Reading Notes (3)

Introduction to Linux: A Hands on Guide

I never knew exactly what Linux was, and the first section was pretty good at giving a basic explanation of Linux. It seems like it would be the more desirable operating system for all computers, but the problems of availabe code to make interaction with all the software and hardware explain why its not more widespread. It really makes one wonder why a system such as Windows, with all its flaws and defects, holds so much of the market in operating systems when there are some alternatives, though not without their drawbacks. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be interested in a Linux system, simply because many of the advantages of Linux are results of it being designed for specific use of computers, and those are not activities I generally do on my machine.

Mac OS X

Honestly, I don't think I got much out of this article. The techno-jargon was a little bit (or a lot-a-bit) over my head, and the audience the author was expecting was rather more technical than me. He states that his audience is the technical community, I'm assuming he means programmers etc., and he also mentions that his writing has the implicit assumption that the reader has familiarity with concepts of "BSD, Mach, UNIX." The only experience I have with Macs is from my days in elementary school, in the early 90's, and that was basic typing skills, so, needless to say, my Mac knowledge is severly limited. The article, though, seems to be an attempt to clarify the technical basics of Mac OS X, as well as trying to explain away mistaken beliefs about it, as well as spelling out its pros and cons. Perhaps, when I become more familiar with Macs and Mac programming, I would find this article more comprehensible and helpful.

An Update on the Windows Roadmap

As one who doesn't regularly follow computer news and such, that e-mail explained a lot about what I can expect from my Windows operating system for the next couple years. I still run XP, though, and I don't plan on upgrading soon. As the author of the previous article mentioned, I'm one of those people who simply don't have the time or motivation to experiment with different systems and tweaking here and there and messing around with the details. This is not where my interests lie, and I'd much prefer to do other things. I know a lot of people, especially those more tech-savvy than myself, complain a lot about Windows, but it seems Microsoft is trying to improve it (if you're not some conspiracy theorist who probably thinks the whole e-mail was a lie or something like that) and when I do run into problems with Windows, I just sort of sigh to myself and do what I have to to get around.