My wife wants windows back

[SilviaBoston]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

[indytim]

I went thorough a similar "episode" with my wife recently. I built her a new PC and never contaminated it with Windows. I did spend a fair amount of time making it look / feel like the dreaded platform. Included such familiarities as the little trashcan in the lower right corner, the MicroCrash blue screen background and a host of apps that should meet her computing needs. So far, so good. I do understand that each situation is different. Hope you can bring her around to the Linux/Ubuntu side of the discussion.

IndyTim

[Bloch]

I never told my wife I'd changed the operating system. I just said "Click here to go on the web".
Marital harmony proceeded as usual . . .

[blurredbrain]

Yeah, my wife does the same thing. I try to explain to her the difference between 32bit and 64bit processing, and how XP64 is tehsuck, but she doesn't feel like paying attention.

Then I explain to her the difference between my laptop and her desktop. That seems to sink in.

[dad311]

I installed VMplayer on Ubuntu and run XP in a window to make the wife happy. That was 2-3 months ago, now the only thing XP is used for is quicken. The wife is now using Ubuntu 80-90% of the time. :p

[zubrug]

my wife's only question was "what do I use for email?"
Can't help on the drivers though, feel your pain

[gpeck157]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

Sorry for the grief. Why does she hate Ubuntu? (If you don't mind sharing.) I replaced my wife's W/98 OS with Ubuntu. She was a little annoyed at first, mainly because I didn't ask her permission first (until she realized she was able to do everything she could always do, and there were no more crashes, no more anti-virus scans, no more spyware scans and no more BSODs). Once I showed her how to use Open Office and her web browser all was well. As far as the drivers...I don't think it's possible. You can go the other way using Wine but as far as I know the drivers for Ubuntu are not compatible with Windows...at least I've never heard of it.

Glen

[towsonu2003]

I too suggest using emulation (qemu with kemu accelerator, howto available in tips&tricks, takes about half an hour to figure it out, 2-3 hours to install windows -on my system-, and endless hours to update it -regardless of emulation software- --> give yourself a day to do all this).

But don't be too stubborn, just try to convince her to try it for a few days (giving the excuse: getting the drivers is too hard; emulation will save you and her time etc). In the meantime, search for the windows driver...

[enopepsoo]

If I had a wife and this problem I would just install a different driver.
:p

[aysiu]

My wife's a graphic designer and needs her Adobe Creative Suite. She loves her Mac, and she's too computer savvy for me to replace it with Ubuntu and have her not notice.

[towsonu2003]

we have all the husbands complaining about wives. now we need wives complaining about husbands... ;)

[RAV TUX]

My wife's a graphic designer and needs her Adobe Creative Suite. She loves her Mac, and she's too computer savvy for me to replace it with Ubuntu and have her not notice.


My wife loves Ubuntu and hates anything by Apple and Microsoft...she is a very wise and computer savvy. I love my wife!:)

[aysiu]

we have all the husbands complaining about wives. now we need wives complaining about husbands... I'm not complaining. My wife digs her Mac--good for her. I don't believe in trying to convert people to Ubuntu if they don't want to use it.

[towsonu2003]

oops, sorry... I was joking around. no offense.

[aysiu]

oops, sorry... I was joking around. no offense. It's cool. I'm just tired...

[lyly]

we have all the husbands complaining about wives. now we need wives complaining about husbands... ;)

sorry my boyfriend is as geek as me, nothing to complaiin on this ;)

Lynda

[gpeck157]

[QUOTE=aysiu]I'm not complaining. My wife digs her Mac--good for her. I don't believe in trying to convert people to Ubuntu if they don't want to use it.[/QUOT

I'm with you on this. The only reason I put Ubuntu on my wife's system without asking was because of her daily complaints about her Win98 system. Now, she doesn't complain, she just asks "...how do I...". That was worth it. If someone is happy with Windows, wonderful, or their Mac, marvelous. I'm happy if they're happy.:)

Glen

[az]

but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

No, you cant. You can always ask your wife to install windows. Let her set up networking, too. Configure and maintain the antivirus and antispyware. Read all the EULAs to see if you allow someone to know every time you play something in your media player. ETC....

[nix4me]

I have been hesitant to switch my wife over to linux. I am pretty sure I could make it a successful switch for her, but I guess I just don't have the energy to sit down and explain all of the differences.

Mayb soon.

nix4me

[Stormy Eyes]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

Why can't you just scrape together half a grand and get her her own computer?

[dasunst3r]

I should try pulling something with my Mom... she's already pretty good with this stuff considering that she could easily borrow my computer, log in, and start surfing the web. That's all the does with a computer, really...

[Dragonbite]

I'm still in that "tenative" stage with my wife. I'm hoping the kids catch on quick enough to help her out! ;)

[Programs]

One thing I've done to help out was that when we got a new (used) computer I did put on a copy of Windows but instead of the usual programs I put on the Open Source programs I was planning on using in Linux.

Instead of ...

MS Office => OpenOffice & Scribus
Thunderbird => Thunderbird :p (she's already used to it)
Firefox => Firefox :p (she's already used to it)
Photoshop => Gimp


This way she gets used to the programs and that part will stay relatively the same which makes it easier. Also show her the most important thing ... how to get inot a Freecell game!

[Desktop]

Then when I set up her account I changed the desktop around to make it a little more familiar.

main menu in the bottom panel on the left
most-used programs on the panel
clock on the right
system tray on right


[Everything else]

Now I'm in the process of documenting HOW to do the things she uses the computer most for...

Get online (it's dial-up, and modem-applet doesn't work)
Email (already set her account up)
Browsing (should be no difference)
Scanning (working on best process because xSane -> printer isn't working)
Word (difference between saving formats and setting up some options to be more what she expects)
Publisher files (converting over her MS Publisher files to Scribus and just installed Scribus on the Windows side so I can do 1/2 screen of each and manually convert the files over)
Saving in her directory


So far she's humoring me and once I get some of the documentation done I think that will make things a lot better. I suspect once she starts using it she'll grow onto it.

We've already gone thorugh and changed the Theme to something she likes which makes her feel more comfortable about it and "personal". She's an artist so look-feel is more important than left-brained folk.

[prizrak]

You should tell her "tough luck, I ain't putting that crap on my system!!!!!1111one" just kidding that might get you in trouble. As far as drivers go here is the link for WinXP drivers for the Latitude D600 http://support.dell.com/support/downloads/devices.aspx?c=us&cs=28&l=en&s=dfb&SystemID=LAT_PNT_PM_D600&os=WW1&osl=EN

[MojoX]

Well, my wife is pretty gung-ho about switching to Ubuntu. She's very much into the Free Software movement. Once I pitched the idea of switching to Linux, she said "let's do it." I'm just now switching our desktop over. I'll keep OSX for certain games and for MOL. She doesn't use any Windows/Mac only specialized software so that makes switching easier.

The only thing she wants is to maintain the ability to stream music to our Airport Express. Otherwise, she is actually prefers free software solutions. Even in OSX she uses as much free software as she can.

