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R U fedup with Windows XP etc....

Fire-Starter

Fire-Starter

Aug 11, 2002
2,221
150
MINNESOTA
#1
Anyone getting fed up with Windows XP etc....?? I want so bad to move to a Unix/Linuex platform, but I hate not being versed enough in it to the point where I know how to install drivers etc,,,,especially wireless, if I could switch to Unix/Linuex platform that could install your hardware etc (plug and play) like windows, I would switch now. I have Mandrake 10.1 just have not mastered it yet... Windows just seems to have lots of unstable drama:spit:

Anyone here used to be a Windows person but switch, and have NO REGRETTS????:hmm:
 
#2
i'm sick of computers in general. i just bought a 300g harddrive that my mac sees but my 5.0 pro tools system says it cant find.although i am getting a "patch" to fix it, someone explain that. i think i'm going to sell my protools system and computer and just by a board and som adats and do it that way. i am so sick of computer crashes[at work...xp] and software that isnt compatible with other software and all that crap. the only thing that a computer is good for is talkbass.com, ebay and email in that order. if i had a hammer.....oh wait, what is this in my right hand?
 
#3
Fire-Starter said:
Anyone here used to be a Windows person but switch, and have NO REGRETTS????:hmm:
Click to expand...

Sort of. I made a partition for Ubuntu Linux. I would use this as my main OS, but I need Windows to play games. Some of the games work in Linux, but they perform poorly because of the lack of good ATI Linux drivers. If games weren't my thing, I'd delete Windows.

If you have a CD burner and a CD-R lying around, you might want to try downloading and burning a Live CD. You can boot into the OS from this without altering the contents of your harddrive, and you can use it to make sure all of your hardware is supported/detected. Link Removed.

I'd give it a shot. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly Linux distributions.
 
#6
I'm not fed up with XP...

...because I don't use it :) I've been slackware linux for 5 years now and I'd never go back. Linux is Plug and Play, btw, you'll be surprised how much of your hardware IS detected by linux out of the box. The only thing you MIGHT have trouble with is a wireless card. Mine has 3rd party drivers that work great, but you may find you need to use ndiswrapper to get yours working. It all depends.

On the plus side:
No viruses, no spyware, open-source, can go years between reboots, no disk fragmentation (no more scandisk when you don't shut down cleanly), and a great, supportive, community.

p.s. I also have a SPARC box, but I don't have a keyboard ATM :D
 
#7
Komakino said:
I'm not fed up with XP...

...because I don't use it :) I've been slackware linux for 5 years now and I'd never go back. Linux is Plug and Play, btw, you'll be surprised how much of your hardware IS detected by linux out of the box. The only thing you MIGHT have trouble with is a wireless card. Mine has 3rd party drivers that work great, but you may find you need to use ndiswrapper to get yours working. It all depends.

On the plus side:
No viruses, no spyware, open-source, can go years between reboots, no disk fragmentation (no more scandisk when you don't shut down cleanly), and a great, supportive, community.

p.s. I also have a SPARC box, but I don't have a keyboard ATM :D
Click to expand...


Hey, why is it the Unix operating sys is not so prone to virus attacks as windows is? does it have to do with the fact that any changes to the operation sys must have Super user/root approval??? vs windows where things can just install automatically??
 
#9
Fire-Starter said:
Anyone getting fed up with Windows XP etc....?? I want so bad to move to a Unix/Linuex platform, but I hate not being versed enough in it to the point where I know how to install drivers etc,,,,especially wireless, if I could switch to Unix/Linuex platform that could install your hardware etc (plug and play) like windows, I would switch now. I have Mandrake 10.1 just have not mastered it yet... Windows just seems to have lots of unstable drama:spit:

Anyone here used to be a Windows person but switch, and have NO REGRETTS????:hmm:
Click to expand...

Well I myself havent had many problems with XP since it first came out, most of my issues where hardware related and where an easy fix. I would love to get to know Mac's more... mainly for recording reasons.

SP2 for Windows XP has really helped out a lot with hardware detection uses, If I dont have the drivers to a certain piece of hardware I look for them on the internet and if I cant find then Windows still detects them.

