Operating Systems

[Leopard]

i'm 100% ok with Win 7 and i've been on apple os's for 25 years

[Jerrod]

Don't bother with XP for the simple reason that they are taking support away for fixing security issues. It's supported for now but eventually (like in the next couple years I believe) they will stop.

If all you are running is web and office apps I would consider Ubuntu with Open Office. I have been using Open Office at home for years now and have no problems. There is no real reason to buy MS Office for home use. The only reason I'm not running Ubuntu is for games.

Here is an interesting article on building a $200 Linux box. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2 ... 841,00.asp

[Parks]

Since budget is an issue, you could just get Ubuntu for free and add it as a new partition and dual boot. My current setup is XP/Ubuntu. I don't have enough RAM to be cool like garu and run one of them virtualized.

You can't use iTunes on Linux, but you can easily manage your iPod's files in a more traditional manner.

Garu mentioned some functionality that iTunes brings to the table that you can't replicate, but I have iTunes on my XP and I'm not sure what he's talking about exactly.

[Blake_T]

my last mobo burnout left me with an upgrade to a sempron 2ghz (slower cpu than i had before) but w/ ddr2 ram and a pci-e vid card, etc.

i'm also primarily running sata stuff cept my os drive is still ide.

i don't really want to upgrade if i don't have to but i would end up going legit with it.

7 is tempting but i don't feel it adds anything i really need.

i've done the linux route in the past and just don't have the patience to learn new shit at this point.

i don't plan on buying a new pc unless i absolutely have to, but when i'm faced with the choice between spending $100 for an os or $150 for a new pc that includes an OEM OS.

i've been using the same case since 1997 heh.

a guy i know is trading me a new copy of xp pro that he had extra for a couple of anime series so i guess that solves my question easily. i'd rather give him some stuff i already have than shell out new $.

[Jerrod]

Your right about 7 not adding anything you need but as I mentioned it's more of a support for security vulnerabilities issue. That being said just make sure you have the latest service pack installed and you should be good for a while.

Regarding Linux if it has been a few years since you have used it or if you have never tried Ubuntu then it has changed drastically in the last few years. You don't even have to setup additional partitions anymore you can just use Wubi which installs Ubuntu inside of Windows. http://wubi-installer.org/

Anyway it sounds like you have it worked out.

[n3tw0rkn3rd]

Since I apparently never actually posted my response earlier this morning, I'll just ignore most of what I had to say as it has been recapped a few times. IMO, you're decision to just use XP is correct. Linux is great, but takes some tinkering to get used to if you're not there, even with Ubuntu. Windows 7 just won't work well on an older system, I've tried.

In response to Jerrod's post, assuming that Dogma's post is accurate, and support will continue through 2020, that means patches until 2020. They don't stop issuing patches until they stop support of the product. XP is still a mainstream product in many organizations, as Vista was a load of dung, and 7 was only released to manufacturing about a year ago. I wouldn't worry about patches.

That said, you can get pretty cheap systems now-a-days that are pretty functional. Most new systems will come with Windows 7, and it's actually much harder to find systems that don't have it. You can find stuff on woot.com occasionally for in the $200-$400 range. These aren't the best systems, but they should do a sufficient job for you.

Windows 7 is by far the best OS that MS has ever put out. It's the fastest thing I've ever used (my gaming system is a year old now, but will logon in less that 3 seconds, and allow me to open programs 2-3 seconds after that), definitely my favorite OS. It takes a little getting used to. The base functionality is pretty much the same, but for some of the administrative stuff it can be a bit different, and the UAC can drive you up the wall until you understand what it is/does :-p

[keltik]

Don't bother with XP for the simple reason that they are taking support away for fixing security issues. It's supported for now but eventually (like in the next couple years I believe) they will stop.

If all you are running is web and office apps I would consider Ubuntu with Open Office. I have been using Open Office at home for years now and have no problems. There is no real reason to buy MS Office for home use. The only reason I'm not running Ubuntu is for games.

Here is an interesting article on building a $200 Linux box. http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2 ... 841,00.asp

that article brought up a thought I've had since about 2002 (when I first built a pc); why in the name of God are they still putting serial, parallel, and ps/2 ports on MoBos? the only time I've seen serial ports used in computing is in industrial applications. and even then it was on old machinery. but for most home applications a serial or parallel port are unnecessary. oh and PS/2 are useless as well.

/rant

[Dogma]

that article brought up a thought I've had since about 2002 (when I first built a pc); why in the name of God are they still putting serial, parallel, and ps/2 ports on MoBos? the only time I've seen serial ports used in computing is in industrial applications. and even then it was on old machinery. but for most home applications a serial or parallel port are unnecessary. oh and PS/2 are useless as well.

/rant

I mostly agree with you, but here are the (mediocre) counter-arguments: Parallel is nice for legacy printers, and there are still some good ones out there that people have no reason to replace. Serial is useful for communications stuff (lots of switches, routers, T1 cards, etc. need this interface for configuration that goes beyond the normal web interface). PS/2, well there's really no need for it (although for diagnostic work PS/2 ports are more reliable than USB. Still not worthwhile though.) Your point is well-taken. This stuff is obsolete, especially for 99% of users. There is hope though. I haven't seen PS/2 on a new mobo or OEM PC for a few years.

