Windows

- a generic term for something we take for granted when looking out of our office, school or home. We look right through it and might not even notice the dust.

... and the operating system (OS) the vast majority of computer users need to get a view into the box (PC) and out to our new world (the internet).

A term that cannot be trademarked, but that swept the world to become one of the best known and potentially most used products.

I rest my case: Windows is one product and "everyone" knows what it is - and operating system.

Ahh, yes - Linux

- is an operating system developed by Linus Torvalds and first published in 1991. It is open source and freely distributed. It became the software to run the internet and is a versatile, flexible OS.

It runs across platforms (computer systems) and needs a lot less space and power to run everything Windows runs. Just faster, with less resources and amazingly for free. A real winner! - No!

Why not?

Because most "everyday users" running Windows on computers that came preloaded with the commercial product do not understand what Linux is.

Because Linux is the base and for so many "distros" = distributions for Linux packages. The following table is just a brief overview of the more popular packages:

Well, if that is not enough to put any normal user off of even thinking about Linux, just have a look at this diagram on Wikipedia - it is on the Wikipedia page Linux distributions.

If this diagram does not give you a headache, just read a bit around the many Linux forums and the problems of loading, dual boot, updating, upgrading and so on will prevent most from even trying out Linux.

Most normal users needing to run trusted programmes buy their computers preloaded with Windows and have little need for adventures. Windows is a big enough challenge at times already.

Until there is a clear, easy way to use a Linux distro to do what you need with easy migration of all your data Windows will remain the winner.

Linux will be around for much longer, no doubt. Linux will gain market share in the business world and in institutions where the organisation commercial, NGO or charitable can see real cost benefits from using the wide range of open source software. From here Linux may spread to the home user.

The time is right now for anyone interested to give Linux a try. You can load and try Linux distros without installing it from an external hard disk, a CD (DVD) or a USB stick (memory card). Thus your Windows installation will not be effected and you can give it a try. Naturally a fully installed OS will run faster. So, why not try to breathe some life back into one of you old computers.

Just wipe the old hard drive, install a Linux distro and play around with tons of free software - the one thing you should have to see the full potential is an internet connection - so your computer should not be too old. Though, Linux will run without the internet - but by being connected you can see the world of the many free packages from graphics to games to educational packages. LibreOffice or OpenOffice will open all your MS Office files, Gimp and others will do your graphics and so on ...

You might find that your kids will be very happy to do their browsing and playing with that old laptop or desktop ready for the scrap yard - and you have to be less worried about viruses and something getting broke ....

Time to change? Try it out first.

Which distro?

Well - have a look here - scroll down on the front page and look for "Page Hit Ranking" in the right column.

The top five Linux distros (out of 100) for 03-2012 are:

*H.P.D = hits per day

Yes, give Linux Mint a try and Ubuntu and Fedora and let us know what you think. Thanks .....