Have you thought about going Linux?

[erots]

When comparing Linux distributions with Windows then it is important to look at what exacly are you comparing.

If you are comparing free Linux distribution with commercial Windows XP then it is not very fair is it?

If you are comparing commercial Linux distribution that comes with all the bells and whistles then it is somehow relevant though.

Ubuntu is very popular but it is one of those free distributions. I personally use Mandriva every day which also has commercial version. Have heard good things about other SUSE too.

Thing with commercial distros is that they have Flash, Java and all such things ready to use. With free Linux distributions you usually have to install them yourself and in some cases it can be real pain in the ass.

[gedeonbacsi]

For me Windows is the only choice. I'm playing with Ubuntu, but I'm much faster under Win than Linux. I haven't got any virus or spyware I just know what to do and what not to do.

[Hentaikid]

Commercial linux distros? Doesn't that defeat the whole point? lol

[fresh]

nope, I don't need to use linux, at least at the moment I am happy windows user

[erots]

Originally Posted by Hentaikid

Commercial linux distros? Doesn't that defeat the whole point? lol

Nope, not really. Well for uber-zealots yes, but take it like powerful product refined by companies who analyze very carefully what the customers want.

Without it it could very often be like anarchy

[DiscoNinja]

At my day job I am maintaining Linux (Red Hat, Fedora, SUSE, Debian) and UNIX (Solaris, HP) servers and I really enjoy working with those operating systems, but those are not for desktops because of lack of tools, they are for servers and they are perfect for them. Specially if you consider a price factor. It makes a significant difference if you have to choose between 100 web servers with free Linux or the same number of Windows machines. Not to mention that almost for sure Linux machines can give you better performances and more stability. I think I have read somewhere that Debian + Apache is the most stable and most used combination for web servers.
Unfortunately, even with my solid experience with Linux, my every attempt switching completely to Linux on my desktop machine ended with coming back to Windows. Simply I could not find a Linux replacement for every software I need

[Varzi Network]

Originally Posted by DiscoNinja

Simply I could not find a Linux replacement for every software I need

I somehow doubt that could could not find software for most everything you do on windows. Maybe the software did not work the same way which would be a different story. I remember buying RedHat power toys about 6-7 years ago and it was filled with tens of thousands of free applications including Star Office.

Back then you actually needed to know what type of Ethernet and Video card was in your machine. You would also have to search for drivers and your operating system could not just make generic decisions for you. That was back in the days of Win98 which was no smarter then Linux at the time.

Today Linux has been made to be as smart if not smarter then Windows in many ways IMHO. I myself will not give up WinXP for gaming but im going to use both for increased productivity. Just as if i was setting up a local server BSD would be a better choice over Linux.

I used to use have one of my boxes setup with Win98se as a backup storage and i had to run an anti-virus since at the time many viruses would target other machines on the network. Plus it had to be rebooted once a week or else it would eventually just lock up for no apparent reason. Back then setting up FreeBSD actually required you to read a 250 page manual to do it properly.

[DiscoNinja]

Originally Posted by Varzi Network

I somehow doubt that could could not find software for most everything you do on windows. Maybe the software did not work the same way which would be a different story.

Nope, simply there is nothing even close to for example IBP and AllSubmitter for Linux. Not to mention PC games for my kid. Of course there is always a possibility to have both operating systems and to use Linux all the time except when I need a software which is not available for Linux. Then I would have to reboot in Windows. I have actually try that but it was really annoying so I gave up. Linux is progressing as desktop operating system, but still not there yet, at least for me.

[a-j]

We dumped Windows completely over a year ago. My machines run on opensuse 10.3, my babe is using Ubuntu. Things are much easier because now I can forget about so called "computer problems" and focus on my work. I've never faced a problem using opensuse, my machine runs stable and secure updating itself frequently.

In this thread most of the people stated they used to "play" with Linux. An operating system is nothing to "play" with, it handles the pc's vital functions. I can imagine that most of the people trying Linux are overwhelmed by the huge amount of software that comes with a Linux distribution and the endless options of configuring your computer the way you want it.

With Linux everything is at your fingertips, you can dig deep in your system and adjust everything the way you want it to be - but you don't have to! I really don't miss antivirus-software slowing down my boot-process or desktop-firewalls "calling home". With Linux I just don't need shit like that.

Sure, there is no thing like photoshop. But hey, that's the price of freedom. And it's not only free it's also for free. By the way: Did you know Linux is #1 operating system in Hollywood? LinuxMovies.org - Advancing Linux Motion Picture Technology

Two more things:
Being a webmaster like most of you folks I need IE for checking the results of my work. I could run it with WINE on my box directly but I decided to use VMware for setting up a virtual Windows Xp inside my Linuxbox. That way I can run both Systems and use those great Microsux products without rebooting or stuff. Very handy tool.

Last but not least let me show you the power in development of Linux. You think Vista Aero was a revolution on the desktop? Check out this video comparing Windows Vista and Linux Ubuntu Beryl. YouTube - WINDOWS VISTA AERO VS LINUX UBUNTU BERYL

Have fun...
aj.

[ScreaM]

Windows is a piece of cake and I'm sticking to it for now. When I have enough money I'm going to buy an iMac.

