Linux based OS

[HayZee518]

Is there any advantage to use the LINUX operating system? Microsoft says it has plans to remove Windows XP off dealer shelves by June 30th 2008. New computers are bundled with windows Vista now. I read that the commands for linux are very different than msdos based programs. Their operating code is freely available online. They say that linux is presently the base for many video games. What about compatibility with windows programs? Excel spreadsheets, word processors, finance tools etc. MAC computers is unique in that its OS is completely different than an msdos based program. Will Linux be just as complicated?

[handyandy]

There is a learning curve, but there are lots of advantages to moving to linux. You don't have the same vulnerabilities to viruses, and the newer linux distributions are much more friendly to novices.

Check out redhat, suse, linspire for a user friendly user experience.

I too am looking for an alternative to vista!!

[zone23]

I guess my question would be is there something wrong with Vista? I take it your thinking of buying a new computer? I use Vista on all my machines it needs a little tweaking but everyone that I know that uses it likes it better than XP. You will find that everyone is different. A lot of the posts on the internet are old and unreliable so be sure to look at the date when reading about Vista. Its like going back to 2000 and reading about XP.

Linux has an open source office suite that will do excel and word documents. I haven't see any financial stuff thats worth anything (guess thats why its free). Linux is free but software can be difficult to find and install. I used Ubuntu and its pretty nice but not my cup of tee, I didn't want to learn how to compile code just to install a program.

One more thing even if MS takes XP off the shelfs your computer will continue to function. XP has a ton of security flaws and thats part of the reason MS wants people to upgrade.

[HayZee518]

Microsoft has been exploited ever since it came to pass. I just got to master win 98 when win xp came out. now that I got this thing just about down pat - they're pushing vista. I looked into vista and can't stand it just like internet explorer 7. take 'em both and start a campfire with them. If I like coors why would I want to switch to budwieser?

[zone23]

Well I guess if thats how you feel then you really only have two options stick with XP or switch to Linux. I don't really feel the Vista push is any different then the XP push its the nature of the beast. I don't think you will be happy with Linux so I would just stick with XP if I were you.

[pbc]

Microsoft is an easy target, but without Bill Gates, the computer world as we know doesnt exist.

I have one Linux box connected to my home network. It's very stable but can be very frustrating installing new hardware and software. It isn't as plug and play as sayyyyyy... Microsoft XP.

I have one Vista laptop and 5 xp machines. A Lot of the software and hardware I bought for the xp's just isn't supported by Vista (all from HP not surprisingly). The Linux box allowed me to keep my scanner and photo printer, but hunting down compatible software was frustrating. But damned if I was throwing out a perfectly good 6 month old scanner and $400 (at the time of purchase) photo printer.

there will never ever be anything Apple in my house. IDontPod

[SlowCoder]

I know this thread is kind of old, but I'll throw my 2 cents in there anyway ...

Linux is an alternative to Windows and Apple operating systems. Just like the other operating systems, you need to learn how to use it. It's about as different Windows as Apple's OS is.

Just because it's free doesn't mean it's sub par. It's built by a huge community that believes in information freedom. (The type of freedom where each person wants to share their ideas, not the type that steals software, music, etc. just because they can.) Open source has come out with some great software, and you can find an alternative to most software for Windows on Linux. For instance, and just to name a few:
* Microsoft Office vs. OpenOffice.org
* Adobe PhotoShop vs. The Gimp
* Windows Media Player vs. VLC
* Internet Explorer vs. Firefox
* Quicken vs. GNUCash
* Outlook vs. Thunderbird
* Nero vs. K3b
These are just to name an extreme few. There are literally thousands of different programs freely available, most of which are of very high quality.

It's typically not difficult to install the software these days, either. Most of the major Linux distributions have package managers that handle everything for you. You don't need to manually download anything, and you don't need to have stacks of CDs with all your programs on them.

If you are interested in trying it, you can download an Ubuntu LiveCD from Ubuntu Home Page | Ubuntu. You can boot your computer with the CD, and see what Linux looks like without touching your hard drive.

What you need to do after that is determine if Linux is right for you. Ask yourself "Will Linux do what *I* need to do?" If it will, give it a run. If it won't, stick with Windows.