Ubuntu or Windows 7

wysiwyg said:

Some people, by that you mean a few geeks run Linux, all that rubbish about phoning home, and not needing AV etc, you know as well as I do why it isn't necessary, its a thing thats not worth the hackers time because so few people use it.

In this case you're partially correct, but what true crackers (criminal hackers, as opposed to people with above average skill with computers who have no criminal intent) are after are large enterprise servers and mainframes, most of which use linux, and generally aren't very successful, so maybe the reason is because Linux is inherently more secure than windows

wysiwyg said:

There are even more Macs than Linux and they only have a small share of the market, be honest if Linux was so good it would be up there alongside Windows competing for a bigger market share, people aren't stupid or ignorant to know whats good, and what isn't,

It would be a little different if macs weren't designed to stop working when OS-X is removed, and all other major computer manufacturers didn't require windows to be preinstalled on almost every computer they sell.

and if this wasn't this wasn't part of the windows EULA until windows 7 was released:

By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, contact the manufacturer or installer to determine their return policy for a refund or credit.

After losing several lawsuits where people tried to get a refund for windows and were refused, they changed the eula to this:

By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, contact the manufacturer or installer to determine its return policy. You must comply with that policy, which might limit your rights or require you to return the entire system on which the software is installed.

Which makes it nearly impossible to get a refund for windows on a new computer if you don't want to use it

That's only a small part of the reason linux isn't more widely used. If you would like I can come up with several other documented facts that prove windows is only as popular as it is because Microsoft stifles any competition.

wysiwyg said:

Your comment about one system and one language shows your own foolishness, I reckon the majority of the worlds peoples only speak one language, and have no wish to learn another and you reckon thats ignorance, and all the people that use one system are ignorant as well,

Again you're wrong. It's generally believed that 60-75% of the worlds' population is multilingual. I speak four languages, which makes it easier to communicate with some of my neighbors and probably contributes to my ability with computers

I don't just reckon it's ignorance to only learn one language or one operating system, I'm stating a fact.. from the webster's dictionary:

Ignorance:
1. The condition of being ignorant; the lack of knowledge in general, or in relation to a particular subject; the state of being uneducated or uninformed.

2: A willful neglect or refusal to acquire knowledge which one may acquire.

wysiwyg said:

You find a good system and stick to it till something better comes along,

I wonder why you have more than one system its tells me you aren't sure what you want, me I've seen all the others and decided this is the best,
and that is the only criterion, no ifs, no buts.

Maybe that's what you do, but I have several computers, and I make a living fixing them for others. I like having a choice of operating systems on all of my computers. Everyone's entitled to their opinion but my opinions are all based in fact. Any other points you would like to argue? I enjoy a good debate...

Actually, I like to point out some things...

Microsoft isn't 100% stiffling the market for PCs as far as OS. On the contrary, what it really is doing is oversaturating itself on the PC side that makes it 'stand out' more than Linux.

I have been working on computers for well over 20 years, and seen the rise of Windows OS as well as worked with Unix/Linux and Macintosh OS. The reason I am such a heavy Windows user is the fact that the PC hardware was cheap, Windows was easy to get a grasp up and work with. The many flavors of Linux in the early years were a bit difficult to work with unless you spent time learning how to get it going.

In the time that Windows became the popular OS for PCs, more so when Win95 actually made PCs stand ground and even overtake the Macintosh as far as just simple ease of use and then for Internet access, that is when Windows became less secure than Linux.

Remember, Microsoft started its push to have a lot more interoperability, but also put out coding tools to HELP people develop software, which, in turn fueled Windows being even more popular by the fact that there were easier ways for programmers to make programs for Windows each time. Those who wanted to do programming for Linux/Unix, on the other hand, were only the ones who were into serious coding. Windows Visual Studio based coding is not super complex and there are several black box code items that allow people who have little understanding of basic programming to be able to whip up programs and make it look pretty (I should know, I used to work with a programmer who had no University education on Computer Science Coding practices and development, but wrote a bunch of code in Visual Studio. He has admitted to one person he just wings it)

The point of the matter is, coding for Windows is not 100% difficult, and not surprising there are holes in Windows because of the simple fact that the design was meant to be user friendly and developer friendly as well. Windows is extremely popular purely on the saturation of programs and ease of use.

Linux, on the other hand, has several different flavors and developers who focus on particular flavors at times. When I last looked at Linux before Ubuntu... I found setting up Mandrake Linux to be a bit of a pain. I tried my hand at Redhat and still had some issues and that was about 7 years ago. Ubuntu had some problems with certain hardware setups which took me a while to work out, but also finding in one situation, Ubuntu hated certain KVM switches so I couldn't use the GUI interface but could use the console in order to do things.

In an enterprise environment, unless you are skilled or reasonably prepared, both experience and hardware wise, for Linux... Linux will not be the choice for some companies in comparison to Windows. This is not to say there are no companies that uses Linux machines, on the contrary, there are a few in my area that do use it. However, from what I have seen in the most current leanings, is that some find Microsoft Enterprise Environment more to their liking as far as management and working with users and tend to shy away from Linux unless people have spent a fair deal of time working in a Linux/Unix environment.

And again, Linux/Unix now has abilities that Windows users can use, such as Samba file sharing, but from a general point, I believe that businesses, unless setup for it or have actual experience in Linux environment, will prefer the ease of use of Windows due to the fact majority users have had experience with that environment over a Linux based one.