How To Get Out of the Microsoft Habit

In our country, we have got go so addicted to Microsoft that we cannot look to make without it. It have go like morphine: we acquire off it, we experience hurting so great, we writhe in absolute agony.

Don't acquire me wrong. I am a BIG fan of Microsoft Word and Microsoft Encarta. But the OS's? Oh, don't ever acquire me started!

From the minute I saw Ubuntu Linux, I was... Stunned to state the least. I always thought that Linux OS's were... Primitive. Turns out, it just got bad press.

Though I thoroughly enjoyed Ubuntu, I had to cancel my Ubuntu thrust after about a calendar month or two of using it when I needed the space for my other files. And the farewell wasn't easy. Though I loved Ubuntu Edgy Eft like crazy, I wasn't ready to be weaned off Windows yet. I thought I "needed" Windows. Yeah right. Like a hole in the head.

The determination to fully transmigrate my desktop to Ubuntu or any other dependable Linux distro came when my Windows XP melted down. I decided I was finally ready to travel permanently... When I discovered Wine. But more than on that later. This is an article on how to take a different OS. :p

The mainstream Operating Systems for desktops for the mundane user come up in two major branches. I know, I know, there are other OS's out there, but for the moment, I'll just speak about the most well-known, most user-friendly "Windows alternatives".

How to take the os for you

Choosing is a cosmopolitan mathematical function of needs, desires, and availability, among other factors. There is no 1 manner to travel about it, and sadly, it is not a science. but I have got made a system for myself on how I can travel about my ain choices. I trust my system would assist you. Below are the stairway on how I travel about making Operating System choices.

Know what you need.

Knowing what you necessitate necessitate not be a forerunner to lobotomy. Just catch a notepad and the guidelines and inquiries below may assist you:

What is it that you do?

Are you a graphical artist? A web designer? A writer? A student? A insouciant user?

Base your picks on what you do, because your demands will depend on this.

What software system necessitates to be on your computer?

If you are a graphical creative person or a web designer, you would definitely necessitate tools like Adobe Photoshop. If you cannot afford the price, there are options like the Lameness on Linux. However, I have got a friend who states that he can never work on Linux, though he's not a Microsoft loyalist. According to him, Adobe Photoshop doesn't look as good on Linux as it makes on Microsoft Windows. BUT, there is Adobe Photoshop for Mac, and it actually looks light old age better than on Windows. Why? Macintosh silver screens are just rich, with the million-color support. If you have got the money to burn, and you necessitate apps like Adobe Photoshop and even Dreamweaver, then you better acquire os X. Oregon else, acquire yourself a Macbook/Macbook Pro/iMac. Now. :p

As for the writer, since word processing is light, and doesn't really necessitate as much random-access memory as applications like Adobe Photoshop or Dreamweaver, which, in turn, necessitate support for high resolution, I think it would be safe for me to urge that you utilize Linux. There are first-class applications to replace multiple sclerosis Office, like Open Office, Star Office, etc. AbiWord is an first-class multiple sclerosis Word replacement. It's light, fast, and simple. And you can compose in pure achromatic space, if you're allergic to distractions. These applications can salvage in the multiple sclerosis Word .doc format. But if you just have got got to have the multiple sclerosis Word formatting for your work, then by all means, travel for Ubuntu Linux's Feisty Fawn! It have Wine built into the system. Wine is the application that tin tally your multiple sclerosis programs, and it's really an first-class tool to ablactate you off the Microsoft addiction. Though I have got got yet to seek out Wine on Linux, as I am waiting for the functionary release of Feisty Dun on April 19, I have tried Crossover, a non-free distro of Wine, on my os X. It was able to run multiple sclerosis Office seamlessly so far. It's not slow when it's up and running, and though the founts are just smaller, the chief point is, it's running the Microsoft program. Enough said. I'm planning to pay for my transcript when the trial expires.