[poofyhairguy]

The answers I would give are in this thread. The first answer I would give is this one:


You can always ask your wife to install windows. Let her set up networking, too. Configure and maintain the antivirus and antispyware. Read all the EULAs to see if you allow someone to know every time you play something in your media player. ETC....

Just tell her " I use Ubuntu now, I don't even know where to find the Windows drivers to make it work. If you really want it to work then you have to be the Windows expert in the family."

Yet this answer doesn't always work as it can get you in trouble. But to give up Ubuntu is painful- I know I am crazy about my choice of OS but there is not way I would personally back down.

I guess in the long run Stormy had the best answer: just get her a computer that she can pollute with all that junk. You can get a low end Dell and monitor for cheap. Just tell her that you never plan to fix it- if she has problems she better call Dell instead.

[greenpenguin]

I switched my parents over to Linux... only problem I had was the printer, and they've never complained since :D. When they used windows I got them using Firefox/OOo/Gimp etc anyway, so they hardly noticed :D. Cant really comment on the topic girlfriend :cry: :p

Btw, why does she dislike Ubuntu? Lack of games, or just too different?

[towsonu2003]

No, you cant. You can always ask your wife to install windows. Let her set up networking, too. Configure and maintain the antivirus and antispyware. Read all the EULAs
that's an invitation to divorce :PpPp

[DigitalDuality]

On the rare occassion that i do get married, it will go as follows:

1) i will have my computer, and no one will touch it. No the wife, not the kids. No one.

2) if you want help on your computer i will show you how to fix it. I will give you options and advise on what best to do from my opinion. If you fail to listen to my opinion and @!#$ up the machine, have fun fixing it yourself.

The end.

Needless to say i probably won't end up with a wife with this type of attitude.

[prizrak]

that's an invitation to divorce :PpPp
If wife doesn't wanna use Linux it's time for a divorce anyways ;)

[Paulus]

dump the bitch.
:o I´m struggling to pick my jaw off the floor!

Anyway, i´m pleased to hear alot of you are having luck switching your partners over to linux, your onto a winner if she can empathise with the linux philosophy of not finding windows equivelents but finding ways of doing things the linux way.

[Sidk]

Just buy her a cheap older computer.

[Virogenesis]

Reinstall windows for her.... then go out of your wayy to get some malware a few banners, make sure your drive gets fragmented so you bitch about windows I'm sure she'll come to her senese after she sees the showdown.

[JimmyJazz]

have you considered a divorce?

(joke)

[drizek]

try dell.com for drivers

[DevilsAdvocate]

I don't know about all that wife stuff. Dual booting is easy enough usually. Regarding your Dell drivers for Windows...

Somewhere on your Dell PC is a sticker w/ something called a "Service Tag" on it. Write down the code. Go to www.dell.com and go to the "drivers and downloads" section. Pop in your service tag and voila, all the drivers for you PC should be there ready for download.

[MojoX]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.
Will you at least let us know what she is sick of or what she is missing? It can be useful to know why.

[takayuki]

if you have a typical end user, be it the husband, wife, girlfriend, mother, father...

you've got to inventory exactly what they use the computer for, exactly what programs they use, then create an ubuntu experience for them that makes them comfortable. be ready to carefully, slowly, explain where you need to click to get email, etc.

if they are reluctant ******* users, then just wait until they've got some huge problem. you won't have to wait long. and here's the sneaky part, if there is a problem, suddenly, you don't know how to fix it. (a mild deception for the greater good.) :)

let the poor end-user get frustrated as hell, then you come and save the day with ubuntu. don't force the issue. wait until a "catastrophe" happens, then strike.

i've been a mac user forever and have used this strategy to "turn" countless clueless wintel people into mac users.

[adamkane]

I have an issue reminding my Mom to save her OpenOffice files in .doc format. I haven't figured out how to get OpenOffice or Abiword to do this automatically.

[kaaredyret]

I have an issue reminding my Mom to save her OpenOffice files in .doc format. I haven't figured out how to get OpenOffice or Abiword to do this automatically.

Tools -> Options -> Load/Save -> General

Find "Default file format" and select MS Word doc in the "Always save as" drop-down.

;)

[kaaredyret]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

Skipping to the next problem in a family: on Ubuntu our kid can't play all the games made for kids, so I have two unsatisfied costumers here, but I understand both. Anyway, a computer is a very personal thing nowadays so I let people install or use whatever they want. I am not the religious type, trying to convert people.

And... Ubuntu have to support my wireless network before I can even show it to her... imagine demonstrating a permantly offline OS to your woman... :-k

[warp99]

Tell her Microsoft is a criminal enterprise and has been convicted under both US and EU antitrust laws. Ask her point blank:

"So do you want me to support a criminal enterprise? How about the mafia or maybe a international drug cartel? Is this OK with you?" :cool:

[warp99]

Or just install Kubuntu, update the menus, and put windows wallpaper on it. If it looks and acts the same she is not going to care. My wife didn't. :cool:

[stoeptegel]

Or tell her you think she's on drugs... (warning, might have a non-expected outcome)

No i believe if one wants windows one would get it. At least you can tell yourself yourself you've tried it right.

[3rdalbum]

If she wants Windows, get her a cheap beige box built by the dudes down the road. In early 2007, put Vista onto it. It'll slow to a crawl, and suddenly your wife will want to use your Ubuntu.

[nrayever]

hehehehe, something similar happend to me recently.

case a)

a friend of mine, a girl, have some issues with her computer, some serious xp problems, and i convice her to use ubuntu (but she was a little familiar with linux, because some months before i gave her a knoppix cd.) i knew already what she needed in linux, but i know i had some limits:

1) she uses dial-up to connect to internet
---- solution: got her a new modem with Intel537 chipset, compatible with linux/ubuntu and make it work.
---- bug: the modem connects to internet but no sound/noise is made while connecting.
----solution: add a panel applet of network in gnome, for kde, no idea.
2) her scanner is not supported yet by sane
---- solution: wait until sane makes it work, or get her a new one, maybe a hp one.
3) her video card is an ati radeon 9600se
---- solution: call another friend of mine that has an ati video card and uses ubuntu, tell him to try to fix it.
----bug: this friend is so stupid!! joke, this video card seem to be impossible to make it work, i hate ati video cards!!
----solution:get her a nvidia video card (not yet solved)
4) software for her nokia 3220
---- solution: install gnokii
---- bug: gnokii in ubuntu repos is to old, and when new debs packs installed from gnokii site, dependency problems. even worst while trying with source code (sorry i'm not a programmer)
---- solution: install her dapper (sorry, she have to wait, dapper still a bit buggy)

but after all these problems she's making a great effort to use linux.

case b)

another friend, again a girl (not the same one) had some problems with her computer, xp crashed, and then the mobo and processor crashed too!! i got her a new amd sempron64 with a nice gigabyte mobo and 768mb in ram.

