I had to install a windows on my laptop to do some windows related work. I chose to install XP ,Win 7 is to large to consider it . I must confess that i hate windows interface, i have a disability and i need to use large fonts and zoom tools. The problem in windows is that the zoom tool sucks in comparison with the zoom effect in compiz or kwin(in Linux) and is impossible to make all the windows app to use same fonts e.g. Skype or Yahoo Messenger , i can’t really use large fonts, YM uses some html stuff so the settings in appearance have no effect on it, the only option is to use a small resolution like 800×600 that makes all controls large and windows not fitting the screen.
About the installation, i chose to install on the second partition,all was OK until restarting when i received a message like "Invalid partition table", and i was thinking "the stupid windows destroyed my partition table", i booted from a live CD, confirmed that the partitions are OK , recovered my GRUB from the first partition(GRUB is the Linux boot loader) and i added the windows to the Linux boot loader entry. After restart i chose to use windows from GRUB menu and i continued to install it.
After installation comes the hard part , install everything else. First i disabled the system restore then i installed my drivers from the CD,. After installing the drivers using the CD wizard and restarting i noticed that no driver was installed, i clean up the CD and CD-ROM unit ,reinstalled the driver and finally all was OK. The stupid driver wizard skipped installing the drivers because it had problems reading the CD but failed to tell me about the problems.
After the drivers i installed FireFox and Opera , Skype and Yahoo messenger, and hunted for a nice theme(still searching) i get bored of the classic XP theme. I Searched for a zoom tool but failed and currently i am writing this blog from my KDE/;Linux install, where the fonts are large and smooth.
It remains to do:
install antivirus,antispyware/malware stuff, maybe a firewall, a winrar like program, VLC, pdf reader, Open Office, a better image viewer , a better text editor, find a nice theme but first patch the dlls because you ave to pay money to M$ to change your themes.
I will have to search for new drivers manually, (the ATI driver from CD has some bugs).
For programming i must think if i reinstall some Visual studio 2008 or 2010 express or some trial, maybe i install it when i need it.
How an install works in Linux:
1 you will have no problem with the boot loader
2 you will have driver for all your parts(not all the time, some hardware may be not supported yet) but in my case all works in Linux, card reader,wireless, everything.
3 you do not need to browse the web to install apps ,you use your package manager
4 no antivirus and other stuff to run in background
5 no annoying stuff installed and starting and showing up in tray, like wireless indicators when no wireless is present and i do not use my wireless card, or when you install Yahoo messenger toolbars and other stuff appear in your browser (are installed behind your back)
The desktop does not get filed with icons, in Linux you have a nice structured menu ,using categories .
and more, maybe i will rite later about using windows pains.