Mandrake disappointment 1783

Exactly. I have even gone so far as to take specific screen images of the type things I have seen people struggle with. Some of my examples include the inconsistent save and print dialogs, folder creation, and windowing oddities in XP. Few of my OS X users have problems with these things - because they are more consistent (though many new users struggle with the different views of directory structures).

It is not that the users - or most of them anyway - never get past these XP weaknesses. They generally do. But in so doing they learn that computers are filled with arbitrary controls - and this makes it harder to trust the computer in general. I do not pretend that such interface weaknesses will ruin someone's experience or make a computer impossible to use, but I have no doubt that a better designed and more consistent GUI makes a huge difference for new and non-technical users.

And I have specified the specifics that most of these users are likely to want to do: email, web surfing, word processing (with MS Word compatibility, at least), and perhaps a bit of financial work, and the ability to work with images (cameras & scanners), music, and, perhaps, some simple movie work. There are, of course, other needs some may have, but that covers the majority.

I have even commented on some of these special needs and pointed out where OS X does not serve them well - such as those that want good quilting software. I do not believe I have asked about quilting software for Linux - anyone know? With a quick search I did not find much. Seems the gold standard there is Electric Quilt for Windows.

Exactly.

And I do not deny that I respond to trolling posts enough where it can be annoying.

When I get unsolicited sales calls at home, if I have the time, I do not just hang up on the salesperson. I talk to them for a while and make no bones about messing with them a bit. I enjoy it. Some deal with it well, some do not. I treat those that troll me much the same - I play with their trolling... this generally does not please them. :)

I did also initiate some posts in both groups... I know OS X and Macs very well, and do much advocacy in CSMA (in between the silly wars). There are those that use OS X who may very well benefit from my experiences with Linux. Heck, even for those that do not like me in CSMA, they may be able to say if I can use Linux so can they. :)

It comes from when I was living in Las Vegas ... and stood for Southern Nevada Insbreastute of Technology. I went to college and used that, so I was