I don't know how my car works, and I can't repair it.

But I also don't know how my computer works, and I can't repair it.

Sure, I can replace a light bulb in the back of my car, just as I can replace a failed hard drive.

But I would never build a computer from scratch any more than I would change the timing belt on my car.

I know how to use my computer, and I know how to drive my car. Troubleshooting and best practice are good things to learn for both. Knowing not to pull out a USB key before you unmount (or "safely remove" or "eject") it is like knowing not to let up the clutch while you're parked but in first gear. Knowing not to click on links in emails "from" banks and eBay is like knowing not to drive when your oil tank is empty.

People may not be able to change their own oil, but they should know when their oil needs to be changed. Likewise, identifying security issues, malicious software, maintenance for your computer, etc. is all part of being a conscientious computer user, just as locking your car, using a seat belt, not talking on the cell phone are all part of being a conscientious driver.

Installing an operating system is not the same at all as repairing a car. We're talking hardware and software--two very different things. I wouldn't even be able to tell you the first thing about putting a computer together, but I can handle most Linux problems when they come up.

Time for me to bring my rant to the table.

Being a self-employed repair technician, I have to both agree and disagree with the majority of you.

Personally, I think that the main reason(s) why Windows is such a popular operating system is that "everybody" uses it, and the software availability.
I submit that if you had a person that had never been exposed to a computer (a virtual impossibility in this society), they would have an equally tough time with a user-friendly Linux distro or Windows XP. The reason why people insist on Windows is because everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, is familiar to it. It's a whole lot easier to "go with the flow" than try something new. People are resistant to change. That's the big thing holding Linux back.
Also, once you have a linux machine, getting the software you want can be a little frustrating. Sure, there's plenty of open-source stuff out there, but most users (in my opinion) would rather walk into Staples or Best Buy and pick up whatever they're looking for rather than google it and fight with the source code or even the binaries.

On the other hand, and this being the main point of this rant, I don't think that the unaligned masses should be using Windows. (Despite the fact that I am an offical Microsoft Beta tester. Don't tell Bill.)
When someone asks me for a suggestion of what to get, I point them at the Apple website. Not because I am obsessed with Macs, but because I truly believe that it is the perfect beginner system. (No offense to the hardcore Mac users, I'm one of them.) It's almost impossible to break, and installation (both of the OS and software) is the easiest I've ever seen. "Drag and Drop" the program and you're ready to go.

Start with Macs, not Windows. If you want a learning experience, then go to Linux. (Or just work in the command line of your Mac. Oh, how I miss pure command-line OSes.)

And that is my rant for the day.

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Good points there.
I essentially agree. If you think about it, those basics of computing that you mentioned are just as important as knowing how to drive a car, given how much money institutions have lost over people who haven't the slightest clue as to what they are doing spreading virii and spyware around.
At least, that's how I view it.

I mostly agree, except that people don't so much "insist on Windows" as "only know Windows." Most "average" users do not even realize that there are other "operating systems" than Windows. And that does hold back the Linux OS.

Excellent point.

Speaking from a variety of soapboxes:
1. Installing windows XP was the most tedious, boring, and LONG install of my life on my very impressive machine. It took 4 hours to install on a machine with 2 gigs of ram, 2.4GHZ dual core processor and 70GB partition.
It took 15 mins to download, install, and have fun with Debian AMD64.
Then I got ticked, installed gentoo, and it took 2 days--but was neither tedious or boring.

2. As a person who fixes peoples computers in his spare time, uses windows and gentoo on the same box, and has significant windows and linux experience: Problems are easier to diagnose, solve, and fix on Linux then it is on windows.
In fact, windows seems to go out of its way to make itself obscure. The error report windows makes not attempt to tell you what the error is, besides a hex number or to say fatal exception or something. The system event log is a load of crap--even once you figure out how to access it. Finally the biggest peeve I have with the OS is WHY IS THE REGRISTRY SO INSCRUTABLE? I think developers like it because it is a place to hide stuff they don't want you to know about. I have disabled the nagware on so many things just by changing a FALSE entry to TRUE it would make your head spin.
In Windows' defence, most problems are self-inflicted by bone-headed users who should know that opening email attachments without at least a cursory virus scan is asking for it--i have very few problems iwth my XP installation, besides the fact that I ahve to reboot every two days or performace goes to pot.