Students, on the other hand, have got varied needs. I urge Linux if you're not into heavy photograph redaction anyway, as:

• It's free.
• If you desire games, Wine can run World of Warcraft for you. Yes it does. Games are the precedence of the Wine community!
• Linux assists sharpen your skills, if you're a Computer Science or Information Technology student.
• It's free.

If you are a insouciant user with money to burn, then you could definitely work well with os X! os X, according to my friend, is better for the silent person user than Windows! Why, I am a very destructive silent person user. I actually put in anything I fancy. I have got installed some pretty serious material here in my Macbook, decided I didn't desire them anymore, couldn't happen the certification for how to uninstall the material I did, and decided, "What the hell, I'll just flip all the programmes in the trash". The lone thing I noticed that was different right after was that the founts in iTunes got messed up a little. :D But after installing an update on everything including the system, that job was fixed. :D Oopsie. :D

But if you're wish me, a sum cheapskate, I believe that you would make well on Ubuntu or PCLinuxOS. Both are very user friendly, and I was blown away by the two Operating Systems. As soon as I acquire a stack of CD's, I'm trying out the other user-friendly Linux OS's, and I'm going to have them here. Meanwhile, why don't you check up on out these OS's themselves, and see for yourself that they really are nice. :) Go to http://www.distrowatch.org Oregon http://www.ubuntuforums.org to see what people believe about the different OS's, and which are the popular favorites. :)

What are the primary characteristics that you would desire on your operating system?

You would do well to make a listing of what you desire as characteristics on your OS. Below is my ain list:

--User-friendliness

--Easy to put in built-in applications

--Package manager/handler for easy installation

--Applications that are good equivalents for Windows applications

--Easy networking setup

--Compatibility with Wine or any other Windows emulator

--Can read Fat32 (hard thrust format) for easy Windows sharing

--Customizable User Interface

--Installable Windows/Apple mass mass media codecs

--Easy put in of Java and other media support

--Fast loading/non RAM hog

--The os makes not "hang," restart randomly, or crashes. If it does, it should be rare, or like in Ubuntu, will only motivate that it have crashed, but will not impact the operation of the system or its applications.

--The os should have got a very helpful support community.

So far, Ubuntu Linux is my best choice. It is the best in application installation, have a really broad scope of built-in apps, and with each release in its 6-month cycle, it acquires increasingly user-friendly, and is getting more than jammed in characteristics as the years travel by. Ubuntu Feisty Dun come ups with a Windows networking apparatus manager, so it will be easier to pull off your local network/s. It also come ups with Wine, so you don't necessitate to really rack your encephalon with how to put in this (non) emulator. The lone thing that's bothersome with Ubuntu is that it takes long in starting up.

If you desire a faster OS, you can seek PCLinuxOS. I have got yet to put in it, so I don't cognize about its application manager: if it's easy to cover with or not. But it's highly user-friendly according to forums, and as I've used it through its unrecorded CD. And it's eyeball candy, too. :)

Ubuntu can also go oculus candy if you put in subjects and alteration the desktop background. If you happen the pre-installed brownish subject yucky, alteration it! The options are shown when you right chink on the desktop, the panels, and if you travel to system>themes. Mine is delightful pink. Heehee. :D

Another thing that is great in Ubuntu is the kick-ass community. According to some people I read there, PCLinuxOS have a great community, too, as according to people I've read on Ubuntu's forums. It's actually better, according to them, as the programmers/developers themselves entertain inquiries on PCLinuxOS.

If your hardware cannot support heavy programs, there are "thin clients" out there, which can be run even on a decade-old machine. If your machine used to back up Windows 95 and is still wired for 95, you can travel for OS's similar Xubuntu or Puppy.

Research on your options.

If lone Iodine didn't necessitate to work, I would rather be on the forums all twenty-four hours and clicking away at Linux sites. So far, the best Linux distros as far as I've learned are Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Sabayon, Arch, Batch (Ubuntu based), Puppy Linux, Mepis, Xandro's and Knoppix, to call a few. Knoppix and Puppy can be installed on removable media, and you can salvage your data files there, especially if it's a multisession/rewritable disc or flash drive.

