My Linux story..

[limestone]

I bought my first own computer in 2004 when I was 15 and it ran Windows xp, of course we (the family) had a computer since a few years back, which from the beginning ran Windows 98 which in my opinion is the best OS from Microsoft.

After running Xp on my computer for 6 months I started to get realy irritated by all the crashes, and my computer crached alot! I started to read about Linux and got a copy of Ubuntu, actually I think it was Kubuntu.. But the point is I liked it very much and discovered that it wasn't hard like people said, contrary it was easy and I quickly felt like home, everything was in the right place.
I tested out like 20 different distros but I finaly stucked with Ubuntu, and I have been running Linux ever sence and I will never go back or use Windows again.

Now im starting to think if I should switch to Debian or slackware. Haven't realy decided. ps, my Linux bible will arrive soon along with Running linux 5th edition and Learning Python 4th edition :) Not that I don't now my Linux but I like it so much I want to know everything about it.

Feel free to contribute with your Linux story!
May the source be with you...

[Legendary_Bibo]

Here is my story. It's on my blog (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xVIWRPqXmzA/TAMWBFn1HtI/AAAAAAAAAAM/GvvYzAzv5vs/s1600/Ubuntucomic.png)

[murderslastcrow]

Nice to hear- it's great when someone finds something much better and can make good use of it. It's a shame that a lot of people who would rather use Linux aren't aware of its existence as a desktop OS or its free availability to them without needing to purchase anything (except maybe a blank CD). If people were shown Linux as it is, not how they've been told of it, I think we'd have a lot of satisfied computer users all over the world.

Anyway, I get the inkling this should be in the Testimonials and Experiences forum, rather than the Community Cafe.

[McRat]

My Linux Story:

Tried a Linux CD on an IBM desktop in about 2004. After 1 hour, I still could not get the mouse to work, so I quit.

Last year, we had a lot of problems with networking our computers. I tried a lot of different things, and finally gave Linux a shot. I selected Ubuntu because it had the largest installed userbase.

Immediately, it fixed our network. And we found that it would run our CAD software while Win7/Vista did not. I now have 3 computers that have been coverted over to Ubuntu, but still have many that are not.

I have had fewer issues (that doesn't mean no issues) with Linux than Win7 so far.

[chriswyatt]

Cool stories bros.

[ronnielsen1]

I started in 2004. I was EXTREMELY fed up with the security situation in Windows. I heard that linux wasn't supposed to get viruses so I went through many countless hours trying to install a distro and then get all of the hardware drivers installed (No live cd's or friendly hardware drivers then - wine didn't work) and finally got a linux system going that I had no clue what I was doing (My son was thrilled)
I finally found Mepis 3.31 and fell in love. I stayed there until I saw the direction KDE was going and found Ubuntu.
I found Windows 7 after some time, stayed there for 2 weeks, got bored, back to Ubuntu

[theraje]

I got my first taste of Linux in 1999, when I was in college taking a computer specialist two-year degree program. I tried Red Hat and Debian, but didn't have much luck with either on the machines I tried it on. In fact, Debian would consistently kernel-panic about five minutes after booting on one of my home machines.

I kept trying it off and on, never having a whole lot of joy with it.

Then came along Ubuntu. I was a little late to the game, the first version I used was 8.04. I installed it on an old computer I wasn't using at the time, and everything went well - I couldn't enable desktop effects (OLD graphics card), but I did get to dig into Linux more than I could before.

Of course, then when my dad needed a computer, I had to remove it and reinstall XP, since he didn't get the whole Linux thing.

A month ago, I got hold of a new desktop PC, and installed Ubuntu 10.04. I'm still not using as my "primary" work computer yet, but if things keep going the way they are, it very well could pretty darn soon. :)

I've been working with computers since the Commodore 64, in case it matters to anyone. :)

[Linux000]

I had install Ubuntu 6.10 after hearing about it just for fun, never really used it that much, "fixed" grub to boot straight to windows xp, and didn't bother with it... Until my windows hard drive filled up. When I had a project for school due the next day. Remembering I had Ubuntu installed in another partition, I booted to it and worked on, after getting my new hard drive and realizing how much of a pain it would be to dual-boot it(at this point I realized I liked Ubuntu) I decided to use a VM instead, and stuck with it. Now every time I go into windows I relearn why I left.

