"3) Use a full suite of default utilities and software
"When you use Vista, you get an operating system and a few
utilities like a defragger and a backup tool, and audio-visual
players, and a time-limited version of MS Office. Your computer
manufacturer may add several other utilities, usually games or
setup and configuration tools. To add more would look like
Microsoft was competing with business partners, which is why it
backed off adding to Vista as simple a tool as a PDF writer.
"When you use GNU/Linux, the operating system is only a small
part of what you install -- perhaps a third or a quarter of the
space that the installation takes on your hard drive. The rest of
the space is taken up by other software -- although not defraggers
or anti-virus software because, generally speaking, GNU/Linux has
no need for them. This software includes programs like
OpenOffice.org, the free alternative to MS Office, the desktop
publisher Scribus, and the graphic editor The GIMP, all of which
are included at no extra cost and can mostly hold their own against
equivalent proprietary programs.
"As a bonus, GNU/Linux installs all these things in less than
half the space needed for Vista: a Vista install of over 20
gigabytes is common, while a 10 gigabyte GNU/Linux install includes
every imaginable category of software, and often several programs
for the same function."
