Windows 8 vs Ubuntu Debate + First Experience Of Both OS's

12padams

New Member
Messages
3
Remember that you can watch any of the videos in 720p HD!

My mum loves Windows XP and pretty much doesn't want to use anything else. Windows 8 has been released and obviously she will need to update her operating system eventually. Before she updated to Windows 8 however I let her try it out first on my own computer to see if she liked it. SHE HATED WINDOWS 8 and here's the video showing her using it for the first time:
A mother struggles to use windows 8 for the first time - YouTube

When I posted a link to that video on this forum a week ago, a user named "strollin" left the following comment:

"What's the point of these type of videos? If you sat someone down in front of a computer running XP, OS X, Linux or whatever and told them to start using it they would have a similar experience."
-Original Forum Post Here

Really? Well... I decided to put this to the test. Strollin said that if I put her in front of Linux she would have a similar experience. So to see if he was right I downloaded and installed the most popular distribution of Linux available: Ubuntu. And guess what... SHE LOVED IT and is going to use Ubuntu rather than Windows 8 when she gets a new computer. These were the tasks I got her to complete within Ubuntu which she did easily without any help unlike the struggle she went through with windows 8:

Tasks Given:
- Change your desktop background
- Visit the gmail website
- Write and save a text document
- Quit Firefox
- Calculate 680 x 45 =
- Find where your downloaded applications are stored
- Turn off your computer

Here's the video of her using Ubuntu for the first time:
Mothers First Ubuntu 12.10 Experience - YouTube

So that just goes to show that Windows 8 is less user friendly, less intuitive, uglier and harder to use for a windows user than Ubuntu. You know somethings wrong with windows 8 if a loyal windows user has more difficulty using it than another operating system altogether.

Now I've pretty much knocked about and bullied Windows 8 a lot in this topic making it look bad so what do I think of it? I actually like it! Today we are moving away from desktop computers and towards tablet computers. For me windows 8 on a desktop computer is a massive NO NO but on a tablet its awesome. Its optimized for touch screen and I'm going out next year to buy a Microsoft Surface with Windows 8 Pro.

Points to discuss:
1. Will you upgrade your desktop computer from an earlier version of windows to windows 8?
2. Does windows 8 suck on desktop computers to compared of previous windows operating systems?
3. Would you prefer to run Ubuntu on your desktop computer rather than windows 8?
4. If Ubuntu was compatible with everything windows 8 was compatible with would you prefer to use Ubuntu?
5. Which operating system (Windows 8 or Ubuntu) looks better on a desktop computer?
6. What other operating systems would you like to see her try?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Dude. Are you serious?

First, you were far more instructive with her in the Ubuntu video, while the Windows video you refused to tell her anything or give her hints. You had to walk her through booting it up, what things to press, what to do, etc... just to get to the desktop.

Second, your list of tasks were completely different. For example, in Ubuntu you asked her to go to Gmail in firefox, while in Windows 8, you forbade her from using the browser to check her email. Why was that I wonder? Because checking her email in Linux would have been a FAR more complex process than in Windows 8. Further, she's used to checking her mail in Firefox, so that was hardly a complex task for her.

Funny how she said she liked how tooltips popped up on things when she rolled over them, except of course the same thing happens in Windows taskbar, and unlike Ubuntu, the start page tiles actually have text on them and don't need tooltips.

If you had given her half as much hand holding in Windows 8, half as much description and explanation, she would have had a much better Windows 8 experience. But for some reason, you felt you had to tell her more things and hold her hand more in Ubuntu, but somehow this made Ubuntu better? Right.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
Yea, its funny because a person from the ubuntu forums also noted that I held her hand through Ubuntu a lot more. In future videos of other operating systems I'll say "Do you give up" before I tell her how to do things...

Thanks for the advice ;)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7
Also, you are not correct about Defragging. Neither Windows or Linux *need* to be defragged, both *can* become fragmented. It is true that Linux is better about things, but there is no such thing as a non-SSD filesystem that doesn't become fragmented (SSD's are fragmented by design, but it doesn't matter because there is no seeking).

