Thread: Linux vs. Windows?

  1. #1
    Registered User DrinkMoreDew's Avatar
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    Linux vs. Windows?

    Hey guys,

    I am fairly decent with computers and was looking to install a Linux based OS onto my computer instead of running Windows XP (Service Pack 3).

    I was told to run it off of a boot disk first, yet I was a little unsure of which OS to try out. I heard Ubuntu is a decent one so I was headed that route.


    I had a few questions involving this; how hard is it to do? Is it worth it? What are the benefits?



    Also, if anyone can link me to a decent guide, I would love it.

    Thanks!

  2. #2
    -bleh-
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    Yes, it's worth it. I was converted 5 years ago and never look back. Download the distro, burn it into a cd, and give it a test drive. The best thing I find is the way software is distributed in ubuntu; if it's in the repo, installation is a blast, there is no risk downloading random files from the internet.
    "All that we see or seem
    Is but a dream within a dream." - Poe

  3. #3
    Master Apprentice phantomotap's Avatar
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    O_o

    You should try more than one. The difference between the "out of the box" feel of two GNU/Linux distributions can be as much as that between "Operating System Number 1" and "Operating System Number 2". Well, I guess that doesn't apply if you have a lousy or metered download stream. Otherwise, look around until you find something that you feel you want to play around with.

    Soma

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    Registered User DrinkMoreDew's Avatar
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    My system is pretty terrible.

    I have:
    -80gb HD
    -Intel Pentium 4 (2.80ghz)
    -1gb Ram (I know ew)
    -Ati Radeon X1300 series

    So yeah... I was going to try the distro of Ubuntu on a flash drive.
    Anything that will let me use less RAM as an OS. Its rumored that Ubuntu does that? True?

  5. #5
    Master Apprentice phantomotap's Avatar
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    O_o

    Yea, you can run virtually any distribution you want, but you'll be limited into how many applications you may be able to run at the same time.

    Ubuntu isn't especially great, but if you are really worried about it (You shouldn't be.), you can try "Puppy Linux" or some other variation.

    Soma

  6. #6
    Registered User DrinkMoreDew's Avatar
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    What would you recommend as an alternative to Ubuntu?

    I am really just surfing the web, watching movies and coding. I don't play as many games as I used to.

    Note: I am well aware of the crippling status that my ram is in >.<

  7. #7
    Unregistered User Yarin's Avatar
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    Yes, it's hard, but well worth it. The benefits (besides becoming enlightened ) include things like a better understanding of the inner workings of operating systems and low-mid level software in general, which really does help a lot.
    If your worried that your system is too slow, just make sure you get a distro (A "distro", or distribution, is a version/flavor of Linux, wrapped up in it's own "OS") with a light weight GUI, such as Xfce. Mostly, the GUI is the bottleneck.

  8. #8
    -bleh-
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    xfce is great. I like it. Instead of ubuntu, maybe you should try xubuntu which uses xfce.
    "All that we see or seem
    Is but a dream within a dream." - Poe

  9. #9
    Registered User DrinkMoreDew's Avatar
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    Can you guys elaborate on what exactly Xfce is? I am pretty new when it comes to dealing with OS's out side of Windows.

    I was also thinking of dual booting. My hard drive, as shown above, is only 80gb. Would it be worth partitioning it? Or just go full on linux?

  10. #10
    -bleh-
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    Partition it if you want to run native windows programs. My machine has only 100gb. Before I switched to ubuntu completely, I had 50gb for Vista and 50gb for ubuntu, and it ran fine. I think you'd appreciate the partition in the first phase of transition because there are softwares that you're more used to in Windows. Then, just erase the partition once you find get accustomed to linux.
    XFCE, GNOME, KDE, these are just the environment you work in. They manages the graphic windows, applications launches etc... xfce is the most lightweight environment that is also resemble Windows.
    Last edited by nimitzhunter; 02-10-2011 at 09:09 PM.
    "All that we see or seem
    Is but a dream within a dream." - Poe

  11. #11
    Registered User NeonBlack's Avatar
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    If you've been using the internet for more than about 2 hours, you'd know that the words "Linux vs Windows" is like an invitation to a flame war. Your question didn't really have anything to do with comparing the two, but was more like "I'm curious about Linux".

    Anyway,

    xfce is lightweight, but has some serious usability issues, in my opinion. Although your hardware isn't much by today's standards, it's still plenty good enough to run just about any gnome distro without compiz. (But I can't live without the cube!). You can probably run any non-KDE distro for that matter.

    If this is your first time using linux, I would suggest Mint. It's easy to set up because you don't have to install flash or any codecs, and just about any help topic that applies to the corresponding version of Ubuntu will work for Mint as well.
    I copied it from the last program in which I passed a parameter, which would have been pre-1989 I guess. - esbo

  12. #12
    Make Fortran great again
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    I use Lubuntu which uses OpenBox window manager, it apparently uses less resources than Xfce. Whether that's true or not is of no consequence (I did read an article about it, I think it was Tom's hardware), I just like that Lubuntu is very minimalistic while still having access to Ubuntu's repositories and such.

    Edit: Btw, lubuntu is set up to match almost all of Windows' shortcuts, e.g. Win+E for explorer, Win+D to minimize windows, Alt-Tab (nothing special there), etc.
    Last edited by Epy; 02-11-2011 at 06:50 AM.

  13. #13
    Make Fortran great again
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    Also, just download a bunch and try them in VirtualBox (or VMware, whatever you like). 1 GB of RAM is more than enough to run another OS. Full Ubuntu only needs like 384 MB. Right now Lubuntu is only using about 140ish with all my usual crap open, and that's with Firefox using 85 of it.

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