[CLUE-Tech] (In)Stability of X?

[Michael J. Hammel]

Thus spoke Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier
> I wonder if there would be a way to do a fair benchmark for both
> Windows 2000/XP and Linux with XFree 4.1.x to see which one
> measures up better in terms of stability?

Benchmarking is a black art, and one that should be viewed with a grain of
salt by end users.  There is unlikely to be a canned test that measures well
the performance of one system vs another for all classes of users. 

Windows XP is moderately stable but it seems sluggish to me when running
Photoshop and any other application at the same time.  Ditto with
Illustrator.  This could be Adobe's fault and not XP's.  But large apps on my
Linux box (slower CPU, same amount of memory and same disk speeds) are fairly
snappy when running at the same time.  My wife is happy with XP.  I'm happy
on Linux.  

Neither box is likely to die daily like the old Windows days.  I've yet to
see a complete OS reboot ("blue screen") on XP, though my wife turns her box
off each day.  I leave Linux up all the time to run server tasks (one Linux
box gateways our home network to the world).  

In other words, both are moderately stable, certainly enough to say "skip
stability issues" - look at what those systems provide you as a user to make
your choice.  If you're tied to certain applications on Windows, you may want
to stick with XP.  If you're open to changing and are willing and able to
take time to learn a new a system, try Linux.   

At the current levels of production stability, you now have a choice.
-- 
Michael J. Hammel           |
The Graphics Muse           |    I'm just working here till a good fast-food
mjhammel at graphics-muse.org  |    job opens up.
http://www.graphics-muse.com