Avoid the pain of Windows 8, use Ubuntu

[JDShu]

http://www.ubuntu.com/#12.10

Good marketing? Bad marketing? I'm not sure. Two years ago, I would have cheered. A year ago I would have boo'd. Now I don't have an opinion about it, but I wonder how effective it is.

[mr-woof]

I think its a bit of a joke and if its gets some press, any advertising is good advertising, or so they say.

I'm just upgrading from 12.04 now, fingers crossed it goes ok

[KiwiNZ]

I believe that marketing should accentuate the benefits and features of your product and not the negatives of any competitor. It is negative marketing and brings on a negative mood, the purchaser is likely not to buy either.

[grahammechanical]

So, no pain in trying to dual boot Ubuntu with windows 8? We'll see. By that I mean us on Ubuntu forums. We will be the people trying to put ointment on any pain.

Regards.

[mamamia88]

well anyone looking to switch to ubuntu because of windows 8 doesn't need to be told that windows 8 is going to suck. so this whole take a jab at windows is kind of point less.

[johnnybgoode83]

I believe that marketing should accentuate the benefits and features of your product and not the negatives of any competitor. It is negative marketing and brings on a negative mood, the purchaser is likely not to buy either.

Tell that to the Politicians :P They are forever telling us why you should not vote for the competition and not why you should vote for them.

[philinux]

It does seem In a way to go against the ubuntu code of conduct. Since I've never tried W8 I've no position on it.

I can't understand slagging off win 8 on ubuntu.com I thought we were above that.

[Penguin360]

When I first saw that, I asked "what pain of Windows 8 are you talking about?"

[jrog]

I don't see anything about Windows 8. Am I just oblivious or have they changed it?

[Penguin360]

Apparently, the wording was changed.

Attached is a screen shot of the old page.

[philinux]

Indeed.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

[Dlambert]

Now "your wish is our command"

[jrog]

Apparently, the wording was changed.

Attached is a screen shot of the old page.
Thanks for the screenshot. To answer the OP, I don't like it myself, but is it good or bad marketing? Probably good; it has people talking about Ubuntu.

[azangru]

It is negative marketing and brings on a negative mood, the purchaser is likely not to buy either.

Think Mac vs PC TV ads. They were fun! :)

[sffvba[e0rt]

Well looking at all the changes in Ubuntu recently and the users reactions I think the initial statement of Windows 8 is more accurate than the current one.


404

[forrestcupp]

Think Mac vs PC TV ads. They were fun! :)

Exactly. Every company in the world advertises negatively about their competitors. We could probably easily list a hundred examples. It's not out of the ordinary, so I don't think it's a big deal.

It was probably a joke, anyway, seeing how quickly they changed it. Either that, or somebody got in trouble for putting that on there. :)

But it's true, anyway. The fact that Windows 8 is crap for the PC is one of the main reasons I'm using Linux full time right now. I know I could keep using Win7, but I just don't like the direction they're going and how they're throwing the PC under the bus.

[Penguin360]

But it's true, anyway. The fact that Windows 8 is crap for the PC is one of the main reasons I'm using Linux full time right now. I know I could keep using Win7, but I just don't like the direction they're going and how they're throwing the PC under the bus.

I wish I could use Ubuntu full time, at least at home (I am a Windows developer, so I have to use Windows at work). But every time after I used Ubuntu for a while, I had to either to dual boot with Windows, or just roll back to Windows. Office suite is the biggest stumbling block, and I don't believe LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) can replace Microsoft Office, oh boy, did I just touch a sensitive topic here?

[KiwiNZ]

Exactly. Every company in the world advertises negatively about their competitors. We could probably easily list a hundred examples. It's not out of the ordinary, so I don't think it's a big deal.

It was probably a joke, anyway, seeing how quickly they changed it. Either that, or somebody got in trouble for putting that on there. :)

But it's true, anyway. The fact that Windows 8 is crap for the PC is one of the main reasons I'm using Linux full time right now. I know I could keep using Win7, but I just don't like the direction they're going and how they're throwing the PC under the bus.


Hmm it's not the way it is done here, although a couple of Banks have tried it of late and the campaigns were cut short following negative feed back.

[rg4w]

Well looking at all the changes in Ubuntu recently and the users reactions I think the initial statement of Windows 8 is more accurate than the current one.
I liked the original more than the current one myself, but I wonder if the original woudl be considered a violation of the CoC:


Trolling, Attacks and Flaming: These are always forbidden.

