New to Linux

[TimeLord]

I have been told my many people to get Linux as an OS

Questions are first raised:

What is Linux?

How is it better than Windows 7?

If I install it does it destroy Windows 7 from my computer and is there any way to reverse the process?


Thanks in advance Escapist chums

 

[mad825]

If you partiion your hardrive you can have Win 7 and Linux however I must say if you have experience with OO then go for it otherwise no

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Linux, in my experience, seems to be the OS for the ultra smart people who know what they're doing. If you don't know what it is and why it's better then 7 already, you probably don't want it.

 

[Layz92]

It is an OS so the only way to install it is to go over the top of windows, unless you set up a duel boot of course. Linux is an OS based on Unix that is by and large smarter in its build and has many many free programs the can be attached to it. How is it better? well it uses scripts instead of a registry to figure out what it should be doing so it is harder for your computer to get nuked by certain problems and the scripts are fully customisable. Knowing how to use C is useful if you are into that sought of thing.

 

[JEBWrench]

Ubuntu has a utility to install it via Windows like you would any other program. It slows you down a bit, but it's really simple. (As long as you know how to make a partition).

Google for "Step by step Wubi installation" and you should be good to go.

 

[-IT-]

Try a running a "live-cd", it allows you to run linux without having to install it. (it will be slow compared to an installed version of linux, but it should still give you a impression what linux is).

I recommend either Mint [http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php] or Ubuntu [http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download], there pretty easy for starters.

 

[jamez525]

I would definitely recommend dual booting as that gives you the benefits of both systems.

My personal favourite Linux system is Ubuntu, due to the enormous amount of support available for it and the very active and helpful Ubuntu forums.

if you have an old hard drive lying around you could always install it on there, it saves you partitioning the windows one and you can still dual boot.

And you can't forget the desktop cube!
(I don't know how to put pictures in those box things, but you probably know how google works)

 

[thethingthatlurks]

(K)Ubuntu/Mint are very user friendly, and the Linux community is pretty large, so ask questions if you need help.
Other than that, yes, Linux IS better than windows (any edition), provided you have set it up correctly. However, if you aren't willing to invest a few hours in this undertaking, you should stick to windows.

 

[dsmops2003]

Linux is the shit. Barely any viruses written for it. Its faster and can do anything windows can do but for free. Dual-boot and compare the speed difference. The only drawback is game support. Most games are written for Windows. There are however alot of Free open source alternatives that are quite nice. As for needing to be super smart to run it thats false. Linux has a simple to understand GUI just as windows does. Linux is no more complex than windows. The command language is different so if you know windows there a a small learning curve.

 

[Lazy Kitty]

Try a running a "live-cd", it allows you to run linux without having to install it. (it will be slow compared to an installed version of linux, but it should still give you a impression what linux is).

I recommend either Mint [http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php] or Ubuntu [http://www.ubuntu.com/getubuntu/download], there pretty easy for starters.

I'd say you try either this, or you install it on a virtual PC first, that way you can also get an idea of the installation process.

 

[jasoncyrus]

snip

Only get Linux as an OS if you never want to be up to date with gaming ever again.

I personally can't stand Linux because it is a pain in the ass to work with half the time. It's full openess concerns me quite a bit. dsmops2003 states that theres very little viruses written for it. Thats because its more fun to mess with windows because a lot more people use it. If they turned their attention to linux and actually put some effort into it they could turn it inside out without trying.

Linux is for serious computer enthusiasts who like to mess around with their system to the point of mind numbing detail. As ome have said in this thread it requires several hours of proper setup to work properly and has a huge support community. Now the latter is a good thing to be available but NOT a good thing to NEED to have. Which linux does, it NEEDS a huge support community because there are that many versions of it and ways to mod it and ways to accidentally break it.

All in all, unless you're into programming and such like, don't bother with it, to the inxperienced and even the amatuer experienced like myself (Linux laptop) it can be a true pain in the ass horror story at times.

So gnerally, its less hassle and stress to stick with windows, sure it may have its faults but it'll run almost anything right off the bat. Cant say the same for Linux, most of the time you have to fiddle something.

 

[Doitpow]

http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/linux_user_at_best_buy.png

It's true aboutit being less hassle with a mac OS or Windows though

 

[-IT-]

snip

Only get Linux as an OS if you never want to be up to date with gaming ever again.

I personally can't stand Linux because it is a pain in the ass to work with half the time. It's full openess concerns me quite a bit. dsmops2003 states that theres very little viruses written for it. Thats because its more fun to mess with windows because a lot more people use it. If they turned their attention to linux and actually put some effort into it they could turn it inside out without trying.

Linux is for serious computer enthusiasts who like to mess around with their system to the point of mind numbing detail. As ome have said in this thread it requires several hours of proper setup to work properly and has a huge support community. Now the latter is a good thing to be available but NOT a good thing to NEED to have. Which linux does, it NEEDS a huge support community because there are that many versions of it and ways to mod it and ways to accidentally break it.

All in all, unless you're into programming and such like, don't bother with it, to the inxperienced and even the amatuer experienced like myself (Linux laptop) it can be a true pain in the ass horror story at times.

So gnerally, its less hassle and stress to stick with windows, sure it may have its faults but it'll run almost anything right off the bat. Cant say the same for Linux, most of the time you have to fiddle something.

Damn stereotypes! Sure linux can be pretty hardcore, but if you don't have l33t computerskillz you can always pick an mainstream distribution that does everything for you, seriously the popular distributions like Ubuntu can be installed in 15 minutes and supports pretty much EVERYTHING right out the box. The only thing you have to do is follow an easy installation procedure that explains everything step by step. No need to be an geek these days to run linux.

 

[jasoncyrus]

snip

Its not a stereotype. Its from experience. I have Ubuntu on my laptop (Eee PC) and it does have its issues from time to time. A lot more often than windows does. I've never had any issues with vista aside from one time and that was because I'd dowloaded the wrong driver for my graphics card (i accidentally downloaded GTS instead of GTX). With linux I had to download drivers for peripherals like the webcam. Eventually I tracked down an Eee pc version but windows wouldnt have had that problem. My brother installed windows on his and it worked straight away.

Linux may be catching up to casual use standards but its no where near the level of windows yet. Hell even with installs windows is a case of "Push install and we'll do the rest."

The point still stands that if he hasnt got much experience tinkering with stuff then Linux is not the right choice for him at the moment.

Plus the fact that no one is willing to charge for their distro fills me with just mountains of confidence /sarcasm. As the world has found, if its a consistently good thing, people will charge for it, from OS like windows and mac, to even hosting game patches. (damn you required membership for free patch >.>)

EDIT: I am curious to find out if it's any better at playing games yet. Last time I tried it, which was a while ago now, it through up some truely wierd errors and I've heard about cursor errors that windows doesnt get which means more fiddling with the OS. Fill me in on the latest please?