The worst thing ever?

I have seen a lot of comparisons of Linux (especially Ubuntu) to Microsoft OS’s, but lately, most of the comparisons are to Vista. It makes sense, of course- Vista is the new kid, presumable the heir to Microsoft’s OS legacy. But more and more I’m wondering is XP won’t stick around (and be supported) longer than anyone thought. And XP may be the biggest competitor Linux has to face.

Thing is, Linux supporters WANT to compare Linux to Vista. Vista is an easy target, called “perhaps the most frustrating product Microsoft has yet heaved onto the computing public” by some, and it doesn’t seem to be getting better. Meanwhile, XP is finding its way to a variety of low cost computers and proving to work very well. Two recent stories I have noticed:

Meredith Farkas purchased a Cloudbook and had troubles with it. Her husband installed XP on it, and the thing worked much better than it did with Linux.

OLPC News says Windows will be on the OLPC in no time. OLPC welcomes this. For the record, I don’t think a choice of operating systems is a bad thing, as long as it does not detract from Sugar and customizing Linux for the OLPC.

In Meredith’s story, especially, we find a case of where XP just worked. It’s not surprising- XP has been around for years, and all sorts of companies have been doing R&D for Microsoft. Of course that adds up to a OS that works fairly well on just about anything. And I can say from my own experience that XP is not the horror story many make it out to be- it’s a pretty stable OS, especially when I don’t go overboard with installing every new program I find. Plus, XP has some of the lowest system requirements around. Even Xubuntu recommends at least 256 megs of memory, 128 megs more than XP. (Granted, I have not tried running XP on 128 megs of memory.)

The makers of the Cloudbook didn’t appear to optimize the OS at ALL for the system- some of the setup screens were too big for the screen’s small resolution! The OLPC has power issues that keep me from using it as intended- the promised power management isn’t here yet, and 4 hours is a far cry from the promised battery longevity (one of the reasons I bought the laptop.) I’m not saying I wouldn’t have bought the OLPC had I known, but if the XP can manage to put the computer to sleep upon close, it will be a huge step towards working for what I want it for.

I still think the OLPC is an amazing product. The design is marvelous- I love using it. And the software kinks I think will be worked out in time. But I don’t think XP on the OLPC is the end of the world- especially as a second operating system. Exposure to more than one operating system is a good thing, in my opinion. (You might be able to infer that from the title of the website, I suppose.) Perhaps Sugar is an ideal interface for the 6-10 year olds, and then some may move on to using XP, or another version of Linux, or some other OS not yet invented. OLPC’s are supposed to have an amazing usable life, so it is not unthinkable that kids who get an OLPC now might want to use it to make money in the future- and that might mean using Microsoft products.

And I’m not about to give up on Linux, either. My main computer at home still runs Ubuntu beautifully, and I would be hard pressed to fine another operating system that is both simple when I want it to be yet almost infinitely customizable. It is, in my opinion, the prettiest OS out there too (or, at least, it can be with the right artwork installed.)

I realize I am not a typical use case for the OLPC, but part of the reason I bought one was to use as a conference laptop. I can’t do that as it currently is- so I would consider putting XP on it (especially if I can use one of the licenses I already have lying around.) Perhaps to some, that makes me evil. I think it just makes me practical.

Illustration above is a combination of my photo and a CC licensed photo by Kit Hartford.