5 dead operating systems, and what their ghosts can tell us

[steven36]

We conduct a séance of sorts to call forth the souls of operating systems past—not so we can gaze upon their ghastly interfaces, but to learn from their tragic demises.

Tremble, mortals! Halloween is upon us. Ghosts, ghouls, and other undesirable creatures are prepared to slink out of their domains and into ours—it’s said that even the dead can rise on Halloween.

In that spirit, let us light some candles, cover the mirrors, and conduct a séance of sorts to call forth the souls of operating systems past. Not so we can gaze upon their ghastly interfaces, but to see if we can learn anything from their digital carcasses and signs of a life well-lived—or not. Who knows, perhaps they bring secrets from beyond the grave.

Windows XP
Windows XP proved to be a hit since its inception. Sure, it took Service Pack 2 to create the operating system we call XP today, but at the operating system’s launch in 2001 the basics were already there. It’s a good thing too, as Windows XP was destined to live long past its shelf life.

Windows XP’s extended life started with Microsoft’s Sisyphean effort on project ‘Longhorn,’ which included ambitious hopes for new features. As due date after due date slipped for Longhorn, more people became invested in the familiar and near-universal XP, and to disdain change of any kind.


When Longhorn finally emerged from its 5.5 year development in 2007 as Windows Vista, users were shocked and appalled by Microsoft's proposed XP replacement. It took another two years of development and the release of Windows 7 before Windows XP would finally begin to lose ground. Yet it was another four to five years (depending on whom you ask) before Windows 7 would replace XP as the most widely used operating system in the world.

Today, four iterations of Windows after XP, the 14 year-old OS still claims more than 12 percent of online PC usage worldwide, according to Net Applications. This is despite the fact that Microsoft ceased delivering security updates for XP in April 2014—a year and a half ago.

Lesson learned: Don’t let your software live on too long, or it will grow up to be a dangerous zombie.

Windows RT
When Microsoft announced Windows RT, originally known as Windows on ARM, people were excited about the possibility. Finally, the energy-efficient ARM processor architecture—ubiquitous on mobile devices—would earn its own version of Windows.

What became Windows RT, however, was a terrible joke of an OS. Like Windows 8, RT offered a dual-identity desktop interface and modern UI. The desktop was hobbled, because it couldn’t run any other traditional Windows software—just Internet Explorer and Microsoft Office. Windows RT users didn’t have much to do on the touch-friendly side of Windows either, due to Microsoft’s poor efforts to convince developers to build Modern apps for the Windows Store.

Toward the end of its life, RT was no better than a glorified web browser with a smattering of ho-hum apps. Meanwhile, Intel’s Atom chips quickly closed the gap with ARM’s energy efficiency, leaving little reason to opt for Windows on ARM.

Microsoft was never clear enough on what it wanted to do with Windows RT. The result was a poorly thought-out ecosystem that led to death by indifference. Windows RT tablets aren’t being upgraded to Windows 10, and even Microsoft’s own budget Surface line ditched Windows RT for Windows proper in its third iteration.

Lesson learned: Ghosts of Windows RT linger on in Windows 10’s universal apps and Windows Phone compatibility, but Windows RT was nothing short of a disaster with consumers—understandably so, given its radical new interface and limited software capabilities. Even if you’re trying to move an ecosystem forward, don’t throw out the baby with the bathwater.

Mac OS
One of Apple’s founding principles is that PCs—and technology in general—should be a delightful, even magical, experience. That vision came to the fore with the original Macintosh operating system. The first Mac OS was a revelation that popularized the visual PC interface and mouse navigation for home users.

The downside, however, is that a lot of what made Mac OS so magical required technological trickery and clever solutions to help a constrained system perform beyond what was expected. Original Macintosh users were forced to constantly swap out disks constantly because of RAM restrictions.

It was a pain to do—sometimes literally—but many people didn’t mind because the user experience on the screen was simply so much better than anything else out there.

Lesson learned: Even problematic software can be loved if the user experience is superior to the competition's.

IBM OS/2
During the early days of computing, IBM was a dominating force with its line of personal computers. When the company began producing the operating system OS/2 with Microsoft, the plan was to use the new OS to push even more sales of IBM hardware. That worked for a while, but the end of the line for OS/2 took shape once Microsoft produced Windows 3.0. After that, Microsoft ceased co-development of OS/2 to focus on Windows, and IBM was chasing Microsoft ever after. Pundits still argue over whether early Windows or OS/2 was better.

Regardless, OS/2’s undoing was that Microsoft outflanked IBM at every turn.

