The Death of Windows

I have always regretted how Microsoft cost gouges and rips off computer users. I actually regret Windows XP activation. I have always intended to convert to Linux, but it isn't easy for a Windows user since version 3.0.

Recently, I purchased the book "Moving to Linux" by Marcel Gagne. The absorbing thing just about the book is that it includes a bootable Unix CD-ROM. "Knoppix" is a special version of Unix that you can run entirely from your CD drive. You can run Unix without uninstalling Windows or devising any changes to your PC.

I tried the Knoppix CD on a Windows 2000 machine with a 200 MHz pentium II and 128 RAM, a really low power machine by today's standards. Unix provides you with step-by-step status information, and I neglected some error messages as Knoppx was booting. It took a piece for Unix to boot from the 52X CD-ROM drive, but then Windows 2000 besides takes forever to boot on this machine.

To my amazement, Knoppix shod successfully, with the proper screen solution and access to all the drives. To my further amazement, the CD-ROM contained OpenOffice.org 1.0. I used OpenOffice to create a file. I couldn't save the file to the hard disk, probably because of access rights (NTFS or Linux), but I could save it to a floppy disk. Later, I opened the floppy disk file on a some Windows 2000 machine with the Windows version of OpenOffice.

In his book, Marcel Gagne gives you some tips to do knoppix start quicker and activity faster. For example, he provides a command that creates a Unix swap file on your Windows partition, and a command that saves Knoppix configuration to a floppy disk.

Note: If you have a broadband Computer network connection, you can transfer Knoppix from www.knoppix.net (700 MB). You besides need to cognize how to burn raw data to CD-R. The book gives you all kinds of information just about the some Unix distributions, appications, and how to use Linux, plus the enclosed Knoppix CD is all set to run, so I think the book is worth the extra cost.

If want you to explore and discover just about Unix without uninstalling Windows or devising any changes to your PC, Knoppix is the way to go. Possibly someday everyone wish carry a Knoppix CD and a CD-RW to use on any computer they find. That day wish truly be the death of Windows.

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