Linux And Mac Alternative
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For those (like myself) who have tried Linux and decided it’s not quite ready for prime time, there is another option besides a Mac.
Many suppliers, including TigerDirect, are still offering Windows XP, both on machines and shrink-wrapped. Dell just announced that it will offer it on select machines in lieu of Vista. Other manufacturers will follow suit, I expect.
According to Micro$oft’s Support Lifecycle Pages the U.S. support for XP will, in practically all cases, extend to 4/14/2009 for mainstream support and 4/8/2014 for extended support.
This is ample time for the various Linux distros to finish getting their acts together, and anyone who is seriously contemplating Linux in its current forms should have no problem keeping XP running for a long time.
As some know, I’m not a major Micro$oft fan, but the fact is that, apart from a Mac, XP is the most stable OS that won’t kill a bunch of your favorite applications, and it’s well-tested and reasonably secure if you don’t use Internet Exploder (or if you keep IE scrupulously patched).
My own solution: XP Pro SP2 with Firefox and OpenOffice 2.0, and all Open Source peripherals, with Micro$oft utilities disabled whenever possible. By the time my 3.2 Pentium D is ready for the scrap heap, heaven only knows what will be available.
Of course, your mileage may vary.
Tags: linux, apple, mac, windows xp lifecycle
4 Comments
marc klink
April 24th, 2007
at 6:26am
As someone with over 20 years of DOS/Windows experience, I wonder if some of the reticence in adopting any Linux full time has less to do with its readiness, and more to do with using something out of our comfort zone.
Ben Bromiley
April 24th, 2007
at 10:21am
That’s about the same as what I am running but I don’t have/use all the Open Source peripherals
Jack Bradley
April 24th, 2007
at 2:06pm
Anyone who is old enough will remember the problems with DOS 3.0. Not until version 3.3 did we have a fully working package - a command driven OS with bugs in COMMMAND.COM was exciting but hardly practical. Thus started the mantra that you should never use the latest Microsoft OS but wait until the bugs were dealt with.
So old-timers, including me, are not going to move to Vista for a few years yet. Anyway I only moved from Win98 to XP last year. I never took to Linux but mark klink is probably right in that it is a matter of being comfortable.
Bill Webb
April 24th, 2007
at 3:13pm
In my case, I’m perfectly happy with Linux except for the inability to use the programs I’m used to and have already paid for, which is why I didn’t buy a Mac this time. I quite literally use Windows almost strictly for the OS. The only M$ application I use much at all is WIndows Live Writer, which I use for all my blogging because it works seamlessly with WordPress’ online service. (Wouldn’t want to give it up, either.)
Apart from that, I can’t really think of anything of theirs I use except for Windows Update and an occasional scan with their malware tools — and with ZA Pro, Pest Patrol and NOD 32 I only do that to make myself feel virtuous.
If I could keep my Windows-based apps, I’d never look back.