Burfoot Report post Posted July 10, 2008 I reluctntly switched to windows from dos shell..now i've been using XP since it came out.. I've been spending to much time fighting viruses and am tired of all the background programs running.. if i want to install something i have to tell firewall its ok then spyware terminator then spy bot ect ect..also i fresh install about every 3 months.. so yes i'm sick of XP and everything i read and hear says vista's worse.. So for you who have thought about switching from microsoft - here's my experience.. A few days ago i switched os to Ubuntu.. here are a few differences that i see: Windows: fresh install put disc in answer a few questions put in a 20 digit code 1 hr later you have a OS..then from cd load anti virus and spywear programs and firewall while waiting a hour for those to download install drivers windows couldnt fine graphics sound and ethernet... a hour later run spybot (before actuling connecting to internet with browser - finds 1 worm and 1 trojan....so begins XP experience.. programs with xp: notepad picture viewer media player (must download codecs for anything to work) explorer (worst browser) update it b4 using..30min decent e-mail program a few games Ubuntu place disk in select take over disk -answer a few questions 20min later you have OS. all drivers found.. no need for firewall or virus programs Programs with Ubuntu: Open office -(compare to micro word) Gimp -(compare to photoshop) Audio/video cd extractor cd/dvd burner movie player and music player version of firefox browser -top rated browser E-mail program there is also a list (500) or so programs you can install with a single click.. What I did when i got to ubuntu - i downloaded Opera browser -selected open with on downlaod and all i did was select install easy downloaded el and installed with a easy script program.. Set my daughters pic as background wallpaper.. downloaded my i-pod to music and ripped a cd to mp3 and added to i pod.. all just as easy as in windows -if not easier.. Oh and best thing? My fps in el went up! and i have no viruses!! So why would anyone stay with Microsoft??? Ubuntu is this easy and it's not the easiest distro out there - look ay freespire or PClinuxOS they are even easier... you can download them and burn to cd any try them without uninstalling windows..i reccomend everyone to check this out Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
korrode Report post Posted July 10, 2008 there is also a list (500) or so programs you can install with a single click.. I think you'll find there's just a tad bit more than 500 Glad to hear you got Ubuntu working and are liking it Bur! I like debian based distros too (currently running Ubuntu 8.04 as well), mainly due to the great package management system and the mass amount of available packages (18733 at last count ^^ ...u see what i mean by "tad" lol). But, i'm a minimalist when it comes to my OS, so next week i'm gonna get Debian Lenny (Testing) 'netinst' ISO (base/core Debian, ~150MB ISO) and build up the OS from that (...just thought i'd throw in my own little Linux story ) Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marr Report post Posted July 10, 2008 good to hear that you're happy with it. work a while with it and you will be even more happy with all the possibilities you have now. my personal highlights are: - the outstanding documentation - the easy configurability (as soon as you know your way around on *nix systems everything becomes very easy) - and of course great stability and flexibility (i would like to add perl to the list but that is somehow offtopic and runs even under windows ) the reason why your fps went up is very easy btw.: microsoft has not much interest in supporting opengl applications as they have their directx (when you're not fast enough make the others slower) and as an advice : if you face a problem it is usually easier to fix than you can imagine. the typical windows error solution of "reinstall and reboot" on the other hand doesn't work anymore, you have to read logfiles and tune settings in configurationfiles and from time to time compile something yourself. you got an os that is talking to you, you just have to listen Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
korrode Report post Posted July 10, 2008 And in addition to the great documentation, the Ubuntu forums have a massive amount of troubleshooting threads already. Most problems i've come up against i've found the solution on the Ubuntu forums... and Ubuntu forums are well cataloged by Google Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kurok Report post Posted July 10, 2008 I love Kubuntu works like a charm Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Hannibal Report post Posted July 10, 2008 My experience with windows wasn't as bad as you made it out to be. I have been running vista for 7 months now, and I don't have any major problems with it. On 2 rare occurrences, my computer rebooted itself uncontrollably, due to some "graphics driver error". Once you clean it up, I think vista is a decent OS. I can boot as fast on vista as I can on ubuntu, at around 30 seconds. My first experience from linux was ubuntu. My wireless driver didn't work, and I don't have the smarts to fix it. I am not tech-savvy when it comes to code. Also, I have a widescreen laptop, and ubuntu doesn't support my resolution (800x1280) that I can see from the configuration options. I tried to install el, and I was given a folder with a bunch of files, of which I didn't know what to do. I like the fact that you have free programs like GIMP, but I wish I could figure out how to set it up to look like photoshop. GIMP also doesn't have (to my knowledge) some editing options I use on photoshop. If I could figure out Linux, I am sure it would be a great OS, but for now, I am stuck with Vista. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ShYne Report post Posted July 11, 2008 My windows xp works with a charm. the only problem i have is the slowness of my computer, it has 256mb ram -_- Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bigshock28 Report post Posted July 11, 2008 My experience with windows wasn't as bad as you made it out to be. I have been running vista for 7 months now, and I don't have any major problems with it. On 2 rare occurrences, my computer rebooted itself uncontrollably, due to some "graphics driver error". Once you clean it up, I think vista is a decent OS. I have to agree with that it is a decent OS once you clean it up. I have been running vista for 10 months and only 2 problems. Graphics driver error twice in a week but it rebooted and worked perfect after the second time. I rather have Windows then Linux. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Schmurk Report post Posted July 11, 2008 Welcome to the wonderful world of Linux Bur! