Gary Johnson wrote:
[...]
I don't know what you meant by "graphics area", but the usability of
an X window manager such as KDE on Linux far exceeds that of Windows
XP. Things you can do on Linux that you can't do on Windows include
- setting the focus policy to focus follows mouse instead of click
to focus,
- setting the focus/raise policy so that you can change the
keyboard focus to a window without raising it,
- lowering a window by clicking on the title bar, and
- moving a maximized window.
- virtual desktops. This may need some explaining to Windows-only people: On
Windows there is one desktop, period. On X11, at least with some window
managers, you may have up to 20 virtual desktops (you choose how many),
arrange your windows at one or two per desktop in an uncluttered way, and
switch desktops with one mouseclick or keypress. There is a small widget for
each defined desktop in the taskbar, next to the buttons for the currently
running tasks.
- going (in an emergency) to a terminal which doesn't use the graphical
subsystem at all (IIUC, Windows's "full-screen" dos boxes are actually
"windows" displaying in text mode). For instance, if the X server gets hung
because of a misbehaving resources-hog program, Ctrl-Alt-F2 brings me back to
Linux-without-X11, login as superuser, find out (e.g. using "top") which
program is misbehaving, kill it, logout (for security reasons, so as not to
leave an open superuser terminal), then Alt-F7 goes back to the (now unhung) X
server display. No data lost except maybe in the one program I killed. On
Windows I would have to reboot by pulling the plug or hitting the Reset
button, if I didn't get a Blue Screen of Death first.
- modularity: A segment violation in the Windows graphics subsystem brings up
a Blue Screen of Death. A segment violation in the X11 server kills it, the
"init" program notices that the login utility for /dev/tty7 has died and
respawns it, I get a fresh graphical login prompt in a matter of seconds
without doing anything. After I log in, kdm automagically restarts most of the
programs which were killed by the X server crash. (An X11 crash is a rare
occurence on Linux but I have got it -- once; and no kernel panic yet ever. I
don't count my BSODs.)
Plus, KDE allows me to put menus of often-used programs in the task
bar. The Windows Quick Launch menu is similar, but there's only one
of them so it quickly becomes cluttered and no longer quick to
access.
I use both Linux and Windows machines at work with one keyboard,
mouse and dual-monitor display. Windows is OK for some things, but
using it extensively drives me batty. Especially when working with
several programs running in various windows, KDE is much easier to
use.
Regards,
Gary
I cut my teeth on MS-DOS 2.x, moved up to Windows, and recently I switched to
Linux-only. I'm not going back. I would say that kde has an "MS-Windows-like"
look and feel without many of M$W's limitations.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
"I have seen the future and it is just like the present, only longer."
-- Kehlog Albran, "The Profit"
