Just curious

It took me years to let win98 for winXP, but since every company I have been at that moment were using winXP, I finally changed (Im still using the win98 display)

I dont think Im going to change for vista soon.

I tried a debian version once, to give it a try; quite easy to install, but I got back to winXP since my USB drivers were not available for linux (that plus the fact broodwar who were my addiction of this era couldnt work on linux)

both problems are solved now

I'm currently using Windows because the software which I use for my clients are from windows but I'm reallllllllllllllllllyyyyyy fed up with all those licensing thing now on windows.
Even if you bought your windows xp or vista, you can't install it more than 3 times!! it sucks!!!

I tried a lot of Linux distrib...Slackware, Redhat, Mandrake, Gentoo...Now I am using Kubuntu and I am trying to put all my applications on it because I don't want to use Windows anymore!!!!
(BTW Gentoo is my favorite distrib...)

ubuntu is pretty muh the most universal distrib... Some people might prefer some other for detailed needs... But i truelly thinks that ubuntu is the one that will free the world from evil bill

problem is not the OS
its the software.

ping. devils circle. noone uses the OS, noone will write soft for it. noone write soft for it, noone will use the OS.
see the point?

there is "nice OSS (open source software) out there. but it's NICE. not profeessional. (except for programming. and lets face it, i only need a text editor for that)
And for sure i don't wanna run everything in a VM. (which costs money as well)

Take one simple example. besides my dayjob, i STILL do imaging and video / sound editing and compositing.
now, you give me an alternative to ADOBE, and i do the switch on my workstation.
there isn't. there is not one single program as professional as Adobe Photoshop, illustrator (they swallowed freehand, so thats gone), After Effects and Premiere.
For after effects and Premiere, you DO have alternatives, such as AViD studio and similar products. but they require even higher CPU power, and in most cases dedicated hardware. not to mention their price. For imaging, there is no alternative.
So its either MacOS or Windoze.

For games.... same lockin (most of the time), or 5 hour fixing for each game to run, and of course, praying it runs in OpenGL and not DX mode.

Open Office is nice, but it doesn't come close to MS office. Plus that everyone i work with will send me office files with stuff embedded that open office wont convert.

i can go on with the list.
but thats the main reason for me and the lock-in, OS wise.

(let the discussion begin. lol)

you should try again ... linux softwares has evolved a lot since 10 years

pls reference me with equivalent software for the ones i mentioned.
i would be blown away.
i will pay you my 1 month's salary if you get me one free soft (or even payable, yet cheaper than the ones i mention) that is as powerful and versatile and does the job for my need.

there ain't. i am not the only one complaining, there is a whole community.

please read: http://ask.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/06/05/0136220

more or less the problem described is my problem.

Adobe Photoshop --> the gimp
illustrator --> inkscape
MS office --> open office (no contest... 2.2 rapes 2007)

I know you will go on with many technical mumbo jumbo to prove that the 30K rmb+ software are so much better than the open source ones.. But many mates told me the same thing and when i let them use the open source soft, they failed to proove me wrong

Open Source is our destiny !!!!!

^^^
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