As I go through the daily grind on my trusty Thinkpad, I once in a while notice quirks in Linux Mint / Ubuntu that makes me miss certain small but important conveniences from Windows Vista. I’ve been taking notes, and here’s my list.

Recently I’ve noticed an increases in the number of people I know who are migrating from Windows to GNU/Linux. Either my tireless advocacy is grinding them down, word is starting to spread. Perhaps they’ve actually seen Vista in action and decided to jump ship now. Either way there are some things they are going to miss when they make the leap.

I do 95% of everything in Debian Gnome, but my school standardized on Windows XP. As a result, there are times when I'm required to use it (e.g. I'm teaching in a classroom that's not mine). There are a few things that I really miss, even when the work is shallow and quick.

There is an old saying that goes "you can't miss what you never had" meaning that for those who have never had something of these things they will have no idea what they are missing out on. The following are the top ten features/programs I find myself grumbling about/missing the most when I am working on the Windows platform:

In as much as I would love not to, I still use Windows very much in my day to day life. However, being someone who also uses Linux, there are 5 things I really miss when I am behind a Windows machine.

The latest buzz surrounding Windows 7 has caused one observer to suggest that it’s about to blast Linux from the desktop. My experiences might be positive but there are still things that I like about Linux that make me reluctant to consider switching back. Here are a few in no particular order...

Today we are going to take a look at installing, and running, both Windows XP and Linux Mint on a Dell Inspiron 6400. Why crusty old XP and not the sparkling new Windows Vista? For the unspectacular reason that it's what I have. You see, I purchased the computer about a year ago and Vista had not shook the world yet.

I have been a Linux user for over 10 years… until now. Recently I purchased a MacBook Pro. In the course of using it, I’ve come across a number of features of Linux and the KDE desktop that I greatly miss.

In my opinion, Linux Mint is one of the top 3 distributions out today for basic desktop usage. It features incredibly useful Mint-specific tools that make it the perfect distro for beginners. All flavors of Linux Mint usually come with a jaw dropping look and feel. I decided to look at both of these while using the recent release of Linux Mint 9 KDE