I have a Linux box and will continue to learn on it and develop some skills but I doubt I could ever fully make the switch to Linux only. It seems like some of the things I do on a day to day basis are not supported or does as well on Linux as they are on Windows. Example, I can't logon to Suntrust to check my accounts with the Konqueror or Mozilla browsers, not supported. I also haven't found a program that keeps track of your checking account that is nearly as good as Microsoft Money. I guess I could create my own but I don't really have the time. Also, at work we only use Windows for our workstations because of Visual Studio and the fact that most of professional services cannot use a *Nix platform. Oh and I guess the worst would be the fact I can't install a tar file yet (I'm working on it ). From my first impressions of Linux, I love it. It's a great OS for productivity. I just hope it makes an effort in the future to appeal to your everyday user. But I guess then it wouldn't be "Linux".

one day my friend.. one day it will all be done in linux.

how come you can't login to suntrust or whatever.. what do they require in a browser that would prevent that, unless their site is only developed to work with IE.. which would be wrong on their part.

AMDPwred,

Linux is not an easy OS, and it wasn't even designed with the idea of it being a user-freindly, "Windows Killer" OS. That idea came from the user-base, not from the developers.

With that said, Linux, and applications written for it, have come a *very* long way in a relatively short period of time. This applies especially to the GUI interfaces and desktop environments. Considering the fact that Linux developers have to contend with a mostly MS-centric, closed-source world, I find their efforts to be almost Herculean in scope.

For example, if hardware manufacturers were more willing to open-source their driver code, the compatibility issues that so many of us encounter would become moot. That's just one example of where progress could be made, but the idea extends to software developers as well. I could go off on an extended rant about these issues, but that wouldn't be productive.

What I will say is that I've been using Linux for a little more than a year, and the more I learn to use Linux, the less I use my Windows machine. At this point, my Win box basically just serves as my access to Linux resources on the Net when I delve into projects which might totally hose my Linux box due to my "newbieness".

I might catch some heat for the following, but I do stand by the statements:

1. Linux is not, as it stands now, for J. Normal User, unless J.N.U. has a well-trained IT staff supporting him/her. Running Linux as your desktop OS, without the luxury of a tech support department, requires (at this point, at least) that you learn *some* of the underlying functionality of the OS.

2. I think most "users" of Windows fall into the same category. They may not know how to alter file-type associations, unzip a dowloaded program, or figure out how to save a file to a certain directory, but they *should* know how to do some, if not all, of these things. No OS is idiot-proof; they all require, as any other tool does, that you learn how to use them proficiently.

3. For the ultimate in "user friendly", I give you: the Macintosh (prior to OS X, of course). If you want to experience a computing platform which fosters the idea that users need to know absolutely nothing about the tool they are using, I'd highly recommend a Mac. I've never seen a platform which goes so far out of the way in terms of isolating a user from the equipment they're working on. Apple's take seems to be that their product is so good, and so easy to use, that you'll never need to get "under the hood". Um... yeah, sure.

Ah, trickykid. I want to live to see that day.

If your bank won't support your choice of browser then write a letter and complain, tell them that you are looking for a bank that dosn't force their customers to use software they don't have/like. If you just give in and use windoze and internet exploiter then one day you'll wake up and you won't be able to surf the net without bills rubish loaded on your computer. Tell your bank that the first .NET virus has been released...and thats what they have to look forward to if they insist on pimping for M$, if they thought codered/nimda was bad they have a nasty surprise comming.

Better yet:

Banks like to charge you extortionate fees for the slightest of things (like charging you for 3 days of 'extra overdraft fees' when you've gone over your overdraft limit by £3uk, on a Friday evening, when the Bank isn't open on the Sat or Sun, and then charging you for the letter aswell), so how about some revenge?

Send a letter to your bank stating that if they absolutely require MSIE to access their on-line services, then perhaps they would be kind enough to stump up the readies for a valid copy of Windows for every one of their customers that require this service, so that you/they can run MSIE. Oh, and don't forget to charge the bank for the letter itself.

Ohh, I like being vindictive.

well, there's no reason it's not gonna happen, unless the world turns against linux, it's inevitable. taking over the world is a different issue tho...

it seems that it's just around now that people are beginning to properly deevelop work apps, rather than simply making the operating system better. people are coming along and not wanting to know how the os is doing whatever, but just want to make, e.g. a finance program, which is totally irrelevant of the fact that it's on linux... the amount of fairly irreverent apps is increasing loads... there's some chemical molecule builder that keeps cropping up on gnome.org... ppl beginning to actually USE linux for work... a case of supply and demand really. I doubt that in 5 years there'll be any windows app that doesn't have a GOOD equivalent on linux. and then maybe AbiWord won't crash all the time...

I also use Suntrust for banking. I have no problem logging on to my accounts. They do have a error screen that comes up if you go through their main web site, however i go in by entering the following address. https://internetbanking.suntrust.com
Give that a try and see if you can get in. I'm using Konqueror and have the site bookmarked for easy returns.