1) she is a anime lover, anything that looks like any she will download it.
---- solution: amule, frostwire, bittornado, etc....
2) she likes to play raganarok online
---- problem: ragnarok online is not compatible with wine, cedega or crossover
---- solution: still working on it or maybe dual booting with winxp, a little partition.
3) her mobo has a unichrome video card
---- solution: upgrade to dapper
---- bug: even in dapper, the video card hasn't any 3d acceleration yet
4) problem with her webcam
---- solution: update to dapper
---- bug: holy s#$%, she's already using dapper
---- solution: ask in ubuntu forums and google on the web with the hope to get the answer (still looking)
5) lack of common sense
---- solution: got her a dvd+-rw 16x dual layer and teach her that she needs to burn all her info and how to use her other hard drive!!
---- bug: a big bug at user level!! she's a fool!! ](*,) ](*,)
---- solution: pray to god for more patience!!

so here is my experience on trying to make 2 girls using ubuntu. hope this gets better (NOT WORST, PLEASE GOD!! HELP ME!!):) :)

nrayever

[imagine]

As already written, time for a divorce.
"It's me or Ubuntu!" - "Ok, here's your bag."


No seriously, some ideas:

1. Wipe Ubuntu and install Windows. Nuff said.

2. Just wait.
When she asks you to install Windows simply answer no. You don't have time to do that and/or you don't like Microsoft because Ubuntu is so much better. Come up with an unlimited amount of reasons to back up the latter. Someone who isn't familiar with computers won't understand any of those reasons but that doesn't matter.
Instead - as a compromise - give her the Windows-CD and tell her "good luck", after all you can't forbid her to install Windows. Of course this may not be possible with every wife.

Installing Windows is usually a pain in the *** and sort of impossible to do for a computer-illiterate person if you don't have a Windows-CD specifically preconfigured for your PC. So even if she manages to boot into the Windows desktop, she will end up with no drivers and almost no applications. If she gets the connection to the internet working to download some drivers and so on, the PC will probably be infected with malware in a few minutes.

After those great experiences with Windows you can install Ubuntu again.

3. Dualboot
Make the Ubuntu partition smaller, install Windows and configure Grub so that it boots Ubuntu by default.
Now both Ubuntu and Windows are installed and everyone can use what he/she likes. However you never boot into Windows, you don't update the virusscanner there, you don't install any patches and you don't fix any problems that may arise. But of course on the otherside you take care of your Ubuntu installation, keep it up to date and make it look nice.

I did that with my dad (on his PC) the other way round. Windows was (of course) preinstalled and I additionally installed Ubuntu and Grub last year. First he came to me and asked what I did with his PC and that he doesn't need that Ubunu thing. But I told him that the harddrive is big enough and if he doesn't like Ubuntu he can safely ignore it. It doesn't do any harm to Windows.
After I visited him again a few weeks later, he told me that this new system isn't actually that bad and that he uses it sometimes. I try to fix any problems he has with Ubuntu but I didn't boot Windows since over a half year there. Since the Windows installation is already three years old and used by multiple people I guess it's in a pretty bad shape at the moment. Too bad for it.

[ncappel1]

Hate to break it to you, but I think it's time for a divorce!

;)

(just kidding of course)

[Kimm]

I jsut tried making my XFCE(/KDE in this case) look like WinXP, maby something like this could help you.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/9390/ubuntuxp0tm.th.png (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ubuntuxp0tm.png)

[BoyOfDestiny]

Well apart from the divorce comments ;)

Here is what I would advise.

Windows XP will no longer be under mainstream support of MS 2 years after Vista comes out.
http://support.microsoft.com/lifecycle/?p1=3221
Extended support should continue I guess, it's not listed explicitly on the MS page (for windows 2000 its extended support lasts until 2010.)

Next, remaning locked in with windows, the next step being vista...

This article says it all...

http://www.linux-watch.com/news/NS5876967065.html

Try and adapt Ubuntu to her needs, if it's not working the other way around. You can customize just about anything...

EDIT: To correct factual errors. :)

[lucia_engel]

I believe windows XP will no longer be supported by MS some time in 2007 (correct me please if I'm wrong on this)


From this article (http://news.zdnet.co.uk/software/windows/0,39020396,39246991,00.htm):

"the consumer Windows XP editions, along with XP Professional, will be supported until two years after Vista ships"

so as long as Vista keeps on getting delayed, XP will continue to be supported. ;)

[mike998]

If she want to work with windows XP, let her.

You can't tell someone what O/S to work with, you can only gently nudge them in your preferred direction. It doesn't always work... Deal with it.

What's right for one person, isn't right for another.

[NetInsanity]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

Give wifey what she wants or you'll end up as insane as me.

No, drivers are not interchangable between Linux and Windows, you'll have to use windows drivers for your windows setup.

[Vidar]

Not a problem here, my girlfriend has almost turned into a linux-zealot since I installed breezy on my 12"-laptop and she's been hogging it ever since... Im stuck with my stationary computer, running dapper unstable... but soon it's time to install dapper on the tiny computer as well. :)

I sometimes get the "How do I do..." type questions, but even those come a lot more seldom, admittedly thanks to these forums that she now reads when she has a problem and Im not around to help. :)

[AndyCooll]

Dragonbite's method has worked for me too, I gradually weaned the wife off XP. Started by installing oOo.org, Firefox etc. Then removed XP from all machines except one and made her logon profile as similar to her XP as necessary. I then made that one pc dual boot, and by default to Ubuntu. By this stage the missus was using Ubuntu anyway.

Essentially her only complaints have ever come when asking her to try out something new. Like many M$ users they use it simply because that is all that they have ever used and hence that is what they have become familiar with. For many they'll use what ever is put in front of them provided they are familiar with it.

So in the case of my wife it has just been a matter of helping her in the transition to gain that familiarity. She really only wants Internet, music and chat software. I haven't ever given the option of going back. Once I've got her over those initial changes however, I've had very few problems. She was familiar with Firefox, Amarok is easy to use, and familiarity with Gaim too came easily enough.

:cool:

[Ptero-4]

Aysiu. at least your wife is in the good side of the fence.

[graabein]

Give wifey what she wants or you'll end up as insane as me.

You know you can't be insane if you know you're not sane? At least that's what they say. The "catch 22" clause.

Allright, party on.

\\:D/

[darkmatter]

Bah... I just told mine that I'll never install win...if she wants windows, she can install it herself. That pretty much ended the discussion.

Needless to say, within two days she loved Linux and never looked back.

[BarfBag]

You know what I would do? I'd make sure there's nobody listening, and then tell her what I want in return. Oh yes! :D

[DigitalDuality]

Idea...

Install Lindows (linspire) and tell her you misunderstood.

[ThirdWorld]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.


My wife like ubuntu 5.10, so much she like it she want me to install it on her new compaq laptop. the only thing she miss is itunes (she like amarok but it took me sometime to set it up because it was crashing all the time)
She also miss a super simple kodak photo management utility that came with her digital camera. I wish there is something like it on linux to keep her happy f-spot is kind of complicated for her and buggy. Anyway, she love the fact that in 6 months our computer have never break or have been infected by viruses. Also, she loves abiword, she thinks is better than MS word. she write all her college papers on it. :D

[bodhi.zazen]

Nice posts.

