A tale of love, acceptance, and devastating loss. **Since this is apparently far too technical an entry for SOME of you, (:P) give the vast depth of my computer knowledge, I understand that perhaps it is over the top on all the star trek jargon with all my futuristic techno-speak, so I just bolded the parts that sum it up the best. Jargon free!**
About a month ago, my 100% legitimately purchased copy of Windows 7 told me it was exactly 100% not genuine via a message in the bottom right hand corner of my desktop.
"O RLY!?"
… YA RLY.
"Well **** you, then."
Uninstalled.
The fault, in all honesty, is my own – upon purchasing my copy of Windows 7 Ultimate at a wallet blistering $300+ bucks, I had assumed I would be able to spread the love around a little bit. Specifically, I installed it on my mom's laptop, and then my own. Although I don't live with them, I figured the relationship was close enough to fall under some kind of same-household clause… that apparently doesn't exist, although by all logic, it should. Instead, Microsoft wants me to buy that same software twice, which makes me want to punch it. Or switch to Linux.
So I switched to Linux.
This OS requires quite a bit more know-how than the standard computer user probably has right off the bat. It can be intimidating, it certainly was for me. My days of tinkering with software and hardware are way behind me, and in the interim 10-12 years, I've regressed into technological (du)numbness. I'm not used to things not "just working" as soon as I plug them in. However, this was only at first glance – I find Linux to be every bit as usable as Windows ever was, in fact, once you get settled in – it beats the crap out of Windows. It's far more aesthetically pleasing, and I've never had so much control over my system before. Installing and removing things are a breeze, it handles media and internet just as well as Windows, in fact, I'd argue that t does it better – but I couldn't really prove it and would just be saying it because I'm sick of Microsoft and felt like saying it.
However Linux has one MAJOR drawback – no gaming support. There are some (rather unimpressive) OpenGL games that can run natively in Linux, and there are three or four ways to get Windows (DirectX) games to work as well – but they're all ridiculously complicated for a user like me. The closest I got was running Windows XP in virtual box… I got Spore installed – but you can't virtualize hardware, and I couldn't enable my video card within the virtual box to save my life, so I burned one of my SecuROM installs on nothing, basically. :roll:
My time with Linux is nearing its end; I don't want it to – I like it MUCH more than Windows. It's smaller, cleaner, and far more versatile… but, as much as I'd like to stay forever, my inner gamer has needs that must be sated. This means that having gifted my copy of 7 out, I must deliver my laptop once again into the hands of Vista, Microsoft's basement dwelling offspring, and since I can't find the software that came with my laptop, I have to install XP first, and then upgrade to Vista Ultimate. I know I could try to create a dual boot for gaming purposes, but ultimately it would just be a hassle to me. I'm not the type of person that would switch back and forth. I like things to be uniform, neat and tidy. If Linux ever makes it to the big time, believe me, I'll be all over it – but it seems for now,I am to remain enslaved by the power of DirectX.... I wonder if this is how Al Pacino felt when he did Godfather III, what with the getting out and getting dragged back in....
....and then discovering the script is balls.