For new Builds Consider Ubuntu

[Khalil]

I have been an Ubuntu user for many years but I have never recommended it to general users, people who are not tech savvy because it used to require some scripting and manual installation of drivers and software.

I have sold many school districts, government offices and corporations entire networks with servers and pcs running on the Ubuntu platform and I have to say, those customers are a lot more satisfied than others I have sold networks based on MS. The savings in the OS alone saved them enough they were able to buy a lot more hardware for the budget they had.

The newest version of Ubuntu, the 10.04 is completely self loading, it is much faster and easier to use than Windows 7 and Windows Vista. All the way from installing drivers to finding printers, network and sharing is all automatic. Security is substantially better than windows and sky is the limit when it comes to customization.

It is Free, you download it, burn it as an ISO and never ever have to worry about piracy laws, stickers or activation codes, it includes all the software you need from office, to music and video play back to games. They have a vault with thousands of open source software that have been tested by Ubuntu who continually updates them, software for music and video editing that could save you hundreds of dollars compared to the alternative. Automatic updates on Ubuntu are very fast and much simpler to use the windows.

It also functions perfectly with most windows based business software out there and is 100% compatible with micro$oft office when using the free open office, that alone could save you up to $499.

Viruses are virtually non existent since the vast majority of viruses and melware are made for Windows you are never likely to need an anti-virus. I have not used one on my Ubuntu systems ever. In the last 6 years using Ubuntu I have never installed an anti-virus on those machines.

If you are a hardcore gamer micro$oft will still have the advantage however if you are tech savvy and don't mind learning and a bit of tweaking you can use Wine to play 99% of games on the market.

I realize a lot of folks probably won't even bother to try this but for those who decide to give this a try go to www.ubuntu.com download and burn the ISO to a CD. You can actually test the Operating System before you install it.
One of the best features with Ubuntu it will always be free and when they release a new version you can download and upgrade it without having to wipe your hard drive or move your software or data.
I hope this post gets stickied, I think it is important people know there is a good alternative out there to windows!

[orbrit]

Thanks Khalil.
I will consider testing this. I'm a network consultant and install Microsoft based networks - most of the LOB software is SQL Server driven (electronic charting for medical clinics/hospitals), and I use Exchange at all of my clients extensively, but for Desktop OS, I think I want to look into this further.

[Miskatonic]

I'd definitely like to have a dual-boot system with Windows 7 and Linux. Been wanting to get my feet wet with Linux but haven't made the leap yet.

[shadowpr]

Just to add, a good alternative to ubuntu is linux mint, which is based off ubuntu but seems more polished to me.

I've been using mint exclusively for the past 2 years I think. Love it.

[gmorrison]

Just want to say something here. Ubuntu is really not superior to Windows, just different. Some things it does better, some things Windows does better. No I am not a Micro$oft fanboy, I run a dual boot windows 7/ubuntu system and love both OS's wonderfully. Linux gives you wonderful security and I always push it for anybody who is setting up a server, it really is superior to windows server 2003/2008 (or iis if you're going web). Greater security, greater stability, and PHP and mySQL are as good as if not better than ASP and MS SQL Server (likewise for the other open source server alternatives).

However even with the new Ubuntu release I still recommend Windows 7 (for awhile I was pointing to ubuntu while the disaster known as vista was rampaging around) for casual users and especially gamers. Sorry but WINE tends to seize up with more advanced programs (like games). This isn't just something I'm saying, this is experience speaking. Wine does great for running things like excel but throw a new game at it and it will often puke on you. Don't expect to replace all your windows programs with open source/WINE (especially if you're a graphic artist... sorry GIMP but with exception to your superior cloud and fractal generating algorithms Photoshop is by far the better program, and WINE doesn't always play well with its filters and tools).

Personally I like my setup of windows 7/ubuntu since it gives the best of both worlds. Mount your windows partition into ubuntu and setup WINE and you can do your day to day stuff on linux without fear of viruses (I'd say BSOD free too but I haven't ever had a single crash in windows since I got 7) and with a buttload of repositories to browse through for delicious, delicious free programs. Then if you feel like some hardcore gaming or the like you can use GRUB (best bootloader ever IMHO) to hop over to windows 7 and rock it to the best version of windows ever put out.

[inflames988]

i'll second the thumbs up on 10.04. The OS has come a long way, but it's initial appearance was always...unappealing.

With the new release, it looks decent right out of the box. Not quite up to par on the UI with OS X or Win7, but not half bad.

That being said, I always find a few little quirks with linux, but that's mostly cause i tend to get into tweaking things too much...

[raftero]

i tried mint and suse both,i have dial up and hi speed is not available. i bought the disk because of the dl time with dial up. the install was easy and everything worked but i was never able to get it to recognize a modem and i tried 3 different ones on each os so i quit. suse is still installed on my spare comp. i try it every now and then, would love to use it if i could get on the internet. i have built several computers but am not the greatest operator however i can usually find problems and fix them but after several days i finally gave up on Linux.

[glc]

When Linux reduces its need to use a command line to the same level as Windows has, I'll be totally sold. That has been my major sticking point for years. I played with a Ubuntu 10.04 live CD the other day and I actually like the GUI - and I'm a Windows 7 GUI hater.

I do plan on upgrading my Win2K machine as soon as I can get all its functions completely taken over by my XP box and putting Linux on it.

Claude, the Ubuntu 10.04 live CD saw my Conexant PCI modem no problem, but I didn't try to set up a dialup connection.

