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On 27/04/14 13:28, Neil Winchurst wrote:
I know that some list members are keen to spread the news about Linux to Windows users. I thought that the following article might be of interes. http://netrunner-mag.com/windows-user-wanna-try-linux-checklist/ I find many of his articles quite interesting. Regards Neil
Hi Neil,Very interesting article. A friend of mine does ad-hoc support for people and is slowly converting them to Linux - Mint with Cinnamon as, for a Windows user it's the least clash with what they are used to on Windows. The main issue we've come across is very simply 'Can I do what I do now with Linux?' Since most of them do email, browsing, social media as their main activities the answer is a resounding Yes. Given that when he installs a new system for someone he puts Thunderbird and Firefox in as default mail and browser, both of which are default in Mint, there is literally /no/ difference in what they see.
I agree that obviously using a Live disk to check the system's hardware is a vital step, however just because something doesn't work out of the box doesn't mean it won't ever. My Canon MP640 didn't work immediately, and the default driver produced poor quality, but if a.n.other device doesn't work, spend a minute typing 'distro name device name' into Google and see what it says. Chances are someone will have found a solution.
I can't say I agree with the assertion about Office either. I use Open Office for all my writing, spreadsheets etc and I always save in Word or Excel format when I know the document is to be shared with others. The example given of the missing L in a CV might be humorous but IMHO it's not realistic. You could just as easily mistype a time reference and instead of putting 'sec' swap the c for an x as they are next to each other on the keyboard; mistyping 'tuck' with any of the letters adjacent to T could cause problems. All that is needed for these to slip through is sloppy proof-reading and that has /nothing/ to do with the OS being used. That is pure PEBCAK.[1] If in any doubt save in the native /and/ Microsoft formats.
Interesting that there is no mention whatsoever of using a VM. There will (probably) always be software written only for Windows, but if it's only one item and WINE refuses to play ball, why not advocate installing Windows in a VM? He mentions games, and although you're going to take a performance hit by running a game essentially through two OSs I think it's a perfectly viable solution; depending on how power hungry the game is you may not even notice - e.g. if it's a game designed for Windows XP with 1Gb RAM and you have 8Gb in your current system it may be well within the required parameters; also I've not played with VMs much but I believe you can assign resources to them. I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
Kind regards, Julian [1] Problem Exists Between Chair And Keyboard - aka user error. -- The Mailing List for the Devon & Cornwall LUG http://mailman.dclug.org.uk/listinfo/list FAQ: http://www.dcglug.org.uk/listfaq