[JustinR]

Here is my story. It's on my blog (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xVIWRPqXmzA/TAMWBFn1HtI/AAAAAAAAAAM/GvvYzAzv5vs/s1600/Ubuntucomic.png)

Lol I liked the part about Microsoft Tech support! I'm sure pretty much everyone agrees with that.:popcorn:

[Khakilang]

I heard about Linux in the early 90s but I have been using DOS command so I do not want to use another OS with the command prompt and Window 3.0 was just launch. It was so easy to use and stuck with Window ever since. Until 2008 when I attend a local Open Source seminar and Ubuntu was mention so I visited some vendor's booth to check for more info and thats what make me think again. So last year I went to buy a book by Mark Sobell "Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux" and it come with Ubuntu Linux 8.10 CD. Install it on an old computer to test it out and upgraded to 9.10. And at the same time my Window XP was infected by virus, spyware and malware. So I decided to completely switch to 9.10 and now upgrade to 10.04. But sadly only one thing that get me back to Window is my Lexmark all in one printer. Couldn't scan anything so I had to install Window in Virtual box to use it. Other than that I am all Linux user.

[murderslastcrow]

Lol, we should all donate to get Khakilang a compatible all-in-one. I feel bad that he has to use VirtualBox for such a tiny reason. But nah, outside of my own Linux story, I have about 20 friends and relatives who would probably love telling you how much they enjoy Linux. They just never seem to join the forum for any particular reason (probably because I give them a few pointers when they first try it).

Linux is already so awesome. It'll be cool to see where it goes from here.

[Khakilang]

Lol, we should all donate to get Khakilang a compatible all-in-one. I feel bad that he has to use VirtualBox for such a tiny reason. But nah, outside of my own Linux story, I have about 20 friends and relatives who would probably love telling you how much they enjoy Linux. They just never seem to join the forum for any particular reason (probably because I give them a few pointers when they first try it).

Linux is already so awesome. It'll be cool to see where it goes from here.

No need to donate. Just send me the source code or better still the driver ready to install. I'll be very happy.
:p:p:p

[standingwave]

My story.

I put off Linux for the longest time because I already knew Windows and needed it for work. I didn't want to have to learn the intricacies of yet another OS. But, without going off on a Windows rant here, a lot of things just began to annoy me. The various anti-virus programs would slow my machine, Windows updates would occasionally crash my machine, the registry was a mess and then one day an update completely knocked me off the Internet. The Black Tuesday Zone Alarm fiasco. That was the moment I decided that while I could never leave Windows completely (because of work) I needed to try Linux for my own sanity. I chose Ubuntu because it was apparently the most popular and I wanted a strong user community behind me. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy the switch was and I've been a happy Linux user since Intrepid Ibex.

[limestone]

Interesting stuff :) Seems like almost everyone switched to Linux in lack of Windows competence. Since I switched I had 2 crashes which was my own fault.

[BrockStrongo]

I heard about Linux in the early 90s but I have been using DOS command so I do not want to use another OS with the command prompt and Window 3.0 was just launch. It was so easy to use and stuck with Window ever since. Until 2008 when I attend a local Open Source seminar and Ubuntu was mention so I visited some vendor's booth to check for more info and thats what make me think again. So last year I went to buy a book by Mark Sobell "Practical Guide to Ubuntu Linux" and it come with Ubuntu Linux 8.10 CD. Install it on an old computer to test it out and upgraded to 9.10. And at the same time my Window XP was infected by virus, spyware and malware. So I decided to completely switch to 9.10 and now upgrade to 10.04. But sadly only one thing that get me back to Window is my Lexmark all in one printer. Couldn't scan anything so I had to install Window in Virtual box to use it. Other than that I am all Linux user.


I had the same problem, then found this post
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1353566 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1353566)

also, simple scan worked for my scanner as a stand alone program.
or even try Vuescan. (its not free though)

Oh yeah.... Linux story. I switched when I bought a laptop that came with vista, need I say more?

[pricetech]

And we found that it would run our CAD software while Win7/Vista did not..

I've seen some posts about CAD software on the forums. Seems that it's not an easy thing to make work. You might post your experience for others to benefit from.

Just a thought.

