Ammanas_, on 19 August 2015 - 08:42 PM, said:
Silencer, on 18 August 2015 - 11:58 PM, said:
Psh. 1. Windows 8 was just as bad for privacy. 2. Windows 8 had a much worse UI/UX. Ergo it's automatically worse than 10. 3. What are people supposed to use? Linux? Because Mac is just as bad with privacy policy and 'features' that track you, except with Mac there isn't an option to turn them all off at install.
Much as I'd love to use Linux, it just doesn't have the software base to make the transition worthwhile, and way too many people don't know what they're doing enough to use it safely.
Unfortunately that is somewhat true. Linux isn't nearly as difficult to master as people make out, but most people don't have the time nor energy to bother learning the ins and outs. Humans always take the easy route just like water
Yes and no. "Linux" is a pretty broad category - Ubuntu is almost plug'n'play, like Windows and OS X, but there are many, many Linux distros that are genuinely on the "hard to learn" end of the scale. Bear in mind, the target audience is not 20-somethings with an over-attachment to pretty graphics, it's everyone. Can you imagine people who can barely use Windows learning the console, or re-learning how to get their pictures onto an email in Linux?
And the trick is that, as someone up-thread said - the easy-to-learn Linux distros like Ubuntu have the same problems as Windows. Ergo, if you want to avoid being tracked you either *need* to learn the more complicated aspects of Ubuntu (like using the console), or you need a more complicated/less polished/less GUI version of Linux. Either way, the problem comes down to difficulty curve.
But it's not as simple as people taking the path of least resistance. While that accounts for a *lot* of the reasons people don't use Linux (and is the reason Apple has computers in nearly every primary school, at least here in NZ - "get them familiar when they're young and it's all they'll use" is a pretty clever strategy), there are a variety of other reasons. My work doesn't, and won't ever, use a Linux distro. Why? Our custom software isn't compatible. Why? There isn't enough commercial support for Linux. Why? Because Linux has a tiny install base. So why would I use a computer at home that doesn't work with the same files, formats, shortcuts, layouts, etc, as my everyday work PC?
Sure, for everyday use, Linux has all the substitutes you'd need - but that's more time and effort in *finding* those substitutes. And if you need something more specific or specialised, it's going to be a long hunt to find the right mix of three different programs to achieve the same result as you got out of one super-common Windows application.
And there's always the downside that tech support is limited. The Linux community is *so* goddamn uppity about which distro to use, that nearly every discussion of someone's problem turns into "well, distro x doesn't have that problem" "nah distro x sucks!" "shut up, loser" and so on. The community is pretty toxic these days. Much as the open source approach has produced some remarkable results, I don't think anyone expects people who are not computer-literate to delve into those debates every time they have a problem with their computer.
And really, that's the short version of it all; as much as Linux is *more* secure (due to lower market share and rapid iteration of patches due to open sourced problem solving) in a lot of ways than Windows is...it's very vulnerable to "I didn't know what I was doing"-itis. Moreso if you ask for help in the wrong places. And that's not going to change much until Linux becomes bigger.
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On the software front I disagree. It has everything any general web-browsing, email checking user would generally use in there day-to-day work. Games are starting to increase with the immient release of SteamOS.
See above. But also; Steam is making huge in-roads into the Linux compatibility space, but it's still only something like 20% of games in the library that are Linux compatible, and a *lot* of those are not triple-A titles, they're indie. Great for casual use, but until it goes more like 50% library, with 90% triple-A? That's a pretty big trade-off...
Also; how many everyday general-web-browsing, email-checking users would be capable and willing to install an OS they've never seen before, and start using it everyday? :S
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There are two other options: ChromeOS and Android. Both by Google (which probably isn't much better than Microsoft, but I have a special hatred for them ever since they wiped my harddrive due to a system bug and 20 thousand pictures, documents, books (am I allowed to mention the existence of pirating?
), programs etc).
Three options, which probably aren't much better than Windows (other than Linux, of course). Still, I'd choose any of those over W10.
And if Google Self Driving Cars become a thing, I'll definitely buy them over the Apple Car, but maybe you won't have to pay extra for the Windows in the Windows Car
Yeah, ChromeOS and Android are basically Linux, and in both cases they are just as 'bad' as Microsoft's offerings in terms of privacy. They "need" it for the features they provide, after all. Sucks to hear about your data loss, though. (I will say to you what I said to Hoosier upthread though: BACK UP. Lol.)
But seriously - I'm not anti-Linux. I like it, and I think it's going to become much more of a competitor in the future. But I don't think you can call the mainstream distros much better than Windows 10 in terms of privacy, and I don't think you can expect everyday users to make the switch themselves just yet. It's still "too complicated", and will remain so until it becomes a packaged deal that doesn't require command line-esque controls to be learned for the non-basic interactions. And hell, I like it like that. It's better that it isn't just a Windows clone. Because I think by the time Linux becomes mainstream, you'll be looking at it sideways too with regards to your privacy, as a lot of what makes Windows 10 "new", "different", and "better" comes at an explicit cost to your privacy - the same is true of OS X, iOS, Android, and yes, Ubuntu. As long as you can turn it off, they're all much of a muchness, tbh.
rhulad, on 20 August 2015 - 08:32 PM, said:
Stick with Windows 7 until at least after the first service pack comes out for Win 10. By then the consensus should be out as to whether or not it's worth upgrading.
Which is great, if like most people with a choice you still have a 7 install. But if you're on 8...
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