I noticed that nearly every Linux distro is dual-boot capable. But I think loading on a standalone basis will make it easier to learn. SuSE and its numerous advanced cousins have become more user-friendly for lessor folk than the Uber-Geeks. Driver problems are nearly a thing of the past.

You can even get the slick GUI’s we’ve become trained to accept... or not if you choose.

It uses less resources, operating requirements are much lower. Recently I was convinced this box was about done for, then discovered a recent update was fubaring damn near everything at a very basic level. I should have learned a very long time ago to watch for that sort of moronic code-slinging from the bunch in Redmond or whoever wrote the update.

My itch with Micros$cks goes back a very long ways. But that’s a story for another thread.

TBTH, for most people, Windows is fine. Those who go down to the big-box discount store and buy their box in a box, take it home, plug it in and expect it to work without any geeking. Which is the vast majority of users these days. They’re not interested in computers for the technical gee-whizzery ... they don’t care what is inside.

To them it’s an appliance. A toaster on steroids, it gets them online/plays music/does their photos and word processing. Which means they buy a 3.5 GHTZ CPU, with 2 GB of RAM, a 300 GB HDD, and don’t use anywhere near half the potential of the system.

Me? I’m going to work my system to the max at times, Multi-tasking isn’t a buzzword for me. I can have as many as ten programs running at the same time. Right now Firefox has six tabs open, WordPerfect, Music Match( I finally got around to piping my sound to the stereo), a WYSWIG editor, Notepad, World Atlas, Encyclopedia. And of course, Solitaire. ;8^/. This is normal for me.

Which can cause problems, when WordPerfect does the ‘auto-save’ thing, the music hiccups. When I am using the WYSIWIG it has screwed up the HTML on IE. Which I rarely use these days. Other small bugs when so many programs are running, but I've grown accustomed to it.

It isn't that I believe switching will solve all my problems, it's a number of things. Vista being high on that list. The biggest itch I have with Windows is the built in limitations and restrictions they code into the kernel. It's my system! I paid for it, from which high mount do the People at Redmond receive their divine right to tell me what I can, and can't do with it? Windows has become so intrusive, bloated, patched, bodged and restricted it's close to a virus. Not to mention the never ending supply of vulnerabilities.

Ahh, I'd better stop before I go into raging rant mode.