THX_1138 Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 I know about as much about computers as our dear president knows about foreign policy: very little and the little i know does more harm than good. nonetheless, i manage three computers: mine, my aunt's and my dad's. Add to that, i occasionally do some basic computer repair for a local state congressman for some extra dough. and thus, i have reached the end of my patience with respect to windows operating systems. dont get me wrong, i enjoy using windows and when installed from scratch i.e. without all the preloaded crap, the operating system is a gem! but it's its vulnerability to attacks, in particular material downloaded from the web. for instance, i downloaded what seemed like a fairly innocuous ebook on vector mechanics... well it was a veiled trojan that has now disabled my automatic updates and has considerably slowed my system down. thanks to a rigorous regiment of backup, i have managed to recover all the data i had on the machine, but before i format the drive, i am contemplating a different operating system. i read something about ubuntu here earlier, but did not pay it much heed, though my opinion is a lot more optimistic now. so, to those who use ubuntu or know a thing or two, please address the following concerns: 1. i am assuming ubuntu is compatible with most processors, i have a amd TL-52 (its called a turion 64 x2 something) on my laptop. would it work with ubuntu? their site says yeah, whats your opinion. 2. can i install essentially windows based programs such as microsoft office 2007, mathcad, matlab and mathematica as i use these for work? though i dont use it as frequently, but will i be able to install and run visual studio? 3. what about other miscellaneous softwares? i use rosetta stone for foreign languages and adobe acrobat (the complete 8.0 version)? 4. would i experience compatibility uses with printers and multifunction devices? i uses a canon mf6350 at home and a network laser printer at work? 5. can i run my beloved games on it? i play starcraft and occassionally warcraft.
punjabi_khota Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 I figuered, a comic strip is appropriate. http://xkcd.com/456/ Been there.
THX_1138 Posted August 3, 2008 Author Posted August 3, 2008 u can always dual boot thats what i am considering. though what aditi said... well i did not understand a word of that...
Holysmoke Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 yeah, you're best bet is reinstalling windows, and then ubuntu through wubi
nospam Posted August 3, 2008 Posted August 3, 2008 thats what i am considering. though what aditi said... well i did not understand a word of that... she meant remove/delete windows from your system
THX_1138 Posted August 3, 2008 Author Posted August 3, 2008 she meant remove/delete windows from your system that is the idea... and replace with what?
vadodaravictor Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 Most of the things you want in that list will not run on Linux. So stick to Windows. If you want to switch to Linux, you can still run windows under Vmware for windows specific applicaitons, but that will be too slow. Alternatively, how about having Linux under Vmware or use WUBI :-)
sandtest Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 Hi IT gurus I am also a compooter illiterate pagan. Appreciate, If some one can suggest something to help me in getting rid of this SSMSFilter.exe thingie. It shows whenever I try to shutdown and that prolongs the shutdown time.
Aditi Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 thats what i am considering. though what aditi said... well i did not understand a word of that... I meant to say...remove Winblows and install Linux. Or dual boot XP/Ubuntu as someone else here suggested.
THX_1138 Posted August 4, 2008 Author Posted August 4, 2008 I meant to say...remove Winblows and install Linux. Or dual boot XP/Ubuntu as someone else here suggested. yeah i am contemplating that... though i have exhausted my XP licences so i will most likely go with Vista. i have it running on my laptop and even without the RAM upgrade, its quite good.
Aditi Posted August 4, 2008 Posted August 4, 2008 yeah i am contemplating that... though i have exhausted my XP licences so i will most likely go with Vista. i have it running on my laptop and even without the RAM upgrade' date=' its quite good.[/quote'] Yeah we just got a new desktop at home and its running Vista, and it's not as horrible as I thought it was. Better start brushing up on those Linux commands now!! :-D
THX_1138 Posted August 5, 2008 Author Posted August 5, 2008 Hey thanks everyone for your input. here is a quick summary of some of the ideas i heard: 1. Don't ditch Windows all together, but instead run something called VMware which will permit me to run Ubuntu or other Linux based OS on a windows platform without a dual boot. 2. Go for Linux over Ubuntu...
Holysmoke Posted August 5, 2008 Posted August 5, 2008 eh? Ubuntu is Linux. Gentoo, Ubuntu etc are different forms of linux. I'd say forget VMWare. Install vista, and then use wubi. Very very very very easy to use. Perfect for a first timer.
ludhianvi Posted August 6, 2008 Posted August 6, 2008 the-elite, check out these forums, very helpful and tons of info. There's probably others but this one is not bad. http://www.linuxforums.org/forum/ A sidenote: This reminds me of a distro called like 'Small Damn Linux' . It was like 50 mbs only and you could reboot it from a usb or something without needing to install anything. It turned out to be ok if one just want to browse the internet and do some basic stuff.
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