Thats just my 2 cents nothing against the linux/unix users out there... what works for you works, just like you like your nice fodera or f-bass when I might be happy with my kubicki or warwick. ;)
 
#10
I'm an XP user. I never really had any major league problems. No crashes like when I had win98 and no scandisc. Running it for a while now and no virus attacks. The only thing that happened a few months ago was some kind of a dialer that I could not get rid of, so I re-loaded windows. That was after two years of use so it was no biggie.


I am curious though. Why is it so much better than XP? Would you recommend it to the everyday user? I like to build my own computers so buy new hardware now and then and like to play games, but really only consider myself an advanced user. I'm no pro, would I benefit from it?
 
#11
Fire-Starter said:
Hey, why is it the Unix operating sys is not so prone to virus attacks as windows is? does it have to do with the fact that any changes to the operation sys must have Super user/root approval??? vs windows where things can just install automatically??
Click to expand...

In linux its called an exploite :D

There are certainly many problems with the current linux systems, they are just not publicized in the same way.

I have two xp boxes that are running stable. I find its not hard to avoid getting a virus, spyware, malware, and any other thing that usualy causes stability problems. I also think that if you are having problems getting winows to run smoothly, linux might not be for you. It is more difficult. It's not impossible or only for the "elite" but it does take a basic understanding of how computers work to keep a linux box running. You should be comfortable using a shell or pompt, because somewhere, sometime you will have to install something manualy.

Another thing to consider is media. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly installs I have found, and when I installed it on my system it wouldn't play mp3s and videos without doing some extra work. It wasn't hard work, but I also do development in a linux/unix environment so I'm used to it. I wouldn't expect my mom to be abble to do it, but she has problems doing anything except Office in windows.

I think you should consider what you want your computer to do. If all you want to do is browse the web and send email, getting a linux box set up to do that is pretty easy. If that is the case, be sure to set up a seperate password and acount for su/root access and NEVER use it. It is hard to mess up a linux box without root access, but it also seems that in order to do anything you need it.


In all honesty, I beleive that if you are having problems getting an xp system to run stable, you will have problems with linux. This computer that I am using right now has xp installed with no anti-virus or anti-spyware installed, it is using a buggy video card and motherboard combo, and it has been running without reboot for 1 week without any issues. Oh, and I'm using IE. I don't even remember why I turned it off. I know it wasn't because it crashed. I use it everyday for everything, even some recording. Despite the evil that is Microsoft, XP is a very stable operating system. You just have to realize that virus.exe isn't a way to send $100 to your favorite charity, it is a virus.



Bryan
 
#13
Bryan_G said:
In linux its called an exploite :D

Another thing to consider is media. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly installs I have found, and when I installed it on my system it wouldn't play mp3s and videos without doing some extra work. It wasn't hard work, but I also do development in a linux/unix environment so I'm used to it. I wouldn't expect my mom to be abble to do it, but she has problems doing anything except Office in windows.

Bryan
Click to expand...

That's not really a fair comparison - Ubuntu doesn't include MP3 support because it conflicts with their licensing. Slackware, on the other hand, supports mp3 out of the box, as do a number of other distributions.

One other thing...even if XP works fine for you (even if it did for me I wouldn't use it...too much is hidden from the user) you'll have to pay when microsoft decide you have to upgrade to the next version. When the next version of the linux kernel is out I just have to download and install it. No charge :)
 
#15
Thats what I'm saying Komakino. Sure linux is great, but you know whats going on. To somebody who only uses windows, no matter how easy YOU say it is, they will have some adjusting to do. There is always something about every distrubution. That is part of the problem with it. If you are having to install 4 different distributions to find one that works with out having to modify anything after installation, you are going to run into problems down the line. If you can't install mp3 support can you fix it? Probably not, a hosed linux install is very hard to recover if you don't know what you are doing.

Having more control over what is going on is the right reason to switch. Jumping on the anti-microsoft bandwagon, and not being able to keep windows clean isn't. There is a certain amount a maintance involved with running a computer, and maintaning XP is very easy.


