Isnt it ironic how the best operating system is FREE?

Question

I refer to Ubuntu 7.10

Its not a resource hog like Vista

The graphics are better than Vista

Its FREE unlike Vista that costs mega bucks.

How many of you have made the switch to Ubuntu 7.10, and put Vista down as an expensive mistake.

The best is free, watch out microsoft.

Answer 1

I'm a long time Linux user and I can tell you that Linux can do anything that windows can do. Most people just get frustrated when configuring Linux and give up, it is difficult in the beginning but if you stick with it you'll love it. And for the guy with the sata controller comment, it's common knowledge that you have to load the drivers from a floppy when dealing with that type of hardware. I do it every week for customers without any issues at all.

Most of the world loves windows because it removes the need for thinking, it's so dumbed down it isn't funny. If you like to understand how things work behind the scenes and get your hands dirty when installing and removing programs, tweaking config files to improve performance from the commandline, then you'll love linux.

Naturally gamers have a legit gripe when it comes to Linux because most games require directX support which Linux does not support. I still use xp pro on my game box for this reason, but I will only game with windows, that browser or email client never gets used!

Answer 2

Linux distros are the best because some of the best programmers in the world make them. It's amazing how they can make an OS look 100 times better than Vista, but run in under 256 mb of RAM. I'm even trying to convince my school to put Linux on their computers. Linux can do everything windows can do and more, there's even a program that will run in linux that can order pizza:
http://www.beigerecords.com/cory/pizza_party/

I do have to give Microsoft some respect, though. Their OSes are the most popular and widely used.

The Linux community is growing and hopefully Linux will soon be the OS used by the majority of computer users.

And what version of Linux did wocsop use?
Ubuntu has way better hardware detection than Vista and the only configuration I had to do was install the updates. And for games, most games will run fine in Linux under wine or cedega. Some games even run better in Linux than they do in windows

Answer 3

It really depends on what you are looking for. Linux is and always will be an OS that is free for development by the users (to a limited extent). Vista is developed by MS employed programmers and developers. Linux in its many formats is available on the open source market (usually free) whereas vista is patented by MS and therefore very costly. The biggest factor to look to though is the fact that most software is developed to operate under the windows (XP, Vista) environment as this is the international business standard. I know that there is WINE (windows environment) add on for linux but one must still search for, download and install add ons to enable the use of many facilities whereas these are standard with windows.

I do agree that much of the Linux system is superior to the windows OS although I use Knoppix Linux as opposed to ubuntu (prefer it and find it better still) which runs from a live CD. I still have XP installed on my laptop and PC's but use the Linux system for networking as it is by far easier to use than Windows server 2003 or SQL server and also because it is free ( would have cost me a couple of grand for windows server).

Join the future.

Answer 4

The problem with Windows is that it is constantly under attack and therefore you have to buy other products to protect it - like anti-virus, anti-spyware etc

Linux is more secure, but one of the mistakes a lot of people make using Windows is to surf using an account with Administrative privileges and that makes them vulnerable to attack. If you use Linux the likelihood is that you do not surf the net as root.

Linux can be more difficult to use, even for experienced users, and in addition to there being a lack of software, sometimes it can be difficult to get certain devices working compared to Windows. It is not the fault of Linux though, it is because manufacturers either do not write Linux drivers or they will not disclose details about them.

Answer 5

What's the criteria for the "best" OS? Nobody actually _uses_ OS. People use applications like games, word processing, spreadsheets etc. It doesn't really matter what's the platform, it's the applications that matters.

Every OS has it's pros and cons. No OS is totally secure or trouble-free. Some are free and for some you have to pay. You should first think, what applications you want to use and then consider what's the right OS/platform for you.

Answer 6

I tried Linux Ubuntu a few months ago. I liked the OS and the ease at which it was installed (basically just drop in the CD). But I found many of the programmes, in my opinion, inferior to even Windows freeware. I used it for about a month and then deleted it. But maybe I'll give the latest version a go when it's comes out on a CD.

Answer 7

For now XP does the job quite satisfyingly, and recognizes more hardware then both Linux and Vista. (and ran on 128 MB ram for years :oops: )

Does Ubuntu recognize (unknown?) SATA controllers? Because I have by now tried 5 recent Linux live distro's on THREE different PC's and none of them work. (Fedora Rawhide-2007-10-11-I686-Live, Fedora 8 test-Live KDE i686
Knoppix 5.1, knoppix-old, SUSE 10.3 DVD-live and altogether they magened on only ONE pc to see the the harddrive, but refused to mount the partitions.

(usual advise is to set the drive to RAID, which would disallow me using the currently installed windows , and nobody gives the dangers so I am hesitant to try)

Answer 8

Well, look at other things. Until this copyright and patent and such things came along, everything was free, save the labour costs. You are brought up to believe that copyright and patent is a natural thing that cannot be challenged at all. So, when you see something out of the line, you find it 'ironic' in your own words.

This is a sign that you are beginning to question the authority and not taking it for granted. Welcome to the party ;)

Answer 9

I love Ubuntu, but Microsoft Windows is a great OS too. MacOS/OSX is the only one I really don't care for.

Answer 10

The only downside is that its not compatible with most games, both linux and vista, which is why i stuck with XP