[McRat]

I've seen some posts about CAD software on the forums. Seems that it's not an easy thing to make work. You might post your experience for others to benefit from.

Just a thought.

I've posted about it. It's CADKEY. The version I run is ck19. It does 2-D/3-D, solids, parametrics, etc. It's not "free" though, so there isn't a lot of interest. It's about $3500 a seat. We also have the newest version which is KeyCreator, but I haven't tested that yet. We only have one seat of it, but have a site license for ck19.

To make it work was nothing. Normal Wine install runs it fine with no tweaking.

I did find out that it's not 100% compatible with the proprietary nVidia driver though (corrupted screens), and not at all compatible with the ATI driver. The generic video driver is best.

I have gotten ck19 to work partially with Win7 now in XP mode, but it crashes at random. I think some of the updates helped. Certainly not a slam-dunk or stable like XP was.

[Goolie]

So you want to hear my Ubuntu story? I hopped on the bandwagon recently, sick of Vista / 7 / XP and I love learning as well.

So I picked up at the community solving my problems that I had with the fresh Ubuntu install. Alot of commands and all sorts of things I didn't understand, I'd sit down and copy and paste,
and voila, things started to work. But I wasn't happy with that, I'm a bit of a nerd, so I set out to start learning. I started visiting Ubuntu documentation, and I started working on
learning the shell. cd, ls, chmod, pipes, redirection, etc. And today, I learned about w3m, so this was the first site I popped on and this was the first new post. Actually, I never used this editor
from within shell. So I'm not sure how to get out. Let's see ^G. . . okay ^G is for help, but. . . does that mean I should press them simultaneously!? NOOO! I'm STUCK!

Okay, so it means CTRL-LETTER I SEE!

Now, to get out. . .

hrm. . .


EDIT:

I FIGURED IT OUT!

See, this is why I love Ubuntu, my story, simply put, is I love to learn. And Ubuntu doesn't dumb things down, it's simple and learnable. If I had a problem with Windows either it was a dumb finding
solution pop-up or that stupid help menu where 'did this work' 'how about that' 'or this' and eventually 'shrug, you lose user.' Now, I can find out what I need and learn how to do it myself!

[Ctrl-Alt-F1]

My Linux story is that I discovered Ubuntu a couple of years ago in school. I toyed around with a few distros and found that I like the gnome desktop more than any of the other DE's I've used in the past. Combined with Compiz and AWN I am a very happy puppy. I started researching system administration in Linux and found that it all intrigued me including the command line.

Then I got a job heavily tied to Windows and Microsoft products...I fear that my Linux hobby is going to suffer. At least I have a Unix/Linux class in school this semester :)

[samalex]

Coolness! I love reading everyone's stories on how they found their way to Linux. I have mine posted on my blog here (http://samalex.blogspot.com/p/linux.html).

I've been a happy Linux user for almost 15 years now, with 10 of that being Windows free outside of work.

Sam

[Primefalcon]

Well I've been hearing on and off about since since '96 (when it came into being, I looked around and had Lindows recommended to me in 2001. It was a disaster, it simply would not work... So I reinstalled windows....And stayed a windows user until.... late 2007, when I tried Linux again (this time I tried Ubuntu 7.10, I liked it and switched completely from day 1).

in 2009 I thought it might be useful to install XP for games and stuff under a duel boot situation, Windows was running fine for 3 months, and then an update from MS broke the ATI graphics driver, and the recommended MS solution is to reinstall Windows and don't use that MS update.... I haven't used Windows since

[Khakilang]

I had the same problem, then found this post
http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1353566 (http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1353566)

also, simple scan worked for my scanner as a stand alone program.
or even try Vuescan. (its not free though)

Oh yeah.... Linux story. I switched when I bought a laptop that came with vista, need I say more?

Nope! Still no Lexmark driver. But thanks. My next printer will definitely be other brand.

164122

[iponeverything]

I went strait from dos to linux in '93 after reading an single column article in PC mag on how to install slackware from floppies. If I remember right it was about 30 1.44 disks. I've never looked back. I even got a reply from Linus once when I posted a question to the Linux Usenet group.

