.
There are 2 ways of comparing windows to ubuntu: self install, and preinstall. The two are very different. Self installing ubuntu has its own challenges just as windows self install does but in most cases I have experienced has proven much easier. Preinstalled/preconfigured ubuntu mostly "just works" (from the end users perspective) and is getting better all the time.
Most users don't need access under the hood any more than most people need access to the engine of their car. (really how many people do you know who actually look under the hood of the car AND know what they are actually looking at?). More importantly, the average user doesn't want to look under the hood. They just want to turn on the tool and use it to get the job done.
When comparing windows to ubuntu for the average end user on a Pre Installation basis (the computer given to them ready to go. everything already installed and configured), especially for general office environments, ubuntu wins hands down. Windows just cannot compete. It leaves to many options available, makes it to easy to install extra and unneeded applications, far to easy to install dangerous ones and is to resource intensive.
For most people that I have read complaining about ubuntu when comparing it to windows the issue is not one of ease of use, but of familiarity.
The majority of comments of those who have tried ubuntu and given up, did so because they were really not yet ready to explore. They liked the idea of exploring, but like the young kid having adventures in their backyard they really just want to pretend the familiar is unfamiliar. And that's ok , heck that was me one year ago when I first looked at ubuntu (although I didnt post a "Ubuntu didnt work for me..." thread when I went back to windows. In fact the reason I went back to windows was my clients all used windows. I have since decided to phase out support for windows.) . And the way Ubuntu is maturing and gaining acceptance when they ARE ready for some real exploring Ubuntu will still be here waiting for them, easier than ever to use.
Only by the time that happens they will probably just go out and buy a preinstalled, preconfigured computer with ubuntu already on it.
That might upset a few long time "Linux is not mainstream" ubuntu users, but then they are plenty of linux distros for them to move to and that is a big part of what makes the land of opensourcia so great. Freedom. Of choice, of access, of control.