Nikon UK senior management refuse to answer

[mark_poseley]

<p>PC (personal computer) operating systems are certainly a bone of contention among the user base. I personally use Windows; I have tried OS X, Linux (and other UNIX like OS'), Solaris, CP/M, and maybe one or two others along the way.</p>

<p>I am a Windows guy. It has been just as stable as any other OS I have tried, but far easier to manage in the latest releases. If you feel differently, or if political, philosophical, or even GPL concerns drive you to other ways of working; well then that is just perfect. My view of how things should work requires healthy competition for customers. If you are the best you will have the most adherents (users).</p>

<p>Today, that is Microsoft. Hands down, and there is no way to deny it; Microsoft owns the desktop for some very valid reasons. Apple has a very elegant and stable product. However many years ago they gave up on the business computing world and it still haunts them today. Linux, due to its inability to provide a point and click interface that dumbs thing down enough for Ma and Pa kettle to work efficently (aka Apple) will circle around the periphery until they can find a way to make it user friendly. This fact can not be disputed imho... :-)</p>

<p>And seriously, and this comes from many years of IT and intrusion avoidance experience working with folks who held patents in basic networking technology and some UNIX professionals without peer; If you aren't running some kind of anti - virus, malware, trojan, bomb, etc protection on your OS-X or Linux / Unix machine you are being foolish. There are just as many, if not more, vulnerabilities in the non Microsoft world. It is a false sense of security because these flaws just aren't being widely exploited. And, since the folks who write these types of Trojans are not script kiddies using 'apps' to create malware, the threat can be truly insidious...</p>

[StuartMoxham]

<p>I've never had much luck with the NX software so I gave up years ago with it like many others. I wonder how many download the trial, just give up with it and move on to something else.</p>

[Wouter Willemse]

<p>I really wonder why a rant about Nikon failing to fully support one customer has to lead to a discussion on operating systems.... and the usually semi-religious "my license is better than yours" and "mine is more stable than yours" mumbo jumbo. But it's amusing. And always the same.<br>

Somehow I always wonder how Linux can be so much more stable than my Windows machine, given that my system never crash. And I tried Linux a few times, but it just slowed me down. Call me silly, but I have a PC to get something done. I did not get a PC to admire the architecture of its OS, the license terms of the software I use or to spit through the source code of my web browser.... For me, Windows happens to work best, because it's what I am used to and it's what I know best.<br>

To each his own, though. So, when some flavour of Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, HP-UX or MacOS work better for you, please do use it. Just consider how much you need to convince others that their choice is not the best according to you. And then let's all get our work done the way we like best. So we can go out take photos. Much nicer.</p>

<p>As for CaptureNX2, it sure isn't the most stable software ever and it likes memory. I've had little issues with it, and somewhere 2.2.4 thereabouts fixed a lot of speed issues for me. ViewNX (1 and 2) can be rather temperamental when QuickTime is not properly working, and since QuickTime on PC is also not the most fast and stable ever... it's not a marriage made in heaven.<br>

I also own CaptureOne 5, and like it very well. It's fast, stable and renders good quality. And every time I use it, I just see how I like Capture NX2's output better, and it can simply do more. So, for all its flaws and quirks, to me CNX2 has always been worth the effort. But I am sure not amazed to see many have issues with it.</p>

[zlight_b]

<p>is this a joke or what?</p>

[bruce_brown]

<p>It's what.</p>

[zlight_b]

<p>oh!</p>

[sasvata__shash__chatterjee]

<p>Though the OS discussion here is completely off-topic, I cannot resist.</p>

<p>I agree with the sentiment that Linux being better doesn't matter much, when you can't run the software you want to run on it. I am a big Linux fan, have it running as my central server at home, and I have written and managed commercial software developed on and for Linux. Ironically, my first introduction to Photoshop was on a Sun box around 1996, can't remember now if it was SunOS or Solaris. Even then, I prefer Photoshop and Lightroom on Windows any day over Gimp on Linux. Windows 7 is pretty stable, I have no complaints, other than what we Linux aficionados term "ongoing DLL hell".</p>

<p>However, to Mark's point about Windows being universal is because it is a better product, that has nothing to do with it. That has to do with IBM's decision to license the PC design to OEMs, and Microsoft's business savvy to get IBM to allow them to sell DOS/Windows for IBM-clones, and Microsoft's continued business savvy in OEM deals and ability to crush competitors. None of that has to do with technical reasons. Apple stuck with the decision to stay with proprietary hardware, even now with x86 hardware to make it incredibly difficult to put MacOS on garden-variety PC hardware (Hackintosh, etc.). Windows is pretty much the worst among the PC-OS variants, it sticks around because Windows HW is relatively cheap, there are millions of folks running around with the "skills" to "re-image" the OS when it runs into trouble, not for any technical superiority.</p>

<p>Linux/Unix used to require a lot of cryptic command knowledge to administer, but it has been competitive with reasonable GUIs for a few years. The Mac OS-X GUI is definitely the best Unix GUI out there. I have recently read that the makers of Ubuntu are ditching the Gnome/KDE window managers, and going for a proprietary and commercial solution that will try to make it better, hopefully commercial interests will drive some of the polish that is lacking.</p>

[ShunCheung]

<p>The story continues on the following newer thread: <a href="00YtVE">http://www.photo.net/nikon-camera-forum/00YtVE</a></p>