My original motivation was that the comp-sci classes at IU used unix and C and I wanted an easy to stay at home and work instead of having to go into the computer lab. I grew quite comfortable with linux so when win 95 came along I didn't even bother trying it for at least year and this in spite of working working at a computer sales and repair place. My first modem was 300 baud connected to a speedy 386 25Mhz with a hefty 4 megs of ram, no math co-processor. The 80 meg MFM drive in the system weighed about 20 pounds. The drive would shake so much during a kernel compile that it would cause the desk that the computer was on to hit wall, it sounded just like the beginning of an earthquake. :)

I've used most of the distro's over years and only switch to ubuntu at 8.10 from debian a couple of years ago.

[gemmakaru]

I have been experimenting with Linux since red hat 6, mainly sticking to Suse after that. I only really started using Linux with purpose with Mepis 3.x. I was a PC gamer so there was strong motivation to stick with windows so I dual booted. Eventually they fubarred Mepis (7.x I think) and I gave up in Linux completely. Only recently after giving up PC gaming did I try Linux again. I started out with kunbuntu (karmic) trying to recapture the feeling of using Mepis (which is still fubarred) but quickly switched to ubuntu (karmic) and have used it as my main OS ever since. I have only booted into Windows a couple of times at home this year but at work I am a windows programmer so thats what I use most of my days. Maybe one day I'll get a Linux programming job but I can't see it happening.

[BrockStrongo]

Nope! Still no Lexmark driver. But thanks. My next printer will definitely be other brand.

164122

My bad, I was thinking Epson. Sorry

[Duncan J Murray]

Here is my story. It's on my blog (http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xVIWRPqXmzA/TAMWBFn1HtI/AAAAAAAAAAM/GvvYzAzv5vs/s1600/Ubuntucomic.png)

That is brilliant!

My linux story actually started with Amiga OS 3.1 and EPOC 16, with a brief, but miserable, hiatus with Win XP. I rejoined the realm of awesome OS's with ubuntu 9.04 - it was like meeting an old friend.

I was so excited about it that I wrote a little page to introduce people to it:

http://www.duncandheff.com/linux.html

Duncan

[CoffeeCoder]

I've known about Linux for a few years now.

I'm young (18 years old) and have only been using computers for about 6 years. I grew up used to seeing Windows run on all of my family's computers, all of my friend's computers, and was positive it was the best OS ever.

Then, when Vista came out a few years ago, and I read of all of the complaints and bug reports, I got scared. I was about 15, looking for a new computer to buy for myself, and wanted to run Vista because it was shiny and supposed to be best version of Windows yet. Well, it wasn't. I put off buying a computer after experiencing Vista first hand on a few friends' computers. How anybody ever put up with it is beyond me...how some people are still running it makes me wonder what's wrong with the world.

A couple of years later, my wait was rewarded (or so I thought); Windows 7 came out, and according to all of the tech blogs and reviews I read, it was the best version of Windows yet, and was "everything Vista should have been and more". So when I bought this laptop last November, I was excited. It had Windows 7, and it was going to be awesome.

Well, let me cut this short here and link you to a blog post I wrote a few days ago on why I'm running Ubuntu now. First post: http://coffeecoderjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/problems-continuing.html

Follow-up post: http://coffeecoderjournal.blogspot.com/2010/07/ultimate-question-should-i-run-ubuntu.html

I love Ubuntu. The more I use it, the more I wonder how I ever got along with Windows at all, and the more I wonder why I insist upon keeping Windows in its own partition. I may very well do a complete wipe of my computer soon and install Ubuntu once and for all.

That doesn't really tell you when I started using Linux though. I've been interested in Linux since around 2006; I had heard good things about it from a couple of geek friends, had done research on it, and thought it sounded really cool. I wanted to run it and try it out for myself, but at the time I had no idea about Live CDs, and I didn't have my own computer to install it on, so I put it off for a while....

Then sometime last year, I managed to create a Live CD of version 8.10 (or whatever it was). But then, I couldn't run it. The only computer in the house would NOT boot from the CD drive, and digging around in the BIOS, it wouldn't let me select to boot from the CD Drive. In annoyance, I threw the CD away. Then version 9.10 came out. I tried it again; at this point we had another computer in the house, so I tried it on that one and it worked. I loved what I saw on the CD and wished I could install it on that computer, but my family wouldn't have liked that. So I waited some more.

