Windows Live space

Get the reliability, performance, and flexibility of Linux on Windows

Ok, most people that know me know that I don't think much of Microsoft Windows (and to think I'm saying this on a Windows Live spaces! :p ). I've always experienced that Windows has been slow and stupid when it comes to everyday computing (and advanced hard-core computing for that matter). So for me at the time there was only one answer: Seek for an alternative.

That's when a friend told me for the first time about Linux. Debian Linux 3.1 SARGE to be exact. He gave me a copy and I tried my very first Linux install. To make a long story short, Debian had serious errors and wouldn't boot up after the first restart. But I wasn't going to give up! A year later I bought SUSE Linux 9.3 Professional, which I used to about a year. Then it got outdated and I wanted to give other Linux distros a shot. I tried the original Fedora release, Puppy Linux 1.95, and other small ones. In between this installs I would go back to Windows before I had the guts to continue.

Recently I've tried more Linux editions. Last year I gave Mandriva 2008 Spring.1 a shot and loved it, except I was using dial-up internet at the time and Linux is NOT good with Windows softmodems. That would cause me to go back to Windows, too. But Mandriva was decent and I worked with it for a month(lol). Then I installed openSUSE 11.0, and I loved that more than anything because it brought the beautiful world of SUSE back to me. I then tried Kubuntu and Ubuntu, which are both the easiest Linux distros out there.

So, after my wars of the OS's, I've decided where I really stand (note this doesn't mean I won't try Linux again). Linux is not capable to normal home computing. Keeping Linux tidy at points can be a pain, and you can forget high-definition video editing. So what's the answer?

Open Source Windows. Linux is much smarter and faster than Windows ever was, but that can change dramatically. Windows has always been an OS where you had to buy a program (some up to $500 or more) and run it, sometimes to see it won't even work. On Linux you download and install, with a good chance everything will work smoothly (especially on Ubuntu and SUSE). Here's a tutorial on how to replace closed source Windows software with open source software.

This can be done on Windows XP, Vista, and 7. This tutorial is shown using a fresh install of Windows 7 Ultimate Beta 1.




Ok there's the original desktop (note that the original Windows 7 desktop really resembles KDE 4!)

1. Open Source Desktop Software

The first thing we'll change will be the software that's used the most on computers, including web browsers, e-mail clients, word processing, music players, DVD players, etc.

Here's my list of open source software to choose from:

1. Office Software:

1. OpenOffice 3 (don't look at me like that. OpenOffice is no worse that M$ Word and TONS better)
http://www.openoffice.org/
2. AbiWord (word processor only. Not an office suite)
http://www.abisource.com/
3. KOffice (installed with KDE 4, which we'll get to later.
http://www.kde.org/

Internet Browsers:

FireFox 3
http://www.mozilla.org/firefox
SeaMonkey
http://www.seamonkey-project.org/
Konqueror: (comes with KDE 4)
http://www.kde.org/

E-Mail Clients:

ThunderBird:
http://www.mozillamessaging.com/thunderbird/
K-Mail (Comes with KDE 4)
http://www.kde.org/

Music Players:

musikCube
http://www.musikcube.com/
SongBird
http://www.getsongbird.com/
Amarok (comes with KDE for Windows)
http://www.kde.org/

DVD Players:

VLC Media
http://www.videolan.org/vlc/

Graphics Editing:

GIMP
http://www.gimp.org/
KolourPaint (comes with KDE 4)
http://www.kde.org/

Anti-Virus Software:

ClamAV (this comes in two parts. ClamAV and the ClamWin interface)
http://www.clamav.net/
http://www.clamwin.com/

Instant Messenging:

Pidgin
http://www.pidgin.im/
Kopete (comes with KDE 4)
http://www.kde.org/

I personally use OpenOffice, FireFox 3, ThunderBird, musikCube (though I'm about to test SongBird for Windows), VLC, ClamAV, and GIMP. There are also little things, like replacements for Notepad. But I'm not going into that because of the time.

Ok, that takes care of the bulk of Windows software. Now I'd get rid of the shortcuts to Internet Explorer and Windows Mail (or Outlook Express).

