A Call for Apple or Ubuntu?
Recent experiences I’ve had with my Thinkpad and Microsoft Vista have started to make me wonder about Apple or Upuntu (linux). These experiences are independent and I can only imagine the destruction if I had to deal with both together.
IBM/Lenovo Thinkpad
I’ve always been an advocate of Thinkpads because I have, until now, had a great experience with it. I’ve felt it has been worth the price and the service has been outstanding. The laptop comes with a full recovery system and nifty OS tools. The hard drive stops spinning when I move the laptop around and the mouse pointer (the nipple thingy) is great. And the keyboard is world-class.
The problem with this is that there are a lot of excessive programs that sit on top of Windows. I see over 40 processes in my process list that are simply IBM processes. Because the Windows button is not built in, I have a program that takes up 8MB of RAM to allow me to map my right ALT button to the Windows button. I have a strange Bluetooth application running independent of what Microsoft has already built in, and without IBM’s version I cannot connect to my Blackberry.
So as I’m writing this blog I’m recovering my laptop to the factory image. Basically, I figured that now I have left my previous company where I used my personal laptop, I’d format my hard drive to clear out everything. This time I decided to install my own Windows and only select those IBM apps I want. In this process I hit obstacle after obstacle. First, none of the hardware was recognized by Windows; I’ll blame IBM for that. I had to go to Jolly’s laptop, download drivers onto an external drive, and then load them on mine — yes, I couldn’t use the Internet without doing this! Then the video drivers kept confusing my 1400×1050 resolution monitor to a 1280 monitor, and so it was permanently fuzzy. I tried everything imaginable to fix this. Then, the screen indicators when I changed audio volume or screen brightness were missing and I couldn’t find any driver or application that would install that feature. In this process I called IBM, who have been very helpful in the past. When I said that I installed my own Windows and didn’t use the eight discs and go through the two hour process required to load “their” image, they refused to help me, gave me another number to call, and advised that I would have to pay a fee. WHAT!!!!!!!!! Oh, and let me not forget to tell you that I never got a Windows CD. I paid for it, but they only provide it embedded in their recovery discs! I paid them over $300 for support and I was having a driver problem! Yet the refused to help me. I’m not computer illiterate that it would have taken hours to help me anyway!
This is unacceptable and I will never buy nor recommend a Thinkpad again. Does it make more sense to go with Apple Mac’s where things are little bit more defined?
Microsoft Windows Vista
I recently assisted my father-in-law with purchasing a new laptop from Dell. I figured I’d have him go with Microsoft Vista, even though Dell had the option to go with XP. Vista looks cool, someone from my previous company recommended it, and I figured its where all new PCs will go towards and I would join him soon, so why not!
A couple of weeks ago I wanted to help him install software and migrate files from the old desktop. I used GoToMyPC to assist him remotely — isn’t it sad we still can’t connect directly to one another! As I was trying to install software and move files and I kept receiving an Access Denied message. I believe Microsoft added a level of security that, by default, users cannot access various features. And, I couldn’t seem to move files around because that this user we were logged in as didn’t own or have rights to the files we were moving from the old desktop. DUH he didn’t own or have rights to them — it was a different computer! So then I tried to give him rights to those files and I received the Access Denied message.
Of course I was able to figure it out after hours of clicking around the control panel, but what a horrible experience! I’m sure that if I had Vista in front of me, I could change the access controls and become a super-duper-user, but it was far too difficult remotely and for an advanced user the security was a bit over-bearing.
The user interface looked cool and I’m glad they finally removed the word “My” from all the folder names. I think the interface just takes some getting used to, and overall it’s good.
I believe that the complexities of using Windows are still there — from software installations to file storage to registries to control panel settings. I now wonder if using Ubuntu or Mac’s Leopard offers a more satisfying experience.
Together
I don’t even want to imagine what it would be like installing Vista on my current Thinkpad! An additional note…what if everyone asked you if the car you drive is really yours over and over and over again. That’s how I feel about the Microsoft Genuine Validation thing they have started to use. Do I really need to prove I have a legit copy of Windows 3 times a week!
It may now be time to explore new options. Building a development environment is much easier on either of those so I may have to make the switch soon.
