Your Operating System is a Tool

With all jobs, you find professionals with a preferred set of tools. A surgeon works best with a scalpal rather than a hammer; a carpenter with a plane rather than a bag of plaster mix. Sometimes, these tools come in different forms… a rubber mallet is still a hammer, but is better for jobs where a softer ‘hit’ is required; likewise, you wouldn’t eat your dinner with a garden fork.

Like hammers, forks, planes, an operating system is just a tool. Irrelevant of which one you pick, it’s purpose is to facilitate the use of programs and the completion of tasks. It manages your hardware and generally makes things work.

After some to-ing and fro-ing, weighing up my options, etc; I have decided that my tool of choice — my operating system of choice — is Windows XP. Linux may be the swiss army knife of the OS world but it’s no use if you have to spend 3 hours trying to get the blade out (make the damned menu work). It’s no use if it comes with pliers when you really could do with a pair of scissors (running Wine or a VM just to play an old game).

Fed up of feeling hemmed in, and out of control of my own operating system, I reformatted and reinstalled WinXP yesterday morning. I like to know what my OS is doing at any exact moment, and I don’t running Ubuntu. Sure, it’s giving up, but I don’t mind being a Microsoft bitch if it gives me my peace of mind back.

29 comments so far

  1. Amelie said:
    On 28 Feb at 1:01 pm

    I thought you were insulting my OS there :( "Your OS is a tool! :P :P" type thing. Heh.

  2. Vera said:
    On 28 Feb at 1:03 pm

    To be fair, if Macs would have been more popular there, perhaps you wouldn’t have preferred Windows.

    I’ve gone through this phase of: OK, that’s IT! I’m getting Linux, only to realize that I had to go on this huge expedition to find the right software, which would otherwise be a chinch with Windows. And I didn’t even use it for gaming. Just wanted to listen to some mo3s and watch some movies…

  3. Rachaely said:
    On 28 Feb at 2:35 pm

    I don’t care what my OS does as long as it doesn’t die on me. I’ve never used an OS I couldn’t get used to after a couple of weeks.

    I miss Windows 3.1 :(

  4. Aisling said:
    On 28 Feb at 2:39 pm

    I thought the same thing as Amelie, because we’re obviously quite close and read things the same way. :P

    I just stick with Windows because it’s what’s on my laptop, and I’m quite sure I would screw up anything else. I can use Macs as well, because my schools always used them. Anything else..? Fffp. (No, I’m not talking about PHP there…). Brrp, even.

  5. Macca said:
    On 28 Feb at 3:50 pm

    The ultimate solution: dual boot. ;)

    Personally I don’t want to buy into Microsoft monopoly, so I like running Linux for bog standard stuff, and as a computer scientist I really appreciate the extra functionality that a Linux CLI can provide – though this probably means bugger all to an average computer user), though I do boot into Windows when I want to play a game.

    :P

  6. Jem said:
    On 28 Feb at 4:36 pm

    @Vera: the popularity (or lack thereof) of the Mac is bugger all to do with why I intensly dislike them.

    @Macca: I used to dual boot, and I never booted into linux. This is why I had to do a total format to see if it was right for me, otherwise I’d have not stopped using Windows.

  7. Stephanie said:
    On 28 Feb at 5:00 pm

    I agree with Macca in that Linux are absolute tops in the field of computer science. There is nothing better than coding in Linux. I tried to do computer science assignments on my Mac and it was beyond ridiculous to do. Couldn’t figure out how to compile, nothing. I finally booted into my school’s Linux system and did it remotely!

    What OS you prefer has a lot to do with your needs. You know I am an artist and graphic designer… I prefer the way my tools are laid out for me in Mac OS X as a designer. I feel like all of my stuff is much more accessible. Granted, it can get more disorganized (and it does, by all means), but it works better for my purposes.

