Linux Rules, Windoze Drools Too bad I'm stuck using it for all my trading applications and games... but if not doing either of those, I'm on the linux OS instead
not sure if its already been mentioned, but having xp pro on your pc allows you to connect to it from another networked PC via remote desktop, which is (theoretically) just as if you were sitting right at your PC..xp home doesnt have that to my knowledge
You don't need xp for that. PS: http://www.itwire.com.au/content/view/3798/106/ http://www.linuxplanet.com/linuxplanet/reports/6225/1/
xp pro---- two-way processor support that is the main difference vx xp home only single processor support
i have xp pro installed on my main computer which acts as a server. im running xp home on my laptop. the only "advance feature" i use in xp pro is the ability to manage users, direct & network permissions. xp home is more than sufficient for majority of the people. remote desktop... well, there are VNC(free, i use ultravnc), gotomypc... with similiar if not better capabilities. new linux distros like ubunto are really easy to use. but the GUI on linux are poor at best. they are very inconsistent. even with the new, easier to use distros. i'm sticking with windows. i dont know of any good chart apps which will run under linux. IB can run under linux. for reading the specs, bloomberg terminal can run in unix. vmware will run windows instead of linux so will ms virtual server. they're both free now. you should've try instaling redhat 5.1 back in the days. (that's about the time i started to look at linux)
Hmmm. I don't know about that. There are some standard features of KDE that are superior to Windows desktop for a trading workstation: 1. Better control of desktop fonts. 2. Multiple desktops standard. 3. Configurable 'snap to' window behavior. Easier to align windows. 4. Always above/always below window behavior selectable from every window menu. 5. X11 is a fully networked windowing system. KVM switches totally unnecessary. 6. Good multihead support and sensible treatment of maximize - including on thin clients / remote operation. I agree that there are inconsistencies in application GUIs especially between KDE, Gnome, Motif applications. This is the main problem - not the window managers / desktop GUIs themselves.
those are all good features... im not trying to discount that. i'm talking about average users like my grandma, for example, trying to get things done on linux. not geeks like us. you will be surprised that most people like going through wizards which prompt them for input instead of reading through a lists of check boxes to make their selections. inconsitency = longer learning curve having features != easy to use, or better (for most people) there are too many inconsistencies of GUI in programs based on the same GUI toolkit. I have seen OK button on the rightside & Cancel button on the leftside. None of the buttons are "preselected" so i can press enter to acknowledge the dialogbox. I cannot press "escape key" to dismiss the dialogbox or that particular command. just to name a few problems with one program's dialogbox... inconsistent. very poor design(for avg ppl) . poor user experience. note: im typing this reply from a fedora 4 box running KDE.
Well I wouldn't say that either, lilboy. I hooked my dad (73 yrs old and barely computer literate) up with SuSE 10.0 (dualboot w/ Windows) and he loves the KDE desktop window manager. He told me he see's no reason to use Windows any longer. He was also very impressed with OpenOffice and the other apps available. kt