Hello windows and mac users alike!



I will tell you the up's and downs of using Linux instead of windows or mac, and more specific: Ubuntu:
Linux is an open source operating system, which means you can edit it (if you know how) to function how you want to your heart's content!
Linux is a completely free operating system, with community support.
Linux is easy to install, you can even keep your 2000/xp/vista and have a linux partion!
Linux works with windows machines and mac machines alike!
Linux uses much less system resources than windows does, thus it's faster.
Linux is compatible with wireless and Ethernet connections.
Linux let's you try before installing via liveCd so you can decide!
Linux categorizes it's menu so you can find things easier!
Linux has wine! Wine (Wine is not an emulator) is a system that allows you to run windows programs from linux, so you can keep your other projects
Linux is the operating system i'm using now!
Linux has tux the penguin, the best mascot ever!
Linux crashes way less than windows, i havent had one crash ever on this.
Linux is very well known for servers!


Now i've told you some up sides of having linux, now for some downsides i've noticed:

Linux might not work on dell manufactured computers very well, this i tested.
Wine might not work on all your windows program like .NET applications, and other things so they have the appDB on winehq.com
Linux has open office, for me this isn't too much of a problem, but it might be a little bit more difficult to use than microsoft word.
Sony vegas (all versions) do not work on wine, i've tryed this, and sadly, for you rsmv'ers there is little alternatives.
Finding alternatives may be a pain so i'm providing this link to help you.
Linux palm pilot related things may be annoying.


Well thats really it! I'm very satisfied with linux as an operating system. It's great, and i encourage you to try it on a live cd or virtual box (or something like that).

~Dragos240~

1. Why would you want to run windows programs on Linux if you have windows on a partition?
2. Why would you want Linux if you would prefer to keep windows on your hard drive?
3. I havent had a crash on XP....
4. Most people on here dont have servers...?
5. How is you having it a good point???
6. I'm sure windows had catagories..... (Accessories, Games, System tools etc) and you can create your own too...

Just playing devils advocate (i do like XP tho )

This is very biased.

The only reason i have an xp partition is because i can't figure out how to sync my palm in linux

Actually it's better to have two separate computers, one with linux and one with your own preferred choice. This allows you to browse for scam sites without having too much worry (use the linux for this).

exactly what i did, expect i didnt know that it could actually be used like that until i got it.

Holy meep it's Cxkslei, the person with the most posts in sals And what program can you use to scan for scam sites exactly?

You don't. Linux is just safer for Web Browsing.

Let me explain, the only sites I use on my laptop which is run in a Windows XP GUI, are Sals, Jagex, RuneScape, Blizzard, Blizzard Store, World of Warcraft, Youtube, and AOL.

If I want to go web surfing I'd use a Linux based OS simply because you basically don't get all the problems you would on Windows with it (virii, trojans, worms, etcetera).

Actually, you don't have to do that, that's way too complicated (not too mention expensive).

Download siteadvisor and use AVG's site scanner. If you look at what you download, you won't get viruses, and the viruses through webpages (yes, the few I've seen) you are warned about by the site scanner.

And even if you do get a virus, Resident Shield usually picks it up first.

Edit: Virii is such a complicated way of saying virus...es.

Who said I owned the computer running Linux . See what college is for.

+1, Fellow Zero.

Well i don't know that much about Linux but can it play window's games? for example World of War craft or any of the steam games?

Out of curiosity, which distribution are you using?

I'm using Ubuntu myself, it normally works flawlessly but it can get a bit annoying sometimes.

bah!, Ubuntu, ordered a disk, threw it away! Naw, In my personal opinion Linux is good if you don't do alot of gaming. Dual boot ftw!

Wine is an emulator, and imo its not amazing one at that. I have had no hassel with vista x64 and server 08 so i'll be sticking to that. Networking with linux isn't really better, unless you know what your doing. Its a lot more complicated and about the same result (minus a lot less system usage). As for the whole secure thing?

