Linux v Windows

Engine No.9

Following on from a thread I started yesterday about my slow-ass laptop, it seems my celeron processor just isn't up to scratch so I've been looking at getting a new one since. I'm toying with the idea of bringing one in from China but the ones I've looked at are all Linux based. Are there any advantages to using a Linux based system over Windows and will I be able to use the softwares I currently have installed (MSOffice, Chrome, Vuze, Real Player etc)? I also have a Toshiba STOR.e external HDD, would this be compatible with such a system? I thank you for your time.

Khannie

The main advantage for my money is that all of your software comes from a trusted source (this is a fundamental difference versus windows) and generally results in you not downloading malware / viruses etc.

Windows specific apps (e.g. office) will not work. There are free alternatives (LibreOffice).

Chrome, firefox, vuse all work.

Your external drive will work perfectly.

Linux is generally more lightweight than windows (there are perfectly good versions that run perfectly on 1G of RAM).

HOWEVER, Linux is slightly more complex to use than windows. The fact that you had to ask the questions that you did would make me a little cautious. You can try linux right now if you have a USB drive. There are "live" versions that boot off the USB drive and don't change your computer in any way. It's like a test drive. You should give that a whirl. It will be slower than it was if you had it installed because it's running off the USB drive however.

eire_sai

Try is on VirtualBox and see for yourself.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

yoyo

Rather than buying a new Linux laptop (and if going the Linux laptop route I would strongly advise you do not go for devices running on ARM processors) why not change your laptop from Vista to a Linux distro? I am using Linux Mint at present which I like, although it is a bit resource heavy. Lubuntu is well worth checking out and runs very well even on low spec machines. I certainly wouldn't rush into getting new laptop, without trying Linux on your current machine first. You can also install Linux while retaining your Windows Vista install. "Dual booting" the system

Nick

Torqay

pajopearl wrote: »

will I be able to use the softwares I currently have installed (MSOffice, Chrome, Vuze, Real Player etc)?

Office? Depends on the level of compatibility you need but most linux distro come with Open/Libre Office, Softmaker Office is also available for Linux, or use a combination of AbiWord, Gnumeric and Scribus.

Chrome? Yes.

Vuze? Yes, and a plethora of other Bittorrent clients.

RealPlayer? Thank God, no!

etc? There are Linux alternatives for pretty much any Windows program.

pajopearl wrote: »

I also have a Toshiba STOR.e external HDD, would this be compatible with such a system? I thank you for your time.

Many modern Linux distros come with read/write support for NTFS (if not supported out-of-the-box, it can be added). FAT32 is no problem either.

PropJoe10

The only area where Linux lags behind Windows (at the moment) is gaming. Everything else that you can do in Windows, you can do just as well in Linux.

LibreOffice is a good alternative to MS Office, but if you are using MS Office on one machine and LibreOffice on another when working on the same documents, you may have formatting issues. Thats the only possible problem you might encounter.

As someone said before, I suggest you try a Linux distro in a virtual machine (VirtualBox) before formatting your hard drive and changing over. Its not that complicated to use Linux but there is a bit of a learning curve at the start, as there is with any new operating system you might be using.

Lubuntu is an excellent choice for lower memory machines. Other than that, Linux Mint has a fairly easy desktop to get used to, its quite similar in ways to XP. Ubuntu is slightly different due to its Unity desktop environment.

I personally prefer Linux. Its definitely worth checking out whats out there - and its fun too, to check out different distros. Good luck!

Engine No.9

I'm a total techtard. I wouldn't have a clue about running linux off a USB drive or even tryin out the virtual app. I'll have a look at it. But assume i'm an idiot, I heard that Windows8 is a much smaller OS that Vista so would it be worth upgrading and would it make a difference? I can get a free upgrade thru my college.

Torqay

pajopearl wrote: »

I heard that Windows8 is a much smaller OS that Vista so would it be worth upgrading and would it make a difference? I can get a free upgrade thru my college.

Not on that Dell Inspiron 1545 of yours with its single core Celeron, it wouldn't.;)

Engine No.9

Torqay wrote: »

Not on that Dell Inspiron 1545 of yours with its single core Celeron, it wouldn't.;)

Balls

pajopearl

pajopearl wrote: »

I'm a total techtard. I wouldn't have a clue about running linux off a USB drive or even tryin out the virtual app. I'll have a look at it. But assume i'm an idiot, I heard that Windows8 is a much smaller OS that Vista so would it be worth upgrading and would it make a difference? I can get a free upgrade thru my college.

Yes.

There was some efficiency improvements from Vista to Win7 and more again from Win7 to Win8. If you can get a copy for free then do so, its a no brainer.

Ideally you'll want to do a clean install if possible and that's where your biggest speed improvement will come from, a clean install does wonders for a slow/cluttered machine. You'll need to take some steps to do a clean install with an upgrade disc but google is your friend.. lifehacker did a guide.

From your comments and questions I can tell you with certainty that Linux is not for you.

PropJoe10

pajopearl wrote: »

I'm a total techtard. I wouldn't have a clue about running linux off a USB drive or even tryin out the virtual app. I'll have a look at it. But assume i'm an idiot, I heard that Windows8 is a much smaller OS that Vista so would it be worth upgrading and would it make a difference? I can get a free upgrade thru my college.

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-IE/windows-8/system-requirements

Have a look at that and compare it to your computer specs. I would imagine that Win8 wouldnt be great running on an Intel Celeron processor but give it a try if you wish.

nagilum2

eire_sai wrote: »

Try is on VirtualBox and see for yourself.

https://www.virtualbox.org/

He might not performance that makes him want to switch if he's using virtualbox.

pajopearl, if you are considering getting a new machine no matter what you might consider setting up a dual boot or even backup and install linux on your existing machine. It'll give you a much better idea of whether it's for you.

I have 2 linux machines set up in our house and one of them is almost exclusively used by kids. The UI has definitely gotten to a point where it's quite user friendly (although you might have to still do a few things with the command line depending on what you're trying to accomplish).