Sunday, January 23, 2011

How to ruin your Friday

To people who care about their computing experience, there is no question more polarising than "what is a good OS to use?"

For hoi polloi like myself, the issue was always between Mac and Windows (I still think a mac is something you wear when it rains), and I was pretty proud of myself when I used the terms "Android" and "platform" correctly.

In fact, Enfant Terrible has been nagging me to switch to Linux for years because it's "more secure" and you can fiddle with the code and all that. I'm just happy to have a computer that doesn't take 5 minutes to start up (you could do 4x5 reps in that time). It's true that virii don't hit Linux PCs, but there's still one piece of malware even the most Intrepid Ibex* would be unable to foresee.


So, my laptop ran on Ubuntu's Maverick Meerkat until Friday, when when I had to boot (bloody) Windows 7 to access something found only on that partition.

Notice I said "ran"? Eventually, Windows corrupted my MBR** after installing updates I never asked for. I didn't know this at first, of course, I just thought I'd broken my (beautiful beautiful) laptop.

Thank goodness for the internet; 5 minutes of surfing for the answer on another PC brought me an answer, and replaced fear with rage. As it turns out, I'm not the first n00b to have their gear broken by Windows' updates, and it looks like I won't be the last either.

There are 3 solutions (that I know of) to solve the problem when Windows breaks your Ubuntu:

2. Boot with a live CD/USB and reconfigure GRUB through the terminal.
3. Boot whatever Ubuntu distro you have from live USB/CD, re-partition and reinstall your OS/new OS (not forgetting to cross your fingers and toes).

I didn't understand that either. I opted for hidden solution #4: call boyfriend. Said boyfriend will duly arrive in half an hour and carry out solution #3, because it's fastest. 

Now, I can't tell you what OS you should use, because it's subjective and wholly dependent on the user experience. However, I can tell you that Windows 7 is a piece of shit gear that stains everything it touches. 

You'd think if Microsoft can't/won't make something that works well, they could at least come up with something that doesn't break other things it comes in to contact with but nooooo, and you pay a few hundred ringgit for the privilege to boot. 

For the record, I'm now running Lubuntu, which is another Ubuntu variant using LXDE.*** Its key features are speed, light weight and energy-friendly function. The light blue background is refreshing too; Maverick Meerkat is a plodder compared to Lubuntu, and Windows is a lumbering buffoon.

* this is an earlier Linux distro (distribution; see, we all learn something new!)
** master boot record (sounds really wrong if you say it wrong)
*** I don't understand that either

Looking at Cillian Murphy teh Pretteh is a great stress reliever

2 comments:

Snuze said...

This entry ... is all Greek to me.

O_0

Angela Gripesalot said...

all geek, you mean :D