What do you miss in Windows ?

[B0rsuk]

Hi

What do you miss when you're forced to use windows, for instance at work ? Here's my list for now:

- terminal. What do you mean 'no terminal' ? Why do I have to clumsily click around at snail's pace ? Terminal is especially great with yakuake. Go install it now.
Terminal never made my right wrist hurt.


- ability to script things. I can't automate things, I always have to click to do something. With windows, I can no longer make a script that automatically copies stuff from my mother's digital camera, orders the photos, resizes them to 1024x768, and launches konqueror to display them. All with a single icon. Top of iceberg, really.
My mother uses Debian for her desktop and she's very happy.

- virtual desktops. Single desktop is all I get, and it gets messy really quick. And - would you believe it - no 'always on top' feature !

- Kate, the sexiest content editor (not form editor like word). It took me \frac{1}{2} hour to find a windows editor with something as fundamental as character encoding support and code highlighting.

- GIMP. I can't stand photoshop's interface. I used photoshop before GIMP, and GIMP made me keep coming back to Linux.

- kpdf. Poor acrobat needs to load all these adds and features I never use, check for updates, no wonder it loads like 10 times slower.

- apt-get. I have to seach the web to install something, then download it, remember which directory I downloaded to, run the installer, give at least a passing glance to EULA to fish out something fishy, click several times on 'next'. And my desktop/start menu gets cluttered with 5+ shortcuts. This is for each program. Eventually, my 'installers' dir gets VERY cluttered . Even worse, there's typically new version released before I need one of these locally stored installers, so I have to download again.
Even if I need to reinstall linux for some reasons, like to reorder my system partitions, I can get get entire list of my installed programs with 'dpkg -l', and install them all while making some tea.

- can't backup or stash my configuration files in windows.

- my personal settings aren't kept after reinstall, because there's no /home partition.

- I have to refragment my drive in windows, because they couldn't be bothered to design filesystem properly.

[DoctorMO]

I miss having the whole house as aposed to just the windows... get very drafty.

[an.echte.trilingue]

Hi

What do you miss when you're forced to use windows, for instance at work ? Here's my list for now:

- terminal. What do you mean 'no terminal' ? Why do I have to clumsily click around at snail's pace ? Terminal is especially great with yakuake. Go install it now.
Terminal never made my right wrist hurt.


Agreed.



- ability to script things. I can't automate things, I always have to click to do something. With windows, I can no longer make a script that automatically copies stuff from my mother's digital camera, orders the photos, resizes them to 1024x768, and launches konqueror to display them. All with a single icon. Top of iceberg, really.
My mother uses Debian for her desktop and she's very happy.


Have you tried .bat files?



- GIMP. I can't stand photoshop's interface. I used photoshop before GIMP, and GIMP made me keep coming back to Linux.


Gimp is multiplatform. You can download the windows version from www.gimp.org


Hi
- apt-get. I have to seach the web to install something, then download it, remember which directory I downloaded to, run the installer, give at least a passing glance to EULA to fish out something fishy, click several times on 'next'. And my desktop/start menu gets cluttered with 5+ shortcuts. This is for each program. Eventually, my 'installers' dir gets VERY cluttered . Even worse, there's typically new version released before I need one of these locally stored installers, so I have to download again.
Even if I need to reinstall linux for some reasons, like to reorder my system partitions, I can get get entire list of my installed programs with 'dpkg -l', and install them all while making some tea.


Oh you are so right. I love apt.



- can't backup or stash my configuration files in windows.


Sure you can, you just need to find them. Good luck.


Personally, I miss not having to worry about virii.

[skymt]

- terminal. What do you mean 'no terminal' ? Why do I have to clumsily click around at snail's pace ? Terminal is especially great with yakuake. Go install it now.
Terminal never made my right wrist hurt.

Cygwin (http://www.cygwin.com/)


- virtual desktops. Single desktop is all I get, and it gets messy really quick. And - would you believe it - no 'always on top' feature !

Virtual Dimension (http://virt-dimension.sourceforge.net/)


- Kate, the sexiest content editor (not form editor like word). It took me \frac{1}{2} hour to find a windows editor with something as fundamental as character encoding support and code highlighting.

jEdit (http://jedit.org/) or Notepad++ (http://notepad-plus.sourceforge.net/)


- GIMP. I can't stand photoshop's interface. I used photoshop before GIMP, and GIMP made me keep coming back to Linux.