Trolling is posting in a way that provokes emotional responses.
Attacks and derogatory terms of any kind are not welcome. This includes references to other operating systems and the companies that produce them.

[Mikeb85]

The current message is better.

Windows 8 isn't even a bad system BTW, it's just different. New users would have to get used to Unity anyway, which is also different (and thus bad).

[vasa1]

... and I don't believe LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) can replace Microsoft Office, oh boy, did I just touch a sensitive topic here?

Which is better is subjective and depends on what all one chooses to factor in in order to decide.

As far as it being a sensitive topic, I'm sure it should be for those who are locked into a pay-as-you-go upgrade situation.

It's a bit amusing to note that MS Office is now the last bastion being defended. At one time, it was Internet Explorer that was touted as the must-have. Bad coding and browser-sniffing held that facade up as long as possible but the market went on its own way.

So all the best to those who seem to be earning their livelihoods from pushing MS Office.

[Mikeb85]

I wish I could use Ubuntu full time, at least at home (I am a Windows developer, so I have to use Windows at work). But every time after I used Ubuntu for a while, I had to either to dual boot with Windows, or just roll back to Windows. Office suite is the biggest stumbling block, and I don't believe LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) can replace Microsoft Office, oh boy, did I just touch a sensitive topic here?

Google Documents in my experience is much more useful than LibreOffice. I also prefer it to MS Office.

[vasa1]

...
Good marketing? Bad marketing? ...
I'm going with bad marketing. Kudos to whoever yanked it off the screen.

[lovinglinux]

It does seem In a way to go against the ubuntu code of conduct. Since I've never tried W8 I've no position on it.

I can't understand slagging off win 8 on ubuntu.com I thought we were above that.

I have the same feeling. I even entered the forum, just to comment on that ad, after reading about it on a Brazilian tech news site.

[lovinglinux]

Edit: Sorry, wrong thread. I was posting in the Steam thread. Dunno what happened.

[s.fox]

Apparently, the wording was changed.

Attached is a screen shot of the old page.

Thank you for the screenshot :)

I expect it was removed as it was not in the spirit of Ubuntu and certainly against the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.

I generally don't think it is fair to review or even comment on Windows 8 until it is officially released on October 26th.

[mike acker]

Google Documents in my experience is much more useful than LibreOffice. I also prefer it to MS Office.

the following CSO Online : 6 ways we gave up our privacy (http://www.csoonline.com/article/504793/6-ways-we-gave-up-our-privacy)
is a little dated but highly relevant. if anything we have gone further down the "yellow brick road"... Even Canonical is in this.... like the new "lens" in the 12.10 Dash -- searching into Amazon areas if i remember right

marketing places terrific pressure on the electronic communication industry -- for information about customers. i see this as the main reason i'm switching to Linux: I have no idea what they are running in my Win7 box -- and little hope of ever finding out

[jrog]

I expect it was removed as it was not in the spirit of Ubuntu and certainly against the Ubuntu Code of Conduct.
I've been wondering a bit about this. Maybe this is too off-topic (or a recurring discussion?), but is Ubuntu's Bug #1 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1), sub-titled "liberation," in the spirit of Ubuntu? The bug report specifically singles out Windows (and Mac OS X) as proprietary software, and says that such software "leaves users at the mercy of the software owner and concentrates control over the technology which powers our society into the hands of a few . . . [and] stifles innovation, maintains artificial scarcities, and enables malicious anti-features such as DRM, surveillance, and other monopolistic practices." On these forums, however, I've seen many people say "use whatever works for you" or even recommend that someone stick with Windows, and the above sort of bad-talking of specific operating systems -- particularly ideologically-charged talk that views leaving such operating systems as "liberation" -- seems to be discouraged, if not explicitly against the rules. I'm a bit confused by this.

I'm not trying to push for either side here. Just genuinely uncertain.

[Mikeb85]

the following CSO Online : 6 ways we gave up our privacy (http://www.csoonline.com/article/504793/6-ways-we-gave-up-our-privacy)
is a little dated but highly relevant. if anything we have gone further down the "yellow brick road"... Even Canonical is in this.... like the new "lens" in the 12.10 Dash -- searching into Amazon areas if i remember right

marketing places terrific pressure on the electronic communication industry -- for information about customers. i see this as the main reason i'm switching to Linux: I have no idea what they are running in my Win7 box -- and little hope of ever finding out

Despite the FUD, Google has always been better at preserving privacy than Facebook, Apple, credit card companies, etc... Google makes money on clicks, not on 'selling' data like some people believe. Algorithms based on cookies match users to ads, not some employee looking at the sites you visit...

