I sometimes wonder how my parents would react when their home computer won’t start up any more.
They bought their Medion PC for about 6 years ago in Aldi. A good investment, because the machine by that time was very modern and fresh, and surprisingly it still is today. I believe you could still sell it today for a bunch of money.

But can you imagine it still contains a partition of Windows 98 ? Like we would ever use that again after switching to XP ? But ok, this shouldn’t cause any problems, despite the limited space.

What I am concerned of is that XP hasn’t been re-installed since the first day. Actually, a good OS never has to be re-installed at all. But Windows does. Once a year. Or you must be a very patient person.

In the last 6 years, I scanned about a dozen of viruses, and hundreds of spyware. Switching on Windows brings up a black screen for about 20 seconds in the middle of the start-up process. Surfing with IE, Firefox and Opera activates random popups with ads. Adaware nor Spybot nor Symantec aren’t able to delete this trojan. Two Windows-logins are used to do the same sort of jobs : one for my mother and one for my father. Reducing to one account isn’t possible because some programs preferences are physically nested in these accounts. Same problem with the partitions : There is a Program Files folder on C: and on D:

I asked several times to reinstall Windows, but I’m not aloud because my parents are afraid to perform the complicated installation of their VNC programs again.

Secretly I hope that one day Windows won’t start-up any more at all. Then I could do a proper installation of Windows, with multiple partitions and just one user account. (Without Windows 98 of course )

Or should i switch to another OS ? May be Ubuntu ? …Or Vista ?
If you read the following article, you will believe that the first option would actually be more convenient than heading for Vista !
http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/index.php/2006/09/13/vista_vs_ubuntu

6 months ago, I did the test myself. I inserted a Ubuntu Live CD in our home computer, and called my sister to check her mail, browse the internet and chat with Gaim. I told her that I only changed the interface of Windows.
Surprisingly she was able to do all the jobs ! She only felt a bit inconvenient with the industrial environment and limited functionality of Gaim.

Finally, a tip for all computer leeks who read this post : Download the free Ubuntu Live CD, burn the image to a CD-rom and put it somewhere on your desk. When Windows crashes, insert the CD, follow some configuration steps and go ahead to browse the internet or check your webmail ! You will also be able to browse through your Windows-partition within Ubuntu. No need to backup your stuff !

(Of course, you can also switch to Mac… if you can effort it)