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I've been using Ubuntu for about 7 or 8 years now, but lately I've been having so many usability issues that I've thought of starting over on something else; and some software that I can't get running under WINE (usually, I almost never run WINE software anymore anyway, but new hobbies and whatnot) is making me think about Windows.
But here's the thing: other than occasionally helping friends with their computer issues, I've had pretty much no contact with Windows since well before Vista. I don't know what's changed, I don't know what programs I should be running (esp. AV and whatnot), I don't know the differences between the versions (Windows 8 looked annoying at first, and more interesting the more I see it), and generally where to get started. Luckily I have a healthy supply of external HDDs, so I don't need to worry about losing my stuff. Looking at the bottom of my laptop, apparently it came with Win7 Home Premium; I don't know what the significant differences between that and a cracked completely and totally legitimate copy of Win8 would be.
One of the big things that bothers me about Ubuntu is the poor support for Asian languages input; which of course matters when there's three of the bastards you need to be able to type in. Kylin seems to be a step in the right direction, but at the same time seems to prioritize the lunar calendar (which nobody under 40 gives a damn about anyway) over practical matters like input, font/character display, etc. The little work that has been put in seems to be aimed at Pinyin input, which I've only ever used under durress. Which leads to the question, do any of you know how good Windows support for Japanese/Korean/Chinese tends to be? From what I've seen on friend's computers, it looks far more stable and usable, probably because Microsoft actually needs to appeal to those markets to make money.
Basically, am I looking at a more usable experience if I switch back, and what programs are worth installing (both from a system maintainence perspective, and a "hey, this is some cool shit" perspective)? Is it worth finding Win8, or should I stick with the Win7 that came with my PC?
But here's the thing: other than occasionally helping friends with their computer issues, I've had pretty much no contact with Windows since well before Vista. I don't know what's changed, I don't know what programs I should be running (esp. AV and whatnot), I don't know the differences between the versions (Windows 8 looked annoying at first, and more interesting the more I see it), and generally where to get started. Luckily I have a healthy supply of external HDDs, so I don't need to worry about losing my stuff. Looking at the bottom of my laptop, apparently it came with Win7 Home Premium; I don't know what the significant differences between that and a cracked completely and totally legitimate copy of Win8 would be.
One of the big things that bothers me about Ubuntu is the poor support for Asian languages input; which of course matters when there's three of the bastards you need to be able to type in. Kylin seems to be a step in the right direction, but at the same time seems to prioritize the lunar calendar (which nobody under 40 gives a damn about anyway) over practical matters like input, font/character display, etc. The little work that has been put in seems to be aimed at Pinyin input, which I've only ever used under durress. Which leads to the question, do any of you know how good Windows support for Japanese/Korean/Chinese tends to be? From what I've seen on friend's computers, it looks far more stable and usable, probably because Microsoft actually needs to appeal to those markets to make money.
Basically, am I looking at a more usable experience if I switch back, and what programs are worth installing (both from a system maintainence perspective, and a "hey, this is some cool shit" perspective)? Is it worth finding Win8, or should I stick with the Win7 that came with my PC?
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