[Oblisk]

http://www.wkowtv.com/Global/story.asp?S=9667184

MCFARLAND (WKOW) -- Abbie Schubert paid more than $1,100 for a Dell laptop hoping to enroll in online classes at MATC.

But something stopped her: Ubuntu.

That's an operating system for your computer similar to Windows that runs off the Linux system.

Schubert says she ordered her laptop online at Dell.com expecting to buy your classic bread-and-butter computer.

She didn't realize until the next morning her laptop defaulted to the Ubuntu operating system.

"It's been a mess," she said. "I regret ordering the computer."

Schubert says she never heard of Ubuntu before learning that's when she accidentally bought. She called Dell the very next day and says the representative told her there was still time to change back to Windows.

But she says Dell discouraged her.

"The person I was talking to said Ubuntu was great, college students loved it, it was compatible with everything I needed," said Schubert.

So she stuck with it.

Later, she discovered Ubuntu might look like Windows, but it doesn't always act like it.

Her Verizon High-Speed Internet CD won't load, so she can't access the internet. She also can't install Microsoft Word, which she says is a requirement for MATC's online classes.

As a result, with no internet and no Microsoft Word, Schubert dropped out of MATC's fall and spring semesters.

She also says Dell claimed it was now too late to get Windows and any changes she made herself would void her warranty.

"I'm extremely frustrated," said Schubert. "I wanted to get back to school, but I needed a computer to be able to do that."

27 News contacted Dell, but the company has not responded to us yet.

However, we think we've helped her get back to school.

Verizon says it will dispatch a technician to try to assist her accessing the internet without using the Windows-only installation disk.

MATC also says it promises to accept any of Schubert's papers or class documents using whatever software she has installed.

[Noelnada]

"I wanted to get back to school, but I needed a computer to be able to do that."

So she stuck with it.

All this show the extreme isolation of desperate individuals in our morally bankrupted society.

[Thunderhawk]

She also can't install Microsoft Word, which she says is a requirement for MATC's online classes.

That annoying version of MS Word that no other program can properly open, or every other version?
I just cannot see a school/class/prof being so uptight that he would not accept assignments because they were not done in MS Word.

I suspect its a tad hypocritical of me to say it, but its not computers (modern age, technology, etc..) that is holding her back from school - its herself.

[Oblisk]

That annoying version of MS Word that no other program can properly open, or every other version?

I'm sure Openoffice can handle MS Office files.

[canadiancapitalist]

Go ahead, mock her. It feels good doesn't it. You're all so technologically superior. She's just a dumb girl. Don't take home anything meaningful from this, like the fact that Windows really is vastly superior for the home user and that's why it dominates the market, and that maybe Microsoft isn't a big evil corporation bent on world domination, and that maybe people like this need an operating system as intuitive as Windows. Just feel safe and numb like a big man as you insult her intelligence. She's different! She's not like us!

[Potemkin]

I'm sure Openoffice can handle MS Office files.

It can. This woman is a loser.

Her Verizon High-Speed Internet CD won't load, so she can't access the internet. She also can't install Microsoft Word, which she says is a requirement for MATC's online classes.

As a result, with no internet and no Microsoft Word, Schubert dropped out of MATC's fall and spring semesters.

[Suska]

She's different! She's not like us!

well c'mon, MS works so hard trying to make everyone believe they can use a computer many people don't realize it can be very taxing. The guy at Dell was wrong, but if she can't work out how to operate Ubuntu she'd probably wind up in trouble with Windows too.

[Thunderhawk]

I'm sure Openoffice can handle MS Office files.

What if its the otherway around?
Where she has to submit MS word files online?

Go ahead, mock her. It feels good doesn't it. You're all so technologically superior.

No, she just is dumb.
From what the article has, it seems there is no price difference between windows installed and Ubuntu installed versions. She should have gotten the windows, and then downloaded Ubuntu.

[Douglas]

What if its the otherway around?
Where she has to submit MS word files online?

Then open office is capable of that too.

[dwix]

I lol'd.

Go ahead, mock her. It feels good doesn't it. You're all so technologically superior. She's just a dumb girl. Don't take home anything meaningful from this, like the fact that Windows really is vastly superior for the home user and that's why it dominates the market, and that maybe Microsoft isn't a big evil corporation bent on world domination, and that maybe people like this need an operating system as intuitive as Windows. Just feel safe and numb like a big man as you insult her intelligence. She's different! She's not like us!

What do you want me to do? Send her a get well letter? First she picked something she didn't want, then she didn't change it, then she didn't investigate the fact that the OS can do nearly everything she needs. Windows is "intuitive" because it has the largest market share, not because it's functionally superior. I don't think Microsoft is the devil, but this article doesn't spin the way you seem to want it to.

[canadiancapitalist]

Windows has a massive market share because it is what most people want / need. All the wishing of linux geeks in the world won't change that. Your product is inferior nerds, deal with it.

[peter_co]

I can't believe anyone published this as a news story.

[Potemkin]

I can't believe anyone published this as a news story.

This news story is performing a useful public service by exposing the sinister evil of the Communist-inspired Linux operating system, which is undermining the educational opportunities of decent, hard-working Americans.

Abbie Schubert paid more than $1,100 for a Dell laptop hoping to enroll in online classes at MATC.

But something stopped her: Ubuntu.

Damn you, Ubuntu! Damn you to Hell!!

[Adrien]

Was it on PoFo that a letter sent by a foam-at-the-mouth-angry teacher to some Linux big shot about how his product was evil, how he enrolled her students to traffic software by exchanging and giving away CDs and stuff after the guy's own son did it? Maybe I saw that in the news.

But it was plain hilarious, though scarry, in a way. Especially with the guy's response.

[Andres]

Adrien, it was satire.

[dwix]

Windows has a massive market share because it is what most people want / need. All the wishing of linux geeks in the world won't change that. Your product is inferior nerds, deal with it.

If you gave people the choice, I think a chunk might prefer a linux distro. Most simply don't understand what that means. It's a lack of communication. Yes, Windows has very effective software and is an industrial pioneering powerhouse. That doesn't make it better, just more widely available. Head to head, some linux distros are just as if not more effective than their corporate counterparts.

[Adrien]

Adrien, it was satire.

Oh.



But it could be so true. Some people are so into the 'norm' that I can see them getting all scared by that.

[Thunderhawk]

What if its the otherway around?
Where she has to submit MS word files online?

Then open office is capable of that too.

I have difficulty understanding the creation of that annoying version. That another program could open it properly makes sense to me, but that another program would output in that verison.. shudders.. strikes me as something that is inherently wrong.

[Potemkin]

Three million hit by Windows worm

A worm that spreads through low security networks, memory sticks, and PCs without the latest security updates is posing a growing threat to users.

The malicious program, known as Conficker, Downadup, or Kido was first discovered in October 2008.

Although Microsoft released a patch, it has gone on to infect 3.5m machines.

BBC link

Would she really have been better off with Windows? Would she, Oblisk? Would she?

[Tigerlily]

I did not know Dell sold laptops with Linux. Cool.

But when she ordered her laptop, it would have said what OS was the default in the product description. Would it not? And why couldn't she go to a local computer shop--or get a computer geeky friend---to help her get rid of the Ubuntu and get a hax0rz copy of Windows?