[Grenage]

Exactly. Every company in the world advertises negatively about their competitors. We could probably easily list a hundred examples. It's not out of the ordinary, so I don't think it's a big deal.

In America, yes; it's rather uncommon and generally frowned upon in the UK.

[forrestcupp]

Office suite is the biggest stumbling block, and I don't believe LibreOffice (or OpenOffice) can replace Microsoft Office, oh boy, did I just touch a sensitive topic here?Yeah, that's a stumbling block for professional work. For my personal work, which is a lot, I've found that LibreOffice works perfectly with .doc and .xls. It's the xml formats that it has trouble with (exporting, not importing). So when I stopped using the MS xml formats, I haven't had any complaints. Regardless, all versions of Office work with wine almost flawlessly. So if you get it installed with Wine, that's one big roadblock out of the way. I used Office 2007 for a long time in Ubuntu.



Windows 8 isn't even a bad system BTW, it's just different. New users would have to get used to Unity anyway, which is also different (and thus bad).No, it's not just different. I don't have any problem at all with Metro, or whatever they call it now. I have a problem with the gimped up desktop mode, which is bad, and I don't even think that's subjective. If they had a sane desktop mode, I wouldn't have any trouble with Win8.



I generally don't think it is fair to review or even comment on Windows 8 until it is officially released on October 26th.But we've had RTM for a while. I think it's perfectly fair to review and comment on it. We've already seen it in its final form.


I've been wondering a bit about this. Maybe this is too off-topic (or a recurring discussion?), but is Ubuntu's Bug #1 (https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+bug/1), sub-titled "liberation," in the spirit of Ubuntu? The bug report specifically singles out Windows (and Mac OS X) as proprietary software, and says that such software "leaves users at the mercy of the software owner and concentrates control over the technology which powers our society into the hands of a few .
Exactly. Obviously it is in the spirit of Ubuntu. It's just not in the spirit of the watered down forum rules.

[Axxon95]

I tried Windows 8 then got rid of it... my custom built desktop computer is not a tablet...
Looking at Windows 8, Windows 7 isn't that bad after all.

[mamamia88]

I tried Windows 8 then got rid of it... my custom built desktop computer is not a tablet...
Looking at Windows 8, Windows 7 isn't that bad after all.i wouldn't use windows 8 for a week even if microsoft paid me $100 to do it much less pay $70 for a copy.

[forrestcupp]

i wouldn't use windows 8 for a week even if microsoft paid me $100 to do it much less pay $70 for a copy.

I'd take $100 to use it for a week. Then I'd dump it and go back to Linux. :D

I don't have a problem with Microsoft, except for their lack of judgment in combining mobile and desktop OSs.

[mamamia88]

I'd take $100 to use it for a week. Then I'd dump it and go back to Linux. :D

I don't have a problem with Microsoft, except for their lack of judgment in combining mobile and desktop OSs.

seriously how hard would it be to keep them separate? you already had them separate so why not chose the appropriate interface for the device in question? or improve the desktop version of windows for desktops and then have the metro ui as a download and try out on windows 8, instead of forcing it down peoples throats? hey maybe even some people would like it and go out and buy windows phones because of it. but metro really has no place on a computer using a mouse and keyboard. you could say the same thing about unit but at least that makes more sense with keyboard and mouse. i seriously don't know what Microsoft was thinking other than "we need to make a serious change or nobody will see a reason to upgrade".

[forrestcupp]

seriously how hard would it be to keep them separate? you already had them separate so why not chose the appropriate interface for the device in question? or improve the desktop version of windows for desktops and then have the metro ui as a download and try out on windows 8, instead of forcing it down peoples throats? hey maybe even some people would like it and go out and buy windows phones because of it. but metro really has no place on a computer using a mouse and keyboard. you could say the same thing about unit but at least that makes more sense with keyboard and mouse. i seriously don't know what Microsoft was thinking other than "we need to make a serious change or nobody will see a reason to upgrade".

Like I said somewhere earlier, I actually don't have a problem with Metro. It works well enough with a mouse that it's not super annoying. My problem with Win8 is that they made the desktop mode way less intuitive. They made desktop mode a pain in the backside to use. They want to railroad people to Metro apps, but they're not taking into account that some applications just need to be run on a desktop.

[mikewhatever]

Let's not start a W8 bashing feast, shall we.
The thread is about something else entirely, and, get real, no one will pay you to use W8!

[nothingspecial]

It's gone now.

So should this thread.

http://imageshack.us/a/img69/5481/suddenlyamuffin.jpg