Desktop Linux (fwd)

Dan Jenkins dan at rastech.com
Fri Feb 20 17:37:26 EST 2004


Benjamin Scott <bscott at ntisys.com> wrote:

>Today, my company doesn't run Linux on any of its client hardware and I
>> understand the main reason is that the learning curve is too steep for
>> Windows users.
>  
>
>
>  This is a surprisingly complicated question.
>
>  First, define "users".  I have found that, for your average "user", the
>learning curve for Windows is too steep for Windows users.  I'm not just
>talking about computer novices, either.  I make my living as a professional
>computer geek, and a lot of that is just knowing all the ins and outs of plain
>old Windows workstation software.
>  
>
Absolutely true. I've been doing this for a living for years.

>  So, since your average "user" doesn't really *know* Windows all that well,
>why do they have to know Linux all that well?  Just about anybody can follow
>the prompts provided by Red Hat, Mandrake, or SuSE during their install, and
>use the GUI tools to configure the basics.
>  
>
Your average user doesn't install Linux - or Windows for that matter. 
The operating system comes pre-installed
on the computer. The average user just turns it on. There is usually no 
configuration to speak of - again, because
the manufacturer did all that before they got the computer.

Ease of installation of Linux is great now. It is also irrelevant for 
95% of the users.

>  Once the system is configured, the differences between Windows and a modern
>Linux distribution are minimal.  You've still got windows (lower case), icons,
>menus, and a mouse pointer.  You've got a web browser, email programs, word
>processor, spreadsheet, and so on.  There really isn't all that much you can
>do differently in such things.  Once you realize that Option 'A' is now under
>menu 'C' instead of menu 'B', your learning curve is over.
>
Also very true. I had a client upgrade his network from Office 97 to 
Office 2000. It was a disaster because
many of the staff needed training to find the menu options they were 
used to. (The fact that Office 2000 by
default hides rarely used menu options ascerbated the problem.) Even 
though it was just in a different place,
half of the people were unable to figure out where to look. They had 
always clicked in one spot. They
didn't understand why they clicked, it was just part of the procedure. 
(We are talking shipping clerks and
factory floor staff. Computers were a minor tool in their jobs.) So, the 
learning curve for OpenOffice would
have been the same as Office 2000 for these folk.

-- 
Dan Jenkins (dan at rastech.com)
Rastech Inc., Bedford, NH, USA --- 1-603-624-7272
*** Technical Support for over a Quarter Century




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