Sidegrade

I've mentioned this before on the blog. I'm switching my primary machine from Linux to Windows at work because all our network and software is set up for Windows. This will help me support more people more quickly and keep me up with most of the software we use at the company. The reason I had Linux is because I was in the software department for so long.

Remember, I used Windows all my life. There is still a learning curve. Just getting around is different. Just making things happen is completely different.

Video

This comparison is unfair. The video card on my old Linux box was crap. I only had VGA connections. Now, I have a much better video card and a DVI connection to my left monitor. The right monitor is still crap because it uses two VGA cables and a shit KVM. It hurts my eyes just looking at the fancy background I have displayed compared from one monitor to the other.

Screen Saver

The screen saver only displays the images that I gave it to cycle through on the primary monitor. Drag. I'm sure there is a fix for this. Not sure what is going on here.

Command Line

Once one learns how, one can work miracles on the command line in Linux. There is no command line in Windows. It is a joke. Editor's note, I pounded the keys while typing "joke" in the previous line. People who have not taken the time to learn the other language that is the command line do not understand the universe of possibilities they loose by depending on the GUI for everything. I prefer a healthy mix of both worlds to get through my every day work and joy.

On Windows you have nslookup and ping for network utilities. You have to hunt down software for everything else.

Network paths

Everything on Linux accepts network paths. Network paths (no drive letter) have been around longer than Windows. Microsoft made the ridiculous decision to go with drive letters for everything a million years ago and all the programs for the platform got used to it. The programming world is getting better, but there are tons of hold outs. I find myself having to map a network drive for a specific program to get one specific task done. Linux uses the top down drive hierarchy model. Everything starts from there. Windows tries to use 26 points of hierarchy. It is maddening to have these drives around and forget what program needed that path mapped.

What happens if your language only has ten letters? I feel ripped off because aren't there 64 basic symbols in the Chinese script? Is there a language that has hundreds? Windows should have started there.

Media

VLC player plays MP3 files and some video files. Thank goodness the USB sound card works just as well in Windows as it did in Linux or I would be out of luck. We have no sound cards floating around. I do miss the script I wrote that gets rid of duplicates. It looks like I have to generate the play list every time or save it off somewhere. Still learning how it works. At least it does work. I'm counting my blessings on this one.

Telnet

OK, not telnet, but all forms of intermachine communication. I have basically one piece of software called mRemote that gets me in touch with all my other computers. This is good and all, but I mess the robust editing tools in Gnome Terminal. I can't cut and paste like I want in the VNC sessions. The Remote Desktop for Windows is pretty good, but there are other issues. This is one stop shopping for communication, but it is lacking in depth of features and flexibility.

Browser

The browsers are just about the same. There really isn't much difference.

File Manager

You would think that moving files around would be simple. Our network is Windows based so moving files from one part to the other is a nightmare on Linux. That aside, It can be much easier to script movements on Linux. I have a script on Linux that removes the duplicates from the music lists. I have another that updates my to do lists every day. The files get renamed by date and backups happen. Custom things that would not get done without a script.

The GUI in Windows is superior except in one feature. Nautilus lets you open folders in a direct drop down model like a Mac. I like that. There is probably some software you can get for Windows that does the same thing. I'm not worried about it.

Text Editor

Can't find a good text editor on windows that has a working and functional spell checker. Crimson Editor uses a basic spell checker that underlines stuff that is wrong but there is no way that I can find to supply suggestions. Notepad++ swears it uses Aspell, but it refuses to find the dictionaries. You have to install it separately, so what is the point. As far as I'm concerned, Notepad++ comes with no spell checker.

I now have to edit my HTML files in OpenOffice just to get a good spell checker. I'm going to have to get used to just making things work now that I have switched to windows at work.

If I send HTML code straight through email, it gets all messed up. I'm not sure how to explain that. Even if I attache the file, it gets messed up. If I put the code in as readable, it seems to work as long as I paste it in to text editor and not in to an HTML GUI interface. So, I cannot use half the HTML editors on the market only because I can't send it home in order to post it.

I give up. I'll use OpenOffice or LibraOffice to just write stuff down and send it home as that format of file. No one bothers to open those and screw up the contents. I might do what I used to do a long time ago and just write it all down in an email.

...

Then I figured out that I was installing an incompatible dictionary in Notepad++, or more accurately, Aspell. Aspell is infamous on Linux. it is functional for the most part. I've had trouble getting it to work on that platform. I suppose Windows shouldn't be any different.

Once this issue was rectified, things started working in an acceptable manner. This means I have one fully functional advanced text editor on Windows. That will get me started.

One good thing that came out of this is that I found a program called Notepad2. It is a stand alone executable that does many of the things that more complex editors do like block move, syntax highlighting and such. I've been looking for something that did this for the servers. I don't want to install anything because it will mess with settings and make itself known on the system. This program does none of that. It just runs. If only it had a spell checker.

I asked one of my coworkers which editor he uses on Windows. He said he doesn't. Most of the time he uses an editor on Linux to edit for programming. I have to day that this sounds like it is an insane thing to someone who has not used text editors on Linux. I do not have the will to do something like that. Once you have a need for a text editor, you will find one that works for you. Once you find one, you will try to stick with it. Even, if it abandons you.

Same

I believe it has been three years since I used a Windows machine as either my primary work or home computer. It is new and depressing to do so. I'm sticking with Linux at the house. It surprises me how similar everything is. Windows seems shallow somehow. So much of it is designed to the lowest common denominator in order to keep support calls down. Linux doesn't have a support budget. Figure it out or pay through the nose for some other OS. This gives the old girl depth.