linux vs xp

[mossad]

ive always used xp is it difficult to learn linux over xp (just normal user who plays games) What does linux interface look like.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

While I find XP to be a real kludge, there is a learning curve to Linux. Of course, if you are a complete computer noob, then learning XP or any one of the latest Linux distros would be about the same (IMO). I suggest you try one of the Live CDs (Knoppix being most popular) and/or Mandrake if you are truly interested.

Though gaming is still limited under Linux, be thankful that you have an nVidia based graphics card. 😉

Note: the interface isn't limited to one single GUI like with WinXP, and you can make it look identical to XP if you wish.

 

[imported_fungus]

It's going to be hard. If you're really interested and think it's worth the time, learning to use Linux is definitely worth it. It's a steep learning curve, but if you do enough research it should be a great experience.

 

[Hyperblaze]

if you grew up in DOS, you'll find that the CLI (command line interface) in linux is a piece of cake

linux is a lot of fun. I always have much more fun in linux then i do in windows. just the control i have 😉

 

[Malak]

Originally posted by: fungus
It's going to be hard. If you're really interested and think it's worth the time, learning to use Linux is definitely worth it. It's a steep learning curve, but if you do enough research it should be a great experience.

It's not worth it necessarily. If he's just a gamer, then windows is best for him. Everything I do is done best on windows too. Linux is not the end all OS and windows isn't the crappy OS you'd like it to be. XP is an awesome OS.

 

[Nothinman]

Knowing more is always worth it, just because you like Windows now doesn't mean you will next year.

 

[drag]

I prefer Linux over XP.

Or more actually Debian over XP. It's just a more capable and flexible peice of software, you can do things with Debian that is impossible to do with XP, but XP does most of what most people want.

Learning Linux can be very rewarding, and since Windows XP and Linux share most of the same basic concepts you can learn a lot about both OSes. (ever try to learn OS/400 and you'll see how similar they are. WinXP used a lot of ideas from Unix.)

If your actually interested in OS design, Linux is were it's at. It's easy (relatively), accessable, and completely open. If you just what something to use, then use whatever. Some people like Linux more, some people like Windows more.

 

[Shenkoa]

Linux is for C+ nerds.

Windows XP is for everyone else.


My real 2 cents, ok Linux is good for a few things but XP is good for a lot of things. So overall XP is better for the user and requires less manual configuration. Linux is the best in the server enviroment.

 

[Nothinman]

The only thing Windows has over Linux is games, and most games these days are crap anyway.

And whats a "C+ Nerd"?

 

[Wik]

I use my linux box for most things but games. Open office and Ximian Evolution takes the place of office. Mplayer for video and audio needs. Mozilla to surf, gaim for IM, etc, etc. Oh, and it just works better. Who needs windows if you don't want to play games?

 

[skene]

I'm a pretty avid Linux user, using it both at work and at home ~80% of the time. If you're mainly a gamer and don't care about playing around with random crap on how you setup your system, stick with XP. Linux is lots of fun to mess around with, and DEFINETLY a better environment for programming in, but seriously lacking in ease of use and for gaming compared to XP.

As for what it looks like...it can look like just about anything you want. That's the beauty of it. You can make it look and act like XP if you spend the time to do that.

 

[Davegod75]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
The only thing Windows has over Linux is games, and most games these days are crap anyway.

And whats a "C+ Nerd"?

what about software and driver support? Its a chore to things in linux that are easy to do in windows like upgrading/installing video divers.

hardware support is much much better in windows as well. i.e. scanners

 

[drag]

Originally posted by: Davegod75

Originally posted by: Nothinman
The only thing Windows has over Linux is games, and most games these days are crap anyway.

And whats a "C+ Nerd"?

what about software and driver support? Its a chore to things in linux that are easy to do in windows like upgrading/installing video divers.

hardware support is much much better in windows as well. i.e. scanners

Try installing Windows on a powerpc machine and see how it goes. Or try setting up WinXP to run native 64bit on a AMD64 machine and see how fun driver support for Windows is. I think that Linux supports over twice as many hardware devices as Windows 2000. (most of it is probably older legacy stuff, though). 😉


The most difficult thing in Linux is getting support for shoddy/badly supported hardware (by it's own manufacturer) hardware. As long as you aviod dickhead hardware vendors then Linux is a breeze to install and setup.

Windows is easy as long as everything works. It's impossible to fix when stuff doesn't work correctly. For instance I tried dual booting WinXP for a while, but it was a huge pain. The dual monitor support was lack-luster and window management leaves something to be desired. I have a ATI Wonder-VE tv card that absolutely refused to function properly.

ATI claimed it was driver conflicts with my Nvidia video card. However in Linux it "Just Worked" (tm).

In Linux you have to be circumspect on what hardware you want to run. Some hardware manufactures are pretty much @sshats when it comes to Linux, and if avoid the badly supported hardware, using installing and upgrading system can be just as easy as it is in Windows, and often easier. Especially when it comes to moving user configurations from machine to machine, or upgrading your OS, or upgrading your hardware, or transfering you OS from harddrive to harddrive and machine to machine.

 

[AnonymouseUser]

Originally posted by: Davegod75
what about software and driver support? Its a chore to things in linux that are easy to do in windows like upgrading/installing video divers.

You obviously haven't installed nVidia's video drivers under Linux lately. 😉

hardware support is much much better in windows as well. i.e. scanners

That is true, to a point. The latest hardware will have drivers for Windows first since the manufacturers provide Windows drivers for them (no guarantee on their quality), but older hardware usually becomes forgotten and doesn't get drivers for new Windows releases (video drivers being the rare exception). Example: I only recently tossed a Canon scanner that I would have had to toss 3+ years ago since it only had drivers for 98 and 2k . Thanks to Linux support, I got 3 more years use out of it.

 

[Nothinman]

what about software and driver support? Its a chore to things in linux that are easy to do in windows like upgrading/installing video divers.

Running the driver from nVidia's site is a chore? IME it's a lot less hassle and more reliable than doing anything with drivers on Windows. If you've got an ATI card you should bitch at ATI, it's their fault the drivers suck so bad. For me, support for everything else I need is already in the kernel so there's no need to install/update drivers.

hardware support is much much better in windows as well. i.e. scanners

I don't have a scanner so I can't speak on that. Sure you can pick and choose things that won't work easily, but 'normal' things are generally supported much better in Linux than in Windows IME.

 

[calyco]

Originally posted by: Nothinman
The only thing Windows has over Linux is games, and most games these days are crap anyway.

And whats a "C+ Nerd"?

Yeah most games are just eye candy to me nowadays, maybe Im just getting old hehe. Personally I only like the WW2 genre so Enemy Territory was enough for me when moving over to Linux. Been using Fedora Core for close to a month now, sure theres a learning curve and some reading to do but to me its wasnt all that hard to pick up (consider myself an advanced user in XP). The structure of the OS, all the abbreviations of directories and commands actually make more sense to me. It really is fun to mess around with and Ive learned alot this past month but like said if all you mostly do on you PC is play games then stick with XP.