GIMP for Windows (http://gimp.org/windows/)


- kpdf. Poor acrobat needs to load all these adds and features I never use, check for updates, no wonder it loads like 10 times slower.

Foxit Reader (http://www.foxitsoftware.com/pdf/rd_intro.php)

[kuja]

So many things I miss have been mentioned already, so I think I'll name a couple more of the abstract things that I miss.

Stability and security.

[kuja]

Hi
- my personal settings aren't kept after reinstall, because there's no /home partition.


Why not keep the Documents and Settings folder on a seperate partition?

[DoctorMO]

kuja, it's just not the same. it's built as a product not a technoledgy and you can feel it in the very fabric.

[depeo]

I miss amaroK and the zoom feature in compiz in Windows. :)

[skymt]

I miss amaroK and the zoom feature in compiz in Windows. :)

Windows XP comes with a screen zoom application. It's not smooth like in Compiz or Mac OS X, but it works. I expect Vista has something better.

As for Amarok, either check out Foobar 2000, or wait for Amarok 2.0, which will have a Windows port.

[red_Marvin]

The excellent CPU timeslice managment. In ubuntu I can have a program running at "100%" cpu and still have a snappy desktop.

[B0rsuk]

Please keep on topic. I'm not looking for an excuse to use windows.

[halfvolle melk]

- some of the stuff mentioned above
- virtual consoles and the whole multi-user design
- an understandable file system hierarchy

[Wafflesomd]

Directx.

Stupid Directx.....

[angkor]

At work where I have to use windows I don't get to install anything (security reasons) this is what I miss most:

- Workspaces (Aarghgh! 15+ apps open on one workspace!)
- Console - Ctrl+Alt+F1 (and a functional terminal app)
- Amarok
- Mouse over focus (without auto raise, can I enable this somehow?)
- Firefox
- Vim
- Mplayer
- My dictd dictionary
- Modern looks (Xp is too 1999 for me, I prefer gnome+beryl or even metacity)
- All other things I forgot


btw, maybe this should be moved to the new Windows discussion forum :)

[KhaaL]

Directx.

Stupid Directx.....

True... Directx is a evil contained within too many good games ](*,)

[skymt]

- Mouse over focus (without auto raise, can I enable this somehow?)

TweakUI can enable this, and as I recall, all it does is make some registry changes. So you can probably fire up regedit (if your office fascist allows it) and enable it manually.


- My dictd dictionary

Try dict.org (http://www.dict.org/bin/Dict). They have a web-based dict client with all the databases available.

[skymt]

Please keep on topic. I'm not looking for an excuse to use windows.

Some people have no choice. There might be an application keeping them in the dark side. Maybe they work somewhere with a draconian IT department. I'd like to help people find alternatives to these Linux features, to help make Windows use slightly less painful. It's completely on topic. The topic is what people miss in Windows, and I'm showing them how to not miss some of these things as much.


As for what I miss in Windows...

Almost all of my complaints have been covered, but here are a few more.

- Good window manager functions. I'm talking about the crazy stuff here, like Openbox pipe menus or Fluxbox tabs. Windows feels ancient compared to this.

- Trustworthy software. I hate looking for free software on Windows. If it weren't for OSS-focused sites like freshmeat, it would be hopeless.

- Theming everything. Icons, controls, and window borders.

[Nonno Bassotto]

Evince, Synaptic and Listen. Also themeing XP seems soooo complicated!!

[biikman]

Dvdshrink and dvd decryptor

[ATAQ]

I game, I do everything in Linux, Linux only, and Ubuntu, my web site is on Ubuntu!
I don't see the point in limiting yourself to windows, with viruses etc. And I think thinking about windows is a waste, if you realy get into Linux, Windows won't feel right anymore

[Bezmotivnik]

Ease of cut & paste.

[Wafflesomd]

It does copy and paste....

[Bezmotivnik]

It does copy and paste....
Of course, but not as easily. You can't beat that highlight & L/R click thing.

[Pathfinder_]

workspaces. instead of minimizing i just go to another workspace to open a program.

[roachk71]

What do I miss when I'm forced to use Windows? Everything:

GIMP: I've never used Photoshop, and given the chance, I'll download the Windows version of the Gimp for image editing.