Again, make seek to frequent the forums, you will sure larn a batch there.

Test the top three to five on your option list.

I make not like to wade through the 100s of Linux distros, only to happen them to be lousy. I would rather cognize about the best few then prove them. It's a good thing that most Linux OS's come up in Live CD's, so you can run them without having to put in them. I propose you seek Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, Xandro's and Puppy. They are the most user-friendly around, according to most people. PCLinuxOS and Puppy are very fast. If you really like Ubuntu and just desire it to run faster, as I've said, you can travel for Xubuntu. Take heart, there is an os out there for you. Or else, you can collect one from Linux's beginning code. Hrhr. :p

As for os X, I cannot state more. It is really an first-class Operating System. It have the stableness of Linux, being also a Unix-based OS, and it is far more than user-friendly than Windows. No, you make not necessitate to have got an Apple machine to run it. People have got been able to run it on X86 machines successfully. Just read the how-to's on the Internet.

OS Ten is really oculus candy, and they have got "dumbed down" the controls on a batch of the programs, to increase user-friendliness. Yes, there are minutes when I experience that some Macintosh programmes (especially the iLife programs) are too simple for my taste, but I really don't desire to complain, as they make the job, and they make it excellently. Where else can you put in programmes by just dragging the icon to the Applications folder? If that isn't idiot-friendly, what is?! :D

As I said, choosing an os demand not be encephalon lobotomy. Just explore, research, and have got a system in making choices. You necessitate not endure on a system that runs down with every Trojan and spyware outbreak. You can be free. You can migrate. Prison Guard Microsoft. Prison Guard Vista. Go for Open Beginning (or Apple :p).

IT For Sale

It's amazing where people can find a niche and market themselves and be successful. The question is, did the niche exist before they came along or did they create it simply by announcing their arrival and intention? Is that what being an entrepreneur is all about, creating your own niche market and then exploiting it?

There are so few truly new and original ideas out there. Most are variations on ideas or schemes that have been around for centuries or millennia even. Take this example, companies that act as brokers or consultants on behalf of various IT companies by buying used IT hardware and selling it at the best possible price as quickly as possible to another company. Essentially this is a variation on the old tinkers who used to travel from village to village, trading, buying and selling their wares, years before a star shone above a little town called Bethlehem. Only this is a little more high tech.

These companies buy IT hardware from companies who may be trying to reduce their IT costs, who are going insolvent or who might have surplus stock after a large IT project. The essence of the whole business is speed as hardware becomes outdated so terribly quickly, so they try to sell the items as quickly as possible and for the best possible price. They act in the best interests of both parties, buyers and sellers, but do their best to help the sellers meet their business goals.

There are certain requirements that have to be met in the business in order for all concerned to be happy. If the client requests a certified disk wipe, the partner must comply. All stock is to be fully tested before it is sold. And if stock is found to be faulty it should be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way. That is the hope in an ideal world at any rate.

Many of these companies also trade in computer parts e.g. memory, servers and switches etc. These are submitted to the same stringent tests as the computers and are to be disposed of in the same way if they are found to be faulty.

So, a successful niche market, this buying and selling of second hand goods. A business as old as time itself. Just about. I ask the question again, is that what being an entrepreneur is all about, creating your own niche market and then exploiting it? It must be. It must also be about seeing opportunities sooner than anyone else, having the courage to grab the available opportunities and having skin thicker than rhino hide so that you can roll with the inevitable much cliched punches.

It must also be about being able to see the obvious. This buying and selling of second hand computer hardware is a fairly obvious idea when you think about it. At least as obvious as buying someone's used jacket and selling it to someone who needs a jacket but can't afford a new one. Aren't all brilliant ideas like that though? You mention them and everyone says, "Oh man! I could have thought of that." People tend to overlook the obvious. We're all so busy trying to be genius and complicated and have that one big marvelous idea. There is brilliance in simplicity and mostly we forget that. I give you the Post-It and leave it at that.