Microsoft bundled Windows with all kinds of hardware, as it does today, while OS/2 was sold separately and designed to push IBM machines. That approach just didn’t work when faced with the juggernaut that was Microsoft—it also didn’t help that Microsoft cheated. Once Windows 95 came out, OS/2 was all but done. IBM’s operating system faded out by 2000, but just like with Windows XP, you can probably find the odd ATM or small business inventory system still running on OS/2.

Lesson learned: Even juggernauts can fall. Adapt—which is exactly what Microsoft’s trying to do with Windows 8 and 10—or die.

The ghosts of Linux past
In 2015, we officially bid goodbye to Mandriva, a once-popular Linux distribution. This version of Linux started out life as Mandrake until the company running the distro merged with Conectiva in 2005 to become Mandriva. Many veteran Linux users cut their teeth on Mandrake or Mandriva, including PCWorld’s own Linux watcher, Chris Hoffman.

Mandriva lost its spot as the “easy Linux” distro after Canonical’s Ubuntu appeared in 2004. Seven years later, development ceased. Mandriva is just one of the many Linux distributions that have faded into oblivion—CrunchBang, supported by a single developer, is another one we recently covered.

Linux may be a force in the server world, but it has never succeeded at winning over masses of desktop users. Its openness encourages many developers to create their own Linux distributions and then fight with the hundreds of other distros for a slice of a tiny user base. Unsurprisingly, there’s a healthy amount of churn among distributions, even the popular ones.

Lesson learned: Like your Linux distro, but don’t fall in love. You may wind up leaving the party sooner than you think.

That’s the end of our ghoulish walk through the graves of operating systems past. Now we close the PC crypt for yet another year…until the ghouls of dead PCs past rise again.

Source

[SPECTRUM]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

[steven36]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

Not really its no longer officially supported by its developers and it lost its glory in 2011 when the masses moved on to windows 7 . I use Linux on a pc that came with windows 8 on it if you have old XP you should turn it into Linux . You can put XP in a Virtual box if you still need it for some things.

[gipsy]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

Not really its no longer officially supported by its developers and it lost its glory in 2011 when the masses moved on to windows 7 . I use Linux on a pc that came with windows 8 on it if you have old XP you should turn it into Linux . You can put XP in a Virtual box if you still need it for some things.

meant this trick

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/05/24/get-security-updates-windows-xp-april-2019/

[steven36]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

Not really its no longer officially supported by its developers and it lost its glory in 2011 when the masses moved on to windows 7 . I use Linux on a pc that came with windows 8 on it if you have old XP you should turn it into Linux . You can put XP in a Virtual box if you still need it for some things.

meant this trick

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/05/24/get-security-updates-windows-xp-april-2019/

If you use that hack be-careful as you can read in the comments people got botched updates because there not really made for xp . i have XP in Linux in a vm but no way id still run it as a production machine any-more . But still I like it in the VM its better than using Wine . ;)

[straycat19]

Really, who cares if Microsoft supports XP or not anymore. The software support they provide now is the kind no one wants. Updates don't benefit the end user as much as benefit Microsoft so they can mold the operating system into something they want. Until XP we didn't even get much support from Microsoft unless they released a service pack which wasn't very often, if at all. And then it was primarily to fix problems that kept the OS from working correctly as an OS. There is more of a benefit to the USER to run XP than to run Windows 10, which like Me and Vista is an OS to avoid.

[Lyon275]

Windows 7 is the "new xp" :D

[steven36]

Really, who cares if Microsoft supports XP or not anymore. The software support they provide now is the kind no one wants. Updates don't benefit the end user as much as benefit Microsoft so they can mold the operating system into something they want. Until XP we didn't even get much support from Microsoft unless they released a service pack which wasn't very often, if at all. And then it was primarily to fix problems that kept the OS from working correctly as an OS. There is more of a benefit to the USER to run XP than to run Windows 10, which like Me and Vista is an OS to avoid.

They seem to benefit Microsoft a whole lot . The UK paid millions of dollars to M$ to get updates for XP and the US Navy still does it . You cant tell me updates don’t help . Before XP SP2 most people on XP got a virus in 20 minutes just by connecting to the internet .

[SPECTRUM]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

Not really its no longer officially supported by its developers and it lost its glory in 2011 when the masses moved on to windows 7 . I use Linux on a pc that came with windows 8 on it if you have old XP you should turn it into Linux . You can put XP in a Virtual box if you still need it for some things.

meant this trick

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/05/24/get-security-updates-windows-xp-april-2019/

yes, here is the original author: https://www.sebijk.com/community/index.php?thread/2985-getting-xp-updates/

[steven36]

yes, here is the original author: https://www.sebijk.com/community/index.php?thread/2985-getting-xp-updates/

Microsoft makes updates bro not him, they may put something in them to blow up you’re XP on purpose , Theres a lot of reports of people getting black screen of death from POS updates.

[uPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson:

We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

Microsoft Issues Warning about Windows XP Support Hack

Microsoft contends that doing so would put users at risk, as the updates will be incomplete and leave systems vulnerable, and may even cause systems to fail to operate correctly.

“We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,” a statement from Microsoft warned.

“Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.”

Proceed at your own risk.

http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/latest-security-news/microsoft-issues-warning-about-windows-xp-support-hack/

[gipsy]

Windows XP is still alive at least upto 2019.

Not really its no longer officially supported by its developers and it lost its glory in 2011 when the masses moved on to windows 7 . I use Linux on a pc that came with windows 8 on it if you have old XP you should turn it into Linux . You can put XP in a Virtual box if you still need it for some things.

meant this trick

http://www.ghacks.net/2014/05/24/get-security-updates-windows-xp-april-2019/

If you use that hack be-careful as you can read in the comments people got botched updates because there not really made for xp . i have XP in Linux in a vm but no way id still run it as a production machine any-more . But still I like it in the VM its better than using Wine . ;)

do not usin',do not worry :) .just heard before. XP's dead ,at least useless for modern CPU (multithreading),not quite good with SSD etc.do not see any reason to try join one and the same river twice-thx XP/byeXP. all above imo as usually.

[Holmes]

Windows xp is going to be alive for a long time its not dead yet (as long as users are using it) and linux isnt dead and doesnt have a expiration date its got many distributions to choose from. The point of sale hack is not recommended its meant for windows xp embedded systems and windows xp embedded and windows xp professional are different. If you want to break your windows xp use the POSHack end of story.

[SPECTRUM]

Microsoft makes updates bro not him,

I know that, captain obvious, I've just put the link of the original author/creator of the trick, nothing else.

they may put something in them to blow up you’re XP on purpose

don't think so, because is the same kernel of Windows Embedded.

Theres a lot of reports of people getting black screen of death from POS updates.

a lot ? no, only few, and it was due they have some corrupted system files, but they solved it using sfc /scannow, and now they applied the updates properly, without troubles.

[SPECTRUM]

The point of sale hack is not recommended its meant for windows xp embedded systems and windows xp embedded and windows xp professional are different. If you want to break your windows xp use the POSHack end of story.

is not different at all, the kernel is the same, and the updates can be used without troubles, except that you have corrupted system files in Windows.

I've been using this trick in my old PC with XP and others machines with XP since long time ago and no issues.

[Holmes]

Your lucky then and no they are different:

http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/1/2/71252520-2bb9-43c3-891b-bc09bfdde152/differencesbetweenwindowsxpembeddedandwindowsxpprofessional.pdf

You can use this at your own risk I dont want users thinking applying this hack is a good idea its not you use at your own risk dont spread FUD fear uncertainty and doubt.

[CODYQX4]

yes, here is the original author: https://www.sebijk.com/community/index.php?thread/2985-getting-xp-updates/

Microsoft makes updates bro not him, they may put something in them to blow up you’re XP on purpose , Theres a lot of reports of people getting black screen of death from POS updates.

[uPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson:

We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

Microsoft Issues Warning about Windows XP Support Hack

Microsoft contends that doing so would put users at risk, as the updates will be incomplete and leave systems vulnerable, and may even cause systems to fail to operate correctly.

“We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,” a statement from Microsoft warned.

“Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.”

Proceed at your own risk.

http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/latest-security-news/microsoft-issues-warning-about-windows-xp-support-hack/

I hate how everyone assumes any fail must be MS purposely destroying XP.

You're hack installing updates for a different fork of Windows, that are completely untested for mainline XP, and some internals can be quite different. You have nobody to blame but yourself if you install a kernel update for a significantly different fork of your OS, and it FUBARs everything.

But the XP diehards just want to feel like they're sticking to evil greedy MS who won't support their 14 year old software.

[steven36]

yes, here is the original author: https://www.sebijk.com/community/index.php?thread/2985-getting-xp-updates/

Microsoft makes updates bro not him, they may put something in them to blow up you’re XP on purpose , Theres a lot of reports of people getting black screen of death from POS updates.

[uPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson:

We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

Microsoft Issues Warning about Windows XP Support Hack

Microsoft contends that doing so would put users at risk, as the updates will be incomplete and leave systems vulnerable, and may even cause systems to fail to operate correctly.

“We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,” a statement from Microsoft warned.

“Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.”

Proceed at your own risk.

http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/latest-security-news/microsoft-issues-warning-about-windows-xp-support-hack/

I hate how everyone assumes any fail must be MS purposely destroying XP.

You're hack installing updates for a different fork of Windows, that are completely untested for mainline XP, and some internals can be quite different. You have nobody to blame but yourself if you install a kernel update for a significantly different fork of your OS, and it FUBARs everything.

But the XP diehards just want to feel like they're sticking to evil greedy MS who won't support their 14 year old software.

XP was killed by Microsoft purposely and they made tons of money from it they sold updates for millions of dollars to many countries each the US navy still pays millions of dollars for them its not like they don’t still make updates for they do.. if you pay millions of dollars for them. People should not have to buy a O/S every 2 years . I cant stand Microsoft this is why mostly I just use Linux now .

Excuse me for taking so long to reply but i had to put in a HHD today in my gateway were windows 10 killed the one that came with it . :P

[dMog]

sorry but if you were to magically install linux on everyone's computer overnight there would be rioting in the streets because people would be so frantic to get their version of windows back asap...linux despite what you think.... is never going to be for the average user as it is far from user friendly for any one who is not an expert at trouble shooting for even the most basic functions to work out of the box...hell half the people i work with do not even know windows has updates or that they need to update their antivirus software or even what that really means or that anti virus programs do not protect them from stupidity

[CODYQX4]

yes, here is the original author: https://www.sebijk.com/community/index.php?thread/2985-getting-xp-updates/

Microsoft makes updates bro not him, they may put something in them to blow up you’re XP on purpose , Theres a lot of reports of people getting black screen of death from POS updates.

[uPDATE:] Late Monday we received a statement from a Microsoft spokesperson:

We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers. Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/registry-hack-enables-continued-updates-for-windows-xp/

Microsoft Issues Warning about Windows XP Support Hack

Microsoft contends that doing so would put users at risk, as the updates will be incomplete and leave systems vulnerable, and may even cause systems to fail to operate correctly.

“We recently became aware of a hack that purportedly aims to provide security updates to Windows XP customers. The security updates that could be installed are intended for Windows Embedded and Windows Server 2003 customers and do not fully protect Windows XP customers,” a statement from Microsoft warned.

“Windows XP customers also run a significant risk of functionality issues with their machines if they install these updates, as they are not tested against Windows XP. The best way for Windows XP customers to protect their systems is to upgrade to a more modern operating system, like Windows 7 or Windows 8.1.”

Proceed at your own risk.

http://www.tripwire.com/state-of-security/latest-security-news/microsoft-issues-warning-about-windows-xp-support-hack/

I hate how everyone assumes any fail must be MS purposely destroying XP.

You're hack installing updates for a different fork of Windows, that are completely untested for mainline XP, and some internals can be quite different. You have nobody to blame but yourself if you install a kernel update for a significantly different fork of your OS, and it FUBARs everything.

But the XP diehards just want to feel like they're sticking to evil greedy MS who won't support their 14 year old software.

XP was killed by Microsoft purposely and they made tons of money from it they sold updates for millions of dollars to many countries each the US navy still pays millions of dollars for them its not like they don’t still make updates for they do.. if you pay millions of dollars for them. People should not have to buy a O/S every 2 years . I cant stand Microsoft this is why mostly I just use Linux now .

Excuse me for taking so long to reply but i had to put in a HHD today in my gateway were windows 10 killed the one that came with it . :P

People shouldn't have to support/dev for an OS I first used half a lifetime ago either. To keep it somewhat modern, MS would have to backport everything. Hell, there's components radically rewritten, and security flaws in stuff that only would apply to XP.

Go use a PC from 2001. It will run like utter shit in comparison to the cheapest underpowered crap today. If someone said their 14 year old PC couldn't cut it, you'd tell them to get a new one, right? Even if you tell them to use Linux on it, the PC is likely sucking power and sounds like a Jet plane.

When should people set the cut-off? Linux has EOL too, it's just you didn't have to buy the OS.

If MS truly wanted XP dead at all costs then there'd never be an SP3 for XP. XP was long in the tooth in 2008, it's just that Vista was an unstable mess combined with shitty OEM PCs that skimped too much on hardware resources.

Now the OS that they'll want to die, is 7. They stopped doing SPs just because it would add a year or two to Windows 7. Even then, that's 11 years of support for an OS (dies in 2020 IIRC). If you bought it for $200 that's like $18 per year by 2020 if you got it in 2009. That's also a much longer support period than Ubuntu LTS. It's more than double the Server LTS timeframe.

