New computer, easier with Linux

[Sy Ali]

I just bought my first computer.  In the past, I've always upgraded
part by part.  This time I went out and got a bunch of new parts all
at once.

In years gone by, upgrading was a harrowing experience.  Jumpers on
IDE cards, IRQ conflicts, drivers drivers drivers.. later on, deciding
to "do everything over again" and reinstall windows was a hideous
experience.

Now.. all these computer bits are way better designed.  The case I
bought didn't cut me once, had all the right connections in all the
right places.. all the pieces fit together snugly..  the processor
wasn't hell to get in place (Does anyone else remember using a fork to
get a 386/486 processor unseated?)  Even the heatsink was a trivial
thing to get in place.  These new fangled heatsinks and fans used to
be so horrible to get installed..

Slap in a Linux liveboot cd.. everything is detected automatically. 
No more manually reinstalling drivers for me, thanks.  I decided to
reinstall my setup (because I suspected some issues and didn't want to
bother playing)  10 minutes later it's installed.  2 minutes of
tweaking to get a couple of apps installed from source, a couple
minutes more to get some other packages installed.  And that's it.  My
old user data is all nice and snug in place.. no more reconfiguring
things.


This upgrade experience is head and shoulders above anything else I've
ever dreamed of.  Yay!


Btw, the Antec Lifestyle Overture II is not nearly as quiet as it is
touted to be.. all the holes in all the right places for venting
heat.. and sound.  =/  The Sonata Piano Black Mid-Tower is quite a bit
quieter imo.
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