Stray Thought 0

I have one Windows computer.

It’s set to dual-boot Windows and Linux (currently, Mageia–it’s not Slackware, but it is a good solid distro).

I’m currently booted into Windows to pick up recent updates and to play a bit with Rainmeter, run virus scans (something not usually needed in my Linux world), and keep my Windows skills fresh. If you are a Windows user and want a decent system monitor program, you might want to take a look at Rainmeter.

Every time I boot into the Windows side of this box, I am reminded how really and truly clunky and annoying Windows can be.

I will give you an example.

I have two computers on this desk–the dual-boot box and a machine running Debian Sid, which serves as my home file server. They share the same mouse and keyboard (the Windows box is a Lenovo ThinkCentre graphics tablet courtesy of Jeffrey, whose blog I posted to for some three years; it has a built-in monitor). I use a KVM switch to switch between them.

When the ThinkCentre is booted into Windows and I press the button on the KVM, there is a 10 second lag before I switch to the other computer (plus, if I’m playing a video or music on the Windows machine, the media freezes and degrades for five seconds during the switch). When it is booted into Linux, the switch is the next thing to instant.

Windows sucks is a less than desirable operating system.