Thread: Want to throw my computer

Originally Posted by Birnando

I agree with what the others have said. Mostly.
Linux is a great OS, and has many advantages.
Going with a Linux distro would also certainly take care of many security issues, including viruses.

I would, however, not recommend a Linux system for the novice computer user.
There is a learning curve on Linux, if it was all plug and play, this would have been the number one system out there.
After all, it is free and very stable/secure.

Now, I don't wanna see this turn in to a Flame war with the usual arguments thrown out from the different sides out there.
I just feel the OP should know that there are potential challenges in switching, very much depending on your level of computer skills.
Setting up repositories, handling TAR balls and all the other stuff you might run into is not terribly intuitive.

And this was said by someone raised on UNIX

It really depends on what you want to do with your computer. Ubuntu and mint are pretty easy to use and pretty much plug and play. Ubuntu has the non-free repositories enabled by default, so you can find software pretty easily. They even have a nice "Software Center" GUI.

If you want to run windows programs on Linux, it can be done for some,but takes some work. PlayOnLinux makes it easier though(in the repositories).


Edit: Birnando, I thought for sure you would have thrown "buy a mac" in there somewhere

Originally Posted by Slartibartfast

It really depends on what you want to do with your computer.

Edit: Birnando, I thought for sure you would have thrown "buy a mac" in there somewhere

Exactly right, and that was indeed my point. It depends on a few factors
I think the Latest Ubuntu distro is good stuff!

Re: the Edit

Nah, I'm to old for that
I say let people use what works for them, and I will use what works best for me.
I've spent so much time on Windows, Mac, Linux and Unix that I know they all work

But I guess my Avatar is a bit of a give away...

Is it easy to learn Linux? Does it support all those progs, which are commonly used with Windows?

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

Is it easy to learn Linux? Does it support all those progs, which are commonly used with Windows?

That really depends on your current computer-skills level.
It also depends on what work you wanna do on that system.
(I'm talking about e.g. Ubuntu's GUI here, not the underlying Linux system)

Basic surfing, email and photo-editing is no harder than on a Windows machine. You just need to learn the differences in the GUI.
If you want to do more advanced stuff, the plot thickens so to speak.

It gets more and more streamlined for every new distro, but there are still stuff that is a bit challenging for a novice computer user.
Finding and installing stuff that is not in the supplied repositories being just one example.

As for windows programs, theoretically yes. Practically for your average Joe, I would say no.
There's a ton and a half of similar free software though that can do pretty much the same.
The job is to find them, and possibly learn them.
And of course there is the file format issue. A file that is generated on a Windows PC might not be the easiest to continue working on in a different environment.

We do live in a Windows-centric world. Especially when it comes to the business side of things.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

Is it easy to learn Linux? Does it support all those progs, which are commonly used with Windows?

It is necessary to list the commonly used programs.

Any program from Microsoft will not run without serious attention.
One issue is that Microsoft license tools are absent on Linux
and programs that require validation may not run.

If we move away from "programs" and look at tasks the
view is richer. While Microsoft Word will not run OpenOffice
will. So those that want to write letters, books or papers have a
choice of tools to address the task of writing.

In the last couple years Microsoft has made available
compilers for no additional charge (download them).
Linux has had compilers from the beginning. Programmers
tend to like Linux more than Windows. The market
for Windows programs is larger. Clean well written
programs can compile and run on both.

A lot depends on what you know and what you need.

I run Windows on new hardware. When I upgrade
or replace a disk on older hardware I commonly load a version
of Linux. It seems to demand less of the hardware and
over time Windows gathers junk that slows it down.

My favorite laptop is ten years old. The current versions
of Windows are expensive, expect more memory and run
slow as an old three legged dog on it. Linux however runs
quickly and is very responsive on the same laptop.

Go with Windows 7, leave UAC on, read the prompts when they display, and use Microsoft Security Essentials as your A/V. I wouldn't be surprised if the infected computer was XP with IE6. :/

Go with Windows 7, leave UAC on, read the prompts when they display, and use Microsoft Security Essentials as your A/V. I wouldn't be surprised if the infected computer was XP with IE6. :/

Hmmm... I ran vista for a year and got so many viruses I was scanning every day. I've ran XP for 5 years - same install - and nothing, every so often I get an odd tracking cookie, super fast on my lappy as well(it was made for vista) with AVG and comodo firewall (and if your using Internet Explorer, you deserve what you get, even though these days its caught up with other competitors)

From personal experience, UAC isn't that useful and is replaced by a decent firewall which checks all applications run on the system and is less annoying than UAC - and XP seems fine without UAC.

LINUX OS
But if you want to put in a little time trying something different - not necessarily difficult - give Linux mint or Ubuntu a try (livecd it before installing) its stable, responsive and works more efficiently: but its less compatible with windows apps but does have alternatives for all of them. If you want to play games Linux has issues playing modern PC games. Once you get to grips with Linux there are so many distributions for your needs. If you want a speedy Distro there's Arch Linux and Slitaz which get you browsing in 8 seconds on some systems but require more know how when using them. Its very customizable

Windows is of course what you know and I would possibly advise to find a copy of TinyXP which is a stripped down version removing all unnecessary components which are either unused or vulnerabilities in XP. Windows OS's involves cleaning out old temp files and registry entries over time but with SATA drivers, XP is just as good and better than Vista and Windows 7 unless your really attached to them.

Here's a nice factsheet for you to peruse, its a very good page to see what the differences are

good luck with your decision and go for what you need and are happy with, Linux is good but not for everyone.

Originally Posted by commiecat

Go with Windows 7, leave UAC on, read the prompts when they display, and use Microsoft Security Essentials as your A/V. I wouldn't be surprised if the infected computer was XP with IE6. :/

Not everyone can do this. I work on my computer and those progs, which I use for work, are not supported by Windows7.

Originally Posted by Zelenbakh

Not everyone can do this. I work on my computer and those progs, which I use for work, are not supported by Windows7.

Well that's not entirely true. You have two options of which I'm not sure if you've tried yet; first, even as far back as XP they had "compatibility mode" built-in where you could run programs as if they were in earlier versions of Windows. Yes, this rarely worked (for me) but it's an option. The second, and more viable, option is to virtualize. If you have Windows 7 Professional (or higher) then you can install XP Mode without any additional licensing. You get a full version of XP SP3 that runs in a virtual environment so you can still install and run your work programs.

Of course, if the computer belongs to a company then this is probably their problem and not yours.

I have three computers, two of them I use for work and they have XP Professional SP3. I laptop comp I use for travelling. Windows 7 home basic installed there and this OS supports all my working progs exept 2. But these two are very important, it's very difficult to manage without them. I have not heard, that Win.7 Professional gives absolute support to XP Pro progs.
From the other side I'm not very much bothererd with viruses. Both computers have serious protection, they are in sound condition.