[Am-info] Langa's over 150 operating systems

[Gene Gaines]

Quoted from Fred Langa's "The LangaList" Standard Edition
email newsletter of 2002-03-18, you can see at:
http://www.langa.com/newsletters/2002/2002-03-18.htm


1) Exploring Windows Alternatives

There are over 150 operating system alternatives to Windows. Which ones
are worth looking at?

It's not an idle question. As we first discussed in January of this
year, there's an increasing need for Windows users to have--- at least
as a back-burner priority--- some kind of a "Plan B" in case Microsoft
doesn't get its act together.

You see, over the last few years, Microsoft has started to treat its end
users--- you and me--- very poorly. It's a trend that started about two
years ago, coincident with some top-management shuffles and the
distraction of the antitrust suit.

For example: Windows Millennium Edition was and is perhaps the worst
version of Windows in over a decade: It should have been at most a free
update to Windows98SE, but instead, Microsoft gussied it up and shoved
it out the door as if it were an entirely new version of Windows. The
only reason I can see for doing this is that Microsoft needed to release
something new to keep the cash flow going. Lacking a real product, they
foisted a half-baked Windows ME on the world. (See
http://content.techweb.com/winmag/windows/features/merunbetter/default.htm )

There are even broader problems, too, such as the corporate blind spots
that have caused exactly the same kind of security flaw to show up again
and again and again in an amazing range of Microsoft products. It's
almost as if Microsoft can't generalize, and instead treats each
security problem in isolation--- leading to the same kind of problem
recurring over and over.

The conclusion is inescapable: If only in self-defense, we all need to
at least begin thinking about Windows alternatives; perhaps even
actively exploring non-Windows options.

The trouble is, it's not a simple choice.

Linux is the most obvious alternative--- except that there are
*literally* some 170 different flavors of Linux, and even more than that
if you count different version numbers! So before you get to issues of
compatibility, support, and such, you first have to find a way to
address the huge question: "Which Linux?"

The Mac is another alternative, but one that carries its own mix of
plusses and minuses.

Then there's BSD, FreeDOS, Solaris, OS/2, QNX, VMS, Debian, Amiga,
AtheOS, and. well, you get the idea.

There are, in fact, so many operating system alternatives that it would
be very hard for anyone to try them all. But collectively, if we pool
our knowledge, we can surely hit all the major ones.

I'll go first: In my current InformationWeek column (live now at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020314S0038 ), I'll provide
links to every free OS I know of so you can download and try as many as
you want; and I'll also tell you what I consider to be the high and low
points of the major contenders.

But then let me ask you: Which non-Windows operating systems have you
tried? Which brand/distribution and versions gave you the best results?
What worked, and what didn't? How long did the OS conversion take? What
did it cost? Have you migrated entirely away from Windows, or do you run
your alternative OS in a dual-boot setup? What did you just plain like,
and what was disappointing?

Let's pool our knowledge! Please check out the column at
http://www.informationweek.com/story/IWK20020314S0038 and then join in
the associated discussion at
http://www.informationweek.com/forum/fredlanga ! See you there!

--- end quote ---


Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia