dudes and people i am mostly really annoyed with windows i use the computer at least three times a week for school needs the interent as well, play games in any free time. ok so what i'm looking for would be any info on linux and its versions like game compatibility, word proccesors, isp compatibility, installation, sata hdd stuff compatability. ect, yeah friggin microsoft
I understand very well how you feel. I am an engineer with a bunch of Microsoft certifications, yet I use Linux full-time, having no Windows PCs on my home network. My servers run CentOS 4.3, my Firewall runs IPCop, and my workstations run Mandriva. I listen to music, surf the Internet, chat, burn CDs/DVDs, graphical design, web design, use an office suite, and a lot more on a routine basis. I do play the occasional game, but that is not my focus as a computer user. That being said, I don't miss Windows at all, and you couldn't pay me enough to switch back. Check out our Linux FAQ to cover the basic points, but feel free to post again with more specific questions.
well here what i know linux is an open source type porgram made by a buch of different guys and there are alot of different versions. unfortunatly i have dial-up plan on getting broadband as soon as i can fit figure something out, (live in the sticks) so what i should really ask, how does internet browsing isp services work, how hard is it to install, have no os would be a clean install, i need something like ms word, for school, and definetly need game compatibilty which i know there something called cedega, which makes alot of game compatibile or something after reading that stuff i just would like a stable os free of crap crashes, also i understand that linux doesn't require heavy support from spyware and virus protection also i'll provide system specs also wondering about 64bit support gigabyte GA-K8N Ultra SLI with dual ddr support 74 raptor SATA two 1gb corsair ram eVGA 7600 nvidia graphics card lite-on combo drive AMD64 2.2dual core
As far as I know, dial up in Linux is a pain in the butt. That's because many 56k modems are "soft modems," requiring Windows to run. While I hate to discourage anyone from using Linux, you would be best dual booting for now, using the Linux partition to learn the ropes a bit and sticking with Windows when you need the internet. Then you'll be ready to switch over full time when you get Broadband.
Yes and No. If you have an external modem, it's as easy as cracking open a beer. If it's internal and not hardware based (A.K.A, 90%) it can be a real pain in the behind.
Find out whether you have a soft modem (Winmodem). If you do then setting it up in Linux will be a nightmare. If you have a proper modem, then setting it up in Linux will be easy. What I recommend you do is download a Live distro. A Live distribution runs off a CD rather then the hard drive. So you can tryout Linux without actually installing anything. That way you can find out if all of your hardware will work under Linux. Check out Knoppix If you don't want to wait for 2 days whilst downloading a distribution on dialup, then check out Ubuntu They will ship you a load of CDs completely FREE OF CHARGE!! They send you live CDs and install CDs.
Just FYI, "Winmodems" are actually not modems at all, but sound cards that "listen" to the analog noise on a dialup connection and software takes care of all the rest. In other words, it's not a real modem at all, but a really cheap AC97 sound card. Linux does work with certain Winmodems, but it's much better to just get a real hardware modem instead. Whether this card is internal or external doesn't matter much, but an external modem with a serial connection is a very safe bet. External with a USB connection, not so much. Sometimes those are soft modems in disguise!
thats all good stuff and actually i don't have a modem yet, and the linux thing that runs off a cd is sweet because thats about the only thing i'm really worried about is hardware compatibility. thanks guys for the info and if you can think of anything else that would be cool for instance the best version of linux and why would be cool, i know of red hat,mandriva, & susu but don't really know anything about them also is cedega a linux version or just an application. thanks again
The big contenders for the desktop Linux area are Mandriva (best IMO, easy to configure and mp3 playback included), SuSE is also very good although the Open source software only version doesn't include mpeg codecs although for the most part its very good. Ubuntu is smaller than Mandriva and SuSE as its only 1 CD, but its a full distro and you'll find just as large software repositories online for it. Again like SuSE has not mp3 playback. Cedega is a Linux application, and allows you to play DX9 Windows games on Linux with little or no performance hit.
I'd just like to point out that although mp3 playback isn't possible 'straight-out-of-the-box', you can download and install the codecs separately. Just for the record, you CAN play mp3s straight away in SuSE 10 The only music format I have had troubles with is Windows Media Audio. I can get wma to play in Kaffeine but not amaroK
thanks guys this is good stuff i think i'm going to get the bootable os from the cd version check hardware compability and gofrom there thanks for all your info
