Windows XP vs. Linux

linux will support anything, as long as there are writers that support the same cause, open source has its pros and cons

your computer literacy on a scale of 1-10, if you score higher than 8, then go with linux

 

Ubuntu is very user friendly.

 

they go by user interfaces, and quite honestly, there are 'UI's for windows that are just as user friendly, i know you're looking for an OS that's less of an resource hog, but the more 'user friendly' something gets, the more resources it'll use

hell, you can do everythign u need to do from the command prompt and use a windows 95 to do it

simply put, i suggest someone more sage than myself to hop on in here and offer some better advice

ubunto is the more commercialized interface of linux, marketed by dell, but it's not going to be an easy transition

 

I think for ubuntu the applications list is in the upper left corner, but you can move it around. You should tryout puppy linux. You don't even have to install it to your hard disk, Just install it to a flash drive or cd-rom. It is very light and fast.

 

I was in a similar situation about a year ago (similar laptop specs). I've been using Ubuntu since then. IMO, the UI (and OS itself) is relatively friendly (better than XP in some ways), although I'll admit that I checked out a lot of tutorial videos before hand, so I knew what to expect. Word processing (OpenOffice), web browsing (Firefox/Opera), etc., are all possible and pretty easy to use and keep updated. Installing programs can either be easy or hard. Ubuntu has an application that lets you search for popular applications (Firefox, VLC media player, Vuze, etc.), and installation of these applications is pretty easy (arguably easier than XP). But if an application isn't on that list, it might be harder to install (some sites list instructions on how to install these applications on Linux/Ubuntu). I was able to plug in my USB drive and phone, and it recognized them relatively well (could be slightly better for my phone). Performance is generally pretty good, at least on my laptop. Nothing miraculous (if I have an IDE, Firefox, an email client, etc., open, my laptop will slow down quite a bit), but better than XP from what I can recall.

When it works, it is great. But if things aren't working as they should, it can be frustrating. IIRC, in the first version of Ubuntu I tried, the hibernate feature would not work properly. Also, boot-up time was around 3+ minutes for some reason. I also couldn't easily connect to my university's wireless network (had to use command line). Most of these have been fixed in updated versions, but it can be a little annoying. For some problems, you might be able to find solutions online (e.g., Ubuntu forums). As long as you can follow directions, it might not be too hard to fix, but this is definitely not user friendly.

 

I have a question in the same vein of this topic, so I wouldn't call it thread-jacking. I just got a free laptop that's about 10 years old. 1.5gb hard drive, 40mb ram, 100mhz pentium 1, and no CD-rom drive or usb ports, and only a pc-card network card. I want to set this thing up as my son's first computer with linux on it. I need to be able to load from floppy, and it obviously has to be a tiny footprint, less than a gb.


Any suggestions? I will probably help the OP's decision too.

 

there are some other distros of linux you can get. the KDE i think its called offers a more windows like look. I recently saw a distro called Linux Mint that looked pretty good, I might try it out at some point. The thing about linux and it was mentioned before, the more you wanna do the more it might get complicated. A lot of your standard stuff comes pre equipped with what you need (open office for typing documents etc). If you run into a snag though, you might be spending sometime on some linux forums trying to figure stuff out.

 

You could 'try' out XP Lite. It's a program that strips down XP. I've never used it but I have friends that have and raved about it.

 

i'd say it depends what you mean by flexible. it can be really flexible depending what you wanna do. basically if someone develops a program for it...it can do anything. it all depends if you are willing to put in the troubleshooting time when you run into a snag

 

You can try before you buy. Ubuntu instances (free) can run on VMPlayer (free)

VMPlayer
http://www.vmware.com/download/player/

VMPlayer Instances (aka Appliances)
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/
a VMPlayer Instances for Ubuntu 8.04 Desktop
http://www.vmware.com/appliances/directory/1224

 

I agree with this.

You should make a list of applications that you plan to use. Ubuntu is a fine OS for web browsing, music playing, torrents and email reading. If you have some more serious needs like email reading via Outlook replacement or money management via a Quicken replacement or image manipulation via Photoshop etc., you might get into the weeds real quick.

