This is just a rant (hopefully it will be regarded as pertinent and non-'laming') on why Windows users try Linux and return frustrated to Windows after several hours or days. I won't praise Linux and the way it works, I won't even compare and say 'here Linux is easier because ...', instead I have a few questions for all of you who blame Linux for not being and behaving like Windows.

One interesting remark I read in some comments is that Linux distribution are not successful because they don't look enough like Windows. Apparently if someone completely copied the interface of Windows and slapped that on top of Linux, Windows users would migrate in droves and Microsoft would be bankrupt. Well, not really. Let me explain.

If you read my last post, you know that - temporarily - I'm hosting Windows XP on one of the four computers plugged in here at the igloo, due to a donated computer. This post marks the 72 hour mark since I once again saw the Windows splash screen on a monitor in my home for the first time in seven years.

Coming at the time of an economy in recession it looks like Microsoft might actually be scared that customers might not spend money on a Windows upgrade. There's no way to go back in time and prevent the damage to Microsoft's credibility done by the Windows Vista release, we'll just have to wait and see what the future actually holds for Windows 7.

One of the perennial debates about the GNU/Linux desktop is how much it should resemble Windows. Usually, the debate is framed in terms of whether the desktop should look familiar to new users, or be developed in whatever way seems most logical.

For those Windows users who have discovered what Linux has to offer, but for one reason or another are not ready to completely abandon Windows, dual-booting between the two operating systems is one method of keeping a foot in both worlds. And to help those users, this article presents a step-by-step guide on how to dual-boot Windows 7 and Ubuntu 11.04 on a computer with one hard disk.

It is hardly a fluke that Ubuntu really began to attract former Windows users roughly around the same time as Windows Vista came out. Despite the number of Windows migrants who eventually floated back to Windows XP, the fact is that projects like Wubi make it really easy to slide into a Linux mindset.

Windows XP, oh how we hate to see you go. For many Windows users, this release provided an alternative to the endless frustrations seen with Windows 98 and Windows Me. Built with Windows 2000 Pro stability in mind, XP has won over more than just a few fans.

For Windows Users: Apart the rhetoric that Linux is not Windows, how can one gradually get used to this different way of conceiving an operating system? Ubuntu has many killer applications Windows users can benefit from.