My mom is smart, but no computer expert. She’s a teacher, and of course uses Windows. We’re on an international cell phone call. I’ve mentioned Ubuntu to her before - specifically Edubuntu as she is interested in kids and computing. We’re talking about getting Skype set up and she asks me why I don’t use Windows.
If I were Microsoft, I’d be worried. And I drank the Redmond Kool-Aid many years ago when Steve Balmer gave me a free copy of all of Microsoft’s business-related software in order to help my fledgling book publishing company. In return, I helpd convert 2 companies into Microsoft shops. I still love Microsoft, but with an almost or actual depression staring the world in the eyes, I’m not sure I can afford their stuff any longer.
One of the most powerful aspects of free software is that its entire approach and mindset is orthogonal to proprietary software. It's not just better, it's profoundly different. That's one of the most important reasons that *everything* Microsoft has thrown against free software has not just failed, but failed dismally. The company can fight and win against more or less any conventional rival, since it has spent years honing its attack methods. But the latter are simply inappropriate when trying to compete against projects that are profoundly non-commercial: the community cannot be bought off or out; nor can it be undercut by selling goods at a loss against it. In fact, it is striking that along with undeniable strengths, the increasing commercialisation of open source has also brought with it vulnerabilities - notably legal ones - as some of free software's angularity has been smoothed down to make it more "acceptable" to enterprises.
If you’ve never used KDE on your PC before, it will take some time to load all the way to the desktop on the very first run. I believe it sets up all the menus and shortcuts for all the installed software. If you log off and log back into KDE, all the logins (and the splash screen) will load a lot faster...
