ShirishRanjit.com

I have been using Debian Linux on my HP pavilion laptop. The laptop originally came with XP.

The latest release of Debian Linux does not make me miss my XP though it has still ways to go to catch up with Mac OS. So far, I have been really impressed with the development of the Linux OS. I have seen many changes in latest release ‘etch.’ The ‘etch’ release has far better features than the previous versions. The ‘etch’ has improved wireless networking issues along with browser compatibility issues.

For me the key functions are wireless internet, browser, email. I have not come across a single website that does not work with Iceape release of Firefox. All those applications works really well in the stable release of Debian in this HP.

I have not played much with movie players. The DVD players do not play quite well but also have not spent time to figure out how to make it play either. The online videos plays well such as videos from youtube and such.

Only function that I wish I had is the Sleep mode in the OS. I have to power down the machine if I do not want the machine to be plugged all the time. Also, the OS consumes a lot of power. Though my batter is not new but the machine sucks out the batter in less than half hour.

On the word processing area, I have been using Open Office with the Debian and I am pretty impressed with it. The Open Office has all the features that I need to do my word processing, presentation and even drawing. One of the key feature that I use often is generating PDF file. The Open Office comes with a feature that allows documents, presentations to be exported to the PDF format. This is really convenient features as I can share the documents as PDF.

I really like the Apt-get features of Debian. This feature allows me to get updates automatically and also install all those available software. I use synaptic package manager to search and install a package (software), I use apt-get to do the update and upgrade.

This is a great product.

Shirish Ranjit

Microsoft released their much anticipated operation system software Vista. After years of delay, Microsoft has shipped Vista to its business customers and soon to be released to its consumers. Vista suppose to be Microsoft’s most advanced operating system, or is it that advanced? Lets take a look at some reviews.

Mike Elgan in his blog at (http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/blogs/index.cfm?entryid=655&blogid=4) made six major points on Vista. They are:

• Vista is incomplete
• Vista is expensive
• Vista wants a new PC
• Vista is time-consuming
• Windows XP isn’t obsolete
• Vista may be the best reason yet to buy a Mac

First point, we can infer from Microsoft’s history of releasing software that Vista is not stable as XP. Though it has taken many years to build Vista, as Mike mentioned not many hardware and also software are ready for the prime time yet.

Second point is that Vista is priced very high in the era of free and open source software. It is so high that you can buy Mac Mini for that price.

Besides price point, third point is that Vista requires a new computer. It will not run on your old computer if you want to take all the features that Vista provides. This makes you think, is Microsoft tacitly supporting Linux (free and open source) operating system? Linux is going to work on all old hardware. Linux had been have been building device drivers for years to support many different hardware vendors.

The forth point is that Vista is time-consuming to install and upgrade. Users require learning new operation system. If thats so, Linux looking much cheaper solution.

I have been using Windows 2000 and XP. I think they have developed to the point both operating systems are stable. I have spent numerous hours working with those two system to work for me. I am not sure I need a new software that I need to spend a lot of time to be productive. So, why should I upgrade when XP is working well.

The sixth point sums up the first five. If it is so expensive to upgrade and use, why not just get Mac when they have the OS that Microsoft has just released for number of years. There are many reviews that just points that Vista is almost clone to Mac OS X operating system.

Following are some interesting publications on Vista.

Kin Mingis installs vista on his mac and writes about his experience. His experience is that Vista is very similar to Mac OS X. His point is that Mac OS X has been around for a number of years, thus this is not a break through in interface design.

http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/09/27/vistavsmac/index.php?lsrc=mwrss

This blog compares Mac OS X with Windows Vista with screen shots. The screen shots looks really similar. Where is the imagination of Microsoft genius’.

http://lifehacker.com/software/top/windows-vista-beta-a-lot-like-mac-os-x-179909.php

This is a review on Vista. “Has any OS been so maligned and so praised during a painfully long development cycle as Windows Vista? The march to Vista’s launch has sometimes seemed longer than the Hundred Years War.”

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/news/index.cfm?newsid=8149

A brief introduction on Vista.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,128404-c,vistalonghorn/article.html

A detail article on Vista in New York Times. You need to have subscription to read it though.

http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00713F93D550C748CDDAB0994DE404482

Some hardware vendors giving away coups for Vista, check the following site

http://cnet.nytimes.com/4532-10921_7-0.html?keywords=Laptops

Tim Allix’s title of his article “Solution: Go buy a Mac”

http://www.whistlerquestion.com/madison%5CWQuestion.nsf/0/267842D9E62D77A78825726E006A458E?OpenDocument

Google News on Vista

http://news.google.com/news?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&channel=s&tab=wn&q=vista&scoring=d