I am getting my wife onto Linux. It is a process.
Suggestions:

1. Ask yourself, is it worth breaking a relationship over an OS?
If yes, Linux/Windows is not the problem, get help

2. Use a version of Linux that is friendly to new Linux users. Ubuntu is not a bad choice. Mepis maybe easier. Either way START WITH KDE (Kubuntu). This often makes the transition easier. If you use Ubuntu/Kubuntu AT LEAST install Java/flash for her. If you do not know how to install java/flash-> Mepis.

3. Dual boot until you BOTH learn Linux. Most of the driver/software solutions have viable solutions in Linux. Try a live CD, a different version of Linux may have the software/drivers you need. If so install into Ubuntu. Or change versions of Linux.

4. Identify what software needs to run on Linux. For office try Open Office. For E-mail Thunderbird is almost an exact clone of Outlook. I took the configuration from outlook (manual) and configured Thunderbird in < 2 minutes. Exported address book from Outlook -> immediate import into Thunderbird (Linux) -> My wife uses Thunderbird no problem.

5. Accounting is different. Try Kmymoney.

6. Install open source onto windows. This includes Open Office, Firefox, Thunderbird. All run on both OS no problem. This eases the transition.

7. Teach your wife the command line. Do not configure Linux for her, write her a how-to.

8. After 2 months my wife is quite happy and used Linux 95% of the time. We plan to convert to Kmymoney in January, at that time anticipate 100% Linux. Took my wife 2 weeks to become comfortable with Linux.

[cvmostert]

I never told my wife I'd changed the operating system. I just said "Click here to go on the web".
Marital harmony proceeded as usual . . .

GREAT technique!

will try it sometimes, will only have aproblem with lisence aquasition with pay tv through windows media player...

havent sorted that one out yet.

[cvmostert]

My wife already uses openoffice and all the open cd stuff on windows, so it would be possible for her to be transferred to linux in an instant... when we get the lisence issues sorted with ms media player.

[Bragador]

She also miss a super simple kodak photo management utility that came with her digital camera. I wish there is something like it on linux to keep her happy f-spot is kind of complicated for her and buggy. Anyway, she love the fact that in 6 months our computer have never break or have been infected by viruses. Also, she loves abiword, she thinks is better than MS word. she write all her college papers on it. :D

Never tried it but...

Did you try gphoto2 ?
http://www.gphoto.org/

[morequarky]

My wife generally likes Ubuntu.

But she basicly refuses to use it. Why?

She can't get her head around the fact that webpages for windows and firefox aren't the same. Her banking websites only work in IE. She also wonders why a desktop Windows system can't have a server on it like ubuntu can. Well ok apache can run on windows but I would never in a million beers do such a thing.

So she uses her 32bit XP laptop, I use the 32bit Ubuntu on 64bit Intel. We have 64bit windows installed on this machine too, but I made the partition too small. D'oh. Even the 64bit windows security features cause her trouble on her websites.

She is a speed demon. She wants her websites to open in a serious hurry. My firefox is a little slow and I am not sure why. I am comfortable, she would hate it.

[bruce89]

My wife generally likes Ubuntu.

But she basicly refuses to use it. Why?

She can't get her head around the fact that webpages for windows and firefox aren't the same. Her banking websites only work in IE. She also wonders why a desktop Windows system can't have a server on it like ubuntu can. Well ok apache can run on windows but I would never in a million beers do such a thing.

So she uses her 32bit XP laptop, I use the 32bit Ubuntu on 64bit Intel. We have 64bit windows installed on this machine too, but I made the partition too small. D'oh. Even the 64bit windows security features cause her trouble on her websites.

She is a speed demon. She wants her websites to open in a serious hurry. My firefox is a little slow and I am not sure why. I am comfortable, she would hate it.
Firefox is slow on linux, see my signature (kidding). My bank works perfectly well here. (Bank of Scotland)

[bluenova]

Tell her Microsoft is a criminal enterprise and has been convicted under both US and EU antitrust laws. Ask her point blank:

"So do you want me to support a criminal enterprise? How about the mafia or maybe a international drug cartel? Is this OK with you?" :cool:
and make yourself comfortable on the sofa for the night :D

My girlfriend picks up new things very quickly, and she likes anything that does what it's supposed to do, so she prefers to run Ubuntu. She has no idea about installing and maintaining it, she just knows it gets the job done better than Windows. The only thing she doesn't like is 'There are new updates available' that gets closed as soon as it pops up :D

[Virogenesis]

My wife generally likes Ubuntu.

But she basicly refuses to use it. Why?

She can't get her head around the fact that webpages for windows and firefox aren't the same. Her banking websites only work in IE. She also wonders why a desktop Windows system can't have a server on it like ubuntu can. Well ok apache can run on windows but I would never in a million beers do such a thing.

So she uses her 32bit XP laptop, I use the 32bit Ubuntu on 64bit Intel. We have 64bit windows installed on this machine too, but I made the partition too small. D'oh. Even the 64bit windows security features cause her trouble on her websites.

She is a speed demon. She wants her websites to open in a serious hurry. My firefox is a little slow and I am not sure why. I am comfortable, she would hate it.
Well you could always install IE with the use of wine or use the user agent to trick those banking sites into thinking the browser is, and to make firefox faster you can apply a teak to the config file by typing about:config into the location box will bring up the hidden options of firefox.

heres a link for some tweaks.

http://www.tweakfactor.com/articles/tweaks/firefoxtweak/4.html

[warp99]

and make yourself comfortable on the sofa for the night :D

You've got a short leash if the misses makes you sleep on the sofa for something like that!!! :rolleyes:

[bluenova]

You've got a short leash if the misses makes you sleep on the sofa for something like that!!! :rolleyes:
You know it makes sence :D

[Lord Illidan]

This has gotta be the funniest thread I have seen here...

Just install Windows if she wants it... Not worth getting into a fuss over Linux... just tell her "I told you so" when she starts complaining.

[warp99]

If you can point out how guilty she would be using windows. Check out what M$ is doing to IT sub-contractors:

http://www.contractoruk.com/news/002673.html

You can say "Look what M$ is doing to it's sub-contractors. These people have children to feed and clothe. I can't support a company that that treats people like Dixie cups. Can you?". :mrgreen:

[BoyOfDestiny]

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3609511

Rebounding from recent reports that China hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Word to launch a Trojan horse, Microsoft is advising users to run the application in "safe mode."

Well... I'm not a fan of that lame patch tuesday BS... Ask her if it's fun to leave a system vulnerable until a specific date each month...

For Ubuntu and other GNU/Linux distros... we normally get patches ASAP...

[bruce89]

http://www.internetnews.com/security/article.php/3609511

Rebounding from recent reports that China hackers are exploiting a zero-day vulnerability in Word to launch a Trojan horse, Microsoft is advising users to run the application in "safe mode."