3. As a person who installs linux on old pc's and donates/sells them to people who want a good computer cheap, once they get over the hurdle of ITS NOT WINDOWS they LOVE it. This one guy actually made me very happy when he said that it took him less time to figure out how Ubuntu worked then it took him to figure out XP--and thats with the For Dummies book.

I like the huge amount of nice security related programs that linux have.

Just few weeks ago I was reading some forum where some windows user were saying how great Kerio personal firewall is.

he said:
Kerio is REALLY good, it has crashed only a few times and it slows down the internet but other than that it is really good .. Then he suggested to some other guy that he too should use Kerio and he was like, yea ok.

I was like wtf .. crashes and slowdowns .. really good

The biggest difference for me has been that I have started to expect that my software does not crash or slowdown my computer, with windows it was only matter of time when that started to happen.

Edit:
And I rather use snort inline with clamav preprocessor than Kerio :P

SuSe 9.2 + all have graphical installers. Never used any earlier. I have installed 98 once and 2kpro and XP countless times, and they all take hours and are very boring. It takes even longer to get all the required drivers and services packs, and then the reboots after you install nearly anything. the 'illegal operations' that happens??? What are They!?

Linux, easier to install, all the i have tried i have managed, exept for gentoo didnt spend much time or effort though.

And then once installed, speaking for Suse, It has far more software and system tools, and secruitry features. And it still has click on to open icons, and a very easy to navigate menu bar in either KDE or Gnome.

Then wine and cedega can run alot of the windows programmes that you need. then XGL on Xorg, or the trancparency in Xorg, makes it look as good as vista and better. And they can be installed with .rpms. Rpm's can be as easy to install as .exe's, so i dont see where anyone could say that Linux is harder to use than Windows. I have foun it easier and more enjoyable.

3years windows, 1year linux many flavours.

Thanks Ryan

I sitting at work. Not a lot to do. Read through this post and just had to throw in my experience.

I started using computers way back when I was, I think in Gr.3. We got a 486DX4-50MHZ, 4MB RAM, 512KB video card. It only had MS-DOS installed. I only used it for games, Prince of Persia, Rockfort, etc. I then started fiddeling around with Windows 3.1. Compared to Windows 95, Windows 3.1 sucked big time. So, I got my parents to call our technition and install Windows 95. This was a few years later. He also had to put in more memory. This was great, I can play all those nice games now. Later, I heard of overclocking. So obviously I melted the poor 486 into the motherboard. My parents got a new machine, 400MHZ Celeron and I got a Pentium 1. For the next few years I learned a lot. Upgrading my PC, installing Winndows, internet, etc. Somewhere during that time (Gr.7), I got a copy of Red Hat 8.0, if memory serves. Installed it, could'nt make head from tails. So, to hell with that. Learn by breaking! Later I bought a faster PC which could run Windows XP. Been using XP since it first came out.

It's simple to install.
Everything is fairly easy, because I've done it a million times. I have the DOS, Windows 98, etc background. Anything from VPN, connections to Mail Servers, even tried a bit of programming. Don't have the patience for that though. So, about a year ago I installed Suse 9.2. I can't play games, can't watch movies. No go, XP is way easier, because I'm used to it, have known it for many years. For a few days I tried various distros. Fedora, Suse 10, Kubuntu, etc. Then I finally stumbled accross Ubuntu 5.10. Installed, put in a little more effort and I love it. Have learned a lot about Linux since then. Abviously I'm still a nooby, but I'm getting there slowly but shurely.

I think if you give someone a Linux PC, and that person havn't used Windows or anything else ever before (yes, those people exist), they will flourish. It's true, people find Linux intimidating, because they are used to the Microsoft way of thinking. My congrats to Microsoft for putting in such a huge effort to produce a well known, money making OS. Marketing, marketing and some more marketing! My congrats also to Linux for bringing us a free OS. Both OSes has their problems. Linux isn't Windows, that is the main thing, I think. I also think Linux is well on it's way on becoming a mainstream OS. Look at Suse 10.1. Excellent work! Easy for Windows users to migrate to. End users don't really care what OS they are using, as long as they can read/send email, look at photos, whatch videos, listen to music, type documents and play the occasional game. Most people I've spoken to don't even know what an operating system is! (I'm an technition in a PC shop) The only thing keeping me from wiping XP is game support.

Just my thoughts...