We asked what operating systems you used, and if you
would consider switching... and boy, did you respond!
252 of you wrote in, breaking down as follows...
1 NeXT user
Many people used more than one operating system, or
used one at home and another at work. Here are a few
highlights...
Brian Bough
I really have to ask why this show continues to bash
Microsoft. About every other week we hear from experts
who defy what is clearly the popular sentiment that
Microsoft continues to deliver the superior product. How
can I make that statement? Just look around at the
computers you see daily. It becomes obvious that
Microsoft and Intel (IBM clones) machines were never
really threatened by Macs, much less anyone else. What
would it take for me to change? I would need a OS that
would give me security (like Win 4.0--NT,'95,'98),
performance (like Win 4.0), and would run the
applications I've purchased for Win 4.0. I would also
need solid networking capabilities with a good graphics
user interface (GUI) like Win 4.0. If I have Win'95,
Win'98, or Win NT, why would I want any other operating
system? Microsoft has laid the groundrules for software
development and Intel has done the same in the hardware
side. Now it is up to software manufacturers to develop
applications that will work with MS technology. Doing
otherwise is like spitting into the wind.
Tony Anton
My operating system for the past 5 years has been
OS/2. It's configurability and dependability is unbeaten.
I might consider switching to Linux if a user interface
equal to OS/2's Work Place Shell would be available. This
is doubtful since the WPS is so strongly object based. In
another two or three years look for a pure Java OS. Since
Java is object based, a clone of the WPS might be
available.
For what it's worth, OS/2 is just plain fun to use.
With the addition of the second party Object Desktop it
becomes a snap for beginners. I have started three people
out in OS/2 who had never done a thing with a computer
previously
Kenneth Furge
I have already made the switch at my home and work to
FreeBSD. An electrical engineer by trade and software
hacker by hobby, I prefer the power and flexibility of
unix. Windows and its derivatives feels like computing in
a straightjacket.
Scott Liebergen
I use Linux everyday at home and at work. Although
when I have to communicate with users that have sent me
Microsoft Word documents (in the newer Office 97 format)
I unfortunately have to switch to my sluggish Windows NT
machine.
It has been my experience, that Linux is the swiss
army knife of all OS's. It comes with many extra's ,is
freely available from many places on the web(for the
price of a download) and support is available from the
internet community in a matter of minutes.
Oh and best of all, it does not crash...unlike ...er
other operating systems we know... :-)
Douglas Britsch
I have been using the BeOS for about a year now. The
OS rocks, there is no comparison with windows. If I
weren't using the Be I would be using Linux, or some Unix
variants. Windows is slow and chunkie and crashes way too
much. As for what I would recommend for a mear computing
mortal, I think I would have to recommend the Mac. For
ease of use, setup, and troubleshooting it can't be beat
Dave Koehler
What operating system do I use? Mac OS.
What would make would make me willing to switch?
$10,000 ???
Amit Kumar
What about DOS? DOS offers something that few other
"alternative OS's" an very large base of existing
applications. The FreeDOS project has finally started to
fly. They have a fairly stable kernel with new one coming
out soon. I am certain that they will have a fully
working distribution in the not to distant future. And
the DOSzilla project, which I am leading, is working on
getting Mozilla, the Netscape Navigator source code,
ported to DOS. Advantages of DOS: DOS is free, Easy to
setup up,Works with the vast majority of PC hardware, Has
a large application base, Can run well on old, low end
hardware
