Anybody use a Linux OS?

[Hassan Darkside]

I've been messing around with Linux Mint 10 this weekend because my laptop hard drive died and I can't live without my computer for ~4 days until my new HDD gets here. My dad is a believer in Linux, never using Vista or 7. He went straight from XP to Linux and said that he really has no desire to go back.

Anybody on here use Linux Mint or Ubuntu? What's the difference between Mint and Ubuntu? I've heard Mint is easier on n00bs. What perks are there over Windows 7?

Will all my software work on Linux?

[ehh]

I'm on Ubuntu right now at home, never used Mint so I can't comment on the differences. My media server is Windows 7 at the moment, my home and work laptop are Windows 7 and my home desktop is Ubuntu. I have an Ubuntu server box I screw around with virtualization stuff on.

I'm a big fan of Windows 7 (first Windows OS I ever loved) so I wouldn't say I like one more than the other. Certainly can't blame your dad for skipping Vista to go to Linux though lol. Ubuntu is def cool and considering it's free you can't go wrong. I'm an IT professional so the learning curve wasn't too bad though I don't go crazy with command line stuff yet as I haven't had a need to.

As far as advantages go I would say the highlights are...

1) It's free (duh) and so are almost all of the applications
2) More secure than Windows
3) How applications work and are "packaged" is cool but probably isn't a big deal to an average user.
4) Comes with loads relevant software. OpenOffice, GMIP, etc. No DLing a ton of standard software with Ubuntu, most of the stuff you need is already there in some form when you're done installing the OS.
5) Requires less hardware resources. Right now I'm on an old POS HP box with half a gig of RAM and Ubuntu works flawlessly. I don't even know what the microprocessor is in this hunk of junk but I know it's nothing impressive. A client upgraded a bunch of desktops at the end of 2010 and this was an old one they were going to recycle so I took home it home. I spent a decent amount of time doing BS desktop support on this box when it was running XP and it was sooooo sllllllow. Not the case with Ubuntu though. Anyway, so everything I'm on right now (hardware/OS/software) is 100% free and working as well as I could ask for.

And a personal preference but Opera runs much more quickly on Ubuntu than W7 lol. I use Chrome on W7 because it's blazingly fast but Opera is good stuff on Ubuntu and it's my favorite browser.

Def cool what you can do for free though.

[Laffer]

I've used Ubuntu for years. I had always had problems with Windows being an unstable POS. I've never once had an issue with Ubuntu crashing on me, and any issue I have had is easily solved by a quick google search. The way the software is packaged, and the speed at which it runs will blow you away if you are using an older machine. All your software won't work on Ubuntu, but you will find that most of the software you have been using is ****, and there are much better alternatives (I can't believe that 5 years ago I was still using Adobe reader).

With that being said, I really like Windows 7. I dual-boot my laptop, and find myself using Windows more often than not. My laptop runs it nicely, and even though I've used Ubuntu a bunch, I'm still more comfortable tweaking Windows installs, since they are what I've grown up w/.

Either way, use this program when you are starting up.
http://ninite.com/
It will save you a ton of time, and only offers fantastic programs.

[Kashanova]

I use Ubuntu as well, I highly recommend it.

[joshuar9476]

i'm using linux mint myself ... if your just a web surfing computer user, then it's perfect. i also have it on my wife's machine and she doesn't even know the difference.

i, however, have to dual boot with xp because there are a few programs that i couldn't find a decent replacement (microsoft money). i also can't get Baldur's Gate 2 to work under linux. in fact, i could probably "live" with a money replacement, but BG2 is a must so i need windows.

i love mint and will never not have it. hang in there and don't be afraid to ask questions on the mint forums.

[Hassan Darkside]

Well I consider myself an advanced computer user, I do more than just web surfing.

I plan on probably installing both Mint and 7 when I get my hdd and keeping the option of dual booting. My main question I guess is is it possible to run Windows programs on Linux without having different installs? There's several programs I'd need for school (like Visual Studio, MS Office, etc) but I don't really want to install those twice if I don't have to.

[ehh]

You can run pretty much any OS on any other OS simultaneously with a virtualization client. VMWare Workstation is the most popular but not free.

http://store.vmware.com/store?Action...=1299632131016

[mgoblue]

can you do media sharing with PS3 and Xbox on linux? I work with linux servers and whatnot for work, but don't use them for other than LAMP setups as webservers...

I have my old desktop that's good for being my media host for streaming to my various consoles (using WMP) and was wondering if there's something that works on Linux too. My comp has XP and is so slow because that OS has been on it for like 9 years or something lol