Grandad protests too much!

Further to my previous post, I have been following Grandad's recent IT-related issues.

Not only did his own blog crash (temporarily), but he has been having problems with a new laptop.

That said, my sympathy is limited because, having purchased an HP laptop with Windows as the default operating system, he then tried to install a different operating system (Linux).

Now, Grandad seems to know far more about computers and IT than I ever will (or ever want to), but I wouldn't dream of messing with an off-the-shelf computer.

If I wanted a different operating system I'd purchase a computer with my preferred OS already installed, or I'd order it from an independent specialist and have it built to that particular specification, which is what a friend of mine does.

But I suspect that – despite his grumbles – Grandad rather enjoys the process, in the same way that he enjoys making 'incredibly complicated' items, such as a clock and functioning telescope, from model kits.

My verdict therefore is that he protests too much!

His story also reminds me of the many IT specialists I have employed over the years, some of whom have spent days trying to fix a problem whilst racking up significant bills.

It happens less these days because we no longer use custom-built platforms and software that require the sort of 'expert' help that invariably requires an expensive service fee plus additional costs whenever something goes wrong.

Twenty years ago, however, it wasn't unusual, even for a small operation like Forest, to have websites built with proprietary operating systems that were owned by a third party who were the only people who knew how it worked (or didn't).

Hard to believe now, but in 2003 Forest paid £25,000 for a new website using a proprietary operating system.

On top of that it cost us a further £5,000 for each of the next three years, which was the price of the licence that allowed us to use the software and operating system that had been designed by the company that built the website!

In hindsight we were incredibly naive but at the time we didn't know any better and we were guided by people from the corporate world whose budgets were much bigger than ours.

Since then our websites have been built, maintained, and hosted for a fraction of that price, and they’ve been no worse for it.

I’m not sure what the lesson is other than keep it simple!

PS. If Grandad reads this, perhaps he could explain – to a layman like me – the appeal of the Linux operating system.

It's not the first time I've heard it's better than Windows, but is it also better than the Mac OS and, if so, how?