Alright dlock, you sing the praises of Linux on here all the time. Tell me a little more about it. Sometime yesterday, my wife calls and tells me that the computer just died. Basically it said that some or all Windows components were missing or corrupt. I spent 3 hours last night on the phone with Dell support and finally at 1:00 am, got Windows back up. However, everything is at a snails pace. It takes every application about 10 times longer to open, if it opens at all. My computer is a Dell Dimension that was bought a year ago this month and I upgraded everything on it. I guess viruses don't care how old your computer is. Somehow I seem to be jinxed. So, a few questions. 1. If I were to switch to Linux, do all software applications that work with Windows also work with Linux? I'm talking Microsoft Office, Frontpage, Quickbooks, etc. 2. Is it possible to transfer existing saved information from my current setup into Linux? 3. Do viruses affect Linux? 4. How much would it cost me to overhaul the whole computer, reload software, etc. and get somebody like yourself to come do it so that I don't blow my computer up? My luck with computers lately deems this a necessity. 5. How is the user-friendliness of it for a computer novice. 5. Does it come with Solitaire?
Chuckiepoo, sounds like you just need to put Devilock on the payroll as your IT guy!!! It would be easier.
You think? Actually, with my track record, you're probably right. My last three computers have either blown up, hit by viruses, or so eat up with Adware and Spyware that I just threw it away. I'm just cursed with home computers.
Chuck, I never thought I would hear myself say this, but: Don't abandon Microsoft just yet. I would suggest, taking one of your computers and getting a Linux distro installed. Work on getting familiar with the similarities and the differences. Then decide which way to go. Linux is capabable of doing anything that you need, but there is a significant learning curve in getting there. Remember the first time you touched a PC?? Horrified right. Same deal on switching to Linux. Everything kinda looks the same but there are quite a bit of differences. Get a PC setup with Linux, Ubuntu, Suse, CentOS, Fedora. These all are very easy to install, setup, maintain and enjoy. Devil is certainly looking to provide some professional assistance, he will be able to help you get all setup. If you need any real help, just ask the rest of us. JUST KIDDING Devillock!!! Good luck and keep us updated on your progress. C
Great suggestion Nat. I actually had the same thought going through my head this evening. I've got an old e-Machines computer that got fairly slow, but I think I am going to simply run the recovery CD on it and bring it back to it's original self, have dlock load it up with Linux and try it out for a few weeks. I hate being overwhelmed by something new and I don't have the time to deal with the learning curve, so its probably worth it to me to hook up the old CPU to Linux and try it before continuing with the new one.
Excellent suggestions Devil. Most major distros are offering live CD's these days. I have most of the latest ones. Even some of the BSD's are offering Live CD's (Another discussion) If anyone wants to try one, let me know. We could have a real geekfest trying out all these live CD's! C
interesting,...i partitioned my drive and loaded Suse 9.2 on it and have been slowly getting my feet wet,it seems to be mostly a difference in nomenclature between the os. while linux is more trouble free(read 'error' messages),it is a bit more mechanical,less automated than winduds. i like it,although they are a bit slow with hardware suport. i run a lot of windows based programs that are not available yet on linux,although with the type of grassroots 'feeling out' that seems to be going on all over,it would stand to reason that it will catch up sooner rather than later. both Novell and Suselinux have great support sites: http://www.planetsuse.org/ http://www.novell.com/linux/suse/ nice to know if i get a question,there's a Linux geek amongst us
Get away from XP and you will be much happier with the Windows O/S. Drop back to Windows 2000 Pro, and as devilock said, go to a dual boot with Linux. XP is suppose to be "software for idiots" but it's far from that right now. With the amout of problems it's had, it's right in bed with the old nightmare product of Windows ME. If your not PC savy your second option is to stop throwing them away when they get software stalled!!!!! Take one of the old ones and isolate it for internet use only. Reduce it to an operating system and a browser only. Use the other one for your everyday PC needs. If the internet computer goes haywire just reformat.
I may have the opportunity in the near future to get a Pentium II based computer from work for free. I'm interested in trying out a Linux based OS and figure that this might be a great platform for that. Trying it out on a separate computer will allow me to fiddle around without disrupting anything on the regular use PC. What I really want to know, though, is will the Linux OS's support what we do with our current PC? Off the top of my head, here's a list of what I can think of that we do on a regular basis with the PC: MS Word MS Excel Email Web Browsing Listen to music Wireless Home Network Scanner Digital Camera Printing There are other things that we do on the PC on a less regular basis - like figuring out our income tax. I figure that there are office suites out there for Linux and email and web browsing are a given and I already use Gimp for Windows so I figure using it on Linux would be no problem. But if it can't support our digital camera, scanner, printer, then I really don't see a good reason to even try this out. In the near future I'd also like to get a DVD burner and start copying all our camcorder tapes to DVD. So, I guess my question is - will any of these Linux OS's support the hardware that we most often use? Which OS is better? Knowing that I'm a newbie to Linux but not a complete moron with computers but I have a wife who just wants the damn thing to work, what would you suggest I try out? And one last question - as far as system speed and performance is concerned, would there be a noticeable performance/speed gap between a computer running WinME or XP on a P3 and a computer running a Linux based OS on a P2? Thanks
The Open Office software is great. I suggest it to all my clients that I do reloads for that have lost their Office or Works product keys. That way they dont have to pay hundreds for the same exact software that you can get for free.
