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  • Originally posted by GreatEmerald View Post
    Indeed. When I have to deal with Windows, I always find it very lacking and very annoying. To make a Windows 8 installation usable, you have to dedicate at least a few days to it (especially when it comes with vendor bloat preinstalled). And it's been a growing trend in Windows, really. Windows 95 didn't need any configuration (and it didn't really have any to begin with), it was usable out of the box. Windows XP added hiding file extensions, hiding the contents of C: and other places, added bloat like MSN messenger etc. Windows Vista added UAC and all its configuration and compatibility problems that come with it, as well as policy issues with regards to driver installation etc. And now Windows 8 threw the whole "ModernUI" with its normally impossible to uninstall apps, privacy problems, lack of a Start menu etc. on top of all that. It just keeps getting worse and worse. And then you have the mainstay problems of updates happening arbitrarily and requiring reboots that involve long periods when activity is impossible (extremely frustrating in time-critical situations, for instance in my case I need to write down notes as soon as I can start my tablet, and if it takes ten minutes to install updates, then I lose a chunk of my notes), abysmal security (on Linux: Anti-virus? What's that?), chaotic and conflict-prone program installation (made worse with the whole UAC thing) and a terminal that lacks even the most basic of tools. So thanks, but no thanks. It's just much better to use Linux, even if looking just pragmatically.
    It sounds to me like you guys can't figure out Windows or be bothered to learn it... If it seriously takes you days to setup a windows machine your skills are obviously lacking. "Impossible to uninstall..." BTW: On Windows 8 You can right click in the bottom left hand corner and get an admin menu, programs and features is at the top of the list for uninstalling applications. There are options to restore a start menu too.

    I think you guys would rather just hate on something than realize the truth.

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    • Originally posted by darkfires View Post
      If it seriously takes you days to setup a windows machine your skills are obviously lacking.
      Don't be that guy.

      When you get used to a piece of software, you forget how much time it took to learn it in the first place. They're not stupid because they can't figure out Windows, they're just used to Linux. It also took them a lot of time to get used to Linux, just as it took you a lot of time to get used to Windows, but your brain has decided that it's not important to remember how long it took to learn it. It's just the way we work.

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      • I'll jump in for the hell of it. I'll have to agree with the "It takes days to set up Windows." camp. We're not just talking about installing it, and then appling all the updates. We're talking about making Windows more usable than as something that launces wordpad or solitaire and collects viruses. You need to install an anti-virus, more than likely drivers for this or that device (this has gotten a lot better since Windows 7 though), and then installing all the applications you plan on using day in and out. Now if you already have the full set burned to a disk somewhere or on a drive, then good for you, it won't take nearly as long. But if you don't, you have to go hunting down all of the tools that you need, and that's what makes it take days.

        With Linux, it's usually as simple as 'apt-get install <package name>' or 'yum install <package name>' or even use your distribution's graphical package manager and mark whatever packages you want, wait howerver long, boom, they're installed. Much easier to make it useful than Windows. Not to mention that the driver issue is really not that big of deal for most people, unless you're a gamer or something, then most things just work out of the box.

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        • In modern Windows, you also don't need to install any drivers, unless you're a gamer or something. (But if you are a gamer, install your damned graphics drivers, srsly.)

          You also don't need to do anything about viruses. Windows 8 comes with Windows Defender installed, which is a pretty decent AV package (it doesn't have as broad coverage as other AV packages (like 91% vs 99%) but it also doesn't have the rampant problems with false positives that others have). Besides which, unless you're in the habit of opening unknown email attachments, you're probably okay with just using an AV rescue disc in an emergency.

          You've got a good point with the package manager, though. (Well, you would, if you didn't mention apt-get and yum; yeah, those are fast, but they're quite clearly only fast if you're experienced with the platform, and you happen to know the exact name of the packages you're interested in. Nothing against these tools -- I run servers, so apt-get is my preference -- it's just not fair to compare a system you have a lot of experience in with a system that you don't.)

          But point taken, it does take me a while to go to each individual website to install Chrome, OpenHardwareMonitor, TortoiseSVN, puTTY, Thunderbird, LibreOffice, GVim, 7-zip, WinSCP, Gimp, Inkscape, Steam, Visual Studio, etc... Libraries are even worse, since Windows has no standard location for them.

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          • Just put Windows 8 on my HP Touchsmart, still had to install the Ntrig drivers, and a few others.

            About apt-get/yum. That's why I mentioned the graphical package managers, type in a search term and you will generally find software for any use, plus many alternatives.

            Half the time when you're downloading software for Windows you have to make sure you uncheck all the extra toolbar bullcrap that is installed along with 'free' software. It's gotten really bad lately.

            Anyhow, as others have pointed out, I guess it's all up to the individual, if you're more comfortable under Windows, more power to you. I still find it odd that a coworker of mine kept saying that he couldn't use Linux as his desktop, even though he was a server administrator. I asked him how he could tolerate having 30 putty windows open, 'cause that's usually about how many terminals I'd have open!

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            • Certain things take ages to install: VS, Office, printer drivers (HP dammit), 3ds products. Pick two or more, and you easily are wasting a day already on those.

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              • I use mRemoteNG on my Windows computer at work.
                It lets you use all the most common protocols. ssh and rdp are the only ones I really need, it doesn't support the tunnel features, X forwarding or local drives mapping like putty or mstsc but works nice with certificates and is compatible to putty configured sessions.

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                • Originally posted by nll_a
                  Hey, www.gamingonlinux.com is great.
                  As the owner of GOL i approve that link , thanks for the plug

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                  • Originally posted by GreatEmerald View Post
                    You must be quite efficient, then. It takes that much merely to install updates and find the drivers, not even talking about configuration.
                    At my work we do a lot of Windows installations and it always drives me crazy that you have to reboot several times to install all updates and hit search manually for it to find all avalible updates, even when you did a check just one reboot ago. When working on Windows it is also increadbyly fustratingn that it will randomly require a reboot for an update and you ofthen have no way of knowing if it will steal the system to compleate the update before you get the desktop back. I have even had Windows exit out of games in order to automatically reboot for an update WTF!

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                    • Originally posted by AJenbo View Post
                      At my work we do a lot of Windows installations and it always drives me crazy that you have to reboot several times to install all updates and hit search manually for it to find all avalible updates, even when you did a check just one reboot ago. When working on Windows it is also increadbyly fustratingn that it will randomly require a reboot for an update and you ofthen have no way of knowing if it will steal the system to compleate the update before you get the desktop back. I have even had Windows exit out of games in order to automatically reboot for an update WTF!
                      you can disable auto reboot for update if really needed http://lifehacker.com/stop-windows-f...date-509712123
                      It means that you are responsible for rebooting in a timely order when a security update is installed, but windows won't do it behind your back.

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