I am going to buy a second harddrive for my computer and i was wonderign a couple things. 1)I've heard so much talk about Linux is better than Windows. Why? give me reasons not just your onesided opinions. 2)What type of Linux is available for download? which one would be good for a first time Linux user? 3)I'm planning on installing the Linux OS on the second harddrive while keeping the original as XP. Is this possible? Will most of my programs/applications still work if I try to open them from the Linux desktop? I have a wireless connection. Will I have to reinstall everythign again? Any advice and info, relevent to the questions, will be much appreciated and welcomed.
2006-10-14 17:04:39 · 2 answers · asked by vail2073 5 in Computers & Internet ➔ Software
one OS isn't better than another. It's all about preference. Linux is lacking in game support. Windows controls the PC gaming market basically. Some say Linux is more secure than Windows. That isn't true really. I've never once had a virus, spyware, ad-ware, ect. on my PC (had it for 2 years). Linux does have a hard time with driver support. Most programs are made specificly for Windows. There are plenty of Linux programs out there though. Just not as great or as many as there are for Windows.
There are tons of Linux Distros out there. Most of them for free. Best one for beginers would be Ubuntu in my opinion.
You have to set your BIOS to boot from the second HDD if you instal Linux on it.
Most of the programs will not work for Linux that are made for Windows.
Yes you have to reinstall everything again, like drivers for video, sound, network, ect.
2006-10-14 17:15:03 · answer #1 · answered by horror_master34 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
linux isn't better than windows; windows isn't better than linux. they're just operating systems, and they have different focuses.
it would probably be difficult installing linux on the second harddrive, because most systems expect to boot off of the 'main' drive, unless you get a good bootloader. there's hundreds and hundreds of different linux distributions. the current 'darling' is called ubuntu - just google on that, and you'll find someplace you can download it. you'll have to burn it to CD or dvd.
but there's other ways to try linux. you could get a distribution that actually boots off the CDROM - knoppix is one, Damn Small Linux is another. a good place to browse around is DistroWatch - url below. another option is to download VMware's free virtual server. with that software, you can run another operating system in a window, under windows! it's pretty cool. i'll put the url for that below too. it's pretty freaky seeing another operating system booting up while you're watching it from within XP. ;^)
UPDATE: there's also a prebuilt vmware 'appliance' that's a full ubuntu distribution. you just download the free vmware player, and the prebuilt appliance, and you're ready to try ubuntu. direct url for that added below.
2006-10-15 00:11:44 · answer #2 · answered by anastrophe 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