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The_Piper Report post Posted July 11, 2008 I installed Ubuntu 2 days ago on my new comp, just to give it a try, and i must say it looks nice and is fast. Slowly i'm getting used to it since the desktop is a little bit different from SuSE and KDE i was using before. My only problem right now is, from where do i install additional software, e.g. here is now a gcc installed, but all include files are missing, so i can't even compile a hello_world.c which includes stdio.h... On the other hand, i was able to install other stuff like Miro, games and other applications, but i am not able to get a gcc to run.. Is it a special data source i have to add, a hidden category (i *HAVE* a gcc, but i cant install/update it anywhere in the packet manager, same with #include's, libs, etc.) Well if someone has a hint, post here, that might be interesting for others too (points at the 500 available applications for ubuntu ). So off to start Miro and watch Mythbusters i am, lol Piper PS: cya in game, when i found at least some SDL libs to download and install anywhere Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizzy Report post Posted July 12, 2008 Honestly Piper. If you have a little computing know-how, I would recommend Slackware Linux. It is the oldest distro, and not for computing newbies. It installs everything you need right away to compile away, which is a little easier imo then struggling finding packages, updaters, etc. ubuntu does a dam fine job. Slackware also uses kde by default (if you want Xorg windows running) Though it is an option. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The_Piper Report post Posted July 12, 2008 (edited) Umm, i think at least, that i have a little computer know-how, like how to switch on a comp Problem is, that i didnt had a slackware distro here (and a fast internet connection to download it), but just some distros like Ubuntu on some DVD's. And since i want to have at least ONE working linux distro on my new comp, i choosed the Ubuntu one. Lets not start a discussion about distros right now, at least my Vista is dead and i can partition my HD now \ö/ Piper Edited July 12, 2008 by The_Piper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Kedrigern Report post Posted July 12, 2008 In ubuntu sudo apt-get install build-essential install everything that you need to compile simle programs (gcc, make, headers, ...) To install sdl libs sudo apt-get install libsdl-dev libsdl-image1.2-dev libsdl-mixer-dev libsdl-net1.2-dev Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Wizzy Report post Posted July 12, 2008 Umm, i think at least, that i have a little computer know-how, like how to switch on a comp Problem is, that i didnt had a slackware distro here (and a fast internet connection to download it), but just some distros like Ubuntu on some DVD's. And since i want to have at least ONE working linux distro on my new comp, i choosed the Ubuntu one. Lets not start a discussion about distros right now, at least my Vista is dead and i can partition my HD now \ö/ Piper Yes..I am very sure you do mate. I only suggest slackware as a nice stable package indendent platform that just seems to work better out of the box to compile just about anything you like. And Vista is dead...wooot. Piper pked vista! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marr Report post Posted July 12, 2008 Slackware is a nice distro but honestly when you worked ages with suse you're fucked when trying something different ;p to run slackware you need basic vi skills because there is no yast or something first thing to be done in slack is fixing the xkb* settings in xorg (when running a non en* keyboardlayout) ;p i used slackware a long time myself, atm i'm in debian lenny/sid (mixed system to fit my needs) for the debian based systems there is synaptic, thats the source you looking for piper ;p Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
The_Piper Report post Posted July 12, 2008 Thanks, now i could install some needed libs and header files and at least can start the client. Now i have to mess with versions of libraries, i guess, since i see just my char, cant type anything and dont see icons, lol. But why the heck does Ubuntu have 2 or even more package managers? One, which is easily to access from the menu, but doesnt show everything and a 2nd one which lets you install more stuff? Piper Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marr Report post Posted July 12, 2008 One, which is easily to access from the menu, but doesnt show everything and a 2nd one which lets you install more stuff? one is for the idiots unskilled users, one for the average user and teh pr0s using aptiude or old style apt* etc. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
SinS Report post Posted July 12, 2008 One, which is easily to access from the menu, but doesnt show everything and a 2nd one which lets you install more stuff? one is for the idiots unskilled users, one for the average user and teh pr0s using aptiude or old style apt* etc. You mean there's a GUI for apt-get/aptitude? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chatterbug89 Report post Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) gone Edited January 16, 2021 by chatterbug89 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Marr Report post Posted July 13, 2008 yes, hardware issues especially with notebooks are quit a problem , but its quit amazing to see the changes happened there in the past years i remember that i had to build my own kernel using some ultra hacky patches to get my first pcmcia wlan card working (i was lucky to had one that works at all) .. best thing is to look for some information before buying it , http://www.linux-laptop.net/ is a good source. the problem is that many hardware company give a fuck about linuxdrivers or give only out binarys, because they're afraid that some1 could steal their software(that only forces ppl to reverse that stuff) and for some devices its simply impossible to get them work. i have a cardreader in my notebook that dosent work, but i knew its not working before i bought it and since i dont need it - well the rest is working fine, maybe some lil hacks o some places but its working without trouble. the common linux newbie dont really look for hardware compatibility lists, thats prolly the top reason for later trouble as many ppl are not used to all these things. but looking back i think we'll see many improvements in the next years. i would really like to see more hardware support under freebsd, too. nice system but as long as there is no way to get all my tiny toys (like dvb-t card) working i wont really use that system. anything but no microsoft anymore ^^ had so much pain with it ad the worst thing is, after some time of working with it you just dont realize how bad it is. lol all those billions of stupid reboots... "oh wait my monitor went black - brb rebooting", "dang! bsod, rebooting..", "just downloaded newest updates and rebooting. when back on checking out for the updates to the updates and do some more rebooting", "oh new directx and mediaplayer! damnit i have to reboot twice.." , "my comp is so slow... i think of formating disk and give it a new try... and do some reboots!" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
chatterbug89 Report post Posted July 13, 2008 (edited) gone Edited January 16, 2021 by chatterbug89 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites