Time For a New Operating System

[billroper]

It's apparently no longer possible to download XP security updates from Microsoft without first loading their so-called "Windows Genuine Advantage Tool", which can malfunction and shut down your entire computer even though you have a perfectly valid operating system license.

If I didn't have so much software that required Windows to operate, I'd download and install some version of Linux this second.

Comments

[filkergem.livejournal.com]

You do know that you can run lots of Windows software in Linux with various of the tools available to do so? For free, there's wine, which is good enough that I was running IE 5.0, 5.5 and 6.0 on my Debian Stable box without much trouble at all. And then, there's at least one similar for-pay product that does more - I forget the name at the moment. And testing this only requires a bit of disk space - you can partition the drive, install a smallish linux partition and try things.

[mdlbear]

There are two commercial Wine derivatives: Crossover Office for M$ Office and other business-related programs, and one for games whose name I can't remember off the top of my head.

Also consider OpenOffice.org, which is a good cross-platform replacement for M$ Office.

[poltr1]

Yeah, WGA is a PITA. I mistakenly installed it on a system at work before I found out about its negative aspects on Brian Livingston's Windows Secrets newsletter and website. I've since removed it from the system.

I've heard some encouraging news about Linspire 5.0. If a desktop version of Linux can effectively support the running of 32-bit Windows apps, then it can start displacing Windows.

You can run Windows on a Mac

[giza.livejournal.com]

(http://www.apple.com/getamac/windows.html)