Well... I'm not a fan of that lame patch tuesday BS... Ask her if it's fun to leave a system vulnerable until a specific date each month...

For Ubuntu and other GNU/Linux distros... we normally get patches ASAP...
When did M$ start doing this as it seems extremely stupid, although for big network installations it makes sense?

[aysiu]

I remember when Firefox was in its early stages (1.0.3, 1.0.4, etc.), there were a lot of Secunia warnings about Javascript exploits. Their advice: "Turn off Javascript."

Yeah, that makes browsing very practical.

Well, now that I have the NoScript extension, I don't think it's such a big deal. NoScript automatically turns off Javascript for all sites unless you approve them. So it took a while to get my "whitelist" going, but now that I have it, it's very rare that I'll need to add a new site to the list, and the rest... I don't mind if Javascript is turned off for them.

[polo_step]

Well, now that I have the NoScript extension, I don't think it's such a big deal. NoScript automatically turns off Javascript for all sites unless you approve them.
As far as I've been able to determine, it's a very good extension. I use it constantly.

I'm not fully convinced of the usefulness of "SiteAdvisor" so far, though. :-k

[aysiu]

As far as I've been able to determine, it's a very good extension. I use it constantly.

I'm not fully convinced of the usefulness of "SiteAdvisor" so far, though. :-k What's SiteAdvisor?

[polo_step]

What's SiteAdvisor?
It's a much-touted Firefox extension from McAffee: http://www.siteadvisor.com/

It's supposed to sniff out dangerous sites, but it seems to mainly have false positives, like misinterpreting verification e-mail from retail sites as spam, etc. It's interesting, though. Try it. I think it's currently XP-only, though.

[aysiu]

It's a much-touted Firefox extension from McAffee: http://www.siteadvisor.com/

It's supposed to sniff out dangerous sites, but it seems to mainly have false positives, like misinterpreting verification e-mail from retail sites as spam, etc. It's interesting, though. Try it. Yeah, I prefer my own "whitelists" to other people's. Thanks for the link.

[bruce89]

What, you blocked up all your windows in your house!

Sorry, bad joke.

[mrpeanut]

I installed Ubuntu on my fathers laptop, and so far he has been satisfied. He was running WindowsME(what a waste of space that was). Our only problem was that he didn't have 'permissions' to write to his usbdrive suddenly. Turns out he pulled it prematurely and corrupted everything](*,) Other than that, which had nothing to do with the software, everything has been great!

[morequarky]

Thanks for the link.

I tweaked about:config before and it made firefox snapier but the changes didn't last. For some reason over time the changes I made wore out. Cache issues or something. Either way, I made some more changes from that website and it is snappy again.

[mrgnash]

Aysiu. at least your wife is in the good side of the fence.

No-one who has ever had to deal with Apple's DRM and pro closed software/Windows bias, would ever confuse Apple as being on the 'good side of the fence.' That's like claiming Google are on the 'good side of China's firewall,' i.e. in support of it.

Anyways. I think it's worth investigating why Ubuntu/Linux isn't crossing the gender gap, at least in marital environments. Perhaps it still retains the stigma of being a recondite hobby-OS. A bit like the geek equivalent of golf course or old car restoration. :D

From my own experience though, my sisters both got me to install Ubuntu on their systems after they found out all the great software they'd been using on my laptop like Amarok, KRecipes, Evolution, etc. was all free -- both in the sense of crashes, and dollars :) They also liked the fact that Ubuntu was so much 'prettier,' which I have to admit is one of the biggest draws for me to :) That's why it's hard for me to fathom why someone who actually sat down with Ubuntu for any period of time would 'hate' it. :-k

[Nonno Bassotto]

My only experience in installing linux for a friend.
She's a mathematician, so she needs to write in LaTeX, and she asked me to install linux to accomplish this task. I replied her: "I would be happy to install linux for you, but are you sure you don't want me simply to install MikTeX or some other TeX distribution for windows?". Still, she was used to write in TeX under linux with emacs, so I did the task (after pointing out you can use emacs for windows).
I installed breezy and was quite proud of the result: everything, included her webcam and wifi, was working, I set up a really good-looking desktop and every app she would need (even some apps she didn't think of, but found useful when I showed them to her) :-D . She really liked the result too, except for the fact that she didn't want gaim for her msn messaging (because you can't send smileys with gaim, and she's always sharing smileys with friends when she's at the computer). So I followed an howto to install amsn 0.95 with all themes and plugins and webcam support and whatever else.
I thought she would make the change soon and assured her I could help in case of any problem. Now three months have passed, so I asked her if she used ubuntu and if she did like it.
The answer was somthing like: "Actually I don't use it. When I'm at the computer I always use MSN Messenger, and I don't like that aMSN you installed. So I always boot in windows." :(
I mean, she didn't even told me what was wrong with amsn, nor she asked me to fix what she didn't like (and I was too disappointed to ask). I don't want to think she likes msn more because of the eye-candy, since it is one of the ugliest apps I can think of (I sometimes boot into windows and use amsn on it as well). She is now using a 10G partition ona 30G laptop only to write in LateX when she needs to.
What can i think? She deserves windows and all the spyware and whatever else (200+ result from SpywareS&D last time I checked for her).

[NewDisciple]

My wife has windows on her laptop and I have linux/ubuntu on mine. It's taken some time to get her to try to figure things out on her own, so the last thing I would do is spring a new OS on her. For the sake of marital harmony the way to go is two computers. That way you can slowly show her the advantages of your system and she may eventually ask for it to be installed on her machine. Good Luck!

[cocox]

this thread is so funny!! hahha im still not married but i have the same problem with my family :rolleyes: i asked them for start using ubuntu.... and they try it once... but of course the reply me for windows:-? they didnt like the messenger and the totem etc... and his f...g office lol.... WTF that one of the reasons why i cant switch completlely to linux but im doing my best :mrgreen: .... for avoid problems i have now windows and ubuntu ... i must keep the peace in my place lol

[warp99]

Here's another idea. Print the Microsoft EULA Explained here at this site:

http://linuxadvocate.org/articles.php?p=1

After printing, put the pages up on the fridge or someplace conspicous. Highlight the areas where microsoft may share information with other compaines and remove or add certain software or files without your knowledge. Then next to the EULA leave a copy of an NSA spying news article on how the government is collecting information on U.S. citizens. It won't take long to put two and two together. :D

[Mau]

All you must simply do is install some spyware and viruses. Make the computer super slow, then walk in with your laptop and start playing an intensive 3D game while their email client loads.

[Sef]

My wife's a graphic designer and needs her Adobe Creative Suite. She loves her Mac, and she's too computer savvy for me to replace it with Ubuntu and have her not notice.

