I've managed to use Ubuntu a bit in my time, but I could never really get the hang of all that Terminal Jargon... So I just stuck to Windows.

Well, after I read it all I am not sure what the guy is trying to tell me. I use Ubuntu since a few years (off and on) and I am not convinced that Linux is easy - or easier than Windows. A lot of things you do have to do on the command line and that is even more complex than the Windows cmd.

Originally Posted by whs

A lot of things you do have to do on the command line and that is even more complex than the Windows cmd.

Yeah, and luckily for us there are larger Windows communities online, like the one we are using right now!

I tried Linux a number of times, there where many things I liked. Then I'd come to a site that required some specific video viewer, I couldn't figure an alternative. Sometimes I'd download something and had trouble finding it. Most likely it was too many years with Windows. Some programs I use and like in Windows currently don't have Linux alternatives as far as I know. Examples a Blu-Ray player, Adobe Lightroom. Photoshop, Outlook. I've tried some alternatives like Gimp, but don't like the GUI used.
Linux would be great if I were just starting out and didn't have so much invested in costly programs.

I've considered a Mac, but I like building my own PC, keeps the initial costs low and allows you to add more hardware as you go. Mac desktops with multiple hard drives are over $2,000. Don't like the all-in ones, plus no Blu-Ray.

I've always liked Sabayon Linux, partly because it was the first distro I learned about and used. Linux is not just for techies anymore. In fact, I've seen people who are terrible with computers enjoy using Linux for their everyday tasks.

There are several Linux distros that make life a bit easier. E.g. Mint is a nice one. But once you want to dig a bit deeper into the system, you always end up on the command line. And that is certainly not easy to use.

For someone who has his Linux all set up and does only mail, webbrowsing, some picture processing and music, operation is OK. But if you want to go beyond that, Windows is easier.

so much for the rumor that Microsoft has locked out dual booting Linux on Windows 8.

Huh?

He has the wrong end of the stick.

MS are requiring oem's to use secure boot as part of the win 8 licensing terms.

That means if you get an oem machine pre installed with win8 - it will be locked down.

Clearly that does not apply to the Dev release - there are no oem pre installs of that as far as I know.

I want to eventually roll my own Linux Distro. If I ever get around to learning how to do this, a few things I already know it would have:

- KDE
- OpenOffice (or similar)
- VirtualBox (or similar)
- WINE (or similar)
- Mono
- Moonlight
- Some package manager (preferably similar to Ubuntu's)

Of course, the packages used would depend largely on the license terms of distribution, etc., but that's the general idea.