A week of Windows!

[leech]

I must say I have no opinions on that because the two systems have their goods and bads. I'm not an expert in linux though, I'm actually starting to learn it. But damn, the first day I used windows, I found where the refresh rate was, and I was able to change resolution without logging off. Maybe it's because I'm in my first week of learning linux but I didn't found the refresh rate yet and how to change the resolution without logging off on RedHat 9.

As long as your monitor's frequencies are set up in XF86Config-4, then your refresh rate will be the best that it can be by default. Whereas with windows you have to change it, it won't just set it to the best. At least that's been my experience.

Leech

[MultimediaMan]

But sometimes the driver refuses to load....this is an issue with several versions of 3COM's PCI NICs (OEM 905Bs), Linksys and DLinks that use the DEC chipset (and Clones thereof) with newer Linux (2.4.xx) Kernels.

Many people are having to use an older revision Module to get the cards to work at all. I know I had to hack modules from an older distro to get any of my 4 year old Linksys LNE100TX Version 2.0 cards to work. The funny thing is, the generic "software" NIC drivers that come with Linux worked like a charm, though CPU usage was rather high.

Again, Modem and Cable Modem Support for Linux is spotty at best, and this is where the ISA bus comes in really handy. Cable Modems that don't have an RJ45 connection are universally USB, and those have more problems than you can shake a stick at in Linux...or no support at all - with no relief in sight.

Now, I agree that Creative's drivers, are, well, Creative. But that is only one instance, and there is a workaround...namely installing the Apps First, then the drivers. I own an A2 Platinum and it runs flawlessly... this may irk you, but the autoupdate from asia.creative.com also works flawlessly.

USB2.0 Support had been available for quite some time with XP, but not until SP-1 Did USB2.0 Support become official for WinXP-Pro. WinXP-Home had it before the end of 2001.

But these arguments are all academic. Sometimes Generic drivers work, and sometimes they don't. Let's keep apples to apples here: Windows embedded drivers work each and every time with hardware that is in working order.

Linux drivers MAY work, and for the most part they do, but getting hardware vendors to support Linux in a truly meaningful way is the single hardest thing to do right now. This is slowly changing, and the factory driver development teams have a wealth of free knowledge to work from, but it is still a long and tedious process.

IMO, this is also yet another thing that is holding Linux back in terms of widespread business usage: Hardware vendors are reluctant to warranty stuff that is not certified for a given operating system. This is not a big deal for small to medium businesses, but for global operations, it is a major sticking point.

Here's a true example: About a year ago, we (where I work) were ready to roll Redhat out to an existing class of machines that were running Windows NT4.0 (several thousand machines): it was pulled at the last minute because of warranty/service issues. Why? During testing, they were obviously superior to their NT counterparts, had uptimes approaching 1 year without a single issue. But that wasn't the problem; the real hangup was getting vendors to touch it.

These vendors, who shall remain nameless, are intimately associated with Linux for Business, and at least one of them is a defendant in a suit brought about by SCO, and they don't want to touch it.

It's not about performance, or reliability, it is about sustainability. Amateurs talk Tactics, Professionals talk Logistics, and that is where Linux comes up short.

[leech]

I've had no problems with the Linksys card that you've mentioned (The LNE100TX, then again, I am not sure which version board I was using) As far as the Cable modem stuff goes, since we are talking about this particular article, doesn't apply, since he states that he does his hardware research before purchasing. Which is what EVERYONE should do anyhow. (for instance, some older hardware won't even work with WinXP, as well as some hardware won't work with Win98 (Parhelia included)). It's not exactly linux's fault that hardware vendors don't either release their own drivers, or let OSS programmers work on them.

A good example though of a bad NIC driver.... The onboard Broadcom 4401 chip that I use in my desktop PC.... I had the source code downloaded from Broadcom's site and had it working in 2.4.20 kernel. When I switched harddrives, I decided to upgrade to the 2.4.22 kernel, which has the bc44 driver included (first 2.4.x kernel in which it wasn't experimental) and the lousy thing would load, and even get an IP address from my DHCP server. But it would NOT let me download anything. As soon as I tried, it would freeze or something. So Linux isn't perfect, and as I stated, either is Windows XP.

As far as the Audigy 2 running flawlessly... that doesn't irk me, since mine does too.... after a completely new install of windows.... which takes forever, due to service packs/critical updates, etc. Thank god, I have a high speed internet connection. Dial-up would suck if you had to download all that crap. As a side note, anyone know if there is a repository where MS puts all their updates? It'd be nice to have a CD-RW with all of them on there, so that you can install them whenever you put together a new computer without having to re-download all of them!

Leech

[leech]

Oh and I think that the Tulip driver is NO LONGER used by the 3com cards. My 905b's always use the 3c59x module.

Leech

[IM_Riktar]

When I want to find out the day and date, or check a date a few months ahead, I'm used to clicking on my little KDE clock and having a calendar pop up for me. I can't seem to do this in Windows, even though I've tried. Again, this may be a feature only super-geeks can can use in Windows that is hidden from us ordinary desktop people.

Huh? I haven't used XP yet since W2k SP2 is working just fine. But in W2K you just "lay" the cursor over the time and the Day/Date pops up. If you double click it the calendar pops up.

He tried but couldn't? Puh-Lease!!!!!

[leech]

Well, for the most parth I think this "A Week of Windows" is more satire than anything. He was trying to prove a point though, that windows and linux are two different beasts. Some things are actually easier to do in linux, and other things are easier to do in windows. It's just the nature of it.

Leech

[MultimediaMan]

No arguements there, Leech.

[DentyCracker]

My ntl cablemodem works in Mandrake. You can set it up with the CDCEther module while installing. Just set it to use DHCP and you're (not your) sorted. CDCEther is the usb network device driver. Softmodems for the most part are a pain, although the conexant and intel one I had/have work without too many problems. My main beef with some versions of linux is the compile compile bits. Installers should work like in windows, install whatever is needed for the damn program to work. I don't necessarily want to know what depends on what, I just want it to work. (Apt or a similar utility should be mandatory in every distro)

[DentyCracker]

Hmmm, trying out knoppix

It feels a bit creepy. Download iso, burn with burnatonce, reboot machine. Tells me error, only one processor. Hmm, reboot, type in expert, starts loading, get lost interrupts. Hmm, where have I seen this before, reboot type in expert noapic, up she goes. Answer a few questions and here I am, on the net and all.

[Technoid]

Originally posted by MultimediaMan

But these arguments are all academic. Sometimes Generic drivers work, and sometimes they don't. Let's keep apples to apples here: Windows embedded drivers work each and every time with hardware that is in working order.

In Microsofts dreams maybe