[BadVista Advocate] Vista owners

[Lam YongXian]

> On Friday 27 April 2007 22:12:36 Don Hensley wrote:
>>
>> Something I'm a bit curious about: Does anyone on this list actually
>> have a
>> Vista box up and running?
>>
>> One of the real problems I have, is that as all my systems are GNU/Linux
>> (I
>> left Windows behind quite some time ago), I really am hard pressed to
>> actually get into technical problems with Vista.
>>
>> I can read what information is available, and I can see the impossible
> problem
>> presented in the "If you can't open it, you don't own it" aspect of any
>> proprietary software.
>>
>> And the underling problems with DRM are apparent as a simple exercise in
>> logic.
>>
>> The problem is "How do I explain to a Vista user, or prospective Vista
>> user,
>> exactly what Freedom his software lacks (and what freedoms he is giving
>> up
> by
>> using Vista), when I don't even use it at all?"
>>
>> That is a point by point issue that perhaps we could work on getting
>> into a
>> form that might reach "Joe Sixpack", or "Anonymous".
>>
>> Every time I get serious about explaining this, I see eyeballs glaze
>> over.
>> Well what can I say, I am an engineer by training, a hacker by
>> inclination
>> (not the hacker the news media has corrupted the honorable title into).
>>
>> So how do I reach the average end user?
>>
>> I don't believe it's a requirement to reach "Granny", she will come to
>> it on
>> her own, or go with whatever the family geek sets up for her. (I get all
>> my
>> 'old people' because either I am recommended, or they have had such a
>> bad
>> experience with Windows that they are out searching for something
>> better,
> and
>> run across me).
>>
>> So long as it's set up for them, they are the easiest bunch I know of to
>> get
>> to be happy GNU/Linux users. Notice that I am in a de facto manner,
>> simply
>> becoming a non evil Redmond for them. I have made it all work, from the
> first
>> time they use it, I hold their hand as long as is needed, and am
>> available
> to
>> help (i.e.; fix it.) when they do have a problem.
>>
>> This is not "Joe Sixpack" gets a distro and tries to install it...
> Games?????
>> where are games??? No Second Life! Why!!
>>
>> But then gaming is not often a big thing with my clients, maybe poker or
>> solitaire. Frozen Bubble is always a big hit.
>>
>> So any suggestions would help. That's what I would like to see, a FAQ
>> that
> is
>> written to show point by point why one not only should, but will benefit
> from
>> using GNU/Linux and why one should not, and will not benefit from using
>> Vista.
>>
>> Why giving up some things that Microsoft is using to entice you (and
>> developers) with, is the right thing to do. And why it's going to
>> ultimately
>> benefit them to forgo some of those poisonous things.
>>
>> And the FAQ needs to be in easy to understand terms and verbiage.
>>
>> As Jacob and I not long ago discovered, what seems obvious to one person
>> (or
>> age group) may not be obvious at all to another. This is one of the
>> things
>> that needs to be considered when creating any sort of "come on over,
>> this is
>> great" sort of page, be it a FAQ or otherwise.
>>
>> I await some feedback from all of you.
>>
>> As most of you know (I hope) feedback that does not agree with my take
>> is
> fine
>> with me.
>>
>> I'll leave you all with this observation about life (at least my life,
>> and
>> I'll bet yours too):
>>
>> "I have never, ever, not once, learned anything from someone that agreed
> with
>> me." If he agreed what was there to learn from him?
>>
>> Don.
>
> My employer requires me to test web-based software on the latest and
> greatest
> Windows rubbish (yes, it is rubbish).  So, he went to Dell and bought a
> copy
> of Vista and it came with a computer free of charge (the computer was
> roughly
> $200 more than the cost of the version of Vista installed, and he got a
> $250
> rebate).
>
> As for the things that Joe Schmoe would notice that are broken about it,
> well,
> let's enumerate shall we?
>
> 1) This smartphone (PalmOS) came with a driver and install disc for win32.
> Well, it doesn't work.  I get a GPF whenever I try to install software
> onto
> the phone using this software.  This is just a Treo 700p from Verizon
> Wireless.  Very common.  Yet, I plugged it into my Kubuntu box and as soon
> as
> I loaded the visor kernel module, this thing worked pretty well with
> kpilot.
>
> 2) *MANY* programs are 100% incompatible with Vista.  This allSnap program
> I
> use in order to snap windows to the edge (a feature that most X window
> managers have had for quite some time) won't execute.  Windows "detects
> problems" and is "unable to resolve" them.
>
> 3) I picked up a Linksys wireless network extender (let's you plug in
> ethernet
> and access your wireless network) and tried to configure it, thinking the
> windows install would work the quickest (sorry, I'm lazy sometimes).
> Well,
> when I went to run the configuration tool on the CDROM, I got a "windows
> has
> detected a problem" and it wouldn't run.  I called their (Linksys')
> support
> number and found out that Vista is not supported.  So I asked what IP and
> port and default authentication information was the default for the
> device,
> plugged it into my GNU/Linux/KDE box and it only took me 2 minutes to do
> what
> I'd just wasted more than ten times that trying to do with Vista.
>
> 4) This thing hits the 3D for everything.  My machine pumps out a
> considerable
> amount of heat.  Not overheating, but I can only imagine how much extra
> juice
> it's burning needlessly.
>
> 5) The graphics drivers for Vista are crap.  Both ATI and NVidia are
> playing
> hell trying to get their drivers to work.  These nvidia drivers on this
> machine now leave yellow lines on the screen during boot, and when the
> screensaver runs I get all sorts of weird artifacts on the screen.  ATI
> users
> of Vista will have scarier stories on that as ATI doesn't know how to
> write
> drivers for general computers to save their lives.
>
> 6) USB doesn't wake up after resume.  If you have your wireless adapter on
> USB, you have to constantly disconnect and reconnect it when resuming from
> sleep.
>
> 7) Everything asks you if you want to send data to Microsoft.  They ask if
> you
> want to "help improve Microsoft products" for damn-near everything.  These
> options are checked by default, and have "(Recommended)" next to the "Yes"
> radio button.
>
> Well, that's all I feel like typing right now.  I may put up a second
> edition
> of this later.  Dunno.  I feel better now.
>
> --
> ~ manchicken <><
> (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)nfluence with large hammer.
> The number of the beast - vi vi vi
>
> -------------------------------------------------------
>
> --
> ~ Michael D. Stemle, Jr. <><
> (A)bort, (R)etry, (I)nfluence with large hammer
> The number of the beast - vi vi vi
>
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>
I think your article served as a good review for (bad)Vista. Consider
archive it somewhere. On a weblog or something =)

Lam YongXian
Adolf AT www.adolflam.com