Ubuntu to kill desktops....

[Kuron]

Not even 'often', all the PCs I've reinstalled Windows 7 on with different hardware have never had a problem with the provided drivers. The only thing they lacked were minor functionality or settings but basically worked.

If the drivers lack functionality, then you are indeed having problems with the provided drivers.

Microsoft is a software company, they are not a hardware company. If you want your hardware to work properly, it is best to use the drivers that are provided by the people who actually made the hardware. Unfortunately, with legacy hardware, manufacturers often will not support newer versions of Windows and will rely on Microsoft to provide "compatible" drivers. Newer hardware is even worse because it was released after the current version of Windows so Windows will default to "generic" drivers when installing Windows.

The biggest issue driver-wise has to be the graphics drivers that ship with Windows. The lack of proper OpenGL support causes problems for people who do not realize that their computer is not working properly because the graphics drivers provided with Windows do not properly support their graphics hardware.

Drivers in no way screws up a Windows install,

Shoddy drivers are one of the leading causes of BSODs in Windows.

I think you're just sensationalizing it

No sensationalizing, just dealing with facts and leaving personal opinions out of it.

From your experience of windows and it 'needing to install drivers for every piece of hardware' I'm thinking maybe you haven't installed windows in quite some time, as it's never been that way for quite a while.

It has been a week since I have had to install Windows 7 on a machine. Greater than 50 Windows 7 installs just in 2012.

I guess the one redeeming factor of Windows is nothing ever really changes. Same crap, different day. Each new version merely buries the crap under new abstraction layers.

'Software Center' which is basically a dumbed down version of the synaptic manager & makes installs for common software as simple if not simpler than installing stuff on Windows. - I also find this software centre thing reminds me quite a bit of the Android app market.

Although I don't like some of the changes Ubuntu have made, they have really revolutionized several aspects of Linux. They have also made Ubuntu one of the most newbie-friendly distros out there, unfortunately, in doing so they have chased away many non-newbies.

[moogle]

If the drivers lack functionality, then you are indeed having problems with the provided drivers.

Well not really, example is sound drivers. Windows ones work and the sound card produces sound, with all inputs and outputs working fine. The 'proprietary' settings like bass, crystal, clarity and other things such as that are just little extras that aren't needed for core functionality.

Wireless cards, Windows Vista and upwards installs that Broadcom generic driver usually. It works and allows you to connect to wireless networks. You might not be able to change the detailed settings available on updated drivers but it works without needing those settings.

Microsoft is a software company, they are not a hardware company. If you want your hardware to work properly, it is best to use the drivers that are provided by the people who actually made the hardware. Unfortunately, with legacy hardware, manufacturers often will not support newer versions of Windows and will rely on Microsoft to provide "compatible" drivers. Newer hardware is even worse because it was released after the current version of Windows so Windows will default to "generic" drivers when installing Windows.

The biggest issue driver-wise has to be the graphics drivers that ship with Windows. The lack of proper OpenGL support causes problems for people who do not realize that their computer is not working properly because the graphics drivers provided with Windows do not properly support their graphics hardware.

I find newer hardware to be hassle free, just install their latest drivers and it's done. Graphics drivers I usually download and install myself (Hop on to Geforce.com and get the drivers) but Windows Update also downloads it too.

Don't see these as problems at all.

Shoddy drivers are one of the leading causes of BSODs in Windows.

Shoddy drivers do not 'screw up' (in your words) a Windows install. Maybe a driver installer program overwrites key registry settings which requires you to reinstall Windows but installing drivers via Windows directly will not screw it up. A BSOD is not a screw up, you can easily remove the drivers if it is a problem by booting in safe mode.

No sensationalizing, just dealing with facts and leaving personal opinions out of it.

Well it seems like it to me if you look at the above. Unless by 'screw up' you mean screws up Windows but not the install. Maybe I'm not understanding you properly.

[Kuron]

I find newer hardware to be hassle free, just install their latest drivers and it's done. Graphics drivers I usually download and install myself (Hop on to Geforce.com and get the drivers) but Windows Update also downloads it too.

So, you do agree with me? If you are going to the manufacturer's site to download your drivers, you are not using and relying on the drivers that ship with Windows for these devices.

A BSOD is not a screw up, you can easily remove the drivers if it is a problem by booting in safe mode.

It is sad that people have become conditioned to accept a BSOD as "normal".

Unless by 'screw up' you mean screws up Windows but not the install. Maybe I'm not understanding you properly.

I am not referring to the install process. I am referring to the Windows Install, ie. the fresh version of Windows you just installed on your system. Some will use the phrase "new install" instead of "Windows Install". Common expression for us old-farts.

[moogle]

So, you do agree with me? If you are going to the manufacturer's site to download your drivers, you are not using and relying on the drivers that ship with Windows for these devices.

Does Ubuntu/Linux come with the manufacturers drivers (or drivers that make it fully working) preinstalled? If they do and no further driver updates/downloads are needed then yes I agree with you, that Linux is easier than Windows in respect to drivers.

I'm pretty sure though that you also need to download updated drivers on Linux too, though.

It is sad that people have become conditioned to accept a BSOD as "normal".

Well no I don't accept it as normal. All I mean is that it doesn't equal a screw up of a windows install, as the driver installation is reversible.

A screw up is where whatever was done was irreversible or has caused significant core OS file damage that you need to do a fresh reinstall.


And I'd put driver BSOD's down to the driver developers themselves, unless it's a driver in Windows

[Kuron]

Does Ubuntu/Linux come with the manufacturers drivers (or drivers that make it fully working) preinstalled? If they do and no further driver updates/downloads are needed then yes I agree with you, that Linux is easier than Windows in respect to drivers.

Manufacturer drivers are often lacking no matter what Linux distro you are using. Ubuntu does a good job of shipping with drivers so you don't have to track down drivers on your own. I have never had any issues except for specialty music hardware (which has also been unsupported on Windows since XP).

Although I have never had issues with the graphics cards/chips in my systems (I have NVIDIA/ATI/Intel systems) or systems I am setting up for others, it is not uncommon for OpenGL to be problematic on a Linux install until you can track down the proper drivers.