Kernel: I love to play around with my kernel configuration; My computer's currently running a fine-tuned custom kernel with ReiserFS support compiled in, and it's snappy.

XMMS: One can do quite a bit with XMMS plugins, for free! About the only equivalent for this wonderful multimedia player is Quintessential Player (also free), but it doesn't have nearly enough plugins.

Audio-convert: I love this nice little script; if you have all the necessary libraries installed, it's a breeze to convert among audio formats.

...And, of course, the GAMES!!! Most of these are open-source and free, and they're usually better than their Windows equivalents.

In my humble opinion, Windows is boring, overpriced bloatware. 'Nuff said. :KS

[angkor]

TweakUI can enable this, and as I recall, all it does is make some registry changes. So you can probably fire up regedit (if your office fascist allows it) and enable it manually.

I'll try when I go to work later, but I doubt the fascists will allow me to :).

[GrimRazer]

I miss Free(as in beer)dom ;)

[Xace123]

* My hardware: Windows has trouble detecting some basic hardware such as some onboard audio, and then I must go to the manufacturers website and download the drivers. That is if I happen to know the manufacturer of my motherboard, and then guess guess the name of the driver I must download. Ubuntu works out of the box.

* My computer: When I use some Windows computers I have the feeling that it's not my computer anymore. It seem that every vendor from which I have purchased software or hardware feels it has the right to use the OS interface to advertise their products and services, or install software I do not want. This effectively turns my computer into a big billboard.

There are vendors that replace parts of the OS with their own components. For example they add items to the menus that point to their applications, or they install applications that reside in the taskbar and frequently remind you to "Register". This applications are usually very difficult to disable or uninstall. And only serve the vendor interests not mine.

One clear exemple of unintended software installations are printer drivers. Usually when you install printer drivers you must also install several applications that the vendor has decided that you must also install.

[Wafflesomd]

* My hardware: Windows has trouble detecting some basic hardware such as some onboard audio, and then I must go to the manufacturers website and download the drivers. That is if I happen to know the manufacturer of my motherboard, and then guess guess the name of the driver I must download. Ubuntu works out of the box.

* My computer: When I use some Windows computers I have the feeling that it's not my computer anymore. It seem that every vendor from which I have purchased software or hardware feels it has the right to use the OS interface to advertise their products and services, or install software I do not want. This effectively turns my computer into a big billboard.

There are vendors that replace parts of the OS with their own components. For example they add items to the menus that point to their applications, or they install applications that reside in the taskbar and frequently remind you to "Register". This applications are usually very difficult to disable or uninstall. And only serve the vendor interests not mine.

One clear exemple of unintended software installations are printer drivers. Usually when you install printer drivers you must also install several applications that the vendor has decided that you must also install.

I hate pre-installed software, so, so much.

[3rdalbum]

1. Middle-click pasting
2. Apt-get
3. Acid:rip and dvd:rip
4. DeVeDe
5. A less cluttered Applications menu
6. Good multi-tasking - I can't believe how bad the multi-tasking is on XP Home
7. AisleRiot Solitaire - but I'm sure there are good Solitaire games for Windows.

[der_joachim]

A good media player like Amarok is sorely missed here. One other app I find myself using more and more, is basKet. I like keeping lots of notes, and keeping those notes organized in some way.

I am quite lucky actually. My boss allowed me to install Kubuntu on my workstation. For some things though (like using the MS SQL client software), I still need windows.

[.t.]

Everything said so far, plus scrolling on the volume control icon to change the volume. This gets really annoying!

[roachk71]

That's one more thing I really miss about this Linux Box of mine when using a Windows computer: A clean system with privacy. :)

[engla]

Many things. Windows is not a complete desktop, partially due to the neglect of my local administrators;

At the university we have lots of linux boxes (with debian) and lots of windows boxes, sometimes we have to use windows for certain proprietary apps.

The problem is that the only things on those boxes are things that the uni bought -- like €1000-10,000 apps for mecanics or simulations. That leaves the windows environments bare, with no GIMP, latex, etc etc.. to get a full range of small but useful applications (like GIMP for making or touching up a report illustration), you have to use the debian boxes.

[anaconda]

I miss terminal, and better control of the system, and faster reaction times