As an old Windows user, I have always been using OpenOffice, Firefox, Thunderbird and other portable applications on a flash drive. Of course, I have also used MS Office, especially for Outlook, but Microsoft adds too many interface changes without adding any real benefits,. Therefore, Mozilla Thunderbird is a better solution, it is cross-platform and it has many useful add-ins, to cater for Google apps such as Calendar, Keep, etc. Lightning Calendar especially is a wonderful business tool.
MS Office also is becoming a cloud-only application and subscriptions-based, which means that it is a dead end for the majority of users from the Third World.
Cloud computing is a pipe dream to two-thirds of the global population having no internet at all, but also to the bulk of connected users experiencing unreliable and/or costly connectivity. Also, it is senseless to become dependent upon data hosted on remote servers as there is no 100% guarantee of uptime. It just makes more sense having your data within your physical reach.
With Windows moving towards an on-line-only solution in future, on a monthly or annual subscriptions base, I find that hanging on to Windows lost its appeal. Mac users buy MS Office, so what’s the point with Mac? Both Windows and Mac have become expensive platforms for running FOSS applications.
Regardless of the ‘million and a quarter’ other logical reasons to be using Linux only, it comes bundled with what everyone needs and then some, add to that the extensive FREE applications repositories.
By design, not by market share, it is practically immune to malware as well. It asks little and delivers much, as it can run on older hardware with aplomb.
One really needs to ask whether the other OS’s are still relevant for the right reasons, or are they like Hotel California where you can check out but never leave? Dear old John Dvorak wrote a piece recently, asking if Linux came too late. After having read all his arguments, I can say that we need to realise that there is a naked king, tailors sewing with imaginary thread, to try and piece together a torn robe called Proprietary.
Like Dvorak, one can ask the question: did they overstay their welcome? Does it still make sense to buy expensive proprietary software and systems that seemingly fail after every next update? Mac and Windows are expensive platforms to run LibreOffice and Thunderbird upon! Linux does this for FREE.
Linux rose to maturity, from an ugly duckling to a graceful swan, the leader of the flock. Linux ballets on the world’s supercomputers, it runs on millions of servers, it powers millions of networked or stand-alone desktop units. Linux is a liberation of the mind, unshackling the user experience from bondage to freedom.
Linux also now has better hardware compatibility than both Mac and Windows.
From my perspective, Linux did not come to the party too late. Perhaps it is just above the mental reach of the majority out there, as the only logical, sensible operating system today is Linux. I also want it on my tablet and my phone, as my TV, VCR, PVR, microwave and even the car’s “black box” runs it in various formats.
Refresh your cyber mind with a breathe of cool Mint!
Linux For Beginners 