Farewell To Windows Soon For Me

Eight more security updates for Windows XP. I seriously doubt that I will ever buy another Microsoft OS. Windows is ridiculously over priced. I get to fork out all that cash for the privilege of constant critical updates and security flaws. Come on, Microsoft. Can’t you do better than this? From the reports about the new “Vista” that I’ve read, it is more Microsoft bloatware that requires a lot of RAM for a lot of neato effects. Once again, those of us who aren’t in the position to buy a new computer every year are left in a cloud of dust kicked up in the pursuit of more profit. Why do we Americans put up with such extreme designed obsolescence?

It will be a little more difficult changing over to Linux since I use many graphic and video programs that aren’t available with the sophistication those for Windows have. I’m sure I could adapt though. The last time is played with Linux, I had a rough time getting my Epson scanner to work. I finally managed but have completely forgotten how. Luckily, HP has a Linux driver program for its printers so I had little problem with that. Since I’ve run the Live CD and have previously installed several versions of Linux, I have yet to run into any hardware problems. The only reason I changed back to Windows was my need for Photoshop. There is a nice Linux graphics program called “GIMP” but it isn’t quite there for me yet. Hell, I’ve just started getting used to making Photoshop do what I need!

The Linux I’ve recently been toying with is Ubuntu. I like it very much. I can run it from a CD to get a feel for it. I must say I like the Gnome gui more than the KDE. KDE is way too much eye candy if you ask me. It is so colorful that it looks like it is designed for children. Both work in much the same way but I prefer the clean and lean look of Gnome.