Google Chrome arrived and I had to log on MS Windows to see how it works. I am so impressed that I don’t really feel like going back to Ubuntu and use Firefox. I have installed Windows Vista, which has Aero theme. I use Chrome and the world is beautiful again.
Honestly, I don’t like Microsoft Windows much. Previously I had trouble getting it configured for my internet, graphics and audio settings. It is just too much work with windows, I thought. But may be I was a little bit too biased towards freedom. I had this feeling that I am a software freedom fighter, I can not use Windows. But I am starting to think differently now.
If I use Windows I have Aero which looks 10 times better than Gnome with compiz and it has Google Chrome which is faster than Firefox and works like a charm.
These new things make me feel good. The graphics aren’t ugly, I have the same visual effects on Ubuntu too but they don’t look that good. Gnome’s interface that I have loved so much, now looks childish and boring. The simplicity has gone to a point where it feels like an insult to the human intelligence.
The windows are too big they take a lot of screen space. The fonts are ugly. Definitely Ubuntu has better support for Urdu Language but Vista is not that bad either. Using Vista I can use the new VLC media player that uses QT and has good looking interface.
I tried searching the Gnome website to see if they have any plans to give me something thats more beautiful than Mac OS X, Vista and KDE4. But I don’t think they have any plans to bring something modern and new for at least a few more decades. I can go for KDE4, and I did. I tried it with opensuse. But it crashed so often and after a week of trial I gave up. I tried KDE4 on ubuntu and the result was the same.
Developers at Gnome should think about improving their simplicity. Give me an intelligent user interface that is smarter than me. Give me better fonts. Don’t fill my screen with thick windows, fat buttons, and king size Icons. The KDE folks if they read it, please make it available for Ubuntu and make rock solid. Every body hates to see the crash handler poping up now and then. and I want VLC with QT ASAP.
Please bring me back to the free world. Please bring something exciting and modern.
BTW, after finishing this post I am going to try KDE for windows and see how it works. It might be unstable like hell but I want to do try it anyways.
Note: I haven’t completely switched to Windows yet. I am just jealous.
@dave
//you will then have KDE4. Being super pretty and awesome//
Funny, i tried that on my dell laptop … and KDE 4’s toolbar is royally fubar’d. The “explosion” effect takes forever (one-year-old laptop). Mozilla 3 in KDE 4 looks like Netscape 4 in Windows 95. CPU and RAM usage are through the roof compared to GNOME.
KDE 4 blows ass. Which simple reaffirms the obvious.
Linux on the server. Windows on the desktop. Done.
Operating system is a tool – you shouldn’t choose you operating system based on license. If you want to play with source then Linux is good choice – but it’s legacy code.
My biggest problem with Linux is the thing people very often expose as a feature of it – package managers. Yes, firefox and openoffice get updated automatically – but some packages aren’t updated in years – you become dependent on some fat ass that is supposed to update distro repository, but who actually doesn’t do his job. So you are back to ‘make install’ which actually sucks more than windows way. I also know for a privilege escalation flaw (you can jump from user to root) that was in Ubuntu and other major distros for more than a year, was reported and NOBODY F***ING CARED. It’s clearly a hype. Created by few very smart people that know how to spin minds of masses just to make lunch with it – and tens of thousands of tinfoil-hat users that believe this hype.
Next – x86 processor architecture isn’t free so why bother running free software on it if proprietary runs better. It’s all free or don’t bother with it. Do you walk because car makers don’t give you instructions on how to build and assemble their cars?
KDE4 is simply not ready for end user yet. It is still in beta (while 4.x series was actually alpha) so there is no blame to it. Gnome is lacking some serious features. Like.. a default clipboard manager and one of the tiny thing which annoy me is the over-simplification of notification area (system tray) which has not even a little function to hide inactive icon.
But I use linux frequently and it just work. :/
Just keep using Windows, it’s good for your sanity. Id you don’t like it, buy a Mac. Anything but Linux madness.
@Jason Brower: which distro do you use for your old laptop?
stick to windows just don’t erase other partitions 😉 i’m not running a web server under my sofa and my xp keep reacting to every end user hardware i plug in (rest asure jason i plug in more than mice) IMHO linux “vendors”/vendors suffer from too much assumed knowledge/time from their users/customers, we are way too biased towards freedom and choice, we forgot about usability
linux cuts it pretty well when i want to perform a specific task (exotic or not) ut when it comes to generic desktop it fails(for me)
have i lost my freedom? no. i just try to find usability
lt
Windows can give a much better experience on the desktop. Linux is only pretty and useful if you are using command line apps and then something like FreeBSD is even better and more stable. Unix on server and Windows on desktop. You can try Mac also – nice interface and many useful apps but it will probably cost you more than Windows computer.
Use what is best for you, works and makes you feel good about using your computer.
I went through a similar experience. Freedom is great, but it still can’t beat usability, compatibility, and polish. I gave up on Ubuntu and GNOME. As far as I’m concerned, GNOME is a relic, and Linux is a waste of my time. I’ve moved to Mac, where I can get a UNIX-based implementation that actually works.
Ditch that Linux yoke.
I wouldn’t bother, dude. Linux is a pile of crap. Nice as an entertaining toy, useless when you want to get things done. After all, Linux is only free because no one can charge for it.