Poor aysiu. I feel sorry for you. :lol:

[warp99]

Microsoft was a client of Jack Abramoff between 1998-2004, something that the media forgets to inform us about. As with the Indian casinos, Abramoff directed campaign contributions from Microsoft to members of congress and the chimp himself:

http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=210#Links

Microsoft also funds certain right wing think tanks such as the Cato Institute and the Heartland Institute:

http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/61746/

So you have to understand by using Microsoft products your supporting the corrupt political machine we have to endure here in the United States. :evil:

[Jeff Johnston]

I also bought my wife a Mac, and we have not looked back. So I have Ubuntu and she as her Mac and we are both happy :).

[tminton]

Microsoft was a client of Jack Abramoff between 1998-2004, something that the media forgets to inform us about. As with the Indian casinos, Abramoff directed campaign contributions from Microsoft to members of congress and the chimp himself:

http://www.capitaleye.org/inside.asp?ID=210#Links

Microsoft also funds certain right wing think tanks such as the Cato Institute and the Heartland Institute:

http://lxer.com/module/newswire/view/61746/

So you have to understand by using Microsoft products your supporting the corrupt political machine we have to endure here in the United States. :evil:

Actually MS spreads it's politcal funding, and plenty of it, around on both sides of the aisle.
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0701-07.htm
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-835267.html

So, which ever side you fall on, you can sure MS has helped the other side.....:-k

[cocox]

i tried to switch my family users into ubuntu too.... but they thought is too complicated and they also like the winrofl look... so i think its ok i tried it.... i dont have time for complain lol so i left their m$ win xp in my hd ..... everything'll be ok if i keep my roots :mrgreen:

[warp99]

Actually MS spreads it's politcal funding, and plenty of it, around on both sides of the aisle.
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/0701-07.htm
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-835267.html

So, which ever side you fall on, you can sure MS has helped the other side.....:-k

The common dreams article is dated July 2001 and is based on the 2000 election cycle. So obviously Microsoft was hedging their "bets" so to speak, but the second article states the following:


"The analysis of donations by political party shows some surprising results. While Microsoft donations favored Republicans (who got 72 percent of the money from 1995 to 1998), its employees were more inclined to support the Democrats. Democratic PACs received $222,100 from the company's employees, compared to the $42,875 for Republican PACs."

Microsoft, the corporation, favors republicans as the article you presented states, but the employees favor democrats. That is reasonable since Washington state is considered a more progressive state then most in the Union. So my position that Microsoft supporting the corrupt government machine is still supported by your own notations, plus you haven't addressed the Jack Abramoff connection.

Neither article mentions anything about the direction of campaign contribution by Jack Abramoff or the pay to play circus for access to key political figures all with the blessing of Tom Delay. You have to remember that Jack Abramoff hated democrats, so guess were the money was funneled? Of course that's not the only thing about Microsoft's contributions.

The Cato Institute is a minority view of the general public. The main focus of Cato is adamant opposition to government regulation believing the free market has all answers to economic development. This thinking in reality is madness in the making as one can only look at the resent debacle of Enron to understand that unregulated free markets are not the road to utopia, but there's more.

One institute I forgot that Microsoft funds is the Heritage Foundation. I'm sure you've heard of them. Similar to Cato in ending government regulations, but pretty much believes that the social safety net of society should be eliminated. You can pretty much see the effects of this ideology with what happen during hurricane Katrina. How about the mitigating factor of global warming with regards to Katrina? According to Heritage it doesn't exist and if so free market forces can correct any unintentional environmental problems.

Now let's review. Microsoft supports extreme right wing groups that believe in ending a social safety net, the non-existence of global warming, and unregulated free markets. So if you buy Microsoft products then you must belief in the same things, right? I mean why would you give your hard earned money to somebody that would use that money against your own best interest, correct?

One final thought on the subject. When RMS says free software means freedom it is so true on more levels then you can imagine. Now who ever said that software isn't political? :mrgreen:

[TheRealEdwin]

I jsut tried making my XFCE(/KDE in this case) look like WinXP, maby something like this could help you.

http://img106.imageshack.us/img106/9390/ubuntuxp0tm.th.png (http://img106.imageshack.us/my.php?image=ubuntuxp0tm.png)
I've been searching the forums for a visual theme for Ubuntu that makes it look like windows, because otherwise my mom wont use it.

[isotonic]

.

[jason.b.c]

I've been searching the forums for a visual theme for Ubuntu that makes it look like windows, because otherwise my mom wont use it.


How about this..?? :D

http://www.icewm.org/

http://themes.freshmeat.net/projects/icewmsilverxp/
http://themes.freshmeat.net/screenshots/38914/41395/

or

http://themes.freshmeat.net/projects/winclassic/

[Rhapsody]

Dealing with my parents when I changed over to Kubuntu was fairly easy. There's an unspoken rule that this is my PC, so I get to choose all of the software. Also, my dad never uses the PC (classic technophobe, all of his requests are done by proxy) and my mum only uses the PC for internet browsing or e-mail (which are both easily done under Linux).

I've thought about creating a seperate user account for my mum with restricted privilages, but I see little point. I generally supervise her usage anyway (Quick story: She once got tricked by one of those banner ads designed to look like a window. That's pretty bad, but it was designed to look like a Windows 95 window, and we were using Windows XP with the Luna Silver theme! They look completely different! Good thing I was there.). I should still do it anyway though. I'll have to add it to my growing to-do list...

[sherlock-holmes]

tell her that....

1. office costs more than 300$
2. antivirus costs $60-$100
3. operating system XP $100

so with that valuable 500$ .... choice of

1. she could get her haricut atleast 15 times...
2. buy an extravagent make-up travel kit
3. atleast 6 pairs of summer clothing
4. some kitchen items...
5. some pink dolls worth millions to them but nothing for the family...

else sacrify those and spend on binblows and get screwed up with spyware, malware, viruses, hacks, autodialers, blue screen of death, memory error, identity theft, severe bluish face tan, and all those mighty unsolicited search bars in IE...

now...what doest she want???

[3rdalbum]

(Quick story: She once got tricked by one of those banner ads designed to look like a window. That's pretty bad, but it was designed to look like a Windows 95 window, and we were using Windows XP with the Luna Silver theme! They look completely different!)

To be fair, some Windows XP windows look like Win 98. Look at the DOS terminal window and the "There is no disk in drive E:" box.

[bigken]

What I would like to know is who wears the pants juts get a grip and tell them no you cant have windows back [-(

[isotonic]

.

[pkslot]

My wife's the best.

We talked about installing Ubuntu 6.06 on the desktop she uses, the other day. She replied something like "as long as my 20 gigs of pictures don't get screwed up, i'd be delighted to try it out". She's a photographer, and a damn good one too, so i'll have to find a way to get her camera, a canon eos 350d, integrated, so she can use gimp to edit her pictures.

Needless to say, i really love my wife, but thats just one of the many reasons why :wink:

[bluenova]

My wife's the best.

We talked about installing Ubuntu 6.06 on the desktop she uses, the other day. She replied something like "as long as my 20 gigs of pictures don't get screwed up, i'd be delighted to try it out". She's a photographer, and a damn good one too, so i'll have to find a way to get her camera, a canon eos 350d, integrated, so she can use gimp to edit her pictures.

