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Benefit to Using a Linux based OS?
Currently my PC runs Windows Vista, which I have come to hate. I am not in the mood to go out and buy a new Windows 7 OS, but I have been looking at some different linux operating systems. I have become rather curious, as I have only ever used microsoft, what else is there?
My main questions are:
How gamer friendly is linux? I don't mind spending some extra time to download and install a game, I just don't want to have to go through too many hoops. Especially hoops that involve other hoops.
If I were to load a linux based OS, would I be able to get back to my Vista setup if I had to?
Is there a particular OS that I should look more into? I have been looking at Ubuntu the most lately.
Also, I really do not know much about computers,as you may be able to tell from my vague questions, but I like to learn and am willing to research and try. So how easily can one switch from Windows to Linux?
I guess my main worry really is getting all setup into a new system and finding out that I can't do anything due to my lack of computer savy and have to go crawling back to Vista.
Comments
While I understand your dislike of Vista (pretty much everyone hates it) I can't recommend Linux for gaming. Windows games don't play on Linux. You need to run something called WINE (it's a windows emmulator) and it really doesn't work that well for most games.
Bite the bullet and get Windows 7. It is by far the best OS that Microsoft has ever made. If your machine can run Vista, it can run 7.
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What exactly about windows do you hate? I have used both windows Vista and windows 7 and my experience has been MUCH for favorable with 7. Even though Vista has been patched and such I notice it still runs slower and is more prone to get sluggish in a much shorter period of time.
From what I have heard over the years it is possible to play many games on Linux with the use of a program called Wine or something. While it may work I do not think all games will run as optimally or as bug free as they would on a windows PC. Ubuntu seems to be the most mainstream user friendly Linux OS for the average person as it is fairly easy to use.
The problems you are having with Vista may be able to be correctly if it us a techinical issue, but if you just do not like it then the only other alternative I would say is viable for many games is a Mac OS of some sort.
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As a former user of Ubuntu, the top linux distro, I can tell you that as a gamer you will never enjoy it. Its a real pain to get anything to run on it and when you do it will be very poor quality. I do understand your hate for vista. WIndows 7 on the other hand its a great os that runs as fast as anything else out there and of course is the top choice for any pc gamer.
Only other real choice would be osx which honestly is a great os in its own rights. Can't play as many games as windows but there still are a ton to choose.
Thanks for the quick replies guys!
Well, I guess I was just curious as to what Linux was all about. Everything you guys are saying matches up with what I have come across so far. I suppose that although Vista can be awkward, and it has come to be pretty sluggish for me recently, running a Linux would probably not be better and would actually be worse, due to having to use the emulator.
I have seen Windows 7 before, it did look a lot nicer. I had XP for the longest time and I liked that. Then this computer came with Vista and I dont know, its just worse.
Ahh, I suppose for someone like me, I should stick with microsoft before I get in over my head.
Thanks again guys.
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For Windows to Linux users, Please use Ubuntu. You can buy a book called Moving to Ubuntu that will teach you the ropes. After you become familiar with Linux through Ubuntu, you can always move to Fedora which is a Linux fan favorite.
MacOS X is a "flavor" of linux:D
basiclly, if you want to play games, linux is the wrong OS, but if you want to do everything else, linux is great:D
Linux is an alternative only as long as you don't want to play games. If you want to play games, it's too much extra trouble. As much as I hate Vista (I had that piece of sh*** on a laptop and ended up switching to XP after two months), I've now been using Windows 7 since it's release and it's best OS for gaming. I'd recommend just buying Windows 7.
MacOS is based off of BSD not Linux.
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Actually with proper windows emulation software anything can be ran on linxu.. I ran WoW at one time just to see if it worked.
Dustin
Haha, that was pretty good.
Yeah you guys are right. Gaming isn't the main thing I was looking for, but it is a factor to be considered. I think I can suffer through my Vista for a little while longer, as I plan on being gone at the end of this year for two years. During which I wont be gaming at all, so I will look into investing more heavily on a new OS after that. Maybe something better will be along by then, actually I'll probably be ready for a whole new comp by then.
well... if you want to be technical about it, MacOS is based on FreeBSD
but lets not confooze the boy any more then we have to:D
WINE is an acronym that stands for Wine Is Not an Emulator.
If you're a computer novice and/or have gaming as the real purpose, then don't mess with Linux. It has its uses, but it's not for you.
It's actually very hard to make it so that you can have arbitrary hardware and arbitrary software and it just works. Microsoft is very good at doing that, which is the main reason why they're such a big company.
But ya...if you are a gamer, don't use Linux unless you are going to be dual booting. Linux is for super villians.
Well there it is, I did say I did not know much about computers, haha.
Anyway, the big tragedy in all of this is, of course, that there isn't an MMO at the moment that I would really miss if I HAD to switch over.
Hey, I run OSX on a hackintosh, and Linux on an older laptop, and am not a fan of the Windoze environment in any way shape or form.
Truth is however, that you're going to have a pretty poor time of trying to run Win games of a linbox, and you can alwyas go with http://www.codeweavers.com/products/crossover/ or like someone said before, wine, but honestly, if you want to move away from Windoze for your day to day stuff, Linux (and if you're a Linux noob, then by all means go with Ubuntu) is fantastic for it, and if you really want, you can always keep vista on your box, and dual boot. Linux for the day to day stuff, and Windoze for the games.