I use gentoo now and again the main good point is portage (synaptic package manager for you). Other then that? well its okay but i'd rather play my games

Why make more hassle for yourself? Stick with Windows IMO.

I'm forced to make it a hassle for myself, it's part of my school program. .

DSL + vmplayer/virtualpc/hyper-v

its what i do.

I had Ubuntu for a few weeks: ran a LAMP, learned vaguely how to use the terminal and learnt a little about the Linux OS; it was an enjoyable experience. However, it is meant for servers, not home users.

As for my personal opinion on Ubuntu, I love it. I have had it on my laptop for several months and it's absolutely fantastic. However, I don't think you should force people to move over to it. XP does have some advantages over it, such as familiarity and more software available for it. However, for anyone who is getting a bit cheesed-off by Windows, I would wholeheartedly recommend it

Essentially Linux (even Ubuntu) is still a techie-only OS until Wine can run everything.

I really do not get why Ubuntu is considered "techie-only". There are plenty of very user-friendly programs available for it for a variety of tasks. Windows is only more user-friendly at the moment because it's familiar to most of us. Once you get used to Linux you find it just as easy to use.

Dragos, what distro of Linux do you run?

Ubuntu intrepid ibex ftw! HUMANITY!

That's not a very neutral point of view, is it?

Let me quote a few of your statements.

Linux is easy to install, you can even keep your 2000/xp/vista and have a linux partion!
If I want to use windows, why would I also use linux? I doubt a lot of people will want to have half of their applications on windows and the other half on linux.
Linux works with windows machines and mac machines alike!
Actually, running linux on a mac is not supported and will require a few tricks.
Linux is compatible with wireless and Ethernet connections.
And windows/mac isn't?
Linux categorizes it's menu so you can find things easier!
Use Start Search (vista) or Spotlight (mac) and you get the same result.
Linux has wine! Wine (Wine is not an emulator) is a system that allows you to run windows programs from linux, so you can keep your other projects
If I wanted to use windows applications, I'd just run windows. Being able to run applications from an other OS doesn't make the OS itself good.
Linux is the operating system i'm using now!
Windows is the operating system 90% of people use!
Linux has tux the penguin, the best mascot ever!
Because that obviously makes Linux a great OS which everyone should use.
Linux crashes way less than windows, i havent had one crash ever on this.
Linux has hardware compatibility issues and windows doesn't.

I'm not a linux hater, but apart from the speed and the OS being free you really didn't give any valid arguments.

Linux is pretty good for a free OS, I like using it, but it's not perfect, comparing to XP, it still has alot to catch up, there's a lot of regressions, I love using linux for programming though, it is indeed somewhat better for developers.

as a reply, windows can do many things linux can, i'm sorta suggesting that people that has trouble with windows or mac that it's a great alternative. And it's probibly true that maybe 90% of people use windows, but just don't know the potential of linux. And if you switched completely to linux, you would need wine occasionally to run windows apps. But before i go further trying to convince you to switch, why don't you try it? Ubuntu has a cd installer that allows you to try out ubuntu without installing it via live cd. If you tryed that and explored for i don't know, half an hour, you would see some ups and downs, so try it.

Ok, after scan-reading the forum, I'll come to the following:

If you think Ubuntu is a techie-os, wait until you see BusyBox, Ubuntu is one of the pioneering "Home Linuxes" with several designs for ease of use, not quite there, but it's working quite well so far.

"Linux is compatible with wireless and Ethernet connections"
-In my opinion, Linux has the worst wireless tack record. Most Ethernet is grand, but for wireless, most of the drivers are closed source from the companies BUT there are several open source drivers that work very, very well.

"Linux has wine! Wine (Wine is not an emulator) is a system that allows you to run windows programs from linux, so you can keep your other projects"
-Wine has compatability issues which are constantly being fixed, Virtualization from VirtualBox is an 100% better way of running windows apps on Linux.