 

Quicken is what stopped me from making the switch a couple of years ago. Ubuntu's interface is fine, installing applications can be a small pain, but until Wine improves enough or more key apps don't appear for Linux, I'm gonna stay with Windows.

 

Linux is breeze of fresh air if you know how to mess with it.
For family use, I don't recommend it, just not worth the hassle. But if you want to do a lots of cool things with a lots of control, Linux is the way to go.

 

Jeremiah,

You need something called Damn Small Linux.

http://damnsmalllinux.org/

Ari,

I would suggest you download ubuntu or CentOS, and put it on a CD or DVD. I believe both distros are live, meaning you can use them to boot up your PC. Once you have done that, you can try them both out and see how they feel.

As far a resources go, I would recommend just typing "linux windows" in the search at digg.com. You will find a lot of great articles there on the subject.

 

I think you'll be fine. You won't be able to run MS Office, but OpenOffice.org offers all of the functionality that 98% of users need there and is actually pretty advanced in its own right. I'd argue that for a good range of hardware, Linux is actually more plug-and-play than Windows is. With most modern distros you don't ever have to fumble around with drivers and support software for common hardware like a video card, printer, TV tuner, USB devices etc... everything is automatically configured for you. You can plug your USB memory stick in and watch a window automatically appear asking you what you want to do with it, etc. You'll be able to do everything you want on the web -- Flash is basically equally functional on Linux as it is on Windows these days. Adobe Reader, Java plugin etc. are available in Linux versions. One of the unknown great things about Linux is that there is a free app that does just about anything you want. The drawback is that often the free versions of the apps are not as good as the commercial apps available for Windows, but they often work well for most users. There are plenty of photo management and manipulation apps, from Google's Picasa to the GIMP/Krita. Addictive games. Music and media players like Amarok (iTunes equivalent, but no iTunes store). Personal information managers/organizers. Financial software (but none as good as Quicken). There's even software to sync your phone with. And don't listen to anyone who says you can't find an Outlook replacement on Linux. Evolution will connect seamlessly to your office Exchange server.

And here's the best part: if you're willing to fork over $70, you can get CodeWeavers' Crossover Linux that will let you install and use most of the Windows software you want directly on Linux. That includes Photoshop, MS Office and anything else you're thinking of.

If you're running Slackware, yes. If you're running a user-friendly distro like Ubuntu or Mandriva, not really. I've had far smoother experiences installing and using Linux on some machines than I could say for Windows, and that's not an exaggeration. As far as layout goes -- both Gnome and KDE, the two most popular desktop environments available for Linux, are similar enough to Windows that you won't have any problems getting around. And you'll be pleasantly surprised to find many desktop productivity enhancements exist on Linux that either aren't available on Windows or are difficult to obtain -- e.g. 3D compositing desktops/desktop cube, virtual desktops, expose functionality, easy window management (alt-drag a window to move it instead of fishing around for the title bar), rolling up windows, and sloppy focus (window with the cursor over it gets focus instead of always having to click). And if you ever learn how to use the shell, you'll find a lot of things are really easy to do with a quick command that would save you the time and effort of searching, pointing and clicking.

There are many different Linux distributions ("distros") available. Like others have said, Ubuntu is the most popular these days, and generally thought to be the most user friendly. Personally I've used Mandriva for a long time and I love it. Most of the well-constructed distros will give you an option at install time -- either to wipe your drive and install afresh, or automatically resize your existing Windows partition to give you a dual-boot config (you choose from a menu at bootup whether you want Linux or Windows). I'm pretty sure Mandriva and Ubuntu both offer this.

Have fun.

Some of the stuff people are saying is true ... sometimes certain problems can give rookies a lot of hassle, but it's not nearly the "advanced user" OS many people think it is these days. You can very easily find the answer to most questions with a simple Google search. And you probably won't hardly have to lift a finger to get it installed and running.


@Jeremiah:
Your laptop is probably too old to run any mainstream distro of Linux or modern KDE/GNOME environments. Those things require modern hardware to run, too. But there are lightweight distros and desktops available for people just like you. Here are a couple of links that might be useful to you:
http://www.abzone.be/Review001_p001
http://vectorlinux.com/