Cipher

Should I switch from Windows to Linux? I need someone to point out some of the pros and cons of both OS's if possible please. If I do switch what Linux should I use?

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Hockeyman

If you only have one computer, I wouldn't recommend a switch to a purely linux system - there is too much that is difficult/impossible on a linux system that is easy on a windows box (and vice versa). While a bit more challenging in terms of setting up partitions, a dual-boot system is probably the way to go until you're sure you want to make the full switch. (My desktop has windows, I have a laptop that I use to play with Linux).

In terms of which distro - hard to say. I've tried some of the bigger ones (ie. Fedora Core 3) and found that there was just sooooo much that they installed by default (I'm a total linux newb so there were probably ways to limit what was installed, but as a newb I don't know what those are, or what I'd want to exclude).

This resulted in a massive learning curve - there were two or three different applications to use for anything I wanted to do, as well as servers and all kinds of stuff.

I gave up on the big distro and went with a relatively minimal debian-based distro - Ubuntu - which I installed last night. It only has 1 web browser (Firefox 1.0), 1 office suite (open office), 1 email app (evolution), 1 graphics platform (the Gimp). On the other hand, it is debian so you have access to all the Debian packages which means that once you get comfortable with Linux, you can start playing with other apps. Granted I only played with it for a few hours, but loved it. Substantially faster on my P3 laptop that FC3 was, nice theme, auto-detected all my hardware (including the fact that I was on a laptop) and installed the devices properly - the sound even worked right away, and I've NEVER had that with ANY of the distros I've tried.

On the other hand - there are a LOT of distros out there that offer different things - read some of the forums and reviews to see what would be appropriate for you.


Linux Pros:

• can be customized to suit your hardware
• more online documenatation than there tends to be for windows
• LOTS of free applications to choose from
• its free
• the warm-fuzzy feeling you get from supporting the open-source community

Linux Cons

• steep learning curve as you figure out what the hell you're doing
• sometimes difficult to do the simplest things because its so different than on a windows system
• while there is a LOT of documentation, most of it isn't written for the Linux Newbie so takes a while to figure out what you're reading
• did I mention the steep learning curve?

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Dizzutch

yes, the only way to find out is to try it. You'll probably never want to go back, cuz you'll never have to deal with the bullshit again.

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Xero

I wouldn't switch to linux unless if you had an extra computer. Atleast, thats what I plan on doing, mainly, because Im familiar with Windows, and don't have the time to experiment due to school right now. But if you have time...

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Dizzutch

right, i hate dualbooting, don't see the point of it. Don't actually see the point of Windows.

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Ooble

The point is hassle-free games installations.

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Pizentios

slackware is what i would recommend. I have just started using gentoo and i am really impressed from what i have seen. I made the switch from almost 100% windows to 100% linux about a year ago. I haven't looked back since. I can do anything i could with windows under linux, sometimes better. Games would be about the only reason why i would go back to windows, but with things like wine out there, it doesn't make much sense to switch back cause with a little work you can get them to run good under linux.

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Mjordan2nd

To answer that questio, Cipher, you need to ask yourself two questions. 1.) Are you a heavy gamer; and 2.) are you willing to take a little time willing to learn the Linux system? If you answered no to the first question, and yes to the second question, then Linux is definitely for you.

With the help of Big_k and the Linuxforums community, I switched to Linux a little over a year ago. I am fortunate enough to have two computers, but until this month I was 99% Linux since last year. Now I'm more like 80%, because I got World of Warcraft, and I use Windows to play that, but other than that, I'm a Linux guy.

You can do anything in Linux that you can with Windows, aside from gaming (at least with ease ... there are ways for gaming under Linux as well), and best of all, with Linux it's free. That's the beauty of it. These complex programs that you might end up paying thousands of dollars for are free with Linux.

Is Linux harder? Unless you're trying to install Gentoo, no. It's different from a Windows system, but it's not harder.

The pros of switching over to Linux are infinite. Now, I'm not trying to belittle Windows or anything, because despite what everyone says about it, I actually do like Windows XP, but even that can't compare with a solid Linux distro. First of all, as has been mentioned above, Linux is free, and virtually all software for Linux is free. Secondly, Linux is a lot more flexible and customizable than Windows. You can do just about anything you want with it if you have the patience to learn the inner-workings of it (not required for an end-user). Another thing is, unless you do something extremely wrong, you're not going to get viruses or spyware of any kind. Last but not least, there is a lot of Linux help on the net, and you will probably find all the experienced people you need here at programmingforums. If not, Linuxforums.org is also a great forum.

To learn more about individual distros, I reccomend checking out www.distrowatch.com .

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Cipher

Do you know how to create a boot disk using Windows for Ubuntu Linux.
I want to be able to use linux but I don't want parents to know.

EDIT: Nm I figured it out.

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Hockeyman

If you want to use Linux without actually installing anything, you might want to look into Knoppix. It runs from a CD - doesn't require that you install it onto the harddrive. I'm not sure what it does to the existing operating system on your box...

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