I consider my self a semi-geek. I don’t have all the “features” required to be considered a full geek, or be qualified to run for the title of “king of all geeks” if such election ever takes place (much like the Governator couldn’t run for President of the US.)
Don’t get me wrong, however, I like my geek status just the way it is.
I think I am lesser geek mainly because I am predominately a Windows user. I never got into the UNIX/Linux “thing.” I was a DOS wiz and an expert computer user back when you could actually comprehend all computer operation in your head and be experienced in most SW programs available (this was in my early-to-mid teens, maybe back then I was the young-vice-geek-king?) Windows came along for the PC, and I stuck with it, never having access to mainframes or non-DOS/Win machines.
When I got to college I started using UNIX and was a bit overwhelmed by the learning curve; I liked the point-and-click window style (yes, some of you shrug right now.) Currently, I am a fairly unsophisticated user of Unix/Linux and I don’t even try to change my shell or environment for fancy trickery. I really have no desire to impress anyone with these skills and therefore feel no need to learn them. An OS is means to an end, not an end by itself, and I treat it like that. If I can complete tasks easier/quicker with Windows, I couldn’t care less. The important thing is to get things done in a timely manner! (OK, some of you may say that had I taken the time to learn to use vi like a pro, I would have consequently saved time. Fair enough. But I still like TextPad better.)
For the last few years Linux has been freely available and is a prime candidate for migration (along with many other awesome open source products.) A while back, I’ve installed Fedora Core 1 on my desktop and played around with it (especially FreeCiv,) but it didn’t catch; I still felt more comfortable on familiar grounds. I’m not a Microsoft-hugger, but they got to me young.
This is all about to change due to all the “buzz” around Vista. I’m not “lovin’ it.” Stay tuned for part 2.
Maybe you are a secret MACINTOSH geek waiting to blossom.
Macs are a bit more expensive but they are totally sweet.
-M
The Wall Street Journal ran a wonderful expose into the programming styles and management of the Windows product line – it sheds a lot of light on why there is a non-stop stream of bug and security patches. Allchin may be able to change the culture and turn around Vista – but it I doubt many of the promised features will work as advertised.
The comparison was made against Google and Apple. I see Apple as a generation ahead of Windows – security is proving to be the Achilles heel of Microsoft – how long will people suffer spyware and crashes?
WSJ article: (e-mail me if you want a non-subscriber link)
http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB112743680328349448,00-search.html?KEYWORDS=Vista&COLLECTION=wsjie/archive
I think this was a shill article. MS saw it was not doing so well with Vista and it came out with the revealing expose to calm down the geeks that it is going to be nimble and was re-written from scratch, taking all the old problems with it. I don’t buy it (pun intended.)