Planning divorce from Windows...worth dating Linux & Ubuntu?
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Hi there
I am a Windows 7 & Vista user. After the release of Windows 8 and now Windows 10 it has become very clear to me that I want to file for devorce from Microsoft as soon assupport for Windows 7 runs out.
I realize there are probably still another 2-3 years of windows 7 support available but I would like to plan ahead and see what alternatives are out there. Sketchup compatibilty is top priority for me as this is the software that I am earning my living with.
Problem is that getting back together with the Apple is not an option either, it would be like "jumping out of the fire into the frying pan".
Call me old fashioned but I just don't like the idea of having to re-buy and re-install and re-learn the operating system every couple years and having to put up with changes that I have never asked for in the first place. I am not to keen on the every worsening hidden privacy issues and unwanted data collection side of things either.
Can anybody share their experience with using Sketchup on Linux? Any other worthwhile operating systems out there that I may be overlooking?
Cheers Guys
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I use CentOS6 for my servers and I've been salvaging some Army computers that have Ubuntu on them.
Linux is great for servers... People? Not so much. Ubuntu is okay... It's nothing special though. I have not used SU on either.
As for Windows... I hear 10 is the end and you don't have to buy it. I've heard it's their last OS. May just be rumor mill as I don't much attention to those things. But I wouldn't doubt them moving more towards pads and phones. They say they'll just be doing updates for security and drivers.
I would skip 8, go to 10 give it a spin and then if you don't like it, ditch and try one of the others.
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Looks like the rumors were kinda right... But looks like they're going to rope you into subscriptions... Like everyone else and their cousin.
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Hmm interesting, I am not convinced that Windows will be free...I reckon it is just a maraketing spin... as you say the payment format will simply change. I read this article around privacy of Windows 10 it seems our personal data will be really the new currency that we are going to pay with... does not sit right with me.
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It seems that Windows is becoming new Android.
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I'm an old man so I have been using windows since The release of 3.1. I have used every other operating system known to man including alpha/os systems from IBM, Amdahl and Fujitsu that never got out of the can. My desktop 8 looks the same now as my 3.1 did...just a background screen and a bunch of icons. There has never been a learning curve because essentially the core functionality has not changed. There is no such thing as privacy on the Internet. You are just fooling yourself to think so. The most bullet proof OS in terms of security is still Microsoft. The trouble that most users experience related to security they introduce themselves with third party security products like Norten/McAffey...etc...etc. The security guys are the worst of the worst.
The fact is there is nothing even close. Microsoft owns the desktop business and if you are doing serious computing you do it on a desktop or laptop not a handheld toy. Microsoft also owns the application development business. 4 out of 5 developers have the Microsoft knowledge base on their desktop so you can guess where most new software will run.
That was a long winded and somewhat stuck-up way of saying sorry, there just is no alternative for you unless you are willing to put up with a lot of frustration and contortion. -
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I know others use SU with Linux, but I could never get it to work right. Probably 'cause I have Ubuntu on an older laptop and the graphics just don't play right. Besides the black screen, SU seems to run fine in the emulated environment.
Like others say tho, most serious apps run in a Windows environment. I use ACAD, and I've tried the alternative drafting programs that are available for Linux, and blech! hated them. I'll stick with win7 and 8 like I've stuck with the XP box that I still run for my home server
Not liking all the data harvesting things I've heard about Win10. -
Hallo David,
I am running Sketchup via Wine on Ubuntu, every new wine version makes it run better.
For me few glitches and hick-ups are workable.
I am not using any of the fancy ruby plugins on this computer.
Eventually most software will become cloud based, and therefor OS independentSchönen Gruss,
Bep
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I guess it's best to stick to what I got and know best whilst following how the computing world develops. Interesting thought about software (incl.Sketchup)might becoming cloud based which really means that internet would have to be available at all times.
