Windows 7 or Ubuntu 12.10

DonR8

So my laptop has just crash, Hard-drive is f**k. Anyways i was thinking of installing Ubuntu on it, all i be doing is gaming or browsing the web.

Has anyone here use Ubuntu before if so what advantages does it have over Windows 7 ?

Why Ubuntu want to try something new.

kaisersoze

If you haven't used Ubuntu before, I would suggest another flavour of linux like Mint. No disrepect to you, but its idiot proof.

The main advantage is everything is free and no antivirus required so you should see things working quicker.

Ubuntu is great, but I dont believe its for newbies.

kaisersoze

BTW, here is a good list of linux distro's and where to get them

http://distrowatch.com/

DonR8

Do you know if VMware have any free downloads where i can test Ubuntu on a VM?

GreenWolfe

Official site is here, but the images aren't up-to-date.

There are other sites that provide images, like vmplanet.net but I've never used them before - so I can't vouch for that site.

The best idea would be to download a few distros you like the look of and install them. If you want to install a distro on actual hardware it would be a useful practice run.

DonR8

There is one VM workstation


Looks fairly handy to use.

Grudaire

Alternatively just burn a live CD/DVD - it's a safe way of trying linux without installing anything

It will run slower than it will when it is installed, but you'll get a feel for the distribution, and get to see whether it plays nice with your hardware!


My advice would be to install Linux Mint, I've had no issues running steam on Mint. plus it skips all the hassle of installing video codexes etc

croo

DonR8 wrote: »

all i be doing is gaming or browsing the web.

Any specific game or genre?
I know there is a big thread here on Steam on Linux but if you have specific games in mind it still possible that they will only be available on windows (or a console)!

DonR8

croo wrote: »

Any specific game or genre?
I know there is a big thread here on Steam on Linux but if you have specific games in mind it still possible that they will only be available on windows (or a console)!

just like fifa or racing games and maybe ps emulators, but mostly online browsing

Dymo

Definitively windows 7 for practical reasons, and gaming but once you have that installed you can just install Ubuntu on a new partition and see which you like best. I use Ubuntu at work but it has it's limitations.

Grudaire

I would disagree on the limitations aspect. Unless you have quite specific needs most things work smoothly on Linux.

Realistically if you are interested in using linux as an alternative to Microsoft you should throw yourself into linux 100% for a few days. otherwise you will just gravitate to the familarity of Windows.
Force yourself to figure out any quirks and to get the programs you want working. I'm not saying linux is harder to use (it's not!) but it is different! You'll just have to get used to some of the differences!

BopNiblets

Cliste wrote: »

Alternatively just burn a live CD/DVD - it's a safe way of trying linux without installing anything

Don't forget LiveUSB!

Can use UNetbootin to create USB (an old 1gig one would be good) from LiveCD iso file.

Orion

If you're considering open source then try Virtualbox instead of vmware. https://www.virtualbox.org/