what are pros/cons of linux

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xxXStylusXxx

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#43004 15-Oct-2009 01:39

im going to be formating my vista computer very soon and dont know alot about linux, i was thinking of changing to xp pro but can someone tell me which is better xp pro or linux and why?

Ragnor

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#264004 15-Oct-2009 01:56

That's an open ended question, it depends on what you do with your computer and your level of tech savvy and a bunch of other things like whether you're the type of person who's willing to put effort into learning a different system and so on.

Lurch

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#264007 15-Oct-2009 04:58

Most distros are pretty easy to setup and use, things that will annoy you.

1) WPA2 wireless - password prompt issues

2) Running windows games, Wine/Cedega pretty easy to install and most games seem to run but occasional freezing and other little bugs, it just feels unstable.

Everything else is great, Open office can be used so you can still get access to word documents etc. Web browsing isnt a problem.

Speed, I find the linux box is alot quicker than the Windows box, Ubuntu 9.10 is getting there with boot times.

Ubuntu forums are usually pretty good for support.

Regular software updates.

Having said all that though I stopped at Ubuntu 8.04 for a fulltime desktop and have just tried 9.x onwards to see how it was all going. But due to the WPA2 password problem had to stop using Linux.

Have been running Linux on my desktop since Redhat 4 so its sad to say of late my Linux partition has been sitting gathering dust since I started using Windows 7.

Lurch

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#264008 15-Oct-2009 04:59

Another thing to mention if you want to try it for the first time go for a maintstream distro i.e. Ubuntu, Fedora....

davidcole

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#264009 15-Oct-2009 06:56

i'd vm it first before you blow away your old system.

I've been playing with it, have used a couple of linux server editions before but never desktop. Am trying to use it because it's memory requirements can be lower than windows. And there are a couple of things i have found.

Couldn't find a winamp replacement i was happy with.
Couldn't find a nice newsreader with google reader support.
And a couple of others. Thats not to say there were no audio players, and no news readers, there are plenty, its just a matter of wading through them to find one you like.

So i'd say have a play with it before you blow away your working system.

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Lurch

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#264037 15-Oct-2009 09:42

Like Psycik has said, there is an endless choice for some applications. Which is a good and a bad thing, good thing you can usually find something you like, bad too many choices some people get confused.

Linux is also can be customized alot... so if you like tinkering and changing things it can be alot of fun. Nowdays though I just use it for my LAMP server.

MackinNZ

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#264040 15-Oct-2009 10:07

I'm a fan of Mandriva Linux. I've been using it for years with few problems. I usually buy the PowerPack version (2010.0 will be out before the end of the year) because tit includes several non-GNU apps preconfigured, like Adobe Acrobat Reader, Flash, Java, various audio/video codec's etc.

Go here for details of the current 2009.1 PowerPack version.

Mandriva will give you a good first impression of Linux.

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wazzageek

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#264127 15-Oct-2009 18:54

davidcole: i'd vm it first before you blow away your old system.

+1 - Alternatives can include using a Live CD - your drive will be a limiting factor.

Couldn't find a winamp replacement i was happy with.

I assume that includes trying out XMMS - it's been more than 4 years since I've tried XMMS, but it "looked" pretty much the same as winamp.

And a couple of others. Thats not to say there were no audio players, and no news readers, there are plenty, its just a matter of wading through them to find one you like.

So i'd say have a play with it before you blow away your working system.

It really does boil down to whether you want to have a play - you can spend a lot of time getting things up and running "Just right".

The graphical environments have come a long way, and what I've seen of the latest openSuSE is definitely worth a go.

HTH.

kobiak

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#264135 15-Oct-2009 19:55

I would advise to go with ubuntu/kubuntu because these are vary userfriendly and you wont get lost in settings and so on...

that's how I edited mine a while ago and love using it :)

helping others at evgenyk.nz

xxXStylusXxx

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#266598 24-Oct-2009 20:14

well mostly i just use my computer for surfn pages, keepn up with the news and streaming online videos, also i like to have my computer sharing media to my xbox 360 there is a very simple option to do that in windows media player, does linux have that option? and i love learning about new systems and tinkering around with my computers =P

freitasm

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#266604 24-Oct-2009 20:32

As said before, but worth mentioning again - if you don't know exactly what it will be just get a live CD (download the Ubuntu ISO and burn it for example) and start the system without installing it.

You will have the system running on Linux and you will see what works or not in terms of hardware on your PC.

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