A Hardcore Windows Fan.....

[Somtamnication]

Been using Windows since its inception.

But since visiting the linux forum here I am willing to jump and convert my desktop to a linux OS.

I know some like Ubuntu and others Mint and others hate GUI.

Can I get an idea from the pros here as to what I could use?

I use my computer for the following:

Hard core gamer. All Win programs

Internet and any open gl software I use now I know I can use with Linux.

I create websites for friends and graphic editing.

My main worry are games. Will some win emulators work better than others and in different linux OS?

THanks!!

[cdnvic]

Just partition your disk and use both.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

[thaimite]

Just partition your disk and use both.

http://gparted.sourceforge.net/

\

gparted is included on both Ubuntu and Mint live CDs.

I have just spent 3 days playing with Mint and although I think the interface is more intuitive for a long time windows user, I have abandoned it in favour of Ubuntu 9.10 beta for 2 reasons.

I have now been playing with Ubuntu for about 6 months and am used to it,

More importantly for other users I decided that as Mint was a "trunk" of Ubuntu patches and other fixes may be more slow in coming. For example Ubuntu is using Firefox 3.5 but that is not yet available in the Mint repositories which still defaults to 3.1 (Yes I know it can be got, but it is not a default and is a hassle)

A minor plus side for Mint is that it includes the codecs for multimedia not included with Ubuntu, but these are available as a single install from the Ubuntu apliccations installer.

My advice would be to either go with a dual boot or Virtual machine until you are familiar with your Linux package and have found replacements for all your common windoze software.

Anybody out there using Torrent under Linux give QBittorrent a try. It is the closest to uTorrent I have found

[raro]

welcome to the club! Just did the jump for my entertainment computer at home. Let's explore this world of thick glasses and turtleneck cardigans...

[Plus]

I would recommend Ubuntu, but its color scheme doesn't look too nice.

PcLinuxOs is one cool looking distro.

Forget about windows games, they won't work in Linux, set a dual boot and when you feel like playing just reboot the machine.

Practically, free up one hard disk or partition and then install Linux in it. Depending on where it goes you might have to change boot order in your Bios to let the computer read Linux boot sectors first. Linux will have a boot menu to choose whether you want to start Windows or not.

I extensively use external HD and it's shared by both Linux and Windows, I think I can even continue torrent downloads from where I left off after booting into a different OS.

[Somtamnication]

Can linux be installed on an external drive (and tell bios to boot from usb first)?

[Plus]

Yes, but it's not recommended.

And as it's not recommended - it could be a pain in the ass to make it work. Sometimes even recommended stuff could be a pain in the ass on Linux (that's why I'd start with nearly fool proof Ubuntu).

Some distros, like Puppy Linux, are built with the option to run from USB drives, but they also sacrifice a lot of functionality to achieve that.

Basic problem, afaik, is the slow read/write speed comparing to internal hard drives.

You can try by booting from LiveCD and check if the external hard drive appears in the list of locations for the full install.

[HABITAT]

Pick eaither PCLinuxOS2009 or MiniMe2009 and run them live - it will give you some idea of what to expect.

They both run KDE3.xx which is an excellent GUI - very customizable - you will need approx 10G to install

the O/S to - I use much less - 5G, but I keep my data on another partition - too many M$ C:\ crashes!

I only have /root + 3G swap. I use RFSv3 as it is more resilient that any others - especially if the power goes off frequently

I have never lost data or suffered thru the dreaded fsck nonsense.

Dual boot is by default - I dont game, but that might be prudent to retain M$

Make sure you defrag, chkdsk, etc, the drive thoroughly before you partition for any Linux - enjoy!

BTW - you will be overjoyed by the sheer horsepower and lack of viruses/rootkits/av/etc

[Meridian007]

I'm getting sick of MS as well. I don't play games very often anymore, so that's not an issue. I already love Open Office, but I'm worried about finding a replacement for Dragon Naturally Speaking. I use it a lot so if I dual-boot, I'd still be spending most of my time in XP.

Aside from that, I figure I'm almost the perfect candidate for Linux now.

1. Fed up with XP's security and P4P issues.

2. I don't care about games.

3. Only use the computer for typical internet usage, DVD ripping/creation, photo-editing, and document creation.

4. A little previous experience with RedHat (about 7 years ago, I was still gaming a lot then, so I gave up)

So I figure that Ubuntu is my best choice (although I'm thinking that I want KDE instead of Gnome to ease the transition), but I'm still worried about speech recognition. I guess I could use WINE or VirtualBox, but again it kind of defeats the purpose of switching. The Wiki for speech recognition development states that Ubuntu is looking into supporting it in the OS, but all of the currently existing native programs seem pretty alpha to me, and don't have the ability to learn.

Does anyone have any better suggestions, or am I just not there yet?

***EDIT***

I almost forgot, the other reason I think Ubuntu might be the way for me to go is that I've heard that Linux Mint (one of the others I've considered) is heavily integrated with Google, and its data mining proclivities. While I use Google just as much as the next person (as well as Gmail, and Picasa), I don't like the idea (paranoia?) of any more of my info being used by Google than it already is. Am I being paranoid? Is it true? Does Ubuntu keep tabs on you and send info off to its servers?

Edited November 17, 2009 by Meridian007

[Supernova]

When it comes to Voice Recognition, I think you're outta luck (for the time being). I agree, using WINE defeats the purpose of making the switch to *NIX. As for Gnome or KDE, I prefer Gnome for its simplicity. I experimented with Kubuntu and didn't like it at all. KDE is too cluttered for my liking. Each to his/her own I guess, use whatever you feel comfortable with.

[chevyinasia]

I'd recommend openSUSE. Backed by Novell, top notch support on the forums, easy to install and customize. I've been using FreeBSD at my office since we opened a few years ago, but recently been installing openSUSE on new machines, plus I use it on my laptop as my primary OS. I run Windows in VirtualBox when I need to for work (can get Word, Powerpoint, and Excel to run under Wine, but not MS Access), and only boot fully into Windows when I want to play the occasional game.

Ubunto, openSUSE, *BSD, et al don't really keep tabs on your activities as a user, but may harvest information about your hardware for their compatibility database.

[Gary A]

If you're going to use Windows for games and other programs, why even bother with Linux?

[Richb2004v2]

Linux will not cut it if you are a hardcore gamer. There are some great free games available for Linux but nothing like the cutting edge fair available on Windows.

I was in the Uk a month or so ago and there was a great Linux Format magazine in the shops. It included an Ubuntu CD loaded with many many great apps. If you happen to be there it might be worth picking up a copy.

[Somtamnication]

Ubuntu states on their site that they release every 6 months. Anyone seen the new Ubuntu or still on 9.10?

[Supernova]

Ubuntu 10.04 BETA is available for download.

Final release is expected at the end of April 2010.

[Somtamnication]

Tks!

[kujirasan]

since you are gamer stick with Windows, Linux is not for that kind of ................

For music entertainment there are few Distro, that specialize for that kind of caper.

Over rated and over hyped UBUNTU is based on Debian ( unstable version), sticking with Debian less problematic as it is very stable, has great forum and you have to learn about it and how to use commands, like apt-get, dpkg and back ports etc , if you are very adventures pick up ARCH LINUX, it is roll on type and everything gets update and upgraded around clock but you have to be a wiz at Linux.

Now a days most Linux gurus use ARCH .