Is Microsoft Windows ready for the desktop?

[3rdalbum]

I couldn't even teach my grandfather how to check his e-mail... up until he cancelled his account a few weeks ago, he was still under the impression that e-mails just floated into his inbox without him having to click the "Send and Recieve" button.

I don't think anyone's grandmother has installed a new scanner without help, regardless of operating system.

[cantormath]

My conclusion: Windows is not Desktop-Ready. It was a pain in the *** to install, a pain in the *** to get set up, and then died because I didn't install an antivirus (didn't care to look for a good free one). And this is comming from a Computer Science major who sets up computers at his job.[/I]


Windows is a desktop system, just a crappy one. I dont really see how it is hard to set up though, actually, its very easy, just point click.

[ShadowVlican]

Windows is a desktop system, just a crappy one. I dont really see how it is hard to set up though, actually, its very easy, just point click.
easy as it is, it can be screwed up if you don't know what you're doing

else my mom could install windows....

(by installing windows, i also mean getting everything else to work... a blank install without correct drivers doesn't count [-X

[cantormath]

easy as it is, it can be screwed up if you don't know what you're doing

else my mom could install windows....

(by installing windows, i also mean getting everything else to work... a blank install without correct drivers doesn't count [-X

I believe that is true with every OS, that is why we have computer guys/gals and the geek-squad (muahahahaha)

[mdkaneda55]

not that anyone will actually read this, commenting on an older post.. but i feel so inclined to share my opinions =) anywho... for the last year or so i've been dabbling w/ linux. tried a few distros out and found that Ubuntu just rocks. I was constantly reformatting my windows partitions and trying to get a stable installation that would let me do my normal tasks without any problems! Right now i dual-boot, but my ubuntu dapper partition (which i installed when dapper came out) has been working for what i do without a problem, virus, spyware, or otherwise. windows on the other hand, has gone thru many reformats n such, and it really blows when u have to install everything over and over again. even my dang mom has needed me to reformat her windows installation from less than regular use! Linux recognizes what i need it to, windows recognizes a lil more at times (like my webcam) and its needed for gaming... but when it comes to getting things done and having a worry-free stable environment.. without worry of losing your important files, linux is it. Windows is just for fun and games, but when it comes to anything serious, don't freaking count on it, something will happen.. and it wont be good. hehe. =)

[Monsuco]

XP pretty much has no reason to have hardware detection as I would say 90% of XP users had an OEM do it for em. Keep in mind XP has good support, ME was the rotten one. Linux on the other hand needs to support a lot of hardware. Linux supports most stuff, and people whine when their GPU wont work out of the box. GPUs, modems, WiFi cards, TV cards, and a small number of sound cards wont work with Linux though most will with some effort, almost all those wont work out of the box with windows though with some effort they will. Windows still had HDD issues, CD issues, ethernet issues, and issues with very simple hardware. Pathetic.

[esaym]

I totally agree. I have been around and around with windows installs

[aysiu]

Merged with the other Windows-desktop-ready thread.

[cunawarit]

Is Windows ready for the desktop? Well I'm going to talk about XP because I haven't got much Vista experience.

It really depends what you mean...

Is it the corporate desktop? Then a resounding YES! I rate Windows as the strongest candidate in this setting by far.

Is Windows ready for the Home desktop? Not quite, it is very easy for new users make a complete mess of a Windows system by installing anything and everything they find online. Packaged based distributions like Ubuntu are much better than Windows in this respect.

[esaym]

I couldn't even teach my grandfather how to check his e-mail... up until he cancelled his account a few weeks ago, he was still under the impression that e-mails just floated into his inbox without him having to click the "Send and Recieve" button.

I don't think anyone's grandmother has installed a new scanner without help, regardless of operating system.


Don't get me started on how my grandma thinks here computer works.

I can't move her to ubuntu because she gets itches to buy $5 walmart games and $10 digi cams and printers from the pawn shop

[esaym]

You had it right until you said, "The plural of "virus" is "virus" in Latin" Virus had no plural in Latin because virus was not a countable noun. Similarly, in English, "gasoline" has no plural.


I ran out of gasolines man:lol:

[aysiu]

Well, I'll say--by the standards people often hold Ubuntu to--that Windows XP isn't ready for the desktop.

Last night my Dell just stopped detecting our home wireless connection. It wasn't something wrong with the wireless card, because Windows was able to use the card to connect to my neighbor's unsecured network successfully. It just randomly stopped showing our network as an available network, and I couldn't find anywhere in the GUI how to force it to connect with our network.

I tried logging out, too. Rebooting. Restarting our router. I knew the signal was good, though, since my wife's Powerbook had no problem connecting (and it was actually farther away from the router than my Dell). I spent some considerable time last night trying to get it to work again (it'd been working fine for a couple of weeks) to no avail.

That's called "ready for the desktop [or laptop, in this case]"?

Well, as I said earlier in this thread, I'll say it again--Windows doesn't need to be ready for the desktop, the laptop, the corporate workstation. It is already everywhere. Once it's everywhere, no one cares if it's ready or not. I frequently run into weird unsolveable Windows problems like the one I described above. So do my co-workers. When those happen, no one gets up from her cubicle and loudly screams "Windows isn't ready for the desktop. Why don't we get a real operating system?!"

People just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh, computers are so finicky/frustrating/annoying."

If anyone's using a Linux distro and something messes up, clearly Linux isn't "ready," though.

[daller]

Well, I'll say--by the standards people often hold Ubuntu to--that Windows XP isn't ready for the desktop.

Last night my Dell just stopped detecting our home wireless connection. It wasn't something wrong with the wireless card, because Windows was able to use the card to connect to my neighbor's unsecured network successfully. It just randomly stopped showing our network as an available network, and I couldn't find anywhere in the GUI how to force it to connect with our network.

I tried logging out, too. Rebooting. Restarting our router. I knew the signal was good, though, since my wife's Powerbook had no problem connecting (and it was actually farther away from the router than my Dell). I spent some considerable time last night trying to get it to work again (it'd been working fine for a couple of weeks) to no avail.

That's called "ready for the desktop [or laptop, in this case]"?

Well, as I said earlier in this thread, I'll say it again--Windows doesn't need to be ready for the desktop, the laptop, the corporate workstation. It is already everywhere. Once it's everywhere, no one cares if it's ready or not. I frequently run into weird unsolveable Windows problems like the one I described above. So do my co-workers. When those happen, no one gets up from her cubicle and loudly screams "Windows isn't ready for the desktop. Why don't we get a real operating system?!"

People just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh, computers are so finicky/frustrating/annoying."

If anyone's using a Linux distro and something messes up, clearly Linux isn't "ready," though.

Not that this has anything to do with this thread, but I honestly thought that you didn't dualboot! - Well posting this makes no sense... :lolflag:

Night!

[aysiu]

Not that this has anything to do with this thread, but I honestly thought that you didn't dualboot! - Well posting this makes no sense... :lolflag:

Night!
On my desktop I don't dual-boot. I just use Ubuntu.

On my laptop (which was returned to me only a few weeks ago), I do.

[zerhacke]

Aysiu is right. When we do right, noone remembers. When we do wrong, noone forgets.

[daller]

Aysiu is right. When we do right, noone remembers. When we do wrong, noone forgets.

Apart from some of the nasty upgrades in the past, I'm generally VERY happy with the development of *ubuntu! - And the people I've talked into trying it are all just as happy, it seems...

[Trebaruna]

Okay, I'm a bit lazy: I gave up after a few pages in this thread, so forgive me if I'm not fully up to date.

It is all too easy talk of hardware support and things, but the fact is even if there is support for windows, you still have to get the drivers, first. I've got my chipset drivers, ethernet drivers, video drivers, etc. etc. sitting on my hard drive now, so every time I reinstall windows (well, I've got an image, now) I can install those things fine. Without the drivers, however, windows cant use either of my ethernet ports, so if I didn't keep the drivers handy I'd be stuck without access to the internet where they're at, and I'd need the drivers to get to the internet. Catch 22.

Ubuntu, with its neat 6 months release cycle, includes a boatload of (recent) drivers. A lot more things work out of the box, and with the exception of my X-Fi card and ATi Theater 550 Pro TV tuner everything works, either right away or with a few simple commands. Sure, not every single rare, el cheapo or Creative (which is laziness and cheapness on their part) card works but there is still a ton of hardware out there that'll work just fine.

As a testimony: fairly recently I was still a full-time windows user, until I decided, more out of boredom than anything else at the time, to try and see if I could learn more about computers, software and OSes other than in and seen from windows. Ubuntu seemed as good a place as any to start, and by now I only use Windows for gaming (please devs, use OpenGL!) and the occasional piece of software I haven't gotten to work yet in Ubuntu. It really isn't too difficult.

If Ubuntu, as it is now, came preinstalled with multimedia codecs or an easy tool to get them -the current tool often needs to run twice before media will run, and not everything is supported- I'd say it is more ready than Windows is. I'm not sure what Dell puts on their Ubuntu boxes, but if they do something with multimedia, I think we are in business.

By the way, I've tried Vista but was utterly frustrated by it. Every single step feels bloated, with a hundred menus to do simple tasks, and bulky animations that somehow made me feel like I was trying to wade through thick mud or something. It feels slow and seems to be programmed with a contempt for the user's intellect. That OS is not ready for the desktop.

EDIT: case in point for ease of use: printer setup. It already is easy by just selecting the model, but Gutsy seems poised to make life even easier. In windows I have to download a bulky piece of rubbish, jump through hoops and suffer annoying software the drivers shoves onto windows, too.

[karellen]

Well, I'll say--by the standards people often hold Ubuntu to--that Windows XP isn't ready for the desktop.

Last night my Dell just stopped detecting our home wireless connection. It wasn't something wrong with the wireless card, because Windows was able to use the card to connect to my neighbor's unsecured network successfully. It just randomly stopped showing our network as an available network, and I couldn't find anywhere in the GUI how to force it to connect with our network.

I tried logging out, too. Rebooting. Restarting our router. I knew the signal was good, though, since my wife's Powerbook had no problem connecting (and it was actually farther away from the router than my Dell). I spent some considerable time last night trying to get it to work again (it'd been working fine for a couple of weeks) to no avail.

That's called "ready for the desktop [or laptop, in this case]"?

Well, as I said earlier in this thread, I'll say it again--Windows doesn't need to be ready for the desktop, the laptop, the corporate workstation. It is already everywhere. Once it's everywhere, no one cares if it's ready or not. I frequently run into weird unsolveable Windows problems like the one I described above. So do my co-workers. When those happen, no one gets up from her cubicle and loudly screams "Windows isn't ready for the desktop. Why don't we get a real operating system?!"

People just shrug their shoulders and say, "Oh, computers are so finicky/frustrating/annoying."

If anyone's using a Linux distro and something messes up, clearly Linux isn't "ready," though.

the best point around here :)

[hobieone]

well whenyou sit down and really think about it what os is desktop ready??