Do give it a try though, it's wonderful once you get it.
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Check out my side project http://lfger.com/ - a mobile lfg tool for any game, any time.
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Linux has some nifty features like instaling everything from 1 spot and not really caring where it installs, i can setup Ubuntu and all other software i need alot faster then win7. Used to run darkfall on wine. Accually for me it was harded to get my graphics drivers to run then to setup wine. After a while i was like this is getting to be drag and went back to windows
The only good alternative for you with Linux is to add a physical harddrive and install Linux on it, keeping Vista for gaming and use Linux for webbsurfing and other non gaming thing.
Linux is a great OS but not for gamers.
Put 10 bucks a month in jar until you can get W7 (yeah, Vista do suck). Don't download it from Piratebay, that is illegal and and think of poor Steve Balmer that needs a larger swimming pool.
There are user friendly distros and desktops, like Ubuntu 11.04 with the Unity Desktop, and Gnome 3.0 is quite simplistic (I'd argue that it's overly simplistic, but that's another matter). Another user friendly distro would be Linux Mint. However, as user friendly as these are, you would need to learn to use the Terminal eventually, which the commands can range from simplistic things such as downloading and setting permissions, to more complicated commands.
That being said, I think that anyone who spends a lot of time using computers, and enjoys learning about different OS's and how things work, should give Linux a try. It has many useful purposes outside of just a standard OS to run games/browsers/etc on. Even if you don't like it, or have no use for it, at bare minimum you'll get to experience a very cool and interesting piece of software.
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Linux is more for bragging rights amongst people with the 'i'm better than you nanana' attitude now, and of course is/was preffered by hackers, which both of those two things seem to go hand and hand lol.
Not sure how things are now, but there was never much practical use for someone only interested in general PC use, it was moreless just for hobbiest, hackers, or hobbiest hackers :P
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That is just part of the truth, Linux is excellent for what it is made for. More than one of my buddies have an old computer with Linux on as a firewall for example, really great (but I am too cheap to have another computer running always, my gaming one is bad enough).
Linux is stable and very safe. It is not for gaimg, not even close but that doesn't mean it is just for the worst geeks. If you have an older computer for working at home it is great, or one you just surf the web with since you are paranoid.
But gaming on a Linux computer is like surfing the web on a PS3, you can but it isn'tthe perfect tool for it.
wow:D I guess people are getting less and less educated about computers as time goes on...
i'd be willing to bet you have a few linux installs in your house you dont even know about:D most "appliance" class computing device use a flavor of linux. majority of the cell phones use a flavor of linux. alot of HDTV's with internet access use a flavor of linux:D so i guess YOU are just as much of a H4X0R then everyone else on the planet:D heck, my clock with internet radio runs on a flavor of linux:D some microwave ovens and fridge runs on linux:D
so yah i'm better then you cuz i can name like 6 devices in my house that runs linux:D
There are lots of things that run Linux that you may not even realize.
Several home routers run Linux (Linksys is notorious for it).
Many DVR's run Linux (Tivo is really a specialized linux distribution)
There is a whole slew of phones and tablets that are Linux-based (including Android!)
Garmin GPS units
Several various brands of MP3 players
It sees a lot of use as an embedded or specialized system because it's been ported to nearly any processor in use today, and it's liberal licensing policy (you just have to make any changes you make to the code available for use back to the community: The infamous Linksys WRT-54GL router, for instance, had to make their router source code available b/c they used a modified Linux kernel).
It's highly customizable, and can run devices from your wrist watch and MP3 player all the way up to super computers (CERN Hadron supercollider in Europe runs Linux on most of their workstations). It also has (argueably) the best network and multi-account support of any OS - there is a good reason why the vast majority of internet servers are running Linux, it is one of the most solid Server platforms that exists.
That being said, there are some things it's still not great at. Video card drivers, for instance. They exist, and sometimes even saying that is a liberal interpretation. Many of them exist only because some poor hobbyist had one laying around and wanted to get it working. A lot of the "user friendly" features aren't there, because the vast majority of the software there is done by hobbyists, and it really is amazing the amount of stuff they get working in the first place, but their priority isn't always making it easier for anyone else to use. And sometimes an entire area will revolve around one (or a few) hobbyist, and when they no longer have the time or will to devote to Linux, the entire support structure for that particular niche they were serving crumbles along with them (ReiserFS and Hans Reiser - that's a good one to google).
Ubuntu is a good distribution to start with, it's one of the most user friendly, and it has a very active community behind it that is pretty helpful. In the end though, the distribution doesn't matter as much as your curiosity and willingness to just download it and play with it for a while. Some people love it, other people see it as an alien landscape and want nothing to do with it. It doesn't make one group of people any more right (or wrong) than the other, just different.
Here's a benefit. You will spend 90% of the time installing things to run windows applications....oh wait that's not a benefit. Cut out the middle man bs and just use windows. Linux is like Mac. Full of elitist douchebags who dual boot XP and circle jerk over faulty home brewed OS's that crash and are unstable on a default clean install.
Windows provides a stable default install right from the get go and let's not forget a competent server hoster uses windows for hosting as well. Why do you think businesses still use XP, because it doesn't crash every 5 minutes form simple tasks.
When did you start playing "old school" MMO's. World Of Warcraft?