It quickly become apparent that Windows has no package management [1] to speak of. I had to actually go directly to software vendors' websites and manually download, unpack, and install software. In some cases, the packages would come as a RAR file, and there was no unrar to extract the files with. The worst thing though, is that Widows wanted me to reboot it every time I installed something new.
I finally got my hardware to work after four hours of research, downloading, and rebooting. By that time, I was already feeling like a slave to the OS (Operating System).
Via Hacker News [2], “Branko's Thought Dump: On the state of Windows on the desktop [3]”
My friend Gregory is a Windows person who has had his share of problems with Linux. Well Gregory, here's the story of a Linux person who's had his share of problems with installing Windows.
Now, to avoid accusasions of being biased, I will also include the views of a Windows user on installing Linux:
When I installed Windows the process worked properly: The installer looked at my computer for a long time, then copied some files and rebooted. Then it had another long ponder before rebooting again. Then it booted into Windows, announced there were critical updates, and asked to boot again. Then once I installed my graphics drivers it wanted another boot. I guess my only complaint is that it stopped to ask about that fourth reboot. That was kind of odd. I mean, why would I say no?
On the other hand, the Linux installer feels like it?s missing parts or something. I ran the installer and it rebooted just once, right into Linux. After that I installed some updates, but the machine still didn?t ask to reboot itself. It just sat there like it was ready for me to start using it. I waited ten minutes just to be sure, but it never did ask to restart.
Eventually I had to bring in the laptop and reboot that, just so I could feel like the job was done properly.
“Linux vs. Windows—Twenty Sided [4]”
See, I'm being fair here …
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Package_management_system
[2] http://www.flutterby.com/archives/comments/16830.html
[3] http://www.brankovukelic.com/2013/01/on-state