Killer Tech Tips

Windows 7 theme is very similar to KDE 4.2 anyway…
Someone could say a rip-off. IT seems that times have changed and
MS is now accused of borrowing stuff from Linux.

My first reaction is WHY? when KDE4.2 is so much nicer but then I thought about all the people Ive helped switch over.
The reason why 80% of Windows users that I gave KDE and GNOME prefer KDE is because it looks like something theyve used for the past 15-20 yrs so why not make sure the transition even more smooth?

I know it was a lot easier switching my folks and aunt/uncles because even on Win they were all using FF, OO, Thunderbird, VLC and making the transition smooth is what its all about, especially with older people. I dont think VIsta was around long enough to be ingrained into people’s psyches but after seeing people freak out over the unfamiliar top taskbar and the constant text that comes with it, Ive come to realize that my ease with multitudes of DE’s is not shared by people who just want to Google something, check email or watch some guy get hit in the crotch on Youtube.

I asked something to ASeigo about modding KDE to look like other OS for people who arent tech savvy and he gave me a surprinsingly pragmatic answer about how it would be preferable for the desktop to be something on its own rather than a copy of something else but if that is what it takes to make someone confortable with free software then you are free to do with it what you want, no one can tell you otherwise.

Having used XP packs before (hey, desktop Linux was ugly just a few years ago, XP was a step up!), I can safely say I would never use it for myself either but if I know someone who has had enough of WIndows (trust me, I get plenty of cries of help from virus laden machine owners) and they just cant get used to the KDE4.2 look, then I have no qualms using this pack as well.

I have been looking at linux for years. I have always sought out the windows looking GUI’s, but not for my benefit,

If my mother wants to check ebay, or my brother wants to go on facebook, they need to be able to use an interface that they, see as a ‘standard’. Now i am not saying that anybody has a standard, but at schools and small companies, Windows is it, there is no other option, all the software, working techniques, server systems etc are all based on windows and micro$hit

I have been trying to convince my boss to save money and go with a linux server instead of a windows server, but he knows windows, he dosn’t know much else, so he is sticking with what he knows, this needs to change.

Linux users need to get off their high horses with ‘Why should we change’. Fair Play, Linux shouldn’t have to change, but if people want to see it on every PC in the land, its gotta look and feel like windows, so that the Real End-Users (Joe Public) can use it without even realizing that there is something different.

I actually prefer Gnome over KDE but that’s the beauty of Linux. You get a choice! And you can swich back an forth if you like. And skinning is so much fun. Maybe someone should just release a distro that is based on one of the major distros where the skinning is done as part of the install so n00bs don’t have to get all flustered trying to figure it all out. Perhaps guy lafleur would like to take this on? I suggest basing it on Mint (which is based on Ubuntu) since that is already so very user friendly, however, that is merely a suggestion because there are so many nice distros out there (I’m crazy about Fedora and Mandriva but my latest flirtation with Mint has been a marvelous experience).