KDE and Cygwin

 Ok, the two big things about Linux are the actual Linux kernel and the KDE graphical user interface. KDE has been released for Microsoft Windows, so all KDE applications can now be run in Windows. This software bundle includes KOffice, Kopete, Amarok, and others.

Cygwin is a Linux layer that can be added to run Linux software in Windows. It creates an environment that is capable of running programs designed for both the Linux command line and X11 (XFree86). It is also a great tool and a must for open source Windows.

KDE:
http://windows.kde.org/
Cygwin:
http://www.cygwin.com/

Shells

 Shells are most easily described by thinking of an egg. Eggs have two main parts (duh): The shell (duh) and the yolk (duh). If the egg is dropped, the shell breaks (duh) and the yolk spills out (duh again). Well, there must be a way to fix this problem! :O

**Drum roll, please**

Make the shell better or replace the shell!

Ok, that's obviously impossible with eggs, but is it with Windows?

The shell in Windows is what you see, just like with an egg. We see the Start menu, the desktop icons, the crashes, and everything else just like we see the hard white thing on the egg. Just like a dropped egg, Windows' shell breaks often and lets the Windows kernel spill out and leaving our sisters to complain and pick up the dirty mess. Now, there must be a way to fix this problem! :O

**Drum roll, please**

Make the shell better or replace the shell!

"Right ultimatelifeform22, but we can't make the shell better! Windows is closed source!"

That's absolutely right, but we can replace it.

There are many different shells avaliable for Windows, and I'll tell you about them and which one is the best.

1. Talisman 3. This is closed source software and they have a lot of soft-porn skins, which makes the whole thing reek. The actual shell is halfway decent, but it costs $25 and you have the "Buy Now!" buttons on the free version. 2/5 Rating.

2. BlackBox or BBLean: A lovely shell that acted alot like X11, but incompatible with Win7 and maybe Vista. Good for XP however. 4/5 Rating. Opensource. http://www.bb4win.org/

3. LiteStep: It was ok, but it had trouble with the Windows wallpaper on reboot. The screen would go black and it was more of a hassle than a decent shell. 3/5 Rating. Opensource. http://www.litestep.net/

4. GeoShell: It would be good if it didn't have so many registry editors. 'Nuff said. 2/5 Rating. Opensource. http://www.geoshell.com/

5. SharpEnviro: This shell is absolutely awesome. It looks alot like the GNOME graphical user interface on Linux and is very stable even though it's still in its beta stage. It is very flexible and it makes quite a few changes to the Windows environment you wouldn't have thought possible (all for the better!). 6/5 rating. Opensource. http://www.sharpe-shell.org/

6. Cairo: This shell looks very promising. It is not released, but it will support XP, Vista, and 7. It seems to be a lot like SharpEnviro. Guess we'll have to wait and see! ?/5 rating. Opensource? http://www.cairoshell.com/

Screenshots:


Well, here's what my desktop looks like now that I've made Windows opensource. This is a skin I made with SharpEnviro:



This skin and wallpaper I know my cousin will appreciate. Give me an e-mail and tell me how you like it!

Ok, that's it! Hope everybody likes it.

In Christ,

ultimatelifeform22
 

My pals,

1. Chapter 8 of The Walk Home is up, so you can go look at it if you're interested. Anne has fallen off the ridge pole at Moody's house and Gilbert tried to help her, but she has icily declined and Gilbert is MAD. Check it out by going to my FanFiction profile: http://www.fanfiction.net/~ultimatelifeform22

2. Opensource Windows is going to be my next blog post next week. As most of you know, I don't think much of M$ Windows and would like to use Mac OS X all the time, but I can't since I have a PC laptop. It came with Windows Vista but I have put Windows 7 Beta 1 on it since then. I also like the idea of Linux, but it seems too hard on the user on some aspects(like not being able to run Windows programs very well). So, why not make Windows as open-source as possible? Get rid of Internet Explorer, Media Player, and even the Explorer itself! I'll try to get this working this week and write an article next week.

3. IRC. Isn't it annoying?

In Christ,

ultimatelifeform22