I miss using Linux as my main operating system.
About 5 years ago, I switched from Windows to Linux. At that time, I used computers for different reasons than I do today and Linux was a perfect fit for me. Back in those days I was a normal desktop user (if “normal” can be used in that sense) but I also expanded my areas of use by using a separate computer as a web and email server to host my website.
Things were fine for years, and I made it through many of the growing pains that Linux experienced in recent times. Flash worked, then it didn’t, and now it works fine again. The Broadcom wireless problems I had a few years ago got fixed. Ubuntu was my distro of choice, but 8.04 was the last release that worked for me; every version since then has suffered performance issues related to graphical areas.
Ubuntu isn’t the only distro out there, so somehow I found Arch Linux and switched to that. It was the first rolling-release distro I used and I never had any problems with any nVidia graphics card I used with that distro. Yes, Arch is probably one of the best Linux distros out there in my opinion.
But my use of Linux had to be shelved this year. I started to focus more time and energy on building websites and blog themes, so I’ve steadily relied on certain apps that are native to Windows. I’m specifically referring to Photoshop and Internet Explorer. When most of your computing time is spent on one platform, it just makes sense to use it as your primary operating system.
Now I know some people will say, “Hey, there are alternatives you can use!” but I’ve had quite a bit of experience in that area and I can honestly say that some of those alternatives are just subpar for some things. I know that older versions of Photoshop can run on WINE, but I have the whole CS4 Creative Suite and it doesn’t play nice with WINE.
I got by in the past using GIMP instead of Photoshop, and to this day I still feel that GIMP is awesome and it does everything I’ve ever needed and more. If not for the other Adobe programs I use along with Photoshop this wouldn’t be an issue.
IE is big issue. Every web designer has to deal with browser compatibility issues, so having multiple web browsers installed to view your work is a necessity. I have Firefox, Opera, Chrome, Safari and IE8 installed on my system, and another app that lets me view sites in IE7, IE6 and even IE5 if I wanted to. I can’t do that efficiently with Linux.
Linux has an app for viewing web sites rendered in IE called ies4linux, but I’ve never much cared for it. It mimics IE5, 5.5 or 6 and I would rather have IE6, 7 and 8.
I suppose I could just install Windows in a virtual machine, and I have done that in the past but I still don’t see the point of working in a virtual environment for most of my time when I could just work in a native environment with fewer problems.
If it wasn’t for IE and Photoshop, I would still be using Linux and be happy about it. Even though it’s more of a DIY operating system, once it is setup properly a person will utilize fewer of their system’s resources in a much more secure environment. That is what I miss the most from you Linux.
So am I just missing something here? Could I get everything I need from Linux, including my above mentioned requirements? I would welcome any suggestions.
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I have to say, I’m a lot like you. I’ve been doing my best to use Linux for everything. The two Apps you mentioned are why I still run Windows in a dual boot, and after Windows 7 came out, I spend a significant amount of time in it. Lately, I’ve been trying to stay completely away from Windows, but there are a few reasons I can’t. Photoshop isn’t as big of a deal with me because the little graphic work I do can be accomplished in the Gimp. IE is only a problem when I don’t use a VM. I would like to be able to watch Netflix streaming in Linux. Finally, I have to use 64 bit because of the amount of physical memory on my system, yet adobe discontinued support for 64-bit Linux. When you stop and think about it, Adobe is the primary reason more users aren’t using Linux.
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