Comments on: Operating System Choices?

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 27 May 2007 02:51:42 +0000

I must say at one time or another I’ve used just about every version of Windows starting with version 3.1. I have experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly with Windows OS. Started my Linux experience with Red Hat 7.2 and have since tested many many flavors of Linux with only positive results.

I recommend Linux over Windows, however I never recommend a distro. All users have different needs, so choose a flavor of Linux that fits your needs. For me it is Ubuntu as my main distro.

By: Bob

Bob — Sun, 27 May 2007 02:51:42 +0000

I recommend Linux over Windows, however I never recommend a distro. All users have different needs, so choose a flavor of Linux that fits your needs. For me it is Ubuntu as my main distro.

By: Larry Rees

Larry Rees — Sat, 26 May 2007 01:51:50 +0000

I have to agree with Michael above. Linux is far more user friendly than ever before, unless you are a really heavy gamer which, depending on the exact game, may or may not be able to be run under wine or another emulation program. I made the move to Mandriva (known as Mandrake at the time) over two years ago, dual booting with win98 (for my wife) until she became more comfortable with Mandriva, and now for almost the full year linux only. We are far more secure than ever and can still do everything that we did under win98 without the crashes and lockups that used to occur. Oh, it’s not totally perfect right out of the gate, but if you are motivated to learn a bit, it’s much more configurable and does what YOU want it to do, not what someone else wants. The price is right too, I’ve experimented with a couple of dozen differeny distributions over the past two or three years, and the total cost of all of them probably less than taking the wife out for dinner and a drink. It could have been even less had I downloaded my distributions rather than buying cd’s and dvd’s online. Check out http://distrowatch.com/
and look linux over, I think you will like the choices.

By: MIchael B. Johnson

MIchael B. Johnson — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:54:25 +0000

Vince:

If you are married to a specific Windows application, like DreamWeaver, then NO – you aren’t going to get a perfectly identical experience under Linux.

You can run some ms windows programs using WINE or Win4Lin or CrossOver Office or Cedega. (http://www.winehq.org/)

But if you want to use Linux, you are best off with native Linux applications. Linux doesn’t automatically run native Windows programs and Windows won’t run Linux applications at all.

Run a google or yahoo search to find the sites for each of the products above. Each one has elements in which they excel. Also consider VMWare.

However, the Linux experience will not be exactly, precisely, the same as in ms windows. For one, the Linux directory layout is different. Or, in the case of products like Win4Lin, your computer is doing additional memory management, so has a heavier load. In WINE, which I find quite nice, sometimes in a full-screen DirectX game, (like StarCraft), if you move your cursor past the edge of the bottom screen, the Start Menu bar is displayed – which can get in the way of playing, sometimes. The Start menu bar can be rolled-up and collapsed, which helps. Note: This is not a problem with any of the native Linux games, only Microsoft Windows games run under the foreign operating system: Linux.

On the other hand, if you are flexible enough to learn some new native Linux applications, there is equivalent functionality in Linux to do virtually everything. Not ~all~ Linux products have the years of polish that have been poured into the existing applications available under ms windows, yet. In time, that will come.

Pet Peeves
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My experience with SUSE’s flavor of Linux has been that it is rock solid: I do recommend however, that you use EXT3 instead of ReiserFS for your hard drive format.

I don’t like not having my nVidia cards automagically detected by Linux without tweaking or a separate install; but on the other hand, my old ATI card isn’t detected out-of-the-box by MS Windows 2000 either and requires a separate driver.

Benefits
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As an operating system, I find that the Linux multi-tasking is smoother and more robust. The amount of reliable software available for ~free~ under Linux is, to me, incredible. Commercial software is available: for example, Nero sells a Linux version that I bought. You could use K3B, which is free, instead.

I think the move to Linux is worthwhile:
* Many applications are available for free
* Almost all of them are re-programmable, though you may have to pay someone should you ever need a specific new feature
* The operating system, which is part of your computer’s foundation, is more robust and in some cases easier to use
* You generally don’t have to worry about spy ware
* You don’t have the DRM restrictions like in ms windows
* You won’t have the slave-like licensing restrictions in the ms eula
* You know you’re part of a vibrant community and you’re doing the “right” thing
* Microsoft is going to accomodate Linux, at least to some extent, in their software as they are doing so already with their virtual os software
* You won’t have to activate your operating system and it won’t ever expire: useful in disaster recovery scenarios!
* …And did I mention that I believe it is more robust and secure?

But first you must be prepared to invest a great deal of time to re-learn a totally different approach to doing things: a great deal of time.

You may have to use a combination of software tools for some tasks that you used to need only one.

You must have realistic expectations and first ensure your hardware is supported, like in the old days of Windows NT.

Disclaimer
————
Note: I have no association with any Linux company or software vendor, other than being a customer. I don’t own any Linux stocks. I received no earthly compensation of any kind for answering your question.

By: winston winslo

winston winslo — Fri, 25 May 2007 14:33:04 +0000

I switched from Win98se to SUSE linux a number of months ago and have no reason to go back to Windows. While Linux may not be for everyone, I think it”s great.

By: Russ L'Rogue

Russ L'Rogue — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:59:50 +0000

Aye, I agree with you, Chris … Ubuntu is an excellent Linux variant. I have worked with it through several incarnations up to and including this latest beta release which is still in testing (by the less intimidated of us geeks out there), the Gutsy Gibbon (strange names they assign to their releases!) and, while I do keep an up-to-date Winlose XPired on a back-up disk, haven’t actually used it in several months.

I’ve been toying with Linux as a Windoze replacement since way, way back in the early RedHat days and find that Ubuntu is an extremely user-friendly OS with more than enough programs available to suit anyone’s needs. And the only whining I’ve heard/read on the forums is from either total novices or geeks who are trying to take that leap/plunge off the edge and tweak things beyond the basic Ubuntu release.

And one of the REALLY neat things about it is that is FREE … as in free and open source and free of pocketbook worries!

By: Russ L'Rogue

Russ L'Rogue — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:59:50 +0000

And one of the REALLY neat things about it is that is FREE … as in free and open source and free of pocketbook worries!

By: Vince

Vince — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:59:22 +0000

Hi Chris

I would really like to use a linux distribution for handling all the stuff that is asociated with my site, design, ftp, etc. On my windows xp system i use dreamweaver, photoshop, snaggit, open office and lots of other apps to run my site and updateting it. Are there apps that i can use to do all of this for linux systems. I have asked this question on some forums and have had no reply so i fear that i am asking too much.

By: Vince

Vince — Fri, 25 May 2007 10:59:22 +0000

Hi Chris