[jubuttib]

That said, you can get pretty cheap systems now-a-days that are pretty functional. Most new systems will come with Windows 7, and it's actually much harder to find systems that don't have it. You can find stuff on woot.com occasionally for in the $200-$400 range. These aren't the best systems, but they should do a sufficient job for you.

Very true, and very unfortunate. Even most of the netbooks being sold around here have Win7 installed, which really is a bit too much to ask from them.

that article brought up a thought I've had since about 2002 (when I first built a pc); why in the name of God are they still putting serial, parallel, and ps/2 ports on MoBos? the only time I've seen serial ports used in computing is in industrial applications. and even then it was on old machinery. but for most home applications a serial or parallel port are unnecessary. oh and PS/2 are useless as well.

/rant

I mostly agree with you, but here are the (mediocre) counter-arguments: Parallel is nice for legacy printers, and there are still some good ones out there that people have no reason to replace. Serial is useful for communications stuff (lots of switches, routers, T1 cards, etc. need this interface for configuration that goes beyond the normal web interface). PS/2, well there's really no need for it (although for diagnostic work PS/2 ports are more reliable than USB. Still not worthwhile though.) Your point is well-taken. This stuff is obsolete, especially for 99% of users. There is hope though. I haven't seen PS/2 on a new mobo or OEM PC for a few years.

Many times a computer I've been working on has failed to recognize an usb keyboard and the only way to get them going at that point was to plug in a PS/2 keyboard. So I'm not willing to call it obsolete yet.

Serials are also nice to have if you like to fiddle around building your own hardware (temperature sensors, lighting controllers etc.) from parts.

[some call me...tim?]

Many times a computer I've been working on has failed to recognize an usb keyboard and the only way to get them going at that point was to plug in a PS/2 keyboard. So I'm not willing to call it obsolete yet.

Same here, especially if I'm fiddling around in BIOS at all.

[garublador]

IMO, you're decision to just use XP is correct. Linux is great, but takes some tinkering to get used to if you're not there, even with Ubuntu.

I do agree with that but iroincally, the thing that gave me the most trouble when getting iTunes to work in XP installed in VirtualBox on Ubuntu was, in fact, XP itself. After 5 or 6 reboots for updates and service pack upgrades it decided agasint installing drivers for my USB ports so I had to tell it to install them.

[n3tw0rkn3rd]

I think that virtually everything now-a-days is USB compatible. I think the last thing I remember that had any difficulty with USB support was on computers about 7-8 years ago with Windows 98se in DOS. Either way, it doesn't matter. I honestly don't care what extra pieces manufacturers put on motherboards now. I was actually using PS2 for my keyboard until probably 2 years ago. Just never went back and reconnected it with USB. However, I havne't seen a printer serial port on any of my recent motherboards for probably 5 years or so. Serial is still vital, I use it almost every day at work, and still on some of my devices at home. Yay for switch and router consoles

It doesn't surprise me that I-Tunes doesn't work all that well in XP. I've never used it so I couldn't speak to it. That said, Ubuntu is really one of the most user friendly versions of Linux I've ever seen. It has excellent support for almost everything, even if you have to download 20 updates for it every day.

[Blake_T]

i was just given a free computer today...

i might give unbuntu a shot

how big of a pita is it to install on a fresh box?

[Thatdirtykid]

Takes about half the time as setting up windows. But twice the time figuring out how to do it the first time
Every computer I have owned since 2004 was older than the one before it. (I am currently on a P3 with 2gb Ram and a 8 year old mother board) I don't even try to run XP anymore as the only thing I miss about Windows was winamp, but amarok does everything I need really.

[tgm]

Ubuntu is by far the most friendly Linux out there these days. It's almost friendly enough for mass adoption I believe. I've been running Ubuntu for a few years now and only run Windows XP for a few work things (usually in VMWare) like Visio that sadly there just isn't an alternative for yet.

Ubuntu does some things differently but after a short bit of time I think you'll find it just fine for everyday PC use. My father has been running it for the last couple years now and he likes it better than his old Windows box now. We had a few problems with his old printer and another device but he's all set now. It's very Mac-ish in my ways (which makes sense since mac is really unix).

For applications

MS Office:
OpenOffice is your replacement. There are other options too (all free) but I'd start there.

Photoshop/Illustrator:
GIMP - a bit more difficult to figure out at first, but does basically all of the same things as PS. http://gimp-savvy.com/BOOK/
Inkscape - another useful graphics program (vector graphics) like Illustrator

iTunes:
RhythmBox - default software for Ubuntu, be I'd probably look at Songbird as well
Songbird - It's cross platform so if you switch Operating systems again, you still have it.
note: I just looked for songbird and it looks like it's no longer supported by the developers on Linux, it has now spun off into Nightingale.

Internet:
Firefox or Chrome (I'm now 90% Chrome these days)

Audio:
Audacity - recording and editing


The great thing about Ubuntu is that pretty much everything is free, and they've made it pretty easy to download all the applications with the Software Center.

The bads about Linux, hardware compatibility is somewhere around Windows 2K. Apple could care less about Linux so if you're an Apple fan, Ubuntu might not be a great choice right now. Android however works better, and honestly, is probably a better way to go for many reasons.

The Ubuntu forums are incredibly useful and the user base is generally friendly and eager to help out with any problems. You don't really have to be a hacker anymore to appreciate switching over.