I used to be an MS user, ever since the days of DOS. And naturally, there are things that I miss in Windows. On the other hand, having used Ubuntu at home exclusively for the past couple of years, there are always things I miss when I sit down in front of my office PC (a fact I am slowly changing by virtualizing my workspace).
So today, I’ll be telling you not only the top 5 things I miss in Windows, but also the top 5 things I miss in GNU/Linux.
DISCLAIMER: Many of you will disagree. Some of you will give suggestions. These are my own experiences, based on what I use my computers for. You’re daily activity and workflow will differ from mine.
THINGS I MISS IN WINDOWS
1. See Your IP Address Quickly Without Opening A Terminal

See Your Connection Details With The Support Tab
In Windows XP, you double-click the LAN icon in the system tray (you have to set the “Display Icon in System Tray When Connected” in the connection properties, but you only have to do this once) and the local area connection dialog pops-up. If you go to the Support tab, you can find your connection’s information including IP address and subnet there.
2. Middle-click scroll
Yes, the middle-mouse button doesn’t scroll your browser or application in Ubuntu. I’ll tell you why later. While it is possible to set this in Linux, (heck, practically ANYTHING can be set somehow), there is no fancy GUI way to do it so it’s definitely not for the lesser-experienced. The middle-mouse button is useful for those lazy days when you’re surfing the web and just don’t want to scroll that mouse wheel.
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