[plug] Fedora 7 vs Windows Longhorn Server 2008 Beta 3

[Bret Busby]

On Sat, 22 Sep 2007, Arie Hol wrote:

> 
>
> I decided to get adventurous :
>
> First, I found an 80Gb hdd and put it in my workstation and disconnected
> my 320Gb HDD.
>
> First I installed an evaluation copy of Windows Longhorn Server 2008
> Beta 3, then I installed a copy of Fedora 7.
>
> Windows took 22 minutes to install and get me to my first login screen.
>
> Fedora 7 took 24 minutes to install and get me to my first login screen.
>
> The Windows installation was uneventful, but hardware detection and
> configuration was "pathetic".
>
> Windows Server 2008 did not detect :
>
> LCD monitor (Samsung 19" widescreen 940BW)
> Graphics adapter (ATI Radeon 9250SE)
> Printer (Epson Stylus color 640)
> Onboard audio chipset (Soundmax)
> Plugin audio card (Creative Vibra 128)
> Flatbed scanner (HP 4300c)
>
> Detected network card but installed wrong driver.
>
> Windows would not manually install any of the drivers for the above
> hardware.
>
> Screen resolution was limited to the range where only 4:3 aspect ratios
> were usable (looks very sick on 16:9 aspect ratio screen).
>
> None of Windows "eye candy" worked.
>
> The User interface was clunky and confusing, and it seems to have stolen
> a few ideas from the Linux user interface, but Linux does it better.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> The Fedora 7 installer was buggy and unreliable, it kept failing with
> strange error messages and required rebooting :
>
> It was easily confused between the two DVD drives in my system, it would
> boot from one drive and try to install from the other (even though it
> was disabled in the BIOS).
>
> The media checking utility is defective - if I chose to "Skip" the media
> check, the install would fail with any of about six different errors -
> if I chose to check the media, the media check would fail at about 50%
> and report faults with files or the media itself - and then go on to
> complete a default install - with 1025 software packages installed.
>
> The auto-updater was flakey and slow - but it finally updated everything
> on the system including the kernel
>
> updated from  	2.6.21-1.3194.fc7
> to		2.6.22.5-76.fc7
>
> All hardware without exception, was detected and configured correctly
> including the LCD monitor which came up in its default resolution of
> 1440 x 900.
>
> It only took two clicks to enable the Linux desktop effects, it worked
> flawlessly.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> I spent about 90 minutes with each OS install, configuration and/or
> update :
>
> The main difference being that with Fedora 7 - there 1025 packages
> installed and fully updated - and all of my hardware was working as
> intended.
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Conclusion :
>
> Microsoft has shot themselves in the foot again, Windows Longhorn Server
> 2008 is a load of crap.
>
> Fedora 7 (like all other Linux distros) just keeps on getting better.
>
> Recommendation :
>
> 1 : Find & Run a program called fdisk
> 2 : Delete the Windows partition
> 3 : Use all those extra gigabytes of space for a Linux filesystem
> 4 : Stick with Linux
> 5 : Give Microsoft a silent "one digit salute"
>
> A copy of this email will also be sent to Microsoft, but I don't expect
> that I will get a reply.
>
>
> Regards Arie
> ==================================
>
>

I have left all of the above material in this reply, because, after all 
of that above, the response is short and sweet - I strongly suggest 
Debian 4.0.

Installed beautifully on virgin box.

Only issue was when I tried to install the HP PSC 1410 - there were two 
possible ways of doing it. One presented problems, and the other was 
pretty much "plug-n-play".

The monitor is not a widescreen LCD - it is a Viewsonic 17" 4:3.

For digital camera, just plugged it in, and, away it went. Came up with 
something like "ooh, you have plugged in a camera. Do you want to upload 
the images?", and, when answering yes, it uploaded the images, with 
thumbnails, and each file has all of the camera and exposure details. 
Great. With Debian 3.1, need to set it up and write scripts. With Debian 
4.0, "plug-n-play".

Try it. It is brilliant.

And, this box has only Debian 4.0 on it. If I want to use MS Windows, I 
can use my laptop. But, with Debian 4.0, seldom need MS Windows.

--
Bret Busby
Armadale
West Australia
..............

"So once you do know what the question actually is,
  you'll know what the answer means."
- Deep Thought,
   Chapter 28 of Book 1 of
   "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy:
   A Trilogy In Four Parts",
   written by Douglas Adams,
   published by Pan Books, 1992

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