When I got my laptop, I decided to put it on there. I delayed it a couple of months for a couple of reasons, though: One, I wanted to give Win7 a chance, and two, Windows managed to catch a virus that required a reformat/reinstall. As soon as I sorted it out, BAM!, I partitioned my hard drive and put Ubuntu on there (sometime in March).
I haven't regretted it since. Linux, in itself, is awesome. Linus Torvalds is a hero. :)

(sorry for the long post)

[BigSilly]

That is brilliant!

My linux story actually started with Amiga OS 3.1 and EPOC 16, with a brief, but miserable, hiatus with Win XP. I rejoined the realm of awesome OS's with ubuntu 9.04 - it was like meeting an old friend.

I was so excited about it that I wrote a little page to introduce people to it:

http://www.duncandheff.com/linux.html

Duncan

Cool! Your story on the blog is very similar to my own, and in a similar way to you it was WGA that got me onto Linux in the first place. I wasn't using a pirate XP, but Microsoft seemed pretty sure I was, and locked me out of my computer. This had the knock on effect of making me question just whose computer exactly this was and why should this company be able to do this, and that was when an old mate of mine handed me a Mandriva 2006 Discovery (remember that?) CD. I went through a few distros (including the old Freespire!) till I found my feet in Ubuntu, and have stayed ever since. It just works.

The other knock on effect has been that when I was using XP, I knew nothing about computers at all. I relied on the security software to do it's job, and hoped for the best. But now I can install different distros and set up partitions etc no problem. I've set up Linux PC's for my entire family, from mum and dad's, to my daughters netbook and Mrs Silly's laptop. Getting to know Linux was a brilliant achievement for me, and though I'm still not the most technical user with the command line even now, I'm very comfortable in the Linux environment.

[limestone]

So far I don't think we have any "clean" Linux user who started using Linux from start and not windows...
Where is all the old school linux users? :P
Btw. Great stories everyone! keep on going...

[Khakilang]

Quite true most of the user are disappointed with DOS and Windows that switch to Linux and that include me. Rather than use Linux straight from start. I think it boils down to the where the OS emerge from. Like Linux are mostly from University and college and DOS and Window from commercial and end users.

[Trinexx]

My first foray into Linux was about six years ago with Damn Small Linux.



Thank God I heard about the other distributions, or I probably would have sworn Linux off forever. DSL is NOT a good introduction to Linux.

[Frogs Hair]

I was helping someone on a forum with a W98 issue and found an Ubuntu 9.10 ad. I thought it may be good replacement for this person being new and currently supported. Then found a Wubi review two weeks later and decided to give it a try.

I broke my Wubi install trying to upgrade it to 10.04 beta , but I was hooked and did a proper install of 9.10 a short time later . If I decide to install 10.10 it will be 3rd Ubuntu operating system in less than a year . Most of my issues with Ubuntu have been solved by updates or knowledge found here.

I have no idea if the W98 user ever decided to try Ubuntu or not but we did resolve his problem.

[limestone]

My first foray into Linux was about six years ago with Damn Small Linux.



Thank God I heard about the other distributions, or I probably would have sworn Linux off forever. DSL is NOT a good introduction to Linux.

Yea, DSL is a pain in the ***.. :P

[BuffaloX]

I went strait from dos to linux in '93 after reading an single column article in PC mag on how to install slackware from floppies. If I remember right it was about 30 1.44 disks. I've never looked back. I even got a reply from Linus once when I posted a question to the Linux Usenet group.

My original motivation was that the comp-sci classes at IU used unix and C and I wanted an easy to stay at home and work instead of having to go into the computer lab. I grew quite comfortable with linux so when win 95 came along I didn't even bother trying it for at least year and this in spite of working working at a computer sales and repair place. My first modem was 300 baud connected to a speedy 386 25Mhz with a hefty 4 megs of ram, no math co-processor. The 80 meg MFM drive in the system weighed about 20 pounds. The drive would shake so much during a kernel compile that it would cause the desk that the computer was on to hit wall, it sounded just like the beginning of an earthquake. :)

I've used most of the distro's over years and only switch to ubuntu at 8.10 from debian a couple of years ago.

