Turn a Windows User Into a Linux User

I had a friend complaining to me about BSOD's. Well I gave my usual speech about what they are and such and offered to analyze them. I pointed him in the path of a utility from Nirsoft, BlueScreenView and he sent me the results. I let him know that most likely it was a driver issue and maybe he could update. I also had given him a USB flash drive with Linux Mint Katya on it and low and behold I received an email that night that he had wiped Windows 7 away and was enjoying Linux.

He had one real issue and that was finding the right wireless driver. Once he connected wired, the driver was downloaded and installed along with other updates and all was well.

Tux clipart
from Clker.com

Chalk another one up for the penguins.

History Is Made By Rejecting Windows

Graeme Cobbett was finally paid $115 from Dell for rejecting Windows Vista and the free upgrade to Windows 7. He purchased a Dell Studio 1555 from Dell and when he started the computer for the first time was greetd by Microsoft's EULA agreement or End User License Agreement. In the agreement is a paragraph that allows for the refund of the cost of Windows if the user doesn't agree with the EULA. Here is the now famous clause:

"By using the software, you accept these terms. If you do not accept them, do not use the software. Instead, return it to the retailer for a refund or credit. If you cannot obtain a refund there, contact Microsoft or the Microsoft affiliate serving your country for information about Microsoft's refund policies."

Most of use never read the EULA. I have read one or two way back when but I must admit I really don't read them. I do use a utility called EULA Analyzer. This tool will look for possible misleading or unusual wording.

It turns out that Graeme had to be a bit persistent and kept after his refund for two months before Dell finally came through. Instead of Windows he installed Linux Mint. Chalk one up on the Linux scoreboard. Head over to the Linux Mint Blog to read Graeme's story.

The mint leaf I created shows the $112 dollars he was refunded. Graeme then turned the money over to the Linux Mint Project. That is the coolest part of the whole story. Something I plan on doing if and when I buy a new computer.

Linux vs Windows 7 Revealed

We are always comparing things when a new one comes around. Now with Windows 7 on the verge of official release comparing Linux vs Windows 7 seems like the natural thing to do. I have only installed a RTM version of Windows 7 to one machine and it was not the experience Microsoft would have wanted to promote. But the folks at TuxRadar have been putting Windows 7 to the test since it was released as a beta. Read their comparison of Linux to Windows 7 and judge for yourself which is the best for you. I personally will not be running Windows 7 on my hardware which is six years old and did meet the minimum specs from Microsoft. I found it much to slow and unresponsive on my hardware. So the bottom line for me is to stick with Windows XP and a couple of different flavors of Linux. If you have done your own comparisons let's here about them in the comments.

Windows 7 Is Offially RTM

As usual I am a day late in the news but I thought I would post a link anyway. Microsoft has officially released Windows 7 to manufacture (RTM). This comes exactly ninety days before the scheduled launch of October 22. This is the time to ensure that all your apps work and your hardware is up to date otherwise when it does arrive you could be very disappointed. Don't be one of those folks who thinks everything will just work. You can still get the download RC and the Windows 7 advisor I posted about a few days ago.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor Tool

This post has been moved to Working With Windows.

6 More Days For Special Windows 7 Offer

I know this is a little late but when something like this pops up you have to tell folks about it. If you have any desire to upgrade to Windows 7 this may be the time to order. Read all the details on the Microsoft Windows Blog about the offer. The following is from the blog:

"Finally, as a way of saying thank you to our loyal Windows customers, we are excited to introduce a special time limited offer! We will offer people in select markets the opportunity to pre-order Windows 7 at a more than 50% discount. In the US, this will mean you can pre-order Windows 7 Home Premium for USD $49.99 or Windows 7 Professional for USD $99.99. You can take advantage of this special offer online via select retail partners such as Best Buy or Amazon, or the online Microsoft Store (in participating markets)."

Lately I have been concentrating on Firefox and Linux so it was easy for me to let this news slip by. Personally I have no intention of upgrading to Windows 7 until I buy a new laptop. I don't see any reason to updgrade until there are benefits for my equipment. Your milage may vary so if you were or are planning to upgrade you might want to consider this offer.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Before I plunk down some of my hard earned cash for Windows 7, I want to know how it will run on my system. I have two options with one option being to download the rather large release candidate and install it. Option two is to run the Upgrade Advisor and get a report of how Windows 7 should install. The test laptop is a HP ze5385us which runs on a P4 2.66ghz cpu with 1gb of ram. My first step is to download the Upgrade Advisor from Microsoft here. The Upgrade Advisor is packaged as a msi file and is 6414kb in size.

Double clicking the msi file starts the install process. Simply accept the defaults for the install and it completes in about ten seconds leaving you at this screen with the option to launch the advisor.

The system check ran for only a couple of minutes. I now had enough information to decide running Windows 7. The good news it reported was that all my hardware passed minimum requirements. I did have two warnings listed in the report. One about the upgrade process and another about Aero Desktop. I won't be able to run Aero Desktop on this laptop since I can't upgrade the graphics card. The upgrade warning gave a link for step by step installation information. This could be very helpful and is a nice touch from Microsoft. All in all I'm glad I ran the tool. Upgrade Advisor has given me enough information to make an informed decision. Upgrading to Windows 7 on this laptop should go quite smoothly if I decide to install.

Are You Ready For Windows 7?

Ready or not Windows 7 is on the way. The word from the Windows blog is set for October 22 of this year. I'll personally believe it when I see it since Microsoft has always pushed back the official release dates for every version of Windows I personally have seen released. However in their defense the release candidates are looking like they are pretty close to full release. Tonight I plan on running Microsoft's Upgrade Adviser Tool on a HP Laptop with an Intel P4 running at 2.66ghz and 1gb of ram. Check back tomorrow for the results.