I'm running xp pro on all my machines. If I ever get a sony vaio, it won't have vista- I hate it. I only wonder how much longer sony will be providing drivers for xp, sigh. I'd love to run Ubuntu on this HP laptop, I just don't know if I'll be able to get drivers for it- better yet, run it on an older desktop I have. I agree with you about the motherboard, that's dumb- buy a new license? No way! And Microsoft office- I don't even have it hear. People are telling me get ms office! at school. I tell them to give me 400 dollars and I will. I hardly use excel, power point and whatnot. I'm proficient enough with them, so why bother buying something I'll never use when they're is a free alternitive? In terms of games, I only mud, it would have been neat to see VMud go to linux.
Have a good day from Tyler C. Wood! contact details: email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] msn: [EMAIL PROTECTED] skype: the_conman283 system details: Hp pavillion dv5220CA notebook pc AMD Turion(tm) 64 Mobile Technology ML-37 2.0 GHZ, 1024 mb DDR ram, Fujitsu 100 gb 4500 RPM Hard Drive, connecsant AC-link audio ----- Original Message ----- From: "Thomas Ward" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: "Gamers Discussion list" <gamers@audyssey.org> Sent: Sunday, August 17, 2008 7:43 PM Subject: [Audyssey] Linux vs Windows was Windows 7 > Hi Tom, > Well, Linux is definitely at the point that a blind user could > technically adopt it as his or her only operating system. I generally > use Ubuntu Linux 8.04 much more than Windows Vista or XP these days. > Thanks to major accessibility improvements to the graphical Gnome > desktop environment over the passed five years there is quite a growing > number of Windows-like applications available to a blind Linux user such > as: a MS Office clone called Open Office, a MS Outlook clone called > Evolution, Mozilla Firefox 3.0, a notepad clone called gedit, a Winzip > clone called File-Roller, etc. > However, like a lot of blind Linux users I do keep a Windows computer on > hand for a few apps that I can't either get for Linux or the Windows > applications are just nicer to use. For example, Linux doesn't really > currently offer a really good OCR package. There are a few OCR programs > such as tesserad-ocr which works, but Openbook 8 blows it away in > scanning clarity, with its scan and read features, etc. On a low budget > PC something like Tesserad-ocr and a Linux compatible scanner will work. > However, Openbook is certainly prefered if you have the money to spend > for it. Since I already own a license for Openbook 8 I don't have any > problems keeping a Windows work station around for scanning materials. > Another application I use on Windows is Sony Soundforge 9. While there > is a pretty decent sound editor for Linux, Audacity, it isn't Soundforge > quality. As agame designer and musician I want the best and most > accessible sound editing software possible. So that expensive software > alone is one reason I keep Windows around rather than using a Linux > alternative at this time. > Finally, there is the issue of accessible gaming. Most of the new games > coming out are Windows only such as the Kitchens Inc games, GMA Games, > Shades of Doom, etc. That puts a Linux user in the position of trying to > get wine, the Windows emulator, to run them, use avirtual machine, or > keepp a Windows box around for gaming. That isn't to say gaming on Linux > is non-existant. > Most of the Adrift 4.0 games can be played with scare 3.9 and later. > They are fairly accessible, and many Linux gaming hours have been spent > playing The PK Girl and other Adrift games. > Also there is a Linux port of fritz. Once you apt-get it from the Ubuntu > update service you can play the inform interactive fiction games. So > between scare and fritz that gives a Linux user several text adventures > to play. > The latest release of gnome-mud seams to be quite accessible and user > friendly. You can play Diskworld, Alter Eon, Miriani, or any other mud > using gnome-mud. > Then, there is your web based games like Sryth. I've found it tricky to > play using Firefox for Linux, but can be done. I haven't tried other > games besides Sryth, but generally if they work with Firefox for Windows > you can play them in Firefox for Linux too. > As you might have read I am rewriting all of my games with a new > multiplatform engine so I can enjoy them on a Mac, Linux, or Windows PC. > I've come to relise that far too many developers are so dependant on > Windows only technologies most don't even know how to break loose from > it and take a wider view of the computing world. Microsoft, the evil > empire, while not a monopoly per say, still holds a solid 80% of the > software market. That is too bad, because for ablind user Mac OS and > Linux are a much cheaper alternative. Since the screen readers come > built into the operating systems that is $300 per year you could save > instead of paying for a yearly SMA on your Windows screen reader. > The office software I use, Open Office 2.4 for Linux, came pre-installed > with Ubuntu 8. It can import and export Word and Excel files, and cost > me nothing to own. That is sure better than paying $450 USD for MS > Office 2007 Pro. That again is money I could spend on other things. > Over the passed year after seeing how much money I was personally > spending to keep my Windows computers operating, and getting stuck with > lots of anti-piracy restrictions on top of it. Especially, when my > motherboard failed, and Microsoft told me point blank to buy a new copy > of Vista I said, "to heck with that crap." I legally paid for that > software, but because Vista's anti-piracy software saw the new hardware > installed it told me I was pirating it, and that wasn't true. In the end > Microsoft believed their software instead of me. > So for me using Linux is my choice to get away from all that corperate > mentality that everyone has millions of bucks to blow, that the software > has to come with lots of anti-piricy protection, and to top it of when > Vista was first released it didn't even have a complete driver library > and bugs up the rear. So I feel why pay x money when there is an os that > has better stability, reasonable accessibility, and most of the programs > I need are for free. In fact, this message was written in Evolution for > Linux. > > Tom Randoll Wrote: >> Hey thanks for this Thomas, this ought to be handy as I am considering >> setting up my spare box as a Linux machine. It would be interesting to >> know if there are folks out there particularly blind ones who are just >> running Linux. What I tend to find with the people that I know around >> here who run it is that they tend to have a Linux system and a windows >> system or two partitions on the same system. This is because they want >> to run Linux when they can and they need to have windows to run a >> specific application or do something that can't be done very well in >> Linux. Now that I think of it I believe that you fall into that camp >> yourself if memory serves. So what if anything do you find Windows to >> be indispensable for? I have personally become so disgusted with >> Microsoft's policies and lack of quality control that when the stuff I >> have will no longer run I will probably be looking for a serious >> alternative to Windows. >> >> Best regards, >> >> Tom > > > > --- > Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org > If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at > http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. > All messages are archived and can be searched and read at > http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] > If you have any questions or concerns regarding the management of the > list, > please send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > No virus found in this incoming message. > Checked by AVG. > Version: 8.0.138 / Virus Database: 270.6.4/1616 - Release Date: 8/16/2008 > 5:12 PM > > > --- Gamers mailing list __ Gamers@audyssey.org If you want to leave the list, send E-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] You can make changes or update your subscription via the web, at http://audyssey.org/mailman/listinfo/gamers_audyssey.org. 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