"Linux has tux the penguin, the best mascot ever!"
-Damn straight.

"Linux crashes way less than windows, i havent had one crash ever on this."
-Depends on how your system is setup and what hardware you're using.


I suppose the rest have been answered, but that was my 2cents, which'll be devalued

Anyway, I'm running Xubuntu with the Gnome toolbar instead of the XFCE one right now, my other pc is currently... taken apart right now, and on that one I have Arch running (sex) - and my sister uses Fedora10

Personally I love Linux, if you aren't a typical computer user it really isn't necessary - yes 97% of people run Windows, because it is simple to use and most people only use the computer for ~30 minutes to 2 hours a day which is normal to use myspace/game, I have a spare HDD with XP installed on it for when I feel like gaming but I almost ... never .. play games any more. Overall with how it works, Linux is the best breed of OSes out there, from how it works, the filesystem, security, ....mascot ... so many little things linux does great that Windows does poorly

Dragos your points are um.. very poor and biased honestly, expecially since you most likely just run standard Ubuntu, do you even know how to use the terminal for practical reasons?

Yea Linux > Windows, but running windows isn't a crime

Oh, I have tried it, yet I can't see why it would be superior to Leopard, which is what I'm running now.

Linux was not compatible with my video card btw.

The reasons i would never use Linux, is many:
-The worst games
-Cant connect ANY nokia phone without partition mode, which is difficult to turn on if the memory card is a primary source of programs
-No Nokia support.
-Cant make (Nokia) Symbian themes.
-Its not much support, and that makes it very difficult to get good image editting and movie editting.
-Halo, Midtown madness, Motocross madness and other windows games doesnt work
-I couldnt have continued developing iBrowse, my own webbrowser.

And my computer is fast enough
I also edit a clip i filmed this spring, the school opened a skateboard ramp
I filmed it and i am editting it partly.

And Haleth is right, why would someone with a better OS change to a less supported?
Nokia phones are supported at Macs too.
So if you have a Symbian S60 phone, its not recomended to switch to Linux.

Well overall linux has a lot better driver support then OSX, but a lot worse then windows. What video card are you using? I'm quite suprised it wasn't supported. The only cards atm which aren't support are crossfire dependant (4870x2/3870x2) and crossfire for linux is being worked on.

wait what ADVANTAGES does it have over windows?

from what iv read

-faster
-free (but thats void if you already have windows on your computer)
-better for servers (not that the average home user will take advantage of this)

1) faster, somewhat yes. Only if application is native to linux mind you
2) free, well most distributions are
3) depends on usage, linux is less resource hungry so makes it easier to run a file server with <256mb of RAM however windows is much easier to setup. Web servers its generally recommended to run if you plan on using mysql/php. However you can go the asp/.net/mssql route with IIS + windows

Linux is more of a go to OS distribution if you have a non up to date computer. My DELL from around 2001 is running a version of Fedora, and my laptop I am getting has Slackware on it. I use Windows on my main computer, but Linux is used for my on to go things.

XFCE > GNOME (had to throw that in there lol)

Can I add to those advantages

4) It's not Windows.
5) More secure because it handles the files differently so no need for an anti-virus.

I'm gonna get flamed for no 4) but it's true - for some people, including me, that really is an advantage. Tbh at the minute I'm getting fed up of Windows' complete stupidity. I mean no offence, Microsoft have done a nice job on some things, but other things are just pathetic. There's no way of securely deleting your files without third party software; most viruses are targeted at it so it's the least secure; Internet Explorer 7 CANNOT EVEN LOAD Microsoft Update on my computer - yes, that's right, their all-bells-and-whistles browser can't load their own product. It nannies you about and some areas of the operating system feel like such trash you get the impression Microsoft wrote them at the last minute. And yet we pay hundreds of pounds for this?

