So you really think Linux is better than Vista, do you?

[Guest]

It is a shame, such interesting thread title. I guess it would be better to
start again.

I have been using Ubuntu for two weeks. And I now feel more for people that
claim "there a thousand of people switching from ____ to _____"...lets get
real, at any point in time there would be thousand of people switching from
some OS to other. That is not the point. None OS is perfect for EVERYONE.

Linux is better than Vista IN THE SENSE THAT: 1) it gives the user more
freedom to fine tuned their computers...for free? clearly not, it takes time
and effort, you must define your trade-offs. 2) it comes with a very live
OPEN SOURCE COMMUNITY, and forums where a lot of enthusiast write and share
code and solutions without the need of being paid by the distribution's
label.

It seems to me, my dear PTravel, that you gave much too fast. I would dare
to claim that if you had access to internet while installing, you could have
found good solutions to your video card problems and options to fine-tune
your Firefox experience.

Finally, as you said, the fact that Ubuntu did not run under VirtualPC is a
Microsoft omission (at best). Just think about, if that happened in a
Virtualization software for Linux, someone would have written a fix for it.
If only more source core were available.

Good luck in your Windows life.
Daniel

 

[Kurt Herman]

Ubuntu does install and run in VirtualPC (at least Drake does). I have it on
my Vista Premium machine in VPC. You just have to choose "other" as your OS
when installing.

Kurt

 

[Tiberius]

virtual pc is a kids toy anyway.... download the professional tool: Vmware
Server (free)
www.vmware.com

Also you might want to look at pclinuxos 2007 that is one of the best
Linux's out there.
Also you might want to avoid Vista that is one of the worst windows out
there.

 

[ptravel]

It seems to me, my dearPTravel, that you gave much too fast. I would dare
to claim that if you had access to internet while installing, you could have
found good solutions to your video card problems and options to fine-tune
your Firefox experience.

I had internet access on my five other (Windows) machines. The whole
point is that I have better things to do with my time than become a
Linux expert. I use computers to do work, not to provide recreation.
I ultimately did get Ubuntu installed on my laptop under VirtualPC,
but dumped it about a month later. I installed Suse on my wife's old
desktop and it has been a reliable file and FTP server ever since. I
had a copy of Suse running under VirtualPC, but got rid of it because
it simply didn't do anything that I couldn't do under the laptop's
native OS (Vista).

 

[Frank Bright]

I had internet access on my five other (Windows) machines. The whole
point is that I have better things to do with my time than become a
Linux expert. I use computers to do work, not to provide recreation.
I ultimately did get Ubuntu installed on my laptop under VirtualPC,
but dumped it about a month later. I installed Suse on my wife's old
desktop and it has been a reliable file and FTP server ever since. I
had a copy of Suse running under VirtualPC, but got rid of it because
it simply didn't do anything that I couldn't do under the laptop's
native OS (Vista).

Hi,
I have Ubuntu dual booting with XP on 1 laptop and it is fully installed on
an older gateway laptop. I've just set up a dual boot with Vista/Ubuntu on
my desktop, but I haven't been able to fully install my ATI graphics card
driver in Ubuntu yet. (re: see unsolvable problems below).

But I'm here to say that I've been back and forth quite a bit lately from
the "other side" (stupid stuff really). In short, there is hype on both
sides, problems on both sides and support on both sides.

Maybe I'm not enough of a geek to troubleshoot on the level of Linux; I am
intelligent however. I have found, more than once, that there are problems
in Linux that are much harder to solve than in Windows. Or better put, they
don't get solved unless you have an experienced Linux geek in person
actually looking over your shoulder at your problem. Otherwise, they are
oftentimes left unsolvable. I still do like Linux a lot, in spite of this.

Driver install problems in Linux often seem to necessitate a lot of
"tweaking", which on a code level I am not equipped to do. Linux can be a
nightmare in terms of hardware compatibility and driver installs. And while
Linux has a legitimate point that some drivers are proprietary and that
Linux can't just use any driver it wants to, the Linux community badly needs
to put some Order into the myriad of driver issues within their community.

On the other hand, when I have a problem in the world of Windows, it almost
always ends up getting solved. And I end up learning something valuable as a
result.

Forums on both sides are very supportive, I think. In Linux forums, I have
more often received advice which did not help or solve the issue. Code is
suggested, but it often doesn't work.

But obviously, I like both Windows and Linux, or I would not be dual booting
with them.

Thanks, Frank