keenmaster486 wrote:Already, using Microsoft software is unnecessary.
I've been a Linux lover for years and enjoyed the freedom and simplicity of it. My main machine was a Slackware-based Thinkpad and I used it for browsing, writing, simple gaming (with wine), listening to music and all the great things one can do in his spare time.
Then I started to work for an advertising agency and things changed quickly.
First of all, I have to be able to open up the documents my customers send to me and I cannot do that with LibreOffice. To this day, it is not fully compatible and breaks formatting on some documents. I am aware that MS Office runs on Wine, but it's not reliable and might crash when using certain features. I cannot use half-broken implementations if I use the software to earn my income.
I also need to be able to use Adobe programs and the latest versions of Photoshop and Illustrator do not work on Linux. Using CS6 is not an option. Of course there are great programs like Inkscape and GIMP, but again - I have to be able to open files from other agencies and that is not possible with free software.
Then there's this great program from Microsoft called OneNote. I have yet to find an open source alternative for it. It's THE easiest tool for taking notes on a tablet PC. I can send mail from Outlook with one click to OneNote and then draw on them using my stylus. This greatly improves my workflow because whenever someone sends me a long checklist via mail I can transfer it to OneNote and tick it from top to bottom.
With free software I would probably have to copy the text or make a screenshot of the e-mail, open it up in GIMP and draw on that which is terrible, to say the least.
Don't get me wrong, it's great that we don't have to pay for an operating system and very extensive software anymore. It's amazing that we have so many powerful programs that do not cost a cent. But that doesn't mean it's good enough for everything. There are still many limitations when you force yourself to stick with Linux only - ultimately, Linux doesn't cut it in a corporate environment, because everyone else doesn't use it. At least in my business.
The only alternative to that is Apple with overpriced hardware and an archaic operating system.
It puzzles me that so many people in my business always say that MacOS is the most userfriendly OS ever. The file explorer is terrible and seems like it hasn't been updated for 20 years, your mouse cursor has to travel for miles because of the "great" decision to only use one menu bar for all programs and I cannot even tile my windows automatically. Microsoft can do this since Windows 7 and that came out 9 years ago. 🤣
So after a while, I shifted from Linux to dualboot and then to Windows 10 only on my notebook. I really like the latest build. They've started to include Linux programs, optimized the whole OS for touch and pen support and thus, it becomes more and more userfriendly to me. It's an easy operating system, but it's not holding your hand if you don't want it to and this is exactly what I need. After all, it makes my life easy and that is what a computer is supposed to do.