I'm not apologizing for MS, but expecting 15+ years of support for ANY software if you don't have some pricey Enterprise contract, is just not going to happen, and then that contract probably has free upgrades rolled in and you're paying for a license in general every so often.

[steven36]

sorry but if you were to magically install linux on everyone's computer overnight there would be rioting in the streets because people would be so frantic to get their version of windows back asap...linux despite what you think.... is never going to be for the average user as it is far from user friendly for any one who is not an expert at trouble shooting for even the most basic functions to work out of the box...hell half the people i work with do not even know windows has updates or that they need to update their antivirus software or even what that really means or that anti virus programs do not protect them from stupidity

LOL Thing about Linux users we don’t want everyone to install it . Were not ready to deal with non technical people yet Take a person who never tired Linux it would easy for them . but if you been on windows along long time and don’t want to learn something new its not for you. But a person who is new to pcs or someone willing to learn new things its easy . You just have to be not closed minded about trying something different.

.And on Linux there is no reason to install a anti-virus or to even buy programs . All my programs on it are free and most of them just update trough the update manger after I add them . No need to visit sites after the 1st install . :lol:

[steven36]

I'm not apologizing for MS, but expecting 15+ years of support for ANY software if you don't have some pricey Enterprise contract, is just not going to happen, and then that contract probably has free upgrades rolled in and you're paying for a license in general every so often.

This why countries are looking at making there own O/S .Most of these countries they paid millions for XP updates then ended up installing windows 7 and paid millions by now and now M$ wants them to pay millions more for Windows 10 and going make it a service so they can keep making millons off the same O/S. Even they seen that making new windows is a mistake. :P

[smallhagrid]

All this hoopla about Linux vs. windows is quite funny to me.

Several years back I set up 2 different friends with Linux.

Both had ONLY ever used windows before - both are totally non-technical.

One is almost 90 years old now and uses his PC almost non-stop.

The other is around 30 and uses his PC every day for alot of things.

Neither has had any trouble right from the start - and both are delighted that they could ditch windows so easily.

There are now many distros which have been tailored to mimic windows enough so that total non-techies are OK with them.

I find that most naysayers and detractors are folks who are simply unwilling to spend a little time open-mindedly using only Linux - or that those are folks who just like to put down things they are unfamiliar with.

Besides - Android IS Linux - and many windows adherents do have Android phones and/or tablets - so why the hostility ?!?

[dMog]

All this hoopla about Linux vs. windows is quite funny to me.

Several years back I set up 2 different friends with Linux.

Both had ONLY ever used windows before - both are totally non-technical.

One is almost 90 years old now and uses his PC almost non-stop.

The other is around 30 and uses his PC every day for alot of things.

Neither has had any trouble right from the start - and both are delighted that they could ditch windows so easily.

There are now many distros which have been tailored to mimic windows enough so that total non-techies are OK with them.

I find that most naysayers and detractors are folks who are simply unwilling to spend a little time open-mindedly using only Linux - or that those are folks who just like to put down things they are unfamiliar with.

Besides - Android IS Linux - and many windows adherents do have Android phones and/or tablets - so why the hostility ?!?

not hostile .. and i have an adroid phone and love it's ease of use... but i got everything i need on my windows 10 including a lot of programs to work with all the photographs i take and i know almost all if not all of them will not run well or even work at all on linux... and most computer users are totally lost on what and how to troubleshoot windows or macs so they will never try linux for sure,,,no matter what

[steven36]

All this hoopla about Linux vs. windows is quite funny to me.

Several years back I set up 2 different friends with Linux.

Both had ONLY ever used windows before - both are totally non-technical.

One is almost 90 years old now and uses his PC almost non-stop.

The other is around 30 and uses his PC every day for alot of things.

Neither has had any trouble right from the start - and both are delighted that they could ditch windows so easily.

There are now many distros which have been tailored to mimic windows enough so that total non-techies are OK with them.

I find that most naysayers and detractors are folks who are simply unwilling to spend a little time open-mindedly using only Linux - or that those are folks who just like to put down things they are unfamiliar with.

Besides - Android IS Linux - and many windows adherents do have Android phones and/or tablets - so why the hostility ?!?

Even a lot in windows 10 is based on Linux . The whole concept of using a store like Linux has a software manger app and installing programs via cmd is in windows 10.

The CEO of M$ even uses Linux , I agree for a new person it would be easy to learn. But most people on Windows never really tired Liunx longer than a day if that much and don’t want to learn it.

[dMog]

i am down to only one computer again and the android phone ad a ipod and an ipad but when i pick up another used pc notebook for a good price i will tool around with linux again