Most Linux users believe the myth that Linux disks don't fragment. They do. And they do slow performance. But since the OS gives you no tools to notice it, people just keep on believing that it doesn't happen.

In fact, defragging your disk constantly in Windows can actually make fragmentation worse. How? You say? Because it consolidates all your files into a single block. Thus, when a file needs to expand, there is no choice but to create a new extent, since defragging the drive has removed all "buffer" space between files. Of course, if you constantly defrag then that fixes the problem ;)

You may find this enlightening.

Defragmenting EXT4 file systems with e4defrag (coming soon to a distribution near you)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    CPU
    Intel i7 3770K
    Motherboard
    Gigabyte Z77X-UD4 TH
    Memory
    16GB DDR3 1600
    Graphics Card(s)
    nVidia GTX 650
    Sound Card
    Onboard Audio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Auria 27" IPS + 2x Samsung 23"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440 + 2x 2048x1152
    Hard Drives
    Corsair m4 256GB, 2 WD 2TB drives
    Case
    Antec SOLO II
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000
    Mouse
    Logitech MX
As someone who uses both Windows and Linux, all I can say is good luck when you find that a piece of hardware isn't supported OOB by Linux.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows Server 2012 Standard w/Hyper-V
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    HP ProBook 4430s
    CPU
    Intel Core i3-2310M
    Memory
    16GB DDR3
    Hard Drives
    80GB Intel 320 SSD
    500GB Samsung Momentus
Using Windows 7, 8 and Ubuntu. Enjoying Windows 8 though there are some notable issues. The IE 10 browser from the start page is limited and not fully functional, (displaying bookmarks a problem for me) whether it will be fixed or not? It also doesn't allow an ad blocker so the experience is degraded. The photo display app doesn't allow choices regarding what will be displayed on the live panel. The store is very limited. The sports live tile app is very limited. For example one cannot find scores for U.S. college events, but there are several options for overseas soccer leagues (is anybody thinking at Microsoft?) And so on.

That said Windows 8 is quite competent. Using other browsers (Firefox or Chrome) off the desktop, opened with tiles from the Start page works well for me. I spend about half my time on the start area and the other on the desktop. Hopefully there will be some improvements coming.

Ubuntu 12.10 installed without a glitch on my XPS 15 except that I needed a fix for the hybrid graphics and had to find and install Bumblebee. It's not quite as energy efficient as the Windows sides but is close enough that it's not a serious issue. I like Unity and find it simple and easy to use. However, Ubuntu and Linux, have difficulties with DRM protection. So your Ipod/Ipad will not be easily if at all synced on this system; Netflix doesn't stream; and if you download books from your library (audio and most ebooks) you'll find it doesn't work on Ubuntu or other Linux systems.

Interestingly both Ubuntu and Windows 8 have "offended" many because they are different than earlier versions. But both to me are quite good functional visually attractive systems. And no I don't miss the start button.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7, Windows 8, Ubuntu 12.10
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell XPS 15
    CPU
    i7
At least if he was comparing with Linux Mint, Ubuntu is really going in the wrong direction , all true for this reason he can be compare to Windows 8
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 enterprise x64
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Pc-Quebec / Area 66
    CPU
    i7-3960X Extreme Edition
    Motherboard
    Rampage IV Extreme
    Memory
    Gskill 4x4 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    4 x HD 7970
    Sound Card
    onboard
    Screen Resolution
    2560*1600
    Hard Drives
    C:\Intel series 520 SSD , 250 GB
    D:\ WD 750 black with Intel 40gb SSD cache Intel RST
    E:\ WD 2TB Black
    PSU
    Corsair AX 1200
    Case
    TT Mozart TX
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Logitech G-15
    Other Info
    Windows 8 VM is install on his own SSD.
Back
Top