The Eye

Decided to go ahead with a system update on main machine. Having recently purchased another business machine, and a copy of Windows MCE 2005 to go with it, I decided install Fedora Core 5 on that, and use the MCE software for this machine instead.

Ultimately, I’d like to get rid of Windows altogether. The main issue is quite simply drivers.

I recently changed the laptop over from Windows XP to FC5, and there is a noticeable improvement in speed. Everything I need is still available. There is now good quality open-source software out there for most applications. Outlook is replaced by Open Office, Firefox is always my browser of choice anyway. For image manipulation you can’t go far wrong with the Gimp; Xine is a great media player, Sound Juicer rips CDs, and NVu is a decent web editor. Getting the Wireless NIC to work was rather a challenge, but I got there, and now there’s no looking back.

Next time I look to get a laptop, I’m going to search out an OS free one; after all why pay windows tax? You don’t get that copy of Windows for free you know, it’s built into the price!