I see it in ads these days, it's so easy, in one hour, we can show you how to build your own PC.

I'm sure they are not lying.  Still, taking all the professional jargon and understanding that goes with putting a formidable system together and acting like it's easily understood in 1 hour is hogwash.

This thought is based on one premise "IF I LIMIT FREEDOM TO MY CHOICES, I CAN HELP YOU DO THIS."

Sure, you can.  Now where's the tech support?  What if these folks need some hardware troubleshooting due to failure in the future?  Are you going to be there then?  And what about software?  Oh, no, I said it.  How do we get everyone to use the programs we want, so their PC doesn't explode (literally, of course)?

My case, in point, if you don't know a PCI bus from an EIDE connector, nor a AGP from a VESA video connector (Yeah, that's old and new), how are you supposed to know whether or not you can use a SATA drive or an IDE?  What type of wiring do you need?  Is the power supply compatible to it, and just what case can I use?

Now that I have the case, I have this 1 (or these 8) connectors to make all the buttons work.  How do they connect to the motherboard?

So, yes, I can put all the components in nice little piles, you can come along, and with ample prodding, bolt the components together in just under an hour.  Not "exactly" like you building your own PC, is it?

What got me going on this today wa the fact that now you have your bright, beautiful new PC, it will need an Operating System.  That's like the brain's memory.  The map that is in our mind that allows our bodies to think, in a logical sequence, to get through life.  All those gizmos and wires need to work coherently together for us to have a great computing experience.

In the not too distant past, as many manufacturers will tell you, the best way to get Windows' PCs to actually load the hardware correctly was to add the hardware, a few initial pieces, install Windows, then start adding components to fill out the system.  Many reboots later, we had a system.  At times in my life, for a full fledged system, these reboots and software package load out took about 3 hours.

As Windows matured, eventually it got better (and so did manufacturers and standards) and now i am fairly certain most Windows PCs can go together, and then install Windows all at once.  Then you still need all the software, and none of us ever "reboot now" due to a software package install, do we?   Still, this "process" is not foolproof.  Ever look at your system device manager, and see those cute little yellow circles with the red exclamation point.  Bad or no driver load.  That's something not working right.  Some folks go through life and never realize somethings actually not working on their PC until they need it at a later point.

That's probably my biggest praise for Linux.  The Live CD allows you to get a really good idea on the front end just how compatible your system is to Linux.  You get to see it all work, just by waiting a few minutes for a CD to kick start.  Once bitten, you can install.  It takes a "normal" desktop about 20 minutes to fully install a working, ready to roll desktop.  And "normally", everything works.  Complete, finis, no redo later.  Just works.  I install whatever software I want, whenever I want.  No reboot, unless I want to reboot.  That's a huge difference from my past experiences with Windows.  Hence, my change to Linux.

Despite the huge hype (and I will say highly deserved due to changes in MS operating philosophy) Windows 7 likely has the same issue all Windows computers suffer from.  After you have it a year or so, and only can distantly remember that fast PC you got about a year ago, you can always refresh that speed.  Just reinstall Windows, throwing out all those great software packages you no longer (or still do) use.  Once you rewrite the main data table (aka registry), you will again see all that speed magically return.   And that's BEFORE we talk malware and viruses...

So, as I had read so many times before, if you took the time to build your own PC, once complete, grab yourself some freedom, load up your favorite distribution, sit back, and enjoy.

Surf Safe

ezsurfer