Cool. ;)

[Duncan J Murray]

So far I don't think we have any "clean" Linux user who started using Linux from start and not windows...
Where is all the old school linux users? :P
Btw. Great stories everyone! keep on going...

That's interesting, only I don't know exactly where these people would have come from. Prior to linux there was unix, but I didn't think this was run on home computers. I guess you could have come from amiga/windows/apple/os/2, but you would have had to have been pretty techy to have moved to linux in 1991!

Duncan

[alexfish]

That's interesting, only I don't know exactly where these people would have come from. Prior to linux there was unix, but I didn't think this was run on home computers. I guess you could have come from amiga/windows/apple/os/2, but you would have had to have been pretty techy to have moved to linux in 1991!

Duncan


Preemptive multitasking/time-sharing

Main article: Preemption (computing) (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Preemption_%28computing%29)
Preemptive multitasking allows the computer system to more reliably guarantee each process a regular "slice" of operating time. It also allows the system to rapidly deal with important external events like incoming data, which might require the immediate attention of one or another process.
Operating systems were developed to take advantage of these hardware capabilities and run multiple processes preemptively. For example, preemptive multitasking was implemented in the earliest version of Unix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix) [1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking#cite_note-0) in 1969, and is standard in Unix and Unix-like (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix-like) operating systems, including Linux (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux), Solaris (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solaris_%28operating_system%29) and BSD (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berkeley_Software_Distribution) with its derivatives (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_BSD_operating_systems).
At any specific time, processes can be grouped into two categories: those that are waiting for input or output (called "I/O bound (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I/O_bound)"), and those that are fully utilizing the CPU ("CPU bound (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CPU_bound)"). In primitive systems, the software would often "poll (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polling_%28computer_science%29)", or "busywait (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Busy_waiting)" while waiting for requested input (such as disk, keyboard or network input). During this time, the system was not performing useful work. With the advent of interrupts and preemptive multitasking, I/O bound processes could be "blocked", or put on hold, pending the arrival of the necessary data, allowing other processes to utilize the CPU. As the arrival of the requested data would generate an interrupt, blocked processes could be guaranteed a timely return to execution.
The earliest preemptive multitasking OS available to home users was Sinclair QDOS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QDOS) on the Sinclair QL (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinclair_QL), released in 1984. The Commodore Amiga (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiga) 1000 released in 1985 (demonstrated by Debbie Harry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debbie_Harry) and Andy Warhol (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Warhol) at its unveiling (http://boingboing.net/2009/07/03/andy-warhol-paints-d.html)) made use of a preemptive multitasking kernel that performed the circus act without a net (MMU (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_Management_Unit)) while managing a coprocessor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coprocessor) that could process 80 instructions per scan line — no other computer on the market could touch it at the time, which was the sole reason the NewTek (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NewTek) Video Toaster (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_Toaster) was developed to make use of its features. Microsoft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft) made preemptive multitasking a core feature of their flagship operating system when developing Windows NT 3.1 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT_3.1) and Windows 95 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_95). It was later adopted on the Apple Macintosh by Mac OS (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS) 9.x [2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking#cite_note-1) as an additional API, i.e. the application could be programmed to use the preemptive or cooperative model, and all legacy applications were multitasked cooperatively within a single process. Mac OS X (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS_X), being a Unix-like (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix-like) system, uses preemptive multitasking for all native applications, although Classic (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classic_%28Mac_OS_X%29) applications are multitasked cooperatively in a Mac OS 9 environment that itself is running as an OS X process (and is subject to preemption like any other OS X process).
A similar model is used in Windows 9x (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_9x) and the Windows NT family (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_NT), where native 32-bit applications are multitasked preemptively, and legacy 16-bit Windows 3.x (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_3.1x) programs are multitasked cooperatively within a single process, although in the NT family it is possible to force a 16-bit application to run as a separate preemptively multitasked process.[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Computer_multitasking#cite_note-2) 64-bit editions of Windows, both for the x86-64 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64) and Itanium (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itanium) architectures, no longer provide support for legacy 16-bit applications, and thus provide preemptive multitasking for all supported applications.


as regards the last paragraph

So were does windows stand in the rankings of inovation

[cariboo]

Believe it or not there are still quite a few people that don't use computers. A friend of mine just got his first computer about 2 months ago. btw he will turn 69 next month, he's an optician, and has never had to actually use a pc, his assistants do it for him. :) All the automated tools he uses are pretty well fool proof, and it only takes the push of a couple of buttons to get them to do what they have to.

