Looks like everyone pretty much beat me to it for this thread so I doubt this will get read, but here goes...
Before I start, let me say that I WANT to switch to linux and I'm almost there.
I should also say that all of my servers except one are running some form of linux (usually SuSE). I keep one IIS server around for customers that need ASP and because I started on the Microsoft side.
Alright here goes... 1. The single biggest reason that I haven't switched 100% to linux is driver support. Windows has done this right, you plug in hardware and download a driver or pop in a CD and walah, your hardware works. I know this isn't 100% true, but it's at least 90% true. Linux hardware support has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, but the problem is when you run into problems... If you've got an odd ball network card or other device that just doesn't want to work under linux. I think over time, companies will release linux drivers at the same time, but hopefully some of them will learn to release linux source for their drivers so that their products will rock.
2. Speed... Windows XP on my old 650 MHz Sony VAIO w/256 mb of ram runs circles around KDE for the most part. I've never tried Gnome just because I don't know how to easily switch using SuSE's built in management (yast). Anyone want to point me in the right direction for a how-to?
2. Macromedia Homesite... I really love how easy it is to use Macromedia homesite and have a nice easy global search and replace tool that doesn't require me to learn regular expressions but allows them if I know them. The color coding and various other features make it my ASP/PHP script editor of choice. Maybe it would run under Wine, but I want native speed and stability and macromedia hasn't announced a linux version yet. Zend Development Environment is the closest thing I've found that's acceptable but ironically I've never run it under linux.
3. I like Outlook Express. It's fast, it's easy, it has all the features I need (except the ability to disable html, but you can buy noHTML for $20). I would use Mozilla but it can't tie multiple email addresses to one identity. I found the feature request for this on bugzilla, but nothing has really happened with it yet. Once Mozilla gets that single feature, it will replace the Opera/Outlook Express combo I use now.
4. Gnucash is getting better, but there are a whole lot of things I need to do (Quicken) that it can't do such as recurring transactions and loan calculations.
5. Usability... There are times when things just don't work as expected. Windows software generally costs money, but most software works as expected (most of the time.)
A couple of the things I hate are that when I hit abort and nothing happens. Different applications behave this way. Sometimes I have this problem in windows as well, but on a slower linux system it's terrible!
Also, sometimes I'll be doing things like running GNUcash's QIF import and suddenly the window I was working with gets set behind the one I was formerly working with... Little stuff like that drives me bonkers.
I can't get Gnomemeeting to work... Ah, the list goes on and on. I like linux a lot, especially for server stuff, but on the desktop, it has potential and it really can do some great stuff (and the price is certainly right.) but I can't quite switch over yet...
Most important: Photoshop. I asked several Adobe people at the last Siggraph, and they told me that they would not port to Linux until more people are using it on the desktop.
Chicken & egg problem again...
The other things that keeps me from switching completely are Adobe Premiere, Dreamweaver, Flash, Lightwave, and Sound Forge. There is nothing so far that can replace any one of those apps. I haven't looked very far for an audio editor, but I know that video editing on Linux is a joke. And yes, I am aware of the many ways of creating web sites, but nothing I've seen comes close to the power of Dreamweaver.
At least my most often used apps, Maya and Shake, are already there.
Now to respond to your message. I haven't looked into sound editing software for linux either though I've used soundforge for windows quite a bit. BUT I know for a fact most music/sound industry people in fact use most of their software on Mac clients. The names of some of the big programs evade me at the moment. Now what I'm wondering.. is since Mac OS X is built off of linux.. I wonder if those programs may easily transfer to a PC Linux platform?
I of course have my own reasons for still using windows.. (mainly most of the time I'm at work.. which is win2000) and games.. but I know.. WINEX... I'm interested but also lazy and busy with many other things.. so I'll get their eventually just up till now I'm not.
> 1. driver support Linux users have become accustomed to checking for drivers before they buy the product... As you say though, support continues to improve.
> 2. Macromedia You say Zend is acceptable...
> 3. OE Check out Evolution (www.ximian.com).
> 4. Quicken Several business people have told me they'd dump MS-ware in their office if it wasn't for Quicken. Its too bad Intuit doesn't port it, but eventually GNUcash will mature enough that people can switch.
> 5. things not working as expected I've never used Windows as a primary OS, and this is one of the reasons why! The issue of usability is probably pretty subjective, but I can offer an anecdote: I presently support ~50 UNIX users and ~10 Win2k users. 80% of support calls are from the 10 Windows users, and it is usually MS software confusing them. Its mostly quirky error messages and weird work-arounds to get things to work they way they want, and of course interoperability issues due to the "embraced and extended" protocols, even between different versions of MS products. All of these people have been using Windows for years, too. New UNIX users often have a bunch of questions when they start, then I rarely hear from them again.
