I hate Windows!

I hate Microsoft Windows. I'm not saying that just because it's the cool thing to say right now. I really hate it. I don't see why people would ever use Windows, outside of gaming purposes, of course. Many of the best games are unfortunately made exclusively for Windows and that monstrosity: DirectX. Many devices are also only supported under Windows, especially the hardware I have: my Compaq iPaq PA-2 (second gen MP3 player), Xerox WorkCenter XK35c (it actually prints under Ubuntu, but won't scan), some wifi cards (I'm looking at you, Linksys) and most any PDA running PocketPC (I can't live without my PDA, though I could copy software to the CF card and install it locally, if there is a non-Windows binary.)

Unfortunately, these peripherals are spread out between two different computers. The printer is attached to my HP (the one that overheats), and that's where I upload songs to my MP3 player. I can't just copy songs to the MMC because Compaq uses some proprietary file system and I've been unable to find a hack or even any information since the iPaq line is now PDAs. I would use my PDA there as well, but I ran out of sockets on my power strip, and I don't have an extra one avaliable. I rarely install software to my PDA anyway, I usually use it to read or play Tower Mogul. The wifi card is attached to the computer in my bedroom because I don't want to run a cable, and I'd need another router, and it would be a mess.

But I hate Windows because it is so slow. It takes ten minutes to boot Windows 2000 SP2 on my 166. This was a problem when I used it in my bedroom, but I stuck an Ethernet card in it, put it in the computer room, and now I have Vector Linux (Slackware based) installed and it runs beautifully at 800X600. My mom's computer is 300 Mhz, and it runs slow as dirt. I'm also running Windows 2000 there because she's been using Mavis Beacon to brush up on her typing skills she learned in High school (on an old-fashioned typewriter). I don't think my mom would really like Linux anyway because she gets turned around in Windows and the new interface would just frustrate her. Even my HP (2.08 Ghz) seems sluggish at times when running Windows, even though I'm anal about tweaking and maintaining the highest possible level of performance. I can run Ubuntu at 1600X1200 on the same machine without the slightest hiccup in performance, except for Firefox 1.0.5, which acts quite odd sometimes.

I just don't see why people like Windows. Linux is so much faster and there are so many great things about it. It's free, open source, and easy to download. I downloaded many ISO files at Linuxiso.org and I constantly got the maximum transfer speed (about 150K). There is so much software for Linux if you know where to look (sourceforge.net, kde-apps.org, etc.) There is software for Linux that can anything from controlling a model railroad or making coffee (no kidding) to providing printable (and PDA friendly) star-maps or video editing. There is this really good Adobe Premier alternative called Cinerella, which is open source, and of course, completely free. Linux is also really secure and versatile and blah blah blah.

But the best part about Linux: it's not Windows. It's anti-Windows.

And I'm sorry for ranting and raving and carrying on.