Bryan
 
#19
Bryan_G said:
I have two xp boxes that are running stable. I find its not hard to avoid getting a virus, spyware, malware, and any other thing that usualy causes stability problems. I also think that if you are having problems getting winows to run smoothly, linux might not be for you. It is more difficult. It's not impossible or only for the "elite" but it does take a basic understanding of how computers work to keep a linux box running. You should be comfortable using a shell or pompt, because somewhere, sometime you will have to install something manualy.

Another thing to consider is media. Ubuntu is one of the most user friendly installs I have found, and when I installed it on my system it wouldn't play mp3s and videos without doing some extra work. It wasn't hard work, but I also do development in a linux/unix environment so I'm used to it. I wouldn't expect my mom to be abble to do it, but she has problems doing anything except Office in windows.

I think you should consider what you want your computer to do. If all you want to do is browse the web and send email, getting a linux box set up to do that is pretty easy. If that is the case, be sure to set up a seperate password and acount for su/root access and NEVER use it. It is hard to mess up a linux box without root access, but it also seems that in order to do anything you need it.


In all honesty, I beleive that if you are having problems getting an xp system to run stable, you will have problems with linux. This computer that I am using right now has xp installed with no anti-virus or anti-spyware installed, it is using a buggy video card and motherboard combo, and it has been running without reboot for 1 week without any issues. Oh, and I'm using IE. I don't even remember why I turned it off. I know it wasn't because it crashed. I use it everyday for everything, even some recording. Despite the evil that is Microsoft, XP is a very stable operating system. You just have to realize that virus.exe isn't a way to send $100 to your favorite charity, it is a virus.



Bryan
Click to expand...
I totally agree. As much as I've wanted to set up a Linux box mainly for tinkering purposes, I have not gotten around to it because I don't need to.

My current system (self-built) runs XP SP2. I have never had a problem (or at least one that wasn't self-inflicted ;)). I don't run anti-virus software at all. I do use Zone Alarm at all times, run Spybot and Ad-Aware once every few weeks, and do an online virus check every couple months. They always come up clean. As Bryan said, if you know what is and isn't safe, it's more difficult to get a virus than many may think.

I don't recall ever *having* to reboot. I do every 2-3 weeks or so, just because. I don't think I can remember ever crashing either, unless it was due to something silly I did. I did have a bizarre Windows issue months ago, but it turned out to be a Zone Alarm issue, and had nothing to do with Windows.

If and when I do set up a Linux box, it'll be out of curiousity and not necessity due to an unstable Windows box. :)
 
#20
Bryan_G said:
Thats what I'm saying Komakino. Sure linux is great, but you know whats going on. To somebody who only uses windows, no matter how easy YOU say it is, they will have some adjusting to do. There is always something about every distrubution. That is part of the problem with it. If you are having to install 4 different distributions to find one that works with out having to modify anything after installation, you are going to run into problems down the line. If you can't install mp3 support can you fix it? Probably not, a hosed linux install is very hard to recover if you don't know what you are doing.

Having more control over what is going on is the right reason to switch. Jumping on the anti-microsoft bandwagon, and not being able to keep windows clean isn't. There is a certain amount a maintance involved with running a computer, and maintaning XP is very easy.


Bryan
Click to expand...

Sure. It took time for me to adjust at first. Hell, I'm still learning things every so often. However I have the mentality that I enjoy learning new things all the time. I think if you're of the ilk who wants a computer to "just (about) work" then windows is probably it. For the moment...

I personally love the open source philosophy (and have contributed a little to it. I couldn't go back to windows now because I disagree with the principle. Think about it...MS word files are great to hide things in because no one knows quite what the file contains. OASIS opendocument files, on the other hand, can be read as plain (well, XML) text in a text editor. If there's something hidden in there it's easy enough to find out.

For me, the benefits of linux outweigh the few down sides (lack of hardware support in some areas is the main one - but that's because of the vendors, not some inherent fault in linux). Plus I'm not a hardcore gamer, I'm happy to play what's available rather than having to play the latest game. If that were the case I imagine I'd at least have windows on my computer somewhere (actually I do have a win98 install on qemu because I needed some spelling software for my teaching)
 

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