Ditched Micro$oft.
 

I know there are a few Linux threads around, but oh well..

I had Vista for a while but I always felt like everything was getting too dumbed down. I have used Linux as a second operating system for a while so I know the ins and outs a bit. Well I decided to ditch Windows all together.

The OS of choice was SLAX. Since I planned on using this as my primary OS I chose to install it with persistent changes on my 8GB thumb drive. The install is fairly easy, download the .tar from slax.org and extract it to a freshly partitioned (FAT32) thumb drive. Browse to the /boot/ folder and run a script. That's pretty much it to boot into slax.

You are presented with a few options to boot SLAX, the first one is for a normal session. A few seconds later you find yourself looking at a very nice desktop thanks to KDE. For basic usage you are ready to go. Programs for Internet, word processing, multimedia, etc.. are already installed.

If you have favorites it's extremely simple to remove and add new software. Slax has something called a Module Manager that allows you to easily uninstall and install extra software fast and painless. Just browse to the modules section of Slax.org and browse through the modules on the site. Choose the one you want and download it. Open up the Module Manager and click "Add New Module" Browse to where the module you downloaded is located and select it. Moments later it is installed.

Overall it's very simple, fast and stable. It does require a bit of trial and error if you are new to linux, but it's a great alternative.

As a side note, installing to a USB thumbdrive is great because you can turn off your computer and bring it with you. Slax will run on just about any computer so all you have to do is stick your thumbdrive in, make sure the computer is set to boot to USB, and you have all your data that is saved to the thumbdrive.

Anyways just my experience, hope some of this may help anyone that is fed up with Windows and wants to try something different.

So, how's the process for installing apps like TuberStudio & MLV? That's the part that killed me when I was playing with Ubuntu. (And it's all the more hurtful since I used to be pretty good at Unix back in the System V era.)

I have not yet attempted any such install, but a quick visit to the host site and it looks like they have a linux version available. If there is interest I can give it a test try and write up a quick tutorial on how to get it working.

On a side note is there any need for better software for the MS? Or is what's available get the job done? Anything left to be desired?