Did they really ban Windows.. if many Goverment People are still using it like you say then how can it be banned? Sounds like they are only discouraging Windows rather than forcing a ban. Big assumption to assume it's because they are anti-America?

www.viptravesti.net

Oh no!

A third world country isn't using the Evil American Imperialist's operating system!

Well, at least they'll have more control over what the people can do on their computers. Every totalitarian government loves that control. Anywho, the hardware they'll run their little distro on will probably be American anyway.

America doesn't make hardware besides the cpu, and even that is actually made offshore.

I assume they banned the *sale* of Windows, rather than simply having it on your computer.

In response to communix, doesn't Windows have software that can be used to regulate what people can and can't do, as well? It doesn't seem like they're banning all OSes other than Nova, they're just banning Windows. With that in mind, the people could run any Linux OS that they want (in addition to Rodriguez's comment that makes it seem like it will be open-source; this gives the user control of the OS, rather than the other way around).

...in Malaysia a lot of the time.

They can force the government institutions to switch over as most office software can easily dropped in favour of already available open source alternatives.

The rub might be when it comes to power grid controllers, etc. Some of those are run on Windows 2000 machines in the US and I'm not sure what the different manufacturers are offering. My guess is they're developing lame Windows apps still and Cuba may rely on some of them.

Similar systems may be in place for traffic control, etc.

These could be easily replaced but it may take hiring a local firm to develop some kind of alternative if it doesn't already exist.

It may already exist, however.

america protects cuba i guess cuba is all set to be on its own america now should drop cuba and leave it alone

I use what is available. At work I use Microsoft's Windows XP and at home my laptop runs Ubuntu. Ubuntu covers everything I need it to do and I didn't need to pay the ridiculously outrageous prices for Microsoft Windows Vista.

Intel is an American company as is AMD, so what kind of hardware are they using?

I'm all for the idea of not using windows but it annoys me that linux has failed a number of simple hardware compatibility tests. Where are drivers for commonly used devices like wifi cards and scanners?

If Cuba can produce these I'll be impressed as they seem to have produced other positive innovations I'll keep my eyes on this.

There is always Apple of course.

More power to them. If only more Americans would realize the free software way is not so bad, and there are even tools (like Wine for instance) to aid in the transition so that you don't need to give up all of your favorite proprietary software.

Outrageous price of $150. The horror. The Humanity.

Actually, how was Microsoft even *selling* Windows in Cuba in the first place? The U.S. embargo against Cuba would make that illegal.

jokes on them, linux is still an american company.

linux is not a company... it basically refers to any OS using the linux kernel...and well, the name comes from its original creator, Linus Torvalds, who is a Finnish software engineer.... guess the jokes on you...

LINUX is a clear winner and gets easier too use and more powerfull and Windoze by the SECOND.... I don't really believe that 20% figure you posted is correct either

linux is not a "company" - become educated please

Another worthless and oppotunistic anti-US ideology by Cuba. Oh wow, they are not going to use Microsoft OS because it is from the US. Morons, what about the CPU, memory, the freaking computer where they are going to install the OS? FREE?? Nothing is free since the goverment is going to push this OS down to people's throat. Oh wait, Cuban citizens cannot afford a computer. Forgot about that!

I am Cuban, so don't try!

obviously americans don't have a monopoly on being brainwashed :|

id like to try this OS
maybe the team that made it knew what they were doing

but then again... it is Cuba...

Doesn't "nova" mean "it won't go" in Spanish?

I have to say i lol'd at this. Whatever happened to ones own freedom? Surely it being there computer, they should have the choice to run which OS they wish to run, Correctly licensed of course LOL. Most linux distro's are too much for the common computer illiterate person to handle. Take Ubuntu..your user will probably want to play a few mp3's or go on there MSN or Yahoo or whatever..Simple on Mac or Windows. Its all proprietary. However try playing an mp3 in ubuntu. Nice...you cant, You have to go and hunt for the software/codecs yourself. Im not sure about Nova, but stopping sales of Windows is not the solution. Ive tried various distro's of Linux, and i have a mac..But i always come back to windows. It just MAKES SENSE. It has everything i need & want. And as for the price of vista, get xp! there are still licenses. Besides which isnt that highly racist to not sell software because "It's American". Well in that case, i dont think i should buy any Sony electronics...seeing how most of its "Made In Japan". I have a point there right?

Personally, I think this is awesome. I'm all for freedom of choice, but it sounds to me like they're making people realize what a vicious monopoly Windows supports. Also, if you think about it, an enemy of the US should probably not use an OS that has all kinds of security loopholes for Microsoft to help exploit.

One thing I'm curious about...if they do want to use Windows, why don't they just pirate it? I mean, what is MS going to do about it?

Bay of Pigs II ??

Bay of Pigs II ??

"Private software can have black holes and malicious codes that one doesn't know about. That doesn't happen with free software."
WOW. That guy is pretty stupid if he actually believes that. Just because it's FOSS doesn't mean there are no unknown vulnerabilities. It's easier to fix, generally, but that's mostly still on the developers anyway.
And Cuba can buy PCs from other markets who buy them from the U.S., they would just have international (European, Asian, etc.) versions of Windows on them. AKA, Windows Vista Basic, no strong encryption, etc.
BTW, Windows XP is certified by the U.S. government as a secure OS, as long as it's deployed properly. Of course, most people don't deploy it properly. I use both Linux and Mac OS X, not Windows (anymore), so I'm definitely not advocating it. Just saying.

www.travestitr.com Turkey travesti good very

So what is this article trying to say, Linux is communist friendly?

Linux is free as in Freedom! It doesn't go with Capitalism or Communism. Rather it goes well with Liberty, Equality and Fraternity - the basis of just about any country in the world.

I prefer Windows (specifically XP (x64) and 7 x64). I have only had compatibility issues with Linux and for windows XP there are drivers and in windows 7 literally EVERYTHING (even my 6 year old Medion scanner) works out of the box (or with a driver pulled from Windows Update within 1 Minute).
The best example to date is that I have managed to find a Windows 7 64-bit driver for an Nvidia Card for which neither Nvidia nor the Manufacturer had either a XP or a Vista 64-bit driver available. Its a vast improvement in my opinion.
And to be frank: I play games occasionally and I don't want to reboot everytime. Maybe not the fault of linux but most definitely the major flaw.
Last but not least: Linux has somewhere along the way stopping trying to innovate or improve the actual user-experience (or the developers are doing one heck of a bad job), seemingly on the basis that their OS is superior anyways.