[desertranger]

Rant:
For years I've suffered with the expense and headache that is Microscum Windows. Constant upgrades, bugs, crashes, viruses, malware, etc. The cost alone to upgrade from one Windows version to the next plus the cost of MS Office and other software upgrades, etc. Not to mention the hardware upgrades just so you can run the damn thing. For years I've said the only thing Windows does is get in the way of productivity. I spent an awful lot of time maintaining Windows in order to keep the system running at optimum. I spent a lot of money doing the same thing. Win 3.11 required a HD upgrade, Win95 memory, WinME video and a bigger drive, Win XP needed even more memory and Vista??? forget it, that needed a whole new computer.

So over the weekend I switched to Linux. Specifically it's called: Ubuntu Karmic Koala. The last version was called Ubuntu Jaunty Jackrabbit. See no version numbers, already I feel better. I find that there are versions of Linux that will run on my old DOS 386 with 640K of ram. That's all I need to run a standalone server.

Ubuntu is free. Sun Micro's Open Office software suite is free, accountingsoftware is free, utilities are free, med record tracking is free, the games are free, graphics and multimedia are free and thousands of other apps are free. In fact in setting up Ubuntu from scratch the only cost I have incurred is labor, about an hour for the basic install, compared to a couple of days to set up a Windows environment enough so that I can work.

Here's some of what I did not have to set up in Ubuntu.
Office software (it's included)
Graphics and photo editing software (included)
Internet security and anti virus, not needed
Networking (automatic)
Internal security (already secure)

Add-on Internet Security (inSec) like Symantec or McAffee alone can take up as much as 1/3 or more of your Windows systems resources and needs constant updating. That's 1/3 of your memory and processing power for example just to keep your computer safe from hackers. The equivalent amount of system resources for Ubuntu to do this same task is ZERO! nada, nothing. I like that since it's another annual expense I don't have anymore.

I shall have to keep Windows around since I do have a couple of legacy apps I need. However I'll run it as a task in Ubuntu and not by itself. It shall also have no access to the internet. As far as my main computer is concerned I'm a happy camper.


Goodbye Windows it's curtains for you. Goodbye Bill Gates and all the money I wasted being frustrated with the pile of crap that is Windows. You won't be getting anymore.

Want to know more? Visit ** They have a very cool intro to Ubuntu and getting it up and running. Ubuntu can downloaded free from the Ubuntu Website.