Ajaxular - All Things AJAX

I have a problem: I am a Microsoft Windows user. But it’s not my fault, I was born that way. The first computer I remember using seriously (for more than a game of Menace on my AmigaOS) had Windows 3.1 installed. I have Windows XP on my laptop, Windows Vista on my PC, and Windows Mobile on my phone. Heck, my next refrigerator will probably have “Diet Windows” installed. But at least I recognize that I have a problem.

You see, I tried breaking the mold. That’s right, I cheated on Windows. I installed Ubuntu Linux. Although I had guilty feelings just thinking about it, I was determined to break the bond of corporate tyranny and join the open-source freedom fighters.

After downloading my new OS for free, I carefully installed it on a new partition. No, I didn’t force Windows out of my life completely, just in case my affair with Ubuntu turned into a one-night stand. The install was actually remarkably simple. Not a single error. After a few reboots it was official, I was using a Linux desktop. I had finally joined the ranks of the technology elite.

And that’s about where it ended. I consider myself slightly more computer literate then the masses: I maintain my own blog, am a PHP/WordPress freelancer, and know the difference between FTP, HTML, PHP, XHTML, and FBI. But I’ll be darned if it didn’t take me nearly an hour to figure out how to install software. I mean, it was so complicated that I found entire articles about how to install software in Ubuntu.

This is what it’s come to? I have to find tutorials on how to install software?

I’m sure many of you are thinking “you’re an idiot, you could have just done XYZ”, or “it’s so obvious!”. That may be true. But the fact is that it wasn’t obvious to me. If Linux distributions are ever going to be more then a tech nerds hobby operating system, they need to be easy to use, fast to install, and simple enough that my mom and dad could do it (ok, maybe not that simple, but you know what I mean).

Needless to say, I promptly removed Ubuntu. It was a quick and dirty affair that made me realize I don’t need to be searching for another operating system…as long as Windows XP is still available. But that’s another issue all on its own.

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