Will also keep an eye on Ubuntu...Thanks all
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@roland joseph said:
I'm an old man so I have been using windows since The release of 3.1. I have used every other operating system known to man including alpha/os systems from IBM, Amdahl and Fujitsu that never got out of the can. My desktop 8 looks the same now as my 3.1 did...just a background screen and a bunch of icons. There has never been a learning curve because essentially the core functionality has not changed. There is no such thing as privacy on the Internet. You are just fooling yourself to think so. The most bullet proof OS in terms of security is still Microsoft. The trouble that most users experience related to security they introduce themselves with third party security products like Norten/McAffey...etc...etc. The security guys are the worst of the worst.
The fact is there is nothing even close. Microsoft owns the desktop business and if you are doing serious computing you do it on a desktop or laptop not a handheld toy. Microsoft also owns the application development business. 4 out of 5 developers have the Microsoft knowledge base on their desktop so you can guess where most new software will run.
That was a long winded and somewhat stuck-up way of saying sorry, there just is no alternative for you unless you are willing to put up with a lot of frustration and contortion.I am on my feet, standing, attentively clapping with fervor...
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"there just is no alternative for you".... I guess you are right, but that sounds so creepy...In the future our souls will be uploaded to the cloud, of course. The bunch of data.
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@davidmreinbold said:
...as soon assupport for Windows 7 runs out.
I realize there are probably still another 2-3 years of windows 7 support available
Win 7 support runs out in 4.5 years http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle
So there is plenty of time to decide what to install next - many things can change in four years...
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@unknownuser said:
uploaded to the cloud
The "cloud" is a marketing idea not a technology. The technology and the idea was invented by Microsoft and released as a beta code named "Denalli" in 1999. It's real name is "active server pages". This was the beginning of subscription computing. For the first time you could start and run your apps through any vanilla browser and the apps resided on a server not your desktop. You will see it as an extension .asp. It has been 16 years now and although the idea of creating an active server is paramount to virtual computing (which has taken off), leaving all your files on the same server (except for "data base") has not taken off at all. If the internet was reliable and fast everywhere it might have a chance but for now moving documents this way for the masses is not practical and synchronizing your half gig of files every day is not only problematic in terms of versioning but it also takes all day.
Some greedy fool woke up somewhere a couple of years ago and said "hey! think of the money we could make storing documents and serving up applications on a monthly subscription". The application subscription works and always did but the document storage no. I can imagine how screwed up things would be if we were all on the cloud....the internet would be clogged completely and come to a standstill.The cloud works (just the way it did 16 years ago) but it will remain limited to companies that can afford "VPNs" and very fast connections. While the internet is held together in most places with bailing wire, it is not going to happen. 16 years is not quite enough to get the infrastructure in place.
Not only is "the cloud" stupid marketing, the name "cloud" (although appropriate cause the idea is cloudy) is stupid as well.
The "asp" invention itself was revolutionary and the basis for basically all current subscriptions. The first "asp/cloud" based application subscription was a resource management app called "Njoyn". It was first offered in 2001. Njoyn is still in business and used by many fortune 500 companies everyday. The application is unchanged.
Sorry this post is not quite related.....
just needed to rant thanks! -
@numerobis said:
@davidmreinbold said:
...as soon assupport for Windows 7 runs out.
I realize there are probably still another 2-3 years of windows 7 support available
Win 7 support runs out in 4.5 years http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/lifecycle
So there is plenty of time to decide what to install next - many things can change in four years...
.That is very re-assuring... I agree 4 and 1/2 years can be a total game changer in computer years for the better or worse.
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@srx said:
I guess you are right, but that sounds so creepy...In the future our souls will be uploaded to the cloud, of course. The bunch of data.
Be careful what you wish for...it might come true!!! Matrix style... "Would you like to take the blue pill or the red?"
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@davidmreinbold said:
Sketchup compatibilty is top priority for me as this is the software that I am earning my living with.
adhering to the system requirements seems to have the highest priority then...
@davidmreinbold said:
Call me old fashioned but I just don't like the idea of having to ... re-learn the operating system...
which would be required switching to a Linux distribution...
@davidmreinbold said:
I am not to keen on the every worsening hidden privacy issues and unwanted data collection side of things either.
you can just disable them... and there are already free tools for doing this in one central place.
in short, sticking with W7 until end of life (beginning of 2020) is the choice of pragmatism.
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