h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Let's be realistic about productivity. If I compare the difference in time it takes to complete a file conversion or similar task on RiscOS to all of the accumulated time that I've sat and waited, with uncertainty, for Windows to respond to a mouse-click, I have no doubt about which OS provides the better user experience and aids productivity. It's very disruptive to the thought process, not to mention frustrating, to have to wait for almost every response to a request to open a file or an application with no certainty as to whether the OS has actually noticed your action. I've used supposedly fast PC workstations that still exhibited the same poor level of user service on an ongoing basis. MacOS X is much better at responding but it still does have that 'corporate' feel, i.e. it's a Helpful American Operating System, if that makes sense. The only OS that provides a consistently good user experience is RiscOS. I often use a 1995 vintage RiscPC to do engineering drawings and it is still vastly superior to work on than any Windows machine I have tried. A lot of the supposed superiority of the PC is based on the speed of the hardware. With a system that is responsive to the user, it isn't a problem if a task takes a bit longer to complete. The majority of commercial users don't use software that is heavily processor intensive - or at least it doesn't need to be. There is, obviously, a limit to the time a task can take but that starts to get into the realms of software efficiency, which is one of the strengths of RiscOS. I challenge you to show me a PC from 1995 that can still manage to 'keep up' today. If people weren't caught up in MS hype they might start to look for something a bit more fit for their purpose. RiscOS is still alive and in development. It can take you away from the instability of Windows and I mean that from the point of view of continual 'improvements' (updates and service packs) and the lack of backward compatibility with previous file structures. I won't even go into susceptibility to viruses...