[Khalil]

Originally Posted by glc When Linux reduces its need to use a command line to the same level as Windows has, I'll be totally sold. That has been my major sticking point for years.

The reason why I chose to post this now instead of all the years I have been using Linux, because of the fact you do not have to use the command line for 99.9% of things, I have installed this new version the day it came out and I have only needed to use a command line one time for a terminal services related issue. None of the regular day to day use I have had to do any command lines including installing several windows games using Wine!

[glc]

You may consider this as trivial, but Ubuntu doesn't have a device manager in the GUI. To see all detected hardware you have to use a command line. It's a LOT better than it used to be but it's not completely there yet. YES, I KNOW that Linux is not Windows, but to be a true replacement it must be as easy to use in all respects.

[Khalil]

I never suggested it to be a true replacement but when you consider Micro$oft 7 pro costs $140 for the OEM version and $299 for the retail version, doing a little work is not really a big deal. Ubuntu does have a non-script device manager, you just have to download it, most Linux users are savvier than your average keyboard masher.
Again this may not be necessarily for the totally computer illiterate but for a guy as savvy as you George Ubuntu would work extremely well in my opinion.

[Dave in Houston]

Is there a step by step tutorial on how to make a dual-boot system?

I own a recently repaired Pentium 4 system. When I loaded XP, I made a small partition for software to control the boot-up, and another partition for a planned Linux install, but I don't know exactly what to do next.

So far, I've only spent 15 minutes googling, but if someone knows the precise location of such a tutorial, it would save me some time.

Thanks!

Dave

[Khalil]

You download it and burn the ISO to a CD, then you boot from the CD and follow the very simple instructions. Make sure and download the newest version 10.04, it pretty much self installs all drivers, printers and any and all hardware attached to it.
After that if you need help with anything you just Google it and get any and all answers you may need. But since you asked, here is the Guide https://help.ubuntu.com/10.04/instal...ide/index.html

[The Other Steve]

You've probably found many tutorials by now. This is the one I found most useful: The Illustrated Dual Boot Site.

http://members.iinet.net.au/~herman546/index.html

Some odds and ends from what I can remember: After you download and burn the Ubuntu Live CD, run the included disk-check utility to check the disk for defects.

When installing Ubuntu/partitioning an existing Windows installation, be careful to not move the start point of your Windows partition.

When I set my system up, ext4 was relatively new and there was some discussion/concern on the forums and the 'net about the reliability of ext4 (at least, what I read -- I can't comment about the credibility). Because of that, I used ext3 for my Ubuntu partitions, but from what I see now, ext4 looks like it would have been fine. Ubuntu will be able to read/write NTFS (you will be able to mount Windows partitions and access Windows files from Ubuntu, but not vice-versa -- Windows will not be able to read the ext3 format). My Shared Data partition is NTFS. My Windows 7 partition is NTFS. My Ubuntu partition is ext3.

Get the Ubuntu Pocket Guide.

http://www.ubuntupocketguide.com/index_main.html

Originally Posted by Dave in Houston Is there a step by step tutorial on how to make a dual-boot system? I own a recently repaired Pentium 4 system. When I loaded XP, I made a small partition for software to control the boot-up, and another partition for a planned Linux install, but I don't know exactly what to do next. So far, I've only spent 15 minutes googling, but if someone knows the precise location of such a tutorial, it would save me some time. Thanks! Dave

[XenaWP]

I don't know about Ubuntu, but Linux Mint gives the option of setting up dual boot when you do the installation. Couldn't be easier.

Save yourself some heartache, though, and make sure all your hardware is Linux-friendly. I have a fairly common Toshiba laptop that just doesn't play nice with Mint. The CPU fan stays off until the CPU overheats, then it won't shut off until you shut the unit down. Annoying and kills battery power very quickly.

Originally Posted by Dave in Houston Is there a step by step tutorial on how to make a dual-boot system? I own a recently repaired Pentium 4 system. When I loaded XP, I made a small partition for software to control the boot-up, and another partition for a planned Linux install, but I don't know exactly what to do next. So far, I've only spent 15 minutes googling, but if someone knows the precise location of such a tutorial, it would save me some time. Thanks! Dave

[shadowpr]

Laptops are the only thing that has ever really given me a lot of trouble with ubuntu and derivatives of it.

[Tin]

I run Debain-based distros on all of my systems. Ive been relatively Microsoft free (except for a virtual machine) for the past 2 or 3 years. Most of the potential new users have to keep in mind that Ubuntu only ships with free software, and alot of the proprietary stuff (DVD movie, mp3, WMA support) are NOT included out of the box. You WILL need to go to the command line and add the Medibuntu repository in order to get these features. (The real deal, not reverse-engineered software) Just simply copy and paste the commands provided on the command line. The package you will want to add is w32codecs, or w64codecs depending on which variant you installed. For DVDs you will need the libdvdcss2 package. My favorite feature of Linux in general has been the software RAID support. While it isnt as fast as a true hardware card, it is very secure, and very mobile. You can transplant a Linux RAID to any system. Youre not depending on any card to support your array(s), so if your motherboard or controller card fails, just replace it with a new one and go about your day. As far as general purpose computing goes, Ubuntu and its derivatives are more than ready for your average web surfer, but the command line is still the way to go if you want to do a little open-sourcery .

[shadowpr]

Good point tin. That's another reason I like Mint, it comes with all that already. It plays movies, dvds, mp3 all by default.