Let's just say I have never found Apple operating systems remotely effective or efficient to use. To me everything is ass backwards.
Okay, so I've used Windows products since 3.1 - used PC's since the 286 processor days. I'm used to Windows having gone from 3.1 systems to Windows 95 to Windows 98 to Windows 2000 and then to Windows XP. I never owned the Windows step children of ME, Vista, or Vista's overrated ugly sister Windows 7 (Vista with fewer fleas). I managed to beta test Windows 8 and found it superior on all levels to Window 7 - faster boot and shut down - and faster on everything else. And after installing ONE FREE APP, Classic Shell, I was able to make it look like Windows 7, boot to desktop, and then I could use the live tiles when it made sense. There are many idiotic Windows 8 haters - they are absolutely the dumbest people on the earth - the very same people who have smartphones and install apps all day long, but for some reason they refuse to install ONE APP on their computer that would solve EVERY problem with Windows 8/8.1. Oh, well.
Now there is Windows 10 - the Windows for Windows 8 haters - and after beta testing Windows 10, I can say it is the dumbest and worst Windows ever - it is poorly conceived - everything is thrown together - giving the Windows 8 whiners their start menu (which they could have had anyway for free with Classic Shell). I have not found Windows 10 an answer to anything - it is simply screwed up.
And it has caused me - a Windows lover - to search for an alternative.
Let me preface - I've tested Linux several times and have found it to be worthless. It never seems to work on any computer I have tried it on - either it has installation issues or it just doesn't work - and to make matters worse, it is for geeks who love to get messy and think that flaws are great things that make the users superior when they find ways to make junk operating systems into something that works half the time and just ignore the times when it doesn't do what modern operating systems can do.
The one thing that Windows seemed to have for it is that it worked on almost any PC and considering that Windows doesn't police software like Apple which is the gestapo of what will work on their shit, it is amazing that Windows works at all - all the possible combinations of hardware and possible software. You'd seriously expect Windows to work like Linux - half the time and then you just ignore when it doesn't. Windows 8/8.1 has been the most stable operating system I have ever used and even runs software I had installed on Windows XP that I liked.
I buy laptops that don't work on ebay - I'm a Dell guy - so I buy laptops that are off-lease units that are three or so years old - I carefully research systems that don't have design flaws - sometimes Dell builds shit too so you have to avoid the lemons. But when I find a model that works well when fixed, I tend to buy several units - sometimes I give them away to friends or family - sometimes I keep them and upgrade what I have. I usually pay $40-$50 and carefully select the best of the worst.
So I bought a package deal of four computers - two became Windows 8.1 machines which replaced the last of the Windows XP machines in my business and two were test projects - one became the Windows 10 beta tester and the other was waiting for something. It was the slowest of the four and was the runt of the litter. It was destined to become a parts computer.
Then I was working on reorganizing my computers parts bin and found an old 60 GB hard drive that had come out of a unit years ago.
I had an idea - why not revisit linux - I have nothing to lose - free operating system and a hard drive that isn't being used anyway. Suddenly the parts computer with 1GB of ram became a candidate for the ultimate linux test - is this operating system real or just something that geeks can masturbate to?
I'm not going into a long history about linux or the differences in the types - hell, I don't even know what makes some of these different - but I chose Ubuntu and downloaded, burned the iso to DVD, and installed it. Well, it installed on the first time. This was a first for me with linux. I've had to try three or four times before - so this was something new. Ubuntu is odd - it is ass backwards like Apple -it reminded me of Apple. I hated everything about it. And it refused to have a stable network connection. It seemed like every time I would shut the computer off, the ethernet connection would never work again. Oh, joy! I would reinstall, get ethernet and then either shut off the computer or intentionally disconnect the ethernet cable and it would never connect again. I tried two more installs and googled. No answer.
I then was reading about Linux Mint - a version I had tried years ago and found would actually install on an old laptop, but I didn't see what it could do beyond just start and shut down. So I gave up at that time.
I decided to revisit Linux Mint when I saw there was version 17 out there - not that that version was special, but it was getting great reviews. I downloaded, burned to dvd, and it installed the first time on this 1GB Dell and it seemed to be stable - shut it down and the ethernet connection was there when you restarted. Unplug and the ethernet would come back.
Linux in any form is an oddity - it is quirky and sometimes frustrating - as stable as Linux Mint 17 was, this computer did not like the updates that were waiting for it. The ethernet issue that was standard equipment with Ubuntu came back to haunt me when I installed updates on Linux Mint 17. With a dose of extra patience, I decided to run Mint 17 without the updates and it has been very stable. Fast. And beautiful.
Ubuntu looked like a worthless Apple operating system - what would be on the right side of a window on a Windows machines was on the left side like Apple - just for the hell of it. Hated it! In Linux Mint, everything was similar to Windows - the start menu was similar - there are still times when I hunt for things, but the look and feel is like a Windows machine - like a set of your favorite jeans.
I'll admit - the ultimate test of a computer to me is how easily it can work with porn - I surf a lot - my browser is always Firefox and I want every addon that I use to automate porn image and video downloading to work - I want to give up nothing on porn surfing and usage. I'm a hoe. Oh, well. But just like the real world of digital media is always beta-tested in the porn industry, my computer cannot suck at porn downloads - automation is a must.
Linux Mint 17 is the first non-windows operating system that is at home doing what I could do on a Windows machine and acquiring naughty pictures and videos. Right now the only thing I haven't had it do is to record streaming video streams from chaturbate or cam4 that I can do on my windows machines - but I'll not hold this against Linux right now - its free and it works - it is beautiful and just plain runs fantastic.
Except....
Wireless. I'm not sure what is up with this - you have to seemingly first install with ethernet hooked up - installation is flawless, but wireless doesn't ever seem to work - and even following the steps of using the correct driver has never made me connect via wireless. But I am patient - I'll take out the 500 gb hard drive that is now in this machine and put the 60 gb back in - install just as I have this configured and then try to get the wireless to work - the beta beta tester so to speak.
Takeaway....
Linux is now something I could recommend for someone to put on a SECOND computer and to get used to it - play with it on an older computer and see which "flavor" works for you - Ubuntu, Mint, or whatever else is out there. I am so close right now with being able to say FUCK YOU, MICROSOFT - I will never upgrade to Windows 10 and will now buy computers to fix and install and experiment with future Linux updates. In a year or so, I can see myself eschewing Microsoft completely. Apple is too expensive for what it offers and the more I play with Linux, I am sensing that Apple is conning their customers - Apple's OSX sure looks like repackaged Linux to me. And if that is the case, that means you Apple folks are being conned.
I'll update as needed on this - but you know I rarely like anything - so for me to compliment something, it has to impress me. And I'm quite frankly blown away by Linux Mint and what it has to offer. BTW - it comes with office clone and other software plus there are hundreds of programs that you can download. As soon as I find out the ultimate porn software and video and image editing software that matches what I currently use, I'll report on that. And if I find web production software that matches what my windows machine can do, I'll toss Windows forever.
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