Haha. Windows does not dominate because it is easy to use. If ease of use were the deciding factor, then MacOS would have won out years ago. Most people are already experienced with Windows and that is why they find it easy. If you put two users that had never used a computer before side by side, I'm not sure Windows would be the easiest to master. While it is fairly straightforward to do simple tasks on Windows, things break down when you have to fix something. The interface is so dumbed down, that it's often not possible to find the advanced options needed to troubleshoot a lot of problems. The nice thing about Linux is that once it's setup properly, it generally runs quite well. If one does run into problems, it is easy for an advanced user to troubleshoot. Windows, on the other hand, constantly breaks and gets infected with virii and spyware. Not to mention that things often don't work as expected.
I completely replaced Windows with Linux on the desktop in 2001. Back then, it was not easy. Nowadays, installing Linux is dead simple and a majority of hardware is supported out of the box. The GUI is easy to use and one can generally find software to replace all their Windows applications. I even have my brother and my father running Linux on their Netbooks without any major problems. This could never have happened a few years ago. I would suggest you play around with some desktop Linux distributions, such as Ubuntu and leave Slackware for your servers. Desktop Linux has come a long way and I think it's good enough for the mainstream if people give it a chance and learn how to use it. Linux is not Windows and this is where many people get frustrated. If you put someone who has only ever driven an automatic into a standard, they will think it's confusing at first. However, once you learn how to drive a standard, you can see how fun it is and how much more control you have over the car. Jesse On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 3:20 PM, Juan Alberto Cirez <[email protected]>wrote: > Robert, > You are right of course; but my argument is that Windows have found a way > to address the average user "whining and lazyness"; to the point that a > blind monkey can be productive on a windows machine. > Can anyone argue that pitting two "average" users, side by side; one of a > Windows Machine and the other running a GNU/Linux distro, that the later > will achieve basic proficiency sooner than the former. Please if I am wrong, > let me know. > > Under the hood, Windows is CRAP (I am the first to admit that); but they > have created nothing less than a master piece in presenting this crap to the > user. They have managed to create and interface (along with the hardware > support) that allows the most senile of us to be productive and interface > with a computer system. The proof is in the pudding, so to speak: Windows > has dominated the desktop market for decades. The reason is simple: It is > easy to use. the average user does not care how an OS works; he/she only > cares that it does (preferably without their intervention). > > Robert Lewko wrote: > >> here's my take on it. humans are a lazy bunch of whiners. what they want >> is for all the work to be done for them. somehow they don't get that they >> have to give the computer instructions to do what they want. they are too >> lazy to read any instructions that pertain to the task at hand. instead >> they just want to bitch and complain the interface is too difficult. so >> application designers do the best they can, designing a user interface with >> the best HMI they have, at this point in time it is a display, keyboard and >> mouse, to give the user hints at how to do what they want. where it breaks >> down is that the tasks that the user wants to do are highly abstract, so >> mapping abstract concepts to the HMI is difficult. the average user would >> rather complain than think about how the abstract concept can be translated >> to a keyboard and mouse. >> >> > > -- > > =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= > Juan Alberto Cirez > CFAA/CFAT, AFSA/CFAT-CFET,CIPS/ISP, ASTTBC/CFET, CHI(e) > Sr. Field Service Technician/Project Manager > J. A. Cirez Integrated Technologies, Inc > Fire Protection | IT Services | Security | Home Inspections | Consulting > Tel. : (780)972-4739 > Fax : (780)747-6078 > Email: [email protected] > Web : http://www.jacintech.com > > =*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*=*= > > > _______________________________________________ > clug-talk mailing list > [email protected] > http://clug.ca/mailman/listinfo/clug-talk_clug.ca > Mailing List Guidelines (http://clug.ca/ml_guidelines.php) > **Please remove these lines when replying >
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