Microsoft Alternatives
erich March 22nd, 2006
Recently, I came across Redmond Magazine, which is geared towards people who administer Microsoft Windows on a daily basis. Columnist Doug Barney wrote an editorial regarding Microsoft alternatives in the desktop arena in the March 2006 issue (pp. 4), which I have to take issue with.
Barney compared Macintosh OS X and Red Hat Linux to Windows XP, which I do not feel is a fair comparison. Red Hat Linux is not, nor was it designed to be, a desktop operating system. Red Hat’s biggest strength is the server market, and because of this, does not require the crutches that a normal desktop environment must provide to help people with all skill levels accomplish their goals.
A much more suitable comparison would have been Ubuntu Linux, which is specifically geared for the end-user experience. I have been a Windows user for a very long time, and I can honestly say, I have never seen a Linux operating system as easy and fun to use as Ubuntu. Installation is extremely easy, and the mechanisms provided for installing software from the desktop is top-notch. I feel that novice computer users could easily use this operating system, as the interface is very intuitive.
It comes prepackaged with OpenOffice2, which is a very capable (and free) Office replacement. Firefox is installed by default, as is applications for businesses, the arts, and home productivity.
It seems that a big portion of the media only considers Red Hat as a viable Linux operating system, which could not be further from the truth. I urge you to take a look at Ubuntu (website) and give it a fair review.
tags: desktop+environment, linux, macintosh, microsoft, openoffice, operating+system, os+x, red+hat, redmond, ubuntu, windows, xp
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