[Varzi Network]

Originally Posted by ScreaM

I'm going to buy an iMac.

Hate to break it to you but Mac is Linux.

[ScreaM]

Originally Posted by Varzi Network

Hate to break it to you but Mac is Linux.

I thought the Macs have a different operating system? I'm just misinformed.

[Varzi Network]

this is a much better video of the Basic Ubuntu setup that works and feels much like Windows.
YouTube - Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty Fawn Introduction

Gamers edition and if you like those MS card games the standard Ubuntu comes packed with about 10-12 different games.
YouTube - Ubuntu Ultimate Gamers Edition - Games

Anyone who says Ubuntu cannot play MS games with Wine is full of crap. There are many discussions related to WoW players using it. Although version 8.04 seems to have a bug with one of the ms32 libs which was locking up my system. If anyone thinks they can help me get WoW working in Wine ill throw you a few bucks for your trouble.

[Varzi Network]

Originally Posted by ScreaM

I thought the Macs have a different operating system? I'm just misinformed.

Mac OS X (pronounced /mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn/)[1] is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently shipping Macintosh computers. Mac OS X is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. Unlike the earlier Macintosh operating system, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system[2] built on technology developed at NeXT from the second half of the 1980s until early 1997, when Apple purchased the company.

Since Mac OS X is based on UNIX, most software packages written for BSD or Linux can be recompiled to run on it. Projects such as Fink, MacPorts and pkgsrc provide pre-compiled or pre-formatted packages. Since version 10.3, Mac OS X has included X11.app, Apple's version of the X Window System graphical interface for Unix applications, as an optional component during installation.[13] Up to and including Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger), Apple's implementation was based on the X11 Licensed XFree86 4.3 and X11R6.6. All bundled versions of X11 feature a window manager which is similar to the Mac OS X look-and-feel and has fairly good integration with Mac OS X, also using the native Quartz rendering system. Earlier versions of Mac OS X (in which X11 has not been bundled) can also run X11 applications using XDarwin.

Mac OS X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ScreaM]

Originally Posted by Varzi Network

Mac OS X (pronounced /mæk oʊ ɛs tɛn/)[1] is a line of graphical operating systems developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc., the latest of which is pre-loaded on all currently shipping Macintosh computers. Mac OS X is the successor to the original Mac OS, which had been Apple's primary operating system since 1984. Unlike the earlier Macintosh operating system, Mac OS X is a Unix-based operating system[2] built on technology developed at NeXT from the second half of the 1980s until early 1997, when Apple purchased the company.

Since Mac OS X is based on UNIX, most software packages written for BSD or Linux can be recompiled to run on it. Projects such as Fink, MacPorts and pkgsrc provide pre-compiled or pre-formatted packages. Since version 10.3, Mac OS X has included X11.app, Apple's version of the X Window System graphical interface for Unix applications, as an optional component during installation.[13] Up to and including Mac OS X v10.4 (Tiger), Apple's implementation was based on the X11 Licensed XFree86 4.3 and X11R6.6. All bundled versions of X11 feature a window manager which is similar to the Mac OS X look-and-feel and has fairly good integration with Mac OS X, also using the native Quartz rendering system. Earlier versions of Mac OS X (in which X11 has not been bundled) can also run X11 applications using XDarwin.

Mac OS X - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Yea I know about WikiPedia, thanks.

[markz08]

linux is a great operating systme, no doubt about it. I suggest ubuntu though

[colenikol]

Easy way of installing. Great idea. Thanks for sharing

[Mihx]

Originally Posted by a-j

... I really don't miss antivirus-software slowing down my boot-process or desktop-firewalls "calling home". With Linux I just don't need shit like that...

For power users (and most webmasters probably qualify for that label, except for those who hire people to do anything more scary than opening the start menu and launching their work applications ) security problems under Windows are heavily overexaggerated - both by Windows users themselves as well as proponents of Linux, Mac and any other alternatives.

It's certainly true that historically there have been - and still are - a lot more potential threats against Windows than the other operating systems.
But potential is the keyword in that sentence.

You don't need resident virus and malware scanners running and you don't need to constantly worry whenever you visit a website or check your mail.
Hell, if you've got a router with a built in firewall it could even be argued that you probably don't need a software firewall running under Windows (I do currently have the basic Vista firewall running, aside from my router firewall - it's not like it's doing any harm anyway, or using up an even remotely significant amount of system resources).

I've said this many times before in assorted other Windows related threads, but I still feel it holds true - common sense (don't click on the link in that interesting but slightly odd email from sexybabe34y834@hotmail.com), a firewall and the latest Windows updates (the latter in many cases not even vital), and it's quite likely you'll never suffer any kind of Windows security issues worse than a few tracking cookies.
If you want to be extra safe, use Opera or FF instead of IE - but everyone really ought to be doing that anyway, as they are much better browsers.

I do run full virus and spyware scans every few weeks (well, often closer to every few months really) - tracking cookies are the worst that pops up in the spyware scans, and the only two times I've had a virus over the last eight years, were the times where I plugged into a LAN with several hundred users right after a clean Windows installation, with no firewall and without the latest service pack.
User stupidity at its worst - although in my defense (sort of) I had already been stupid enough not to get hold of a firewall before I did the clean install, so I really needed to plug that cable in to get hold of one .