    Windows simply works better for you. I’m not a Mac supremist (I mean, I pretend and all ;) ), but honestly, I don’t really care so long as it works for you. I honestly feel lost when I have to use windows. I just do. Mac works better for me.

    I don’t think you gave up at all. I think you figured out what works for you. Kudos.

  8. Amelie said:
    On 28 Feb at 5:03 pm

    ^ @Stephanie: Huh! Macs can compile and do stuff that Linux can – just install the developer tools (on the OS X disk, usually). I compile stuff on my mac just like I do on *nix. :D

  9. Peter Green said:
    On 28 Feb at 7:10 pm

    A sad day, the M$ corporate monopoly wins again and the world looses a free thinker.
    I can’t deny that Linux can be tricky to get to do what you want sometimes (though it gets easier and easier all the time), but you can bet it will do just about anything you want if you spend the time and energy to research it.
    Like every thing in life, you got out what you put in.
    Our lives are dominated by the corporations and M$ is one of the worst, where as, Open Source and the community around it is truly inspiring!
    I hope you come back soon!

  10. Nellie said:
    On 28 Feb at 7:38 pm

    ^ I lol’d. I’m pretty sure she freely thought about going back to Windows.

    Anyway, all of the computer science computers on my campus run on Linux. Whenever I make a trip to the labs with him, he always starts mumbling under his breath about how much he hates Linux. He much prefers programming on his XP machine. So you’re definitely not alone on this one, Jem! :)

  11. Nellie said:
    On 28 Feb at 7:38 pm

    … Sam is him. It’s too early in the morning for me to proof read! :P

  12. Jagtesh Chadha said:
    On 28 Feb at 8:19 pm

    Hey Jem!

    Don’t know if you remember me now, but I read your blog for the first time many years back and emailed you too.

    I’ve been on either sides of the fence, or as it happens, the three pastures (Win/Linux/Mac). Each of them has its own quirks. Working on a more design oriented role though, I prefer Windows over Linux anyday.

    This goes especially for front-end development owing to IE and otherwise due to the availability of Tier-1 design apps like Adobe Illustrator and Adobe Photoshop.

    As far as hardcore development goes, Linux + Emacs rules the roost!

  13. Dee said:
    On 28 Feb at 8:31 pm

    Haha. Welcome to the huddled masses of the IT-literate who’ve tried jumping on the *NIX bandwagon and have jumped straight off again. It takes a certain type of fanaticism to keep insisting that Red Hat/BSD/Unbuntu/whatever really DOES make a great consumer desktop OS, no seriously look if you’re having trouble with your wireless card just recompile your kernel it’s easy I swear even your mum could do it hey…

  14. Sarah said:
    On 28 Feb at 8:48 pm

    Aww now who am I going to talk about Ubuntu with? Hmm? You’ve let the side down.

    Joking. You need to use what you’re comfortable with. At least you have given Linux a go. :)

  15. Rilla said:
    On 28 Feb at 11:20 pm

    Despite being somewhat a Microsoft-hater, I don’t actually dislike Windows XP so much despite all the crap it’s given me over the years. :P But I really just can’t get used to Ubuntu, particularly with Linux-fan(s) blabbing on and on about open source Linux-love.

  16. Mat said:
    On 01 Mar at 1:13 am

    I would agree with the sentiments that Linux is simply not ready for the desktop market, its getting there but it’s still a case of learning different package managers tweaking config files here and there. It *could* be easier fixed by adding GUI’s for everything but then power users would feel dumbed down.

    Both worlds need to come together and figure out what the next step is in making Linux desktop ready. Therein lies the rub as because of its open source nature etc any idiot can make a port of *nix now so in turn they provide their own flavour and spin which usually suits them, not the market.

    Until Linux distro devs and architects start thinking from a ‘Desktop’ mindset I just can’t see it happening…frankly it’s two different worlds and trying to converge without someone swallowing their pride or admitting something is wrong, is going to take alot of _time_.

