Just proves my point that you are set in your ways and nothing will take you away from Linux
It is no different than those complaining about Office 2007 when it came out.
Not a newer iteration of it, no. I liked 2000 and XP.
So not long ago then... since Linux Mint made its debut in 2006 and at the time was rather crap compared to the more established distros at the time. Ubunto had already 2 years going by this time and SUSE and Debian were pretty dominant at that time.
I went to Mint in 2008 or 2009. I was visiting for a few weeks before I went off traveling again. Would have made me... 19?
Most who complained about Office 2007 just stayed with Office 2003 instead. Open Office had the same reactions as to Office 2007 where I was.. no freaking way!
Looks too different than Office 2003 (which is in many way idiotic but hey). It is how it is.. Now days people want Office 2010+ because that is what they have in their workplace.
Really, because I've never seen someone react like that in my life. Open Office is most definitely a work program, and it looks like one. It couldn't be any less flamboyant if it tried, and everything is exactly where you'd expect it to be -- the perennial failing of newer iterations of Windows Office.
IE was used by most people up to about a few months ago when Chrome took over the mantle piece. It is still the second biggest browser out there and Firefox is nothing compared to IE and Chrome. Only die hard linux nerds seem to like Firefox over Chrome or other browsers these days. I use to be a Firefox fan but then I discovered Chrome and have never looked back.... and that is the story of most people I know who have ditched IE and the statistics agree with me. But still, IE has its loyal drones that would never dream of switching simply because they only think that the big E on their desktop is the only browser there is.
The majority of people have been using either Firefox or Chrome for years. It is not "hardcore Linux geeks" who use those browsers. Like I said, I don't know anyone who doesn't. Firefox has only slightly fewer users than Chrome, in the US. It's still a very popular browser. There's probably 10 times as many Firefox users as there are Linux desktop users.
I never said that. I said in the past installing Linux was a freaking nightmare, but now days they have emulated the ease of Windows when it comes to installation. Once you have installed it, then the problems start with no Word, no games, no Photoshop or the other programs that you are use too. Yes there are Linux alternatives, but they are not the real thing and that matters more to people than you think... a typical Linux fan mistake.
So admittedly, you're basing your opinion on Linux from 5 or 10 years ago, not the Linux of now.
Some of those programs are as good or better than their other-OS counterparts. I think Open Office is better. I think GIMP is perfectly good for intermediate-level design. I've even done some fairly involved video clip editing in Linux that went pretty well and looked good enough for people to pay me for it.
But yes, Linux has weak spots, just like EVERY OTHER OS.
In my experience, a lot of people who just tired of stuff getting worse and not better, and tired of paying through the nose for the pleasure. They don't care what it takes to fix it. They just want it to be fixed.
I show them how to install, write down literally a handful of things to keep in mind, and they're off.
Actually it is quite complicated because the end result is a list of programs, libraries, sub-programs or even different versions. It is far from as easy as you make it.
No it isn't. You have no idea what you're talking about.
The package manager will show you which program will do the actual thing you want. Add-ons and what have you are down at the bottom of the list.
But if for some reason that's still too damn complicated for you, there's the Software Manager as well, which is as dumb as it possibly gets. You don't even see all the little stuff. It just installs. All you see is the main programs.
Most people I work with do use IE but that is because they are afraid of technology and change.. you know like most of the population when it comes to computers.
Well, I can tell you in the 20-35 bracket that most of my friends are in, I don't know ANYONE who uses IE. Not a soul.
Now that is ironic because last time I did that, it failed horribly in Linux Mint 13. Seems the installer package in Linux Mint 12 did not work correctly or something.. /shrug. Point is, why is it not in the package manager... that is rather pathetic.
Yeah, because every EXE always works perfectly, right?
Please. I've had more crashes from trying to do basic crap in Windows than I can count.
Also, I've never had an issue with it. So your anecdote is no better than mine.
It's probably not in the package manager because Google won't let them, if I had a guess.
Why's it pathetic? Is it pathetic that Windows has no package manager at all?
It also lists them.. and THAT is the problem. There is a KDE version, Gnome version or libraries for whatever source and so on.. it does nothing but confuse the average user. I know what to get but not the average user. Having tried to get people to goto Teamviewer.com, and download Teamviewer, install it and then run it ...all over the phone... having a long list or complicated picture with multiple sources... it is badddddd.
Yup. And all the desktop Linux versions also have a MAIN RELEASE.
It's a big, fat, neon sign on their website that basically says, "COME TO ME, NEWBIES!"
It's no different from the umpteen versions of any given Windows OS.
LOL the hell it does HAHAHAH. It looks like the first beta versions of Skype from the mid naughtiess. Skype has evolved since then you know, but then again if you dont use Windows then you would not know that.
N.B... Have not checked if Skype for Linux has been updated in the last 6 months... I doubt it, but it could have been.
I've seen Skype in Win7. Basically, it's the same, except for some reason it takes up more space and I don't have the option of getting rid of the side menus, like I do in Linux. It's more complicated for no apparent reason.
I prefer it in Linux. But the main functions look the same, just without cluttered in more crap you can't get rid of.
Yea once you get past the start up of Office... totally pisses me off that you have to choose what kind of document you want to start.... another pet peeve with Open Office. It reminds me of Microsoft Works and is totally idiotic. And people do not use Open Office. I run a computer repair business and maybe I find Open Office installed once a month at best and of them that do have it installed... very few actually use it and actually use Office 2007 oddly enough.... since it came with the PC.
What are you talking about?
It's a suite, just like Windows Office. All the different doc types have their own names and they're their own programs. What are earth are you using?
Come on .. now you making things up. First off you cant just "download Linux to a USB drive"... you need to do other stuff to the USB drive to make it bootable and so on. It is not hard, but it is also not as easy as you state it. And getting into BIOS? Come on... average computer people are scared ****less of the BIOS system and always have been. While Linux has become much easier over the years it is not that easy.
Yes you can.
Making it bootable is as simple as going into BIOS and bumping the drive to the top. That's all you need to do.
Yeah, it's slightly scary, but only because it's in 8-bit. The computer tells you how to get in on start-up. Press the button. Then you can see the boot order. Press a button to make the USB drive first. Then hit enter. Now, you're in a pretty graphical install process that takes 15 minutes.
But if someone is too scared to do that, you can also download it onto a CD and install that way. I just don't have any CD's, so I use a USB.
Niche user hehe.. well my niche is far far larger than yours
No, not in terms of usage. I'm a pretty typical user. My computer is mostly an internet box and a paper writing machine.
You game, have multiple screens, and do all kinds of stuff the average user knows nothing about.
Yes they do.. they care about having a system that they are use to and dont want to learn new things. That means Windows, office, skype, IE and for years now Outlook Express... but that went away so getting them to use alternatives is a often a nightmare and will only get worse now with no Windows Live Mail for Windows 8... just hope they add POP3 to the standard Windows 8 mail program.
Good lord, you're out of touch. No, they don't. They really don't.
Everything you need to know to get used to Linux could fit on a post-it note. I've set up a dozen people in Linux. None of them went back. None of them were geeks, and some of them were even below average with computers.
And nothing you have said is true of the average mom/dad computer user in 2012. People who use Facebook to contact family, people who use Skype to call them and people who use a browser to get their news and maybe mail.. that is the extent of most computer users on this planet and that is the reason that a think like the iPad and its dumbing down of an interface has taken off so much and why the PC sales are falling.
Yes, it is. Getting use to mobile OS is actually more time-consuming than getting used to Linux. And a lot of people are willing to do it, to get away from all the problems they have with mainstream OS's. They just either don't know it exists, or they are too scared by people like you who repeat all kinds of crap that isn't true about modern Linux.
