would it be worth installing linux??

[bestax1]

hi ive read about linux and how its supposed to make better use of system resources and be more stable than microsoft os's

if i installed linux how much of my windows software could be made to run on it?

how hard is the install and configuration?

would i get much benefit over windows?

my main use for my pc is studing for college and a bit of gaming in my hours off (cant stand most tv). my main packages used are ms office and visual studio(thats what they use at college)

cheers in advance

[copyright_1978]

It mainly depends on what you want to do with it. If you're going to use it purely for learning then I would suggest you get Mandrake, but if it's for development purposes get Redhat.

Now, the word 'stable' doesn't exactly mean that it will never crash, the people who develop the progs are human after all, and to be honest, my win XP has only crashed twice in the 4 months that I've had it, however my Linux Box has alwayse crashed but I've easily managed to work around the problem.

Also, Linux does require you to do quite a bit of configuring, it's not as simple as windows and is also a lot more complex. You can you wine to emulate certain MS applications such as Office, though at times this may hang. Your best bet is to actually install Linux as a host OS on a virtual machine (VMware).

[bosco]

If you can, install Linux on a different/older machine to see if you like it and if you screw it up, you can always reinstall. Iv been playing with Mandrake for about a week now and it's not easy. The install was easy but simple things like getting the sound to work might take a while. It's a challenge and it's fun. It only cost me 12 bucks and that included shipping.
Learning is slow going because most of the documentation/help is on the internet. You have to look/dig for it. Alot of trial and error. Find youself a good Linux forum and ask lots of questions.

[Computer Hobbyist]

I think Linux is worth it, but I am not a gamer. I find Linux to be very stable in comparison with Windows based products. It does require some effort and a little thought, but you can do nearly anything with Linux you can do with Windows and a lot more. On reflection, I don't think Linux is that much harder than Windows. I think it seems harder because you have to learn some new concepts and increase your vocabulary by a few hundred words. Freedom always comes with a price.

BTW there is some software (wine) out there that allows you to use many of your Windows based applications, but it's pretty resource intensive. Frankly, I don't think it's worth the effort. For general office work programs like Star Office will translate your files in and out of a lot of Windows based formats.

Finally, Linux is a lot cheaper than Windows and you don't have to ask Bill for "authorization" whenever you upgrade your computer.

As to the lack of documentation, when was the last time Windows shipped with a good manual?

CH