I kept a IT satire blog for a short time before starting this one. The following is a post from that blog.
I remember back in the days when things were simple. If you wanted to do something on your computer, you just did it. There wasn’t this bullshit about logging in or editing registry keys. In fact, there wasn’t even a registry. Or screen savers. It was awesome. Sure, we didn’t have cool things like “desktop wallpapers†and “8 bit color†but who uses that stuff anyway.
You see, as an avid user of the UNIX operating systems, I have grown fond of its simple and straight-forward user-interface. Let’s compare.
Windows:
Now what the hell is this stuff about “Shut Down.†Seriously. If I want to turn off my toaster, I unplug it. Imagine if your TV required you to hit a button and select “Turn the $%@# off†every time you wanted to go to sleep — and then spent 20 seconds “saving your settings.†You know what I say to that button?! Screw it. I just unplug my computer when I’m done. It’s done when I say it’s done.
See all those icons everywhere? “Network Places?†“My Computer?†“Control Panel?†How are these not all the same thing? Who the hell knows what they are? How do you pipe the application output?? Why doesn’t man work? Where is Vi??
And if I decide to entertain Windows and start clicking around, I find that it takes me three clicks just to get to my C drive. Let’s compare this to good old DOS:
That’s right. I start off looking at my C drive. There is NO clicking in DOS or Linux. Do you see the simplicity? Do you see the beauty?
Now let’s compare functionality. Let’s say you want to delete a file. Check out the cool hoops Windows makes you jump through:
I’m sorry, but when I hit the “DEL†key, I expect the computer to delete the file! You don’t see confirmation dialogs that ask you:
And don’t even get me started on the Recycle Bin. If I hit the “DEL†key, hit “YES†on your dumb question, and yet the file still isn’t gone, you’ve officially made me mad. I like Linux because it treats me like the competent computer expert that I am. Notice how deleting a few files is clean, simple, and without any confirmation crap:
Or let’s say I want to install some software on Windows.
Do you know how ridiculous that process is? It’s full of all these strange looking choices that have all these buttons and words on them that you actually have to read.
Whereas in, for example, Linux, I could install Apache by simply typing in one line and then sitting back and relaxing:
cd /usr/local/download; tar xzf php-3.0.12.tar.gz -C ../etc; cd /usr/local/etc; ln -s php-3.0.12 php; ./configure –with-apache=../httpd –with-config-file-path=/www/conf –enable-track-vars; make; make install; cd ../httpd; cat config.status; ./config.status –activate-module=src/modules/php3/libphp3.a; make; bin/apachectl stop; make install; bin/apachectl start
No confusing choices to make. No strange check boxes and drop down menus you don’t really understand. No “Do you agree to sell me your soul†terms that you have to click “agree†to continue.
And then there’s Linux.
I swear, Windows is 10 years behind the Linux. If only Windows would learn a thing or two from the talented Linux GUI developers.