Sam Varghese
Wednesday, 13 May 2009 13:42
Opinion and Analysis
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Two British IT workers are planning to spend a month without Windows, using GNU/Linux instead in a project designed to see whether "the Linux operating system is capable of delivering the function and style of delivery that an established Windows user can adapt to easily."
Blair Thompson and Derek Cook, both self-confessed Windows addicts, are Microsoft applications instructors and have 30 years of PC experience between them. Both have used Microsoft products from DOS to Windows 7 RC.
In
a post on their website, they said the experiment, which they have named A Room wihtout Windows, would not get into the question of which was better, GNU/Linux or Windows. They plan to begin the 31-day project by the third week of May.
The pair will utilise eeePC901s for the project as these are the machines they use most frequently. Both eeePCs have been modified; one has 2GB of memory, a 32GB Supertalent SSD, and a touchscreen while the other has 2GB RAM but is otherwise standard.
The pair have begun looking at likely Linux distributions to use during the project. Their criteria for selection of a distribution are:
Similarity to Windows: the project aims to test how easily established Windows users can adapt to Linux, the choice of distribution reflects this goal.
Command line use: the two are looking for a distribution that minimises use of the command line.
Compatibility with applications: the chosen distribution should offer a good choice of applications so that realistic alternatives to Windows-based applications can be found.
Hardware compatibility: the timeframe of the project does not offer much time to fiddle with drivers and both are looking to sample as many alternative applications as possible.
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