[KLUG Advocacy] Windows stability

[Rusty Yonkers]

First on the upgrade issue.  Even though there is often an upgrade
path I do not EVER recommend that alternative!  There are things that
just do not upgrade well (or sometimes at all).  I have seen a number
of things get seriously munged up in an upgrade.  I think most of it
is due to the registry.  The registry is probably the BIGGEST problem
in Windows right now.  

Second, stability is MUCH improved.  I have seen installations of
servers that crash regularly but I think that is mostly due to ebcak
(error between chair and keyboard) errors of the installer (windows
expert????).  I have systems I have put in place that I have not seen
go down at all.  I am running XP for my main workstation in my
classroom right now and it is very stable.  

With that said, there are a number of problems in Windows that are
mainly in the server environment.  Active Directory is a piece of
(Opps I made a pledge to stop using that kind of language)....  It is
unstable, awkward to setup, flawed in its basic design concepts, very
limited in functionality, and difficult to troubleshoot problems in. 
It is MOST difficult to recover from catastrophic failures of
servers, escpecially for domain controllers.  

I also recommend a rebuild of Windows computers every 6 to 18 months
depending on how often software is installed/removed.  The registry
gets VERY full and unstable.  It is almost impossible to fix.  I have
noticed a 200 to 300 percent improvement in performance after a
rebuild because of the clean registry.  

Currently if you are doing multimedia stuff and do not want to buy a
MAC (the BEST platform for multimedia production stuff!!!!) then
Windows has more tools available for it than Linux.  I have yet to
find a good video editing tool that is powerful and easy to use. 
Then there are the tools for post production work and special effects
that I have found nothing for on Linux!  Playing multimedia is not a
problem for the most part (except for encoded DVD) but production is
not there.  Keep in mind I am talking motion video not still
photography.  I am hoping to get a MAC G4 soon for this work though,
and in reality once you get a Windows computer that is powerful
enough to really do the work the MAC is the same price or cheaper.  

IMHO I believe that Linux on the desktop is ready for the corporate
market for the most part (there may be some issues with certain
vertical market apps) but for home use and environments like
multimedia it still has a ways to go.  Education is coming but until
some of the big players decide to port to Linux it will be rough
(there are some apps but a lot that is missing).  For the server
environment it totally rocks though!!!!  



=====
Rusty Yonkers
CNE, MCP, A+, CCNA, Linux+, Server+, Network+ certified
-----------------------------------------
Ubergeek -- An Atomic Supergeek with an attitude!
-----------------------------------------
Currently using SuSE 8.2, Mac OS X, and WinXP (would love to get rid of last one)

...............looking for penguin domination.....................

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