I Am Linux

So, we have a brand new laptop whose specs include dual 2.8 Ghz processors, 4 GB of RAM, 240 GB hard drive (only 5400 rpm), and Windows 7 Professional Edition. Being more than a little disillusioned with current mainstream anti-virus software, I did not purchase a set and instead quickly downloaded Malwarebytes Anti-Malware Software. I promptly ran a scan, wich came back empty. I then proceeded to download other software that I consider indespensible, such as Mozila Firefox and Thunderbird, Wireshark, OpenOffice, Putty, and others.

At first I was rather impressed with Windows 7. A handulf of upgrades to the interface appeared to have smoothed things out. I was particularly impressed with it's ability to mouse-over running programs in the taskbar and see previews of all instances of that program. I'm also enjoying the smooth transition to suspended mode, and back when I open and close the laptop.

What I didn't like right off was the technique in getting all the programs I really enjoy. In fairness I've promptly set out to download and install a large quantity of free, open-source software. But I doubt I would have had an easier time getting equivalent software in a smoother manner. Arguably the one exception would be Office Software. Had I opted to turn over more money to Microsoft when I purchased the latop initially it would have come with an Office suite. But that doesn't exactly count as easily installing software, since it would have already been there.  I also didn't like the size of the wireless indicator, but I'm told this may be distinctive to my Thinkpad. And the Start Menu now uses a smaller area and a scrollbar to manage the programs. However the search feature is nice. I've almost completely switch to using that since the scroll bar is so annoying.  After all this time Microsoft still doesn't have a nice way of categorizing programs in the Start Menu.

So to recap, good features:

• Nice interface
• Preview of open programs
• Smooth transition in and out of suspended mode
• Start Menu search

Bad:

• Lack of smooth installation of programs
• Some interface features are a bit bloated
• Start menu has scrollbar
• Start Menu lacks appropriate organizaion of programs

Then things to a definite turn for the worse. Only a few days (four) after getting the new laptop I needed to spend a day of work away from my normal office. A recent hire had resulted in our guest computer being taken down, so I brought out the laptop.

First problem, most of my work involes connecting to machines remotely via SSH. While I had downloaded and installed Putty, I was very much missing a terminal with a tabbed interface. Having to move the mouse to Putty and open it each time does slow one down when one much go through three gateways to get to the machines you are tending.

While running a test I opted to run Malwarebytes again. This is when I really got upset. It picked up a Trojan in the Windows registry. Now under cerain circumstances I might be a bit more understanding about that, but I have not been downloading questionable software, music or movies, and I have not been visiting porn sites. I did find a phishing email that I started tracking, but stopped before actually visiting the site because I was on Windows, and not a safer Unix machine. I. Was. Pissed. At least Malwarebytes cleaned it up without a hitch.

My work issues persisted. I was keeping around three Putty terminals open at once and trying to switch between them. Ultimately I ended up cascading them on my screen because the preview provided by Windows 7 was insufficient to appropriately distinguish the workspaces. It does have the option of mousing over each one and bringing up a full-sized preview, but this is also less than optimal. On another interesting note, the web sites I use for work were also a bit tricky to distingush using that preview feature. At this point I was severely missing Virtual Desktops, which have been a staple of MacOS for roughly a year, and a staple of Linux for roughly ten. (I've only been using Linux for about ten years. They may have been there much longer). I had heard that Microsoft had included Virtual Desktops in Windows 7. I heard wrong. I believe they even tried patenting the technology a while back. How can a main-stream operating system be this far behind? Work was not particularly fun that day.

By this point I had already discovered a few other vexations. The icons on my desktop cannot be made any smaller. They can only be made bigger. In fact, I'm finding customization of the entire interface to be, quite possibly, worse than ever. Over the weekend I attempted to watch Battlestar Galactica using Windows Media Player. It crashed. Twice. Happily only the media player crashed. For those who are asking why I was using WMP in the first place, I would argue that it still have the cleanest interface out there. And frankly, that's about the only reason to use any Microsoft product these days. The only problem is that they are falling behind even in this.

As a summary, let's recap one more time. Good:

• Nice interface Not so much
• Preview of open programs Not good enough
• Smooth transition in and out of suspended mode (actually I've had a few issues with this and consistency)
• Start Menu search (which I've discovered is only useful if you know what you're searching for)

Bad:

• Lack of smooth installation of programs
• Some interface features are a bit bloated
• Start menu has scrollbar
• Start Menu lacks appropriate organizaion of programs
• Where are the Virtual Desktops?
• Lack of proper terminal built in
• Interface cannot be sufficiently customized
• A Trojan?! In four days?!

This is supposed to be a big improvement over past Widows Operating Systems. I'm becoming increasingly convinced that the standards of Windows Users are now so low, they'll take just about anything as long as it only crashes once a day.