Hello from a windows refugee...

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starbase1
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Hello from a windows refugee...

Post by starbase1 »

Just a note to say Hi to everyone and introduce myself.

I am still very new to Linux in general, but have been experimenting casually for about a year. I have decided it is time to get serious, and at least try to get the basic stuff I use a lot going under Linux.

As I am having big problems getting connected to the net (USB Modem) I am still rather limited to say the least, but for this reason a live CD that came with the codecs to let me play audio and video straight from the box was a clear winner. Also I have been trying Ubuntu, and as that is the basis for this distro (yes?), that added to the appeal.

(If it is of any interest I heard about Linux Mint in the UK magazine, Linux User.)

A couple of factors got be particularly keen:

1. Trying to recover from windows crashes. This was the fist time I actually used a Live CD in anger - it verified the hardware was OK, and let me get at my data. Great!

It did however prompt the question - Why can't I have something like this for windows? The answer I came up with was that they can't have easily copied disks of their software floating around - therefore they are almost obliged to make backup and restore of windows itself painful.

This was the first time I came across something that open sourced software could do that proprietary software would never do...

2. U3 memory sticks. The idea of having my software as well as my data on a keyring is just awesome - not least because I love to travel. Again this is something where commercial software is unlikely to go, to say the least.

Anyway, if everything goes to plan, you might be seeing more of me around here!

:-)
Last edited by LockBot on Wed Dec 28, 2022 7:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Husse

Post by Husse »

Welcome to Mint starbase1
It's good to hear that you like Mint :)
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scorp123
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Re: Hello from a windows refugee...

Post by scorp123 »

starbase1 wrote:It did however prompt the question - Why can't I have something like this for windows?
Who said you can't? :D For corporate users there is such a thing -- yes, I am talking about a Microsoft-produced Live Windows XP CD that actually and indeed works :wink:

And for us home users there is "Bart PE". It takes your original Windows XP installer CD and creates a Live CD out of it. :wink:

The real problem I see here is that most Windows users don't care about such nifty things ... until it is too late :wink:

Nontheless Microsoft's software is BS in my opinion ... If it were working right they wouldn't need to produce Live CD's for their oh so precious corporate users ... God forbid they found out about Linux Live CD's and used those instead ... :wink:
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starbase1
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Post by starbase1 »

I didn't even get a proper XP disk, just something calling itself a recovery disk that only offered the option of overwriting everything and re-installing everything...

User friendly as a cornered rat...

Nick
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scorp123
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Post by scorp123 »

starbase1 wrote:I didn't even get a proper XP disk, just something calling itself a recovery disk that only offered the option of overwriting everything and re-installing everything...

User friendly as a cornered rat...
Yeap :D In the case my HP laptop they didn't even ship a CD or anything whatsoever; instead they take away a considerable chunk of my harddisk and made an extra-partition there: The "Recovery Partition". Of course they don't tell you that you are not supposed to change the partition layout of the harddisk (e.g. when installing Linux and doing proper partitioning for /boot, /, /usr, /opt, /var, /home and all that ...) ... because that stupid "recovery partition" will not work afterwards if you do. Nice. I had to call three different HP hotlines to get the recovery CD's shipped (I wanted them ... just in case I sell my laptop or something).

But for now I am happily using Linux on it. :D Windows is such a joke :D
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bigbearomaha
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Post by bigbearomaha »

I always thought the compaq abomination of a forced recovery partition was one of Dante's seven levels of Hell.

To this day, I cannot understand what was going through their heads.
Bee the best you can bee.
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starbase1
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Post by starbase1 »

It's the sheer meanness of not providing a disk that really gets me...
Nick
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Husse

Post by Husse »

It's the sheer meanness of not providing a disk that really gets me...
Nick
But that is actually not Microsoft that's at fault here (at least not only) It's the pc manufacturers that choose a cheaper Window$ and then they are not entitled to a CD according to M$
This way we end up with crappy recovery partitions/CDs
But it's no wonder the manufacturers do that. Here (in Sweden) you can get a decent laptop for about 5500 SKr (approx 600 €) and Vista home premium is sold for a bout 2500 SKr.......
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