---
title: Is Windows ready for the desktop?
date: 2009-08-28
topics: Windows problems,Linux
---

I’ve been having issues on my Sony VGN TZ190 ever since I installed a certain
operating system on it, shortly after I bought it in 2007(Yes, even I have
computer problems I can’t seem to solve):

- About every seventh time I open a file window, the file browser crashes and
  complains that it was because of my Bluetooth driver, for which no update is
  available from Sony. Now it *is* stupid that Sony has not provided an update,
  but there is no good reason whatsoever why a Bluetooth driver should be
  crashing my file browser.
- When I start my computer, and at least once a day, I get a message that says
  “Sony Vaio Services (sub-module) has stopped working.” I have no idea what
  this is, really, or how it’s affecting me.
- The Fn keys for screen brightness do not work at all. The Fn keys for volume
  control work but do not provide any visual feedback.
- After working for two years both the programs that play DVDs now crash when I
  try to play a DVD.
- Printing to a network printer is essentially broken. If you try, the program
  from which you are printing will hang for a good 5-10 minutes before sending
  the job, and then it will only print half the time.
- Wifi connnects easily to wireless routers, but every once in awhile will not
  allow connections all the way out to the internet. I have to [run a
  command-line program](no-internet-access-over-wifi-infamous.html) to get it
  working again.

Looking at this list, you’d think I was running a Linux distribution from 2005.
**No, these are all problems I’m having with Vista, SP2 no less.**

By contrast, I recently downloaded [Ubuntu Netbook
Remix](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ubuntu_Netbook_Remix) (version 9.04) and
gave it a shot, and guess what? Everything worked flawlessly with no
configuration necessary, including all the Fn keys on my Sony Laptop’s keyboard,
which I would have thought would depend on some vendor-specific drivers. And
it’s *speedy*, even running off of a Sandisk USB flash drive.

I don’t know how long it will take for Linux to be truly ready for the corporate
world. But for private persons, Windows and Linux seem to have changed places
while I was asleep. It’s now Vista that’s the haggle-draggle OS requiring
command-line fixes and plagued with buggy drivers.