If you want to try out GNOME, I suggest installing Red Hat 8. By far the easiest and most integrated GNOME-desktop out there. The speed is very, very nice because of GCC 3.2 (which also benefits KDE).
SuSE is a fine distribution, but just like there is better alternatives for KDE-users than Red Hat, there are better alternatives for GNOME-users than SuSE.
Gnomemeeting is included in RH8 and works out of the box.
Evolution is a _great_ e-mail client, heavily inspired by Outlook. It even works with Exchange for calendar-services with a plugin. It is also included in RH8.
I used to use Outlook Express under win98. Then I tried Mozilla. That's what got me to switch.
Mozilla E-mail client made easy my transition into the Linux World. It is consistent across platforms (i.e. at least this part won't change) and under Linux, it IS manager different identities under different logins.
I also heard of Ximian Evolution, but I didn't get a change to test it.
By the way, I was very impressed by the drivers support for Mandrake, and by the usability of the interface. Not 100% logical, but finding the stuff is easier than when I had to switch versions of windows (think NT4 & 2000 - same stuff, completely different interface)
With 2000+ messages here already, I don't know why I'm bothering but...
Most of your points I agree with or can take your word for. There is a very viable cross-platform alternative to Outlook Express, though. It's called 'hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.'
Ye Gods, OE is bad! It is so far beyond unacceptable that I can't even begin to describe what evil sins it's committed against email. Microsoft should have been thrown in jail just for writing it, let alone publishing it and making it something of a standard.
Remember: Sentient beings don't let sentient beings use MS Outbreak (Express).
Pity there are few decent email clients in Linux, though. At least Windows has Pegasus.
If you secure your system it's really not that bad, I've never had a virus.
You can also get this $20 plugin from baxbex [baxbex.com] to disable HTML which I really like. Too bad they didn't come out with it a year ago as I'm getting ready to switch.
Outlook express is still to date the fastest startup of any GUI email client that I know of.
It's very flexible too. It doesn't have as much feature bloat as Outlook/Evolution but for email I don't need all those features.
sorry, you're utterly wrong on that point: since a _long_ time ago (0.9?), you've been able to tie multiple POPs to a single identity, each of which will have its own "from" address. Of course, you only ever really need one smtp server.
Here's my list. (Score:4, Informative)
Before I start, let me say that I WANT to switch to linux and I'm almost there.
I should also say that all of my servers except one are running some form of linux (usually SuSE). I keep one IIS server around for customers that need ASP and because I started on the Microsoft side.
Alright here goes...
1. The single biggest reason that I haven't switched 100% to linux is driver support. Windows has done this right, you plug in hardware and download a driver or pop in a CD and walah, your hardware works. I know this isn't 100% true, but it's at least 90% true. Linux hardware support has grown leaps and bounds over the past couple of years, but the problem is when you run into problems... If you've got an odd ball network card or other device that just doesn't want to work under linux. I think over time, companies will release linux drivers at the same time, but hopefully some of them will learn to release linux source for their drivers so that their products will rock.
2. Speed... Windows XP on my old 650 MHz Sony VAIO w/256 mb of ram runs circles around KDE for the most part. I've never tried Gnome just because I don't know how to easily switch using SuSE's built in management (yast). Anyone want to point me in the right direction for a how-to?
2. Macromedia Homesite... I really love how easy it is to use Macromedia homesite and have a nice easy global search and replace tool that doesn't require me to learn regular expressions but allows them if I know them. The color coding and various other features make it my ASP/PHP script editor of choice. Maybe it would run under Wine, but I want native speed and stability and macromedia hasn't announced a linux version yet.
Zend Development Environment is the closest thing I've found that's acceptable but ironically I've never run it under linux.
3. I like Outlook Express. It's fast, it's easy, it has all the features I need (except the ability to disable html, but you can buy noHTML for $20). I would use Mozilla but it can't tie multiple email addresses to one identity. I found the feature request for this on bugzilla, but nothing has really happened with it yet. Once Mozilla gets that single feature, it will replace the Opera/Outlook Express combo I use now.
4. Gnucash is getting better, but there are a whole lot of things I need to do (Quicken) that it can't do such as recurring transactions and loan calculations.
5. Usability... There are times when things just don't work as expected. Windows software generally costs money, but most software works as expected (most of the time.)
A couple of the things I hate are that when I hit abort and nothing happens. Different applications behave this way. Sometimes I have this problem in windows as well, but on a slower linux system it's terrible!
Also, sometimes I'll be doing things like running GNUcash's QIF import and suddenly the window I was working with gets set behind the one I was formerly working with... Little stuff like that drives me bonkers.