Needless to say, i really love my wife, but thats just one of the many reasons why :wink:
I have a 350D and it works great. I use digicam to organise pics and the gimp for editing. Only thing is you need to change a setting in the menu 'Communication' needs to be 'Print/PTP' then it will connect fine. PM me if you need any more info.

[pkslot]

I have a 350D and it works great. I use digicam to organise pics and the gimp for editing. Only thing is you need to change a setting in the menu 'Communication' needs to be 'Print/PTP' then it will connect fine. PM me if you need any more info.


Great, thanks man =D>

I'll tell her that the upcoming switch isn't that far away then ;)

[mips]

I might be wrong but I don't think your wife is going to like the gimp. gimpshop might be more appropriate. Problem with gimp is that it only has 8bit support and this is a problem for serious photographers.

Cinepaint unfortunately is slow to release Glasgow.

[sherlock-holmes]

man, the females on this forum will be baying for your blood with a post like this. :mrgreen:

that's if the mods don't get to you first....be afraid, very afraid! :-({|=

edit: actually mine wasn't that politically correct either and they haven't "fixed" me yet...so there might be hope for the both of us.:razz:


i am not against women... my gf is good with computers...i was just telling from the statistics of what they like... they have reportedly higher EQ than men.....and they are equally capable of becoming a nerd or a wiz...:roll:

try to listen to a bevy or girls talking...its highly unlikely that they will end up with something related to politics, computers, techno etc...even though they migh discuss some of those... but in the end ....

[?????]

tell her that....

1. office costs more than 300$
2. antivirus costs $60-$100
3. operating system XP $100

so with that valuable 500$ .... choice of

1. she could get her haricut atleast 15 times...
2. buy an extravagent make-up travel kit
3. atleast 6 pairs of summer clothing
4. some kitchen items...
5. some pink dolls worth millions to them but nothing for the family...

else sacrify those and spend on binblows and get screwed up with spyware, malware, viruses, hacks, autodialers, blue screen of death, memory error, identity theft, severe bluish face tan, and all those mighty unsolicited search bars in IE...

now...what doest she want???


More accurate:

OS Costs $200 ($300 if pro)
Office - $300
Antivirus - $40-$80
Firewall - $40
Snd maybe some paid antispyware = $30

That would be $580-$750. See how using windows and getting proper settings can be about the price of a new computer?

[isotonic]

.

[dralaroc]

The games gentlemen, the games! I showed my wife some of the games let her play and bam!!! Got her hooked, she is frozen-bubble playin' fool. She also plays that gnometris & xgalaga. Sometimes I have to wait to get on my own pc cuz she is shootin' those frozen bubbles :). She is getting used to openoffice for her work stuff, so all is good here.

[RAV TUX]

Ok my wife is sick of Ubuntu and wants windows back, she hates ubuntu and has been on my back about it for a while now. I'm gonna partition my hard drive half windows and half ubuntu but i wanna know if there is a way i could use my drivers from ubuntu on windows cuz finding dell d600 drivers is a pain in the ***.

Just give her what she wants, then take her out for a nice dinner after a full day of shopping.

Just make her happy already.

[PingunZ]

Just give her what she wants, then take her out for a nice dinner after a full day of shopping.

Just make her happy already.

Hehe, buying flowers is also an option :)

Is there a way to convince your parents that linux is better than Micro$oft ?
Cause they know it does the same, but they still think MS is better ](*,)
I certainly will make it dual boot, so that they don't lose anything :)
But convincing them to actually USE linux is so hard :p

Grtz PingunZ

[Stormy Eyes]

But convincing them to actually USE linux is so hard :p

Let them use Windows. Flatly refuse to help them with Windows-related problems.

[bigken]

Hehe, buying flowers is also an option :)

Is there a way to convince your parents that linux is better than Micro$oft ?
Cause they know it does the same, but they still think MS is better ](*,)
I certainly will make it dual boot, so that they don't lose anything :)
But convincing them to actually USE linux is so hard :p

Grtz PingunZ

scaredy cat pmsl lol

let work as hard as we do :grin:

[bigken]

Let them use Windows. Flatly refuse to help them with Windows-related problems.


Yo u the man =D>

[oyvindaa]

My mrs won't allow me to install Ubuntu on her laptop, saying she haven't got the time to learn a new OS. Yet she still use my Ubuntu computer a lot and she's never complained. Women! (tongue in cheek)

[Nonno Bassotto]

Quite off-topic, but is your avatar Bob?

[Reshin]

It's okay to force someone else to learn a whole new system but not to do even a slightest research to improve the one (s)he's using?

[oyvindaa]

Quite off-topic, but is your avatar Bob?

Yes it is. Quality show :cool:

[Stormy Eyes]

It's okay to force someone else to learn a whole new system but not to do even a slightest research to improve the one (s)he's using?

If it's my machine, nobody else gets a say in the matter. If you want to use my computers, you will do so on my terms. Don't like it? Get your own computer.

[Reshin]

If it's my machine, nobody else gets a say in the matter. If you want to use my computers, you will do so on my terms. Don't like it? Get your own computer.
Missed out it being your computer....well, have fun

[Mr_J_]

I might not have a wife, but I understand people bitching around for no really good reason... Also not paying atention to what you say...

Personally I say that if she constantly uses the computer and makes you use less than you'd want, just purchase another computer in the near future.

If she wants a computer just make an effort and buy yourself an ubuntu lappy and let her keep the pc... or the other way around! Depends on who needs a personal mobile computational device.

[raffytaffy]

If youre having a problem with your wife install a new one lol :))

[missmoondog]

as much as i don't want to, it looks like i might have to reinstall winblows on my wifes computer just so we can use the digital camera (kodak CX7530). i can't get the stupid thing to work for nothing. worked right out of the box in Ubuntu/Gnome, but i switched everything over to Kubuntu/KDE after having tested Mandriva/KDE a few weeks ago.

[weatherman]

why not try kubuntu?

[red_Marvin]

Try google picasa, it detected my canon EOS 350d right away.

[Arisna]

If youre having a problem with your wife install a new one lol :))

:razz:

Yeah, KWife is a lot nicer than the default wife application, but not very well known.

[Coburn]

Scrape up half a grand and buy her a computer? More like $80 at a garage sale, which is what I did. (1.2G Athlon, 512MB) Of course XP freezes up after an hour of just sitting. Maybe I did that setting it up--have to go in and fix it someday soon. But she just wants simplicity and familiarity. Wants the Internet to just work. I'm on dialup, and often it glitches out for no apparent reason.

But what I really wanted to say was what I heard on the radio today.

Bill Gates:
If we made cars as efficiently as we made computers, they would cost $25.
If we made cars as efficiently as we made computers, they would get 1000 MPG.

Paul Harvey:
That's great! But would they crash twice a day?