    That said, Ubuntu is shit anyway I told you that from word go :P

    You either keep plugging away or you turn the corner and go elsewhere. If you want to run more windows based software then it only makes sense to run windows or at the least dual boot just to game.

    I have my mac setup to be my work horse. I have a separate windows box for gaming so i never confuse the two. WINE etc is great, when it works but its simply again a half-way solution so keeping the two separate suits me right down to the ground.

  17. Noellium said:
    On 01 Mar at 2:35 am

    XD I had the same thought as Amelie about the title.

    I’ve never used Linux myself and I’m supportive of open sourceness, but I can understand you wanting to go back to Windows. ^_^

  18. Anita said:
    On 01 Mar at 7:53 am

    I have always been a Windows user, but as we speak I’m saving up for a Mac. Although I’m not quite positive of my decision to switch, Linux sounds like a real bother, and I read over the awesome stuff they put in macs, and I fell in love.

    And if at the last minute I decide not to…hello, iPod Touch…And with the extra cash? CHARITY! No just kidding…Jemjabella wants a geek t-shirt fund? Whatever that was called.

  19. Mike said:
    On 01 Mar at 8:09 am

    Everyone knows XP is the best. Now I just wish I had it in 64-bit too.

  20. karl said:
    On 01 Mar at 1:04 pm

    Oh, I HAVE to disagree…

    XP is good. Very good. But it’s ageing.

    Windows 7 is the up and coming star. Vista will be forgotten just as ME was, but 7..well, it’s the nicest one I’ve used to date, and if I move back to a mainstream Windows, it’ll be 7 as and when it comes out at a decent price.

    Until then I’ll keep my XP Virtual Machine in my 64 bit Ubuntu OS, with (quite possibly) Puppy Linux 4.x running on my AAO. Haven’t yet found anything I can’t do with that combo..

  21. Mumblies said:
    On 01 Mar at 4:22 pm

    I lurve my XP and refuse to change! :)

  22. Chans said:
    On 01 Mar at 6:09 pm

    I just use whatever comes with my laptop (in this case Windows) as anything else will most likely screw up if I have anything to say in it, having 2 left hands when it comes to Computer Science and all ;)

  23. Caity said:
    On 01 Mar at 6:10 pm

    When it comes down to it, you need to be happy with your OS. I’ve been thinking of giving Linux a try again since I haven’t used it in almost six years now but somehow I always come crawling back too.

  24. TwiRp said:
    On 01 Mar at 7:23 pm

    I’m glad this wasn’t a bash an OS post. I was kind of worried when I started reading.

    Glad you found what worked for you.
    You should be be in control of your OS, your OS should not be in control of you.

    Although… I’ll bite my tongue… :P

  25. Monica said:
    On 02 Mar at 12:55 am

    Have you tried pcLinux? It is supposed to be easier to use than Ubuntu or Fedora.

  26. Jem said:
    On 02 Mar at 9:01 am

    @Monica: ease of use wasn’t the issue. I could use ubuntu just fine. The problem was that I broke something relating to the xfce menus and bugger all was fixing it. I don’t have the time or patience to be arsing about.

  27. Vera said:
    On 02 Mar at 11:09 am

    That’s not what I meant to say: I was referring to the fact that you’ve been using Windows for a long time, and thus are more familiar with the ins and outs of the OS than with a Linux or Mac.
    However, if you had been using a Mac, as opposed to Windows for such a long time, you might feel different about Windows and be a Mac fan.

    In the end, just like you said in this post: it counts most what the user is more familiar with.

  28. Stephanie said:
    On 03 Mar at 2:26 am

    I can haz new post now :P

  29. Fran said:
    On 04 Mar at 4:47 pm

    Hey Jem, i’m just coming through to ask a question.

    Smart FTP is no longer free to use, and im just wondering if you have any alternatives? What do you use?

    Get back to me, I thought it best to ask you seen as you seem to know whats safe etc.

    Thank you x