[Cam!]

My first contact in Linux was wayyyyy back when. I believe it was Red Hat 7.0 (Guinness). I didn't make much of it. Fast forward a few years later. In 2006, I got interested in Linux once again. I had an on-and-off affair with it due to the fact that I needed iTunes, Steam, and FL Studio for various things. As the years progressed, I became more in touch with Ubuntu, and now it's my primary OS! I only use Windows now to produce music on FL Studio, play Steam games, and sync my iPhone's Music and Apps.

[ghettobird]

I think it was Unix on an old Tandy machine from Radio(strongarmrobbery)Shack. Just after the FCC was crazy enough to issue me a HAM Technician and a GROL license. I created my own version of DARPANET in my parents house and communicated with all the geeks in the neighborhood. My experiment came to an end when my Yagi antenna in the tree was struck by lightning and the said tree caught fire. So now I just butcher versions of Linux.

[neoargon]

Ubuntu is a very very good operating system . No doubt about that . But it isn't free from crashes or bugs (especially the KUbuntu at the early stage of KDE4.x).

[rjbl]

Used UNIX as a student in the late eighties, then worked in a VAX shop in VMS as Windows 3.11 clients started to get to be popular alternatives to VT100's. Then on I was in Windows big biz systems, specialising in security and networked vulnerabilities. Hit Linux with RH5 in, err... dunno, must have been about '95, maybe '96. Used Redhat / Fedora until I retired as a platform for exploring Windows systems. Built a 'for the next ten years' box this year to replace a failed home box. Choose Ubuntu as my personal computing environment for the next decade. Seems to have proved to be a good choice. Does all I want it to do, does it better than any Windows box I have ever run; except it won't do MS Flight Simulator X.

rjbl

[murderslastcrow]

We have flight simulators, too, you know. XD

[Tombgeek]

My Linux story goes as follows:

Last year I was beginning to get fed up with Windows XP, having been a user for a number of years. But I finally moved when I lost a novella that I was writing because of a corrupt system file. So I did some research and heard about Ubuntu. I contacted a guy who gave me a free disc of Ubuntu 9.04 and I installed it with Wubi.
Then, I decided to run it dual-boot with Windows XP, and now I barely go on Windows (except to do my IT homework).

[neoargon]

I started using linux for fun . Fedora (http://fedoraproject.org/) was the first distro . I found is visually not appealing as well as difficult to figure out where the things are . Ubuntu (http://ubuntu.com) also wasn't that visually appealing, but it is easy to use, easy to figure out where the things are. So I began using it . There was another reason too, whenever I search about linux , this forum (http://ubuntuforums.org) is listed

Being using Ubuntu for some time, I found all the applications that I need . I also found many beautiful themes and KDE (http://www.kde.org) . I can use ubuntu for everything I need . The practical immunity to virus and malwares made me full time ubuntu user . Bugs and crashes are there ,but doesn't bother me too much

[anand_30]

My Linux Story:
In 2009, i started my first year of engineering and meet with guy who was (and still is) complete linux fan(he is a very good friend of mine now),he bought a new laptop and installed ubuntu 9.04 on it.

One day he approached me and showed very cool ubuntu 9.04,and most importantly he showed me some CAD programs(Qcad,free-cad)which were free and were looking good.I was very facinated by the looks of ubuntu,I started thinking about giving ubuntu a try.

And the very next day,same guy showed me visual effects and KDE desktop,only thing i said to him is "Buddy I want this,come today only with ubuntu and install it on my crappy desktop captured by slow windows."He said that ubuntu 9.10 is gonna launch in 2 days and he would install it the day he gets ubuntu CD downloaded.

In this way i got my first ubuntu on my OLD desktop and it worked great except some sound related problems.I found joy trying different solutions given on this forums.In a short span we were successful installing Autocad 2004 using wine.

Now I have sold my OLD desktop and bought new and am running 10.04 without any problem.I just want a good CAD to work on linux tried Bricscad,Varicad,progecad which was a good experience.Tomorrow i am going for Salome platform,i am hoping i get what i want.:popcorn: