Rejected Windows

10 Reasons why I moved away from Windows

I felt like creating this web-page as a service to people who ask me why on earth I would ditch Windows for that weird Linux thing. I also strive to not mention anything that GNU/Linux solely provides - this is purely "Why ditch Windows" not "Why Move to Something Else." Now at the end I will recommend alternatives, but I am trying not to push anything in particular. DISCLAIMER: This is not a benchmark or anything scientifically measurable, this is simply my own experience with high resource use apps, Windows, and computers in general. If you haven't figured out that high resource apps are computer games, consider yourself clued in.

  1. First and Foremost: Windows is expensive. Windows is very expensive. Personally, since I build my own computers, I like to get the lowest cost vs quality I can get for all of the components I use. Why should I pay over $200.00 for a piece of software when I can get competing piece of software for a few dollars, or if I feel like using the bandwidth and a blank CD, free? Also, since I build my own computers, they don't come with the Micro$oft tax built-in. So, since the computers don't come with Windows, why should I use Windows? Much less why should I pay for it.
  2. Windows is bloated. From personal experience I know that the smallest hard-drive you can run Windows XP on is 40GB or 38.7 if you want to get technical (1 byte = 8 bits, 1 kilobyte = 1024 bytes, etc. NOT 1 kilobyte = 1000 bytes, like hard-disk manufacturers like to use). You need at least 3GB for the base OS, then most Windows apps consume the rest. Then we come to memory requirements. I may be a gamer, and overly concerned about memory usage, but I want the smallest footprint possible so that I can use the most RAM possible for whatever pretty-pixel generator I'm running. Whatever you do, do not believe that Windows XP will run WELL in 128MB of RAM (what the specs say). It does not run "well" in 256MB (my older laptop). It runs "well" in 512MB. It runs nicely in 1GB of RAM. It runs exceptionally well in 2GB (but what wouldn't?). The other question I have about Windows is its constant, unceasing use of a paging file. My current PC that runs Windows (for games, only games, and a few apps that I must use because of school) has 2 GB of RAM--which I have found to be sufficient for just about all needs. The question is: Why, when running no apps except a few background services, does Windows feel the need to constantly page things in and out of RAM? It uses a 1GB paging file, despite the fact that I have 1GB of RAM FREE!
  3. Windows is Unstable. Now before you Windows aficionados get on my case, I will admit that Windows XP is a very stable OS--on a per application basis. I rarely have applications crash anymore--much less lock up the system. However, on the aforementioned (and described later) dual boot machine, I can get an average uptime of 1 week when booted into Windows before some reason or another compels the system to reboot itself--whether Windows updates that installed themselves (despite repeated attempts to stop this) resetting the machine, system errors (who's error codes defy even M$ tech support's field manuals), or just plain rebooting for no reason whatsoever. Now the current uptime on the linux boot of this machine (its been awhile since I rebooted now that I boot Windows in a machine emulator) is 100 days and counting. Now I never turn my computer off, and would prefer to never reboot except for big things like compiling new kernels, updating the base OS or other things that require a complete restart. Windows does not provide enough uptime for my needs. If you would like harder statistics, check out Netcraft which has very nice uptime reports for a variety of websites.
  4. Windows is hard to use. A brief explanation: The difference between ease-of-use and ease-of-learning: Windows is frightfully easy to learn. Since you have been exposed to it at least once in your lifetime, I bet you know what it looks like even if you have never used a computer before in your life (not especially likely if you're reading this). To make things better, one of two people probably knows enough about it do help you learn. Now this is what makes me recommend (yes recommend) that people learn to use a computer in Windows. However Windows is very hard to actually use. Lets say that I wanted to compress all of the files in a directory, and copy those files to another disk on a remote machine (accessible via a network share) and decompress them. (This is probably a really inelegant way to do this on both machines, but I am trying to make a point.)

    On Windows, I would have to right-click the folder, select the Compress option (if I was using a really nice archiver), wait for that to finish, then drag the new archives icon over to the network share in another window, then right-click and select extract here (also if I'm lucky).
    On, say, UNIX and compatibles this is a trivial task:
    $tar cjvf archive.tar.bz2 /some/directory; mv archive.tar.bz2 \
  /destination; tar xvjf archive.bz2
    Now I will grant you that the latter looks like vaguely formatted line noise, but it is really simple compared to having to tell the computer everything it is supposed to do by clicking this and that and the other. I am willing to make a bet with any serious computer user (by this I mean either programmers, systems administrator, or any form of webmaster) that once they have taken the time to fully LEARN any UNIX system, that they would prefer it any day to Windows.
  5. Windows does not have a powerful command line. You will probably say something along the lines of "Windows is a GUI OS, it does not NEED a command line." To which I will reply "What if, for some reason or another, the GUI stopped working? How would you fix it?" Not that this is likely to happen in Windows without the rest of the system being trashed (in my experience this means that the whole system is shot and it's time to bring out the reinstall disk. Also, as a programmer, I do not write very many GUI apps, I do not interact with very many GUI apps, and I do not like GUI apps. I think that command line interfaces are simple, streamlined, and efficient. I can accomplish in a few keystrokes what it takes very complicated mouse gestures to accomplish in a GUI OS. (see Ease of Use above)
  6. Windows assumes you are a complete, utter idiot. This probably goes with ease of use, but I list it separately because this is one of my severe gripes with the OS. I do not want to be asked if really meant send this huge list of files to the Recycle Bin. Yes I did, and even if I didn't, the Recycle Bin has a RESTORE option, which defeats the purpose of asking me in the first place. Yes I do know what I'm doing when I try to access drive c:. Yes I do know what I'm doing when I delete that virus infected system file. I do not want to be hand-held. I do not want the safe feeling of security of having the OS ask everything six times to see if I really mean it. If I want to bulk delete half of the system files, I want it to damn well try! If it turns out later that I really did need the files, that is why I make paranoid, twice daily backups of my personal files, and weekly backups of system configurations.
  7. Windows is not Open Source. Okay, this is a hard to explain point if you are not a programmer. I like open source software, even though some apps are rough around the edges because I know if I really need a particular app, and the executable doesn't run on my machine or there is some weird bug that is really easy to fix if you know where to look that I can either compile it myself on my own hardware (and thus be assured of compatibility) or fix the code myself and recompile the program and send the bug-fix to the developers instead of begging the vendors to fix it in the next release.
  8. Windows is not Customizable. When you really think about it, its not. In UNIX I can choose from hundreds of different window managers (programs that manages application borders and decorations), different desktop managers, entire desktop environments, and onward. I can change how the system libraries are laid out. I can change how the system boots down to the very scripts themselves. I can change a plethora of things. Very little of Windows is customizable to that extent. In Windows you cannot even change the directory structure of the system files. Very frustrating.
  9. Windows is a Micro$oft product. This reason is extremely petty and conducive to flame-wars, but its true. I. Do. Not. Like. Micro$oft. They are a monopolistic, money-grabbing, empire of evil. I do not like supporting a corporation whose business practices make J.P. Morgan look like a saint. I do not like supporting a corporation who thinks that a user needs to sign away all rights and privileges to software HE PAID FOR. I do not like supporting purporters of DRM software and software patents. I do not like companies that lie in their advertising. I do not like companies that sell inferior software and call it quality. I do however like (in all fairness) Microsoft Games (the subsidiary company) that produces the Xbox and a variety of other games, they have actually turned out a variety of fine programs that are well made, and polished. I only wish the rest of the company was held to the same standards.
  10. Windows is not secure. Windows is NOT a secure operating system. Windows is PLAGUED by virii of all sorts, Windows is riddled with security holes. Windows is NOT a multi-user system. Windows is not a good platform for hosting Internet applications. I will not go into detail here, because there are all manner of websites, articles, and other sources that will happily tell you that Windows is an insecure operating system.

Okay, now I've told you all the reasons to get rid of Windows. Now you probably would like a list of things you could swap to. Here is a list of things I have tried, or know enough about to recommend:

A good place to look for more linux distros and BSD's is DistroWatch which maintains a list of all Linux and BSD distros organized by category, date, and whatever else you could think of.

If you are looking to learn more about Linux in general, I recommend Linux.org which as a lot of general information that is very enlightening (as well as book recommendations and a nice links section).

Finally, the specs of the computers I own and what they run:

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