Thursday, March 20, 2014

Running Something Other Than Windows 8

My wife is fed up with trying to run Windows on her new laptop. I spent some time last weekend playing with it and have to agree that Windows 8 is a giant step backwards in the evolution of operating systems. This week I have spent some time looking at alternatives. There are basically 3 choices when it comes to PC operating systems: Windows, MacOS X, and Linux/Unix. I will be working from home next week and will have more time to devote to my wife's computer and will see what I can get running.

There are a number of tutorials on how to get Windows 8 into a usable state. Just use your favorite search engine and use the following key words: Making Windows 8 Usable. With everyone so dissatisfied, I can't believe it is selling any product.

When you look at a Mac computer from Apple, it uses a lot of the same hardware as a normal Windows PC. Therefore you should be able to run the Mac OS on a carefully assembled PC. You can, and to prove it, there is the Hackintosh website to help you get started. Unfortunately this is more of an option if you are building a desktop as opposed to trying to get it to run on an existing laptop. There are some laptops that work better than others but my wife's model is not among them.

The next option is to throw away Windows and run Linux on the laptop. Unfortunately Linux can be much more difficult to use than Windows. Fortunately there is a UI that is easily installed on Ubuntu Linux that makes it look like a Mac and it is called Macbuntu. I will give that a shot and see if my wife likes that.

I should have an inexpensive laptop that my wife can use by the end of next week. I promise that I will give Windows a fair shake as there are a number of people who think it is awesome (I guarantee you that they are the same people that ate paste in kindergarten but are just grown up now). Look for an update next week.

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