I can't get Gnomemeeting to work... Ah, the list goes on and on. I like linux a lot, especially for server stuff, but on the desktop, it has potential and it really can do some great stuff (and the price is certainly right.) but I can't quite switch over yet...
and my list: (Score:1)
I asked several Adobe people at the last Siggraph, and they told me that they would not port to Linux until more people are using it on the desktop.
Chicken & egg problem again...
The other things that keeps me from switching completely are Adobe Premiere, Dreamweaver, Flash, Lightwave, and Sound Forge. There is nothing so far that can replace any one of those apps. I haven't looked very far for an audio editor, but I know that video editing on Linux is a joke. And yes, I am aware of the many ways of creating web sites, but nothing I've seen comes close to the power of Dreamweaver.
At least my most often used apps, Maya and Shake, are already there.
Question about sound editing for linux (Score:1)
I of course have my own reasons for still using windows.. (mainly most of the time I'm at work.. which is win2000) and games.. but I know.. WINEX... I'm interested but also lazy and busy with many other things.. so I'll get their eventually just up till now I'm not.
Re:Question about sound editing for linux (Score:1)
Uhm, check your information, Max OS X is BSD/MACH based not linux based...
Re:Question about sound editing for linux (Score:1)
And of course there's Final Cut Pro for video, but there is no chance of Apple porting it to Linux, if it were even possible.
In fact, that program would be my main reason to buy a Mac -- that, and Shake for OSX is $5000 less than the Linux version.
Re:Here's my list. (Score:2, Interesting)
Linux users have become accustomed to checking for drivers before they buy the product... As you say though, support continues to improve.
> 2. Macromedia
You say Zend is acceptable...
> 3. OE
Check out Evolution (www.ximian.com).
> 4. Quicken
Several business people have told me they'd dump MS-ware in their office if it wasn't for Quicken. Its too bad Intuit doesn't port it, but eventually GNUcash will mature enough that people can switch.
> 5. things not working as expected
I've never used Windows as a primary OS, and this is one of the reasons why! The issue of usability is probably pretty subjective, but I can offer an anecdote: I presently support ~50 UNIX users and ~10 Win2k users. 80% of support calls are from the 10 Windows users, and it is usually MS software confusing them. Its mostly quirky error messages and weird work-arounds to get things to work they way they want, and of course interoperability issues due to the "embraced and extended" protocols, even between different versions of MS products. All of these people have been using Windows for years, too. New UNIX users often have a bunch of questions when they start, then I rarely hear from them again.
Cheers.
Re:Here's my list. (Score:1)
SuSE is a fine distribution, but just like there is better alternatives for KDE-users than Red Hat, there are better alternatives for GNOME-users than SuSE.
Gnomemeeting is included in RH8 and works out of the box.
Evolution is a _great_ e-mail client, heavily inspired by Outlook. It even works with Exchange for calendar-services with a plugin. It is also included in RH8.
Re:Here's my list. (Score:1)
Mozilla E-mail client made easy my transition into the Linux World. It is consistent across platforms (i.e. at least this part won't change) and under Linux, it IS manager different identities under different logins.
I also heard of Ximian Evolution, but I didn't get a change to test it.
By the way, I was very impressed by the drivers support for Mandrake, and by the usability of the interface. Not 100% logical, but finding the stuff is easier than when I had to switch versions of windows (think NT4 & 2000 - same stuff, completely different interface)
Re:Here's my list. (Score:1)
Most of your points I agree with or can take your word for. There is a very viable cross-platform alternative to Outlook Express, though. It's called 'hitting yourself in the head with a hammer.'
Ye Gods, OE is bad! It is so far beyond unacceptable that I can't even begin to describe what evil sins it's committed against email. Microsoft should have been thrown in jail just for writing it, let alone publishing it and making it something of a standard.
Remember: Sentient beings don't let sentient beings use MS Outbreak (Express).
Pity there are few decent email clients in Linux, though. At least Windows has Pegasus.
It's not that bad... (Score:2)
You can also get this $20 plugin from baxbex [baxbex.com] to disable HTML which I really like. Too bad they didn't come out with it a year ago as I'm getting ready to switch.
Outlook express is still to date the fastest startup of any GUI email client that I know of.
It's very flexible too. It doesn't have as much feature bloat as Outlook/Evolution but for email I don't need all those features.
Re:Here's my list. (Score:2)
dvNuLL
Thanks! (Score:2)
mozilla (Score:2)
Cheers
But.. (Score:2)
I don't want four hundred sets of folders, I want all my email addresses to share the same inbox, outbox, sent, drafts, trash, etc.