I've got nothing against Windows users, I'm just explaining why I don't like Windows myself.

I can tell you, the last thing you mentioned must be something wrong about your computer.
About deleting files, you have the RECYCLE folders, but they cant run files because their protected. ( even i cant access them )
Windows is alot better, just not look at the virus-side of it, you only need a free anti-virus..

Well what you've described isn't an advantage of linux in 4), its just you having problems. Your to blame not your operating system. 5) doesn't really make any sense, do you mean the file permissions implemented? file system? hard drive format?

Linux doesn't have many viruses for it, but if you know the structure you will know that its soley dependant on the distribution and setup of the linux kernal. Yes it requires a lot of manual security auditing (web server admins will know this) so its not entirely true what you said. Natively it runs less services and is a less popular platform for viruses.

OK, I'm not going to pretend I understand the ins-and-outs of it all properly, because I don't. But as far as I understand, Linux gives out permissions differently, which means ordinary files and programs have less access to essential parts of the system, giving malware and viruses e.t.c. a hard time of it. Windows gives higher permissions in general which makes it less secure, but it does still have permissions and security measures in place (all this is just how I understand it, feel free to correct me if I've got it wrong). Additionally, yes, there are less viruses written for Linux as it currently makes up a very small percent of the market, but if we all switched to it they'd soon change.

King Aragorn, what I meant was a way of securely deleting files. Sure, Windows users have the Recycle Bin, but when you empty the recycle bin, stuff doesn't get deleted. Windows just says, "Right, we don't need that anymore, so we can use that space now." So the data stays there until something overwrites it - and even then data can be recovered or partially recovered with third-party software. So my precious bank details that I deleted can be recovered very easily using free and legal software. Wonderful. Whereas Mac users just 'Secure Trash' or 'Flash Trash' (I can't remember lol, I don't use them often ) and their data is safely overwritten so it is hard, if not impossible to recover. It's relatively simple to write these programs that securely delete data, you can get them for free, yet Microsoft can't even be bothered to write it into their operating system! It's little things like that, cutting corners, not delivering what they promise, which I'm complaining about.

Yes, some distros and certain pieces of Linux security software do get scarily techie and rather complex to set up But home distros like Ubuntu, which, can I remind us, is the one we are discussing, have relatively simple solutions which can be set up quickly, so no major problem there.

About IE7 not being able to load things properly on my computer, I was not saying IE7 is trash. I was just saying, hey, what a great example of Microsoft's product, it doesn't work. No 4) is, as I made quite clear, to some of us an advantage of Linux. To people who don't like Windows, another, capable operating system which isn't Windows will be the first thing they look for. And, guess what, that's Linux.

Is the fact that Microsoft cut corners, can't work to a deadline or time scale, and take out essential parts of their products just so they can release on time, is that just me having problems? Is it my fault? Is that what you're saying, Acid? How is it my fault if their products are incompetent?

As my final example that they are incompetent, take Windows 2000 or ME. They got rid of the Command Prompt, arguably the most important part of the entire system, because it was considered 'too dangerous'. And with that, I rest my case.

That was the case in older version of Windows, Vista includes UAC. Granted UAC is not exactly as what people wanted but it is along the same lines.

Even in XP: Using a 'limited user' for most things, achieves the same things, of course the limited user, really is limited to the extent a lot of programs need to be tweaked to run.

This is becoming a thread of not: Why You Should Switch To Linux but rather: Why You Should NOT Switch To Linux.

UAC is more user end, Windows has had admin only rights since win2k(maybe even before?). User permissions has been around since the unix days it isn't special to linux

I know, point was simply Windows is becoming more permission sensitive (not the best way to put it, but hey), but OK.

All I meant was Windows was way behind everyone else in terms of permissions.



Which is why I'm here steadfastly trying to defend poor old Linux

you really didn't point out anything why Mac Users should switch. I run linux and windows on my mac i still use mac almost all the time though.