Hope that cheers y'all up :-)

[kircher]

That was on the radio? That's great! I would just use the approach of letting her use windows, yet give her no support for it. Don't go out of your way to subscribe to AV, don't go out of your way to fix it, and when it dies (it will) then try ubuntu again and tell her "my system has been up longer than XP, and it's running fine, I don't need to format this partition every 2 months (that's how often I had to format XP even when I used antivirus, firewall and antispyware, but I'm fussy. if the computer lost any performance, I'd format it that night). Ubuntu really isn't hard to use, I've been using it (and linux) 2 weeks and the repositories have everything you need, and the command line is quite a good tool as well. Surely you could just put desktop shortcuts for firefox, email client, music software and any application she'd need, and show her the basics, and she could teach herself (that said, some people don't want to learn new things). These last 2 weeks have been my introduction to linux and the community is great. I still have some probs getting my torrent client to connect, which is kinda annoying. But I'm hoping I'll figure it out eventually. I don't urgently need to download anything.

[EdThaSlayer]

How can you hate Ubuntu if its so easy to setup and such???
Your wife might not be used to change...

[-Phi-]

So there have been enough "my wife won't use Linux" posts, here's one from the other side.

I use Xubuntu almost exclusively. It fits my needs just fine, both for math research and everyday. However, I haven't and would never try convincing my fiancé to switch from WinXP. Linux just isn't suitable for him as there is no equivalent to Adobe After Effects and all his other (purchased) software for HD video.

Though he does borrow my laptop to play Frozen Bubble :p

Personally I really don't understand the evangelical attitude.

- Phi

[aysiu]

Personally I really don't understand the evangelical attitude. Nor do I. My wife is quite content with her Mac OS X laptop, and I would never take that away from her. She knows Ubuntu is out there and that I enjoy it--that's enough.

If there's one thing I've learned in life, people don't like to be evangelized to... doesn't matter if it's religion, food, cities to live in, or operating systems! A recommendation isn't a bad thing, though, "Hey, have you read this book? It's great." But shoving it down people's throats? Nope. Bad.

[funkyade]

If youre having a problem with your wife install a new one lol :))

I did, but my package didn't self-extract properly and she came with the wrong headers...

[bsussman]

Only thing my wife needs in windows is access to the last of the 'Publisher' files (that app never should have seen the light of day) to cut and paste them into OpenOffice where they belong.

Firefox, Thunderbird, OO, inkscape, gimp make her happier than that other stuff.

[aysiu]

Shouldn't publisher stuff go into Scribus instead of OpenOffice?

[bsussman]

Shouldn't publisher stuff go into Scribus instead of OpenOffice?

We are finding that OO has plenty of horsepower for the publishing she is doing. Anything pub can do, it seems to be able to do better.

When we need a printer-friendly version, we just export to PDF.

Otherwise the doc is there in OO to edit, convert to MSWord is necessary (for unenlightened co-conspirators) and she doesn't need to contend with yettanotherdarnprogram....

[aysiu]

We are finding that OO has plenty of horsepower for the publishing she is doing. Anything pub can do, it seems to be able to do better.

When we need a printer-friendly version, we just export to PDF.

Otherwise the doc is there in OO to edit, convert to MSWord is necessary (for unenlightened co-conspirators) and she doesn't need to contend with yettanotherdarnprogram....
Ah, good point.

[daynah]

Please, husbands, never install ubuntu over windows without your wife's permission. There might be data she wants. If she's not enough of a computer user to notice that "Hey... this doesn't look right!" then she's probably the same type of computer user that puts personal, emotional files in very odd places.

[Dragonbite]

Please, husbands, never install ubuntu over windows without your wife's permission. There might be data she wants. If she's not enough of a computer user to notice that "Hey... this doesn't look right!" then she's probably the same type of computer user that puts personal, emotional files in very odd places.

That's not a computer issue, that is a respect issue!!

I've changed my Linux plans because my wife doesn't have the time right now to learn how to use Linux instead of Windows! With 3 kids to juggle what time she gets to sit down and do anything on the computer needs to be spent doing what she needs to do on the computer.. not figure out which program to use and then how to use it!

[bsussman]

Please, husbands, never install ubuntu over... windows

(only left the important part (for me))

Never, ever - we freeze the win-disks after verifying that clones still work, install dualboot systems and do not ever wipe out the windozability - we might need it some day - I just went looking for a 2 year old brochure file.

[DoctorMO]

I'd always let my wife select what ever operating system she wanted. but no way would I use windows because of her. it's just too much of a hit.

[General_Ts0]

I'm not complaining. My wife digs her Mac--good for her. I don't believe in trying to convert people to Ubuntu if they don't want to use it.

Hear hear. Why force a square peg into a round hole ? I'll be happy as hell to help someone who wants to learn but I don't have the time or energy to drag the horse to the watering hole.

[Boaslad]

well, one could always try installing a new wife....lmao

Things were smooth for me. I converted a small unused computer over to Ubuntu, simply to "try this thing out". Now, my wife has basically taken over that computer and I have had to convert the other computer just so i can have something to play with LMAO. We still have WinXP, on dual boot only because theres a few apps that we "can't live with out". But I am working on getting VMware working. so maybe that will go away.

[-grubby]

well...I don't have a wife but my family so far has loved Ubuntu. My little sister hated it at first, but then she like it

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Supposedly, my wife has her own computer and I have mine. Her computer runs XP and mine runs various Linux distros and XP.

Our daughter recently got divorced and moved in with us along with 3 grandchildren. I decided I would set up a computer on the first floor of our house for everyone to use. I set a limit of US$500 for the project. I got a refurbished dual core computer with 2GB RAM, 250GB HDD, and a 20" wide screen monitor for US$499 after tax and shipping. All my computers are legal. I spent all the money on the system already so I didn't install any Microsoft products on it. I installed open source.

The grandchildren didn't notice. They are 5 to 10 years old. To them a computer is a computer if it does what you want.

My wife uses spreadsheets a lot since she is a CPA. She was using the open source software rather than climbing upstairs to use the computer in her office. She was surprised when I told her there was nothing Microsoft running on the computer downstairs.

We have an old G3 MAC collecting dust in the corner of a room. I'm thinking about installing Ubuntu on it.

Funny thing is, I'm sitting in a corner of another room using a PC with XP on it to post this because the other Linux boxes are in use. :lolflag:

[lancest]

I control most of the pc's in my home and office and they run Ubuntu Linux mostly! Wife uses Win on getting old laptop. I won't allow MS an important role in my household. No wife of mine will tell me otherwise. She won't admit it but Linux is part of her future (Vista is a joke). No MS virus headaches in this family.

[lzfy]

Until there's an im client with audio/video/winks ](*,) support I don't think I will be able to convert anyone. I tried and failed miserably, just because of that.

[n3tfury]

I control most of the pc's in my home and office and they run Ubuntu Linux mostly! Wife uses Win on getting old laptop. I won't allow MS an important role in my household. No wife of mine will tell me otherwise. She won't admit it but Linux is part of her future (Vista is a joke). No MS virus headaches in this family.

lol, what a joke.