Ok my patience with Vista is running thin... I am sick of it, my XP machines run so much better and am wondering if I should switch to Ubuntu... Now having never used Ubuntu for more than 10 to 15 minutes I was kinda looking for pro's and cons other than the fact Ubuntu is open source.... basically I want your opinion on if I should switch or down grade XP or deal with the issues...
Ubuntu is awesome, I have it on my work PC, my main and server at home. It beats the ever living crap out of XP, in Phases' humble opinion. I was on XP (regularly, I'm an IT guy) for years and years.. and 3 months ago finally went full Ubuntu and virtualized XP on my work and main home computers for the few things I still need it for.
I tried Suse 9.2 a few years back and after a few weeks ended up going back to Windows, but Linux has come a long way since then.
However... and I don't care what anyone tells you... any Linux distro, even Ubuntu, requires a huge amount of dedication on your part. You have to be willing to spend the time it's going to take to get it all setup to your liking, get it to do the things you want, and get down into the nittiest of the gritties to tweak things. And if you use your computer regularly, there will be tweaking.
Hell, even just the regular security updates from the other day broke both foo and my work computers and took us two hours, working together, to fix. Turned out it was an easy fix but we didn't know what the hell it was when we were faced with two un-login-able (to X) computers out of nowhere.
You will have to be good, good friends with ubuntuforums.org and google. Need to be a tech savvy enough person to be comfortable with command line and always mindful of making backups of files you're modifying. And you will be modifying. Unless you are the most basic of basic users who just load it, use one account to get on, get online, get off and be done for the day, you will be modifying.
With that said. I love it and I think you should at least give it a try if you're willing.
One BIG plus is any time I've needed something, for whatever, any type of program, I haven't had to search long. The package managers and repositories are awesome. Search, select, install.
Edit: I could edit and revise this post a million times so I'm going to stop here.
__________________
Every forum should have a Phases.
Last edited by Phases; December 2nd, 2008 at 10:26 PM.
Everything Phases said.
There are just too many pros n cons, mostly pros though, to list about using a Linux GUI environment.
What would you mainly be solicitous about if you were to move to a *nix desktop GUI?
Like do you have specific concerns...(e.g.: will MS Office work, will all my movies play, etc)?
Last edited by foo; December 2nd, 2008 at 10:44 PM.
Ubuntu is awesome, I have it on my work PC, my main and server at home. It beats the ever living crap out of XP, in Phases' humble opinion. I was on XP (regularly, I'm an IT guy) for years and years.. and 3 months ago finally went full Ubuntu and virtualized XP on my work and main home computers for the few things I still need it for.
I tried Suse 9.2 a few years back and after a few weeks ended up going back to Windows, but Linux has come a long way since then.
However... and I don't care what anyone tells you... any Linux distro, even Ubuntu, requires a huge amount of dedication on your part. You have to be willing to spend the time it's going to take to get it all setup to your liking, get it to do the things you want, and get down into the nittiest of the gritties to fix the problems. And if you use your computer regularly, there will be problems.
Hell, even just the regular security updates from the other day broke both foo and my work computers and took us two hours, working together, to fix. Turned out it was an easy fix but we didn't know what the hell it was when we were faced with two un-login-able (to X) computers out of nowhere.
You will have to be good, good friends with ubuntuforums.org and google. Need to be a tech savvy enough person to be comfortable with command line and always mindful of making backups of files you're modifying. And you will be modifying. Unless you are the most basic of basic users who just load it, use one account to get on, get online, get off and be done for the day, you will be modifying.
With that said. I love it and I think you should at least give it a try if you're willing.
One BIG plus is any time I've needed something, for whatever, any type of program, I haven't had to search long. The package managers and repositories are awesome. Search, select, install.
Edit: I could edit and revise this post a million times so I'm going to stop here.
Ok, I used to be tech savvy I have a degree in network engineering and data communication was at one point certified with CNA, CNE, A+ and MCSE however that was nearly 10 years ago as I am now a mailman if you can believe that switch... so I no longer consider myself SAVVY per say more like proficient... Hence the reason I asked... I believe that I can function with it fairly well but since I am not nor have I ever been a "linux" guy it'll take time but I don't think it'll be any less than the time I have put into Vista since I got it the day it was released and have had nothing but conflicts and issues since..... Like I said I used Ubuntu for 10 - 15 minutes but it was enough for me to ask the question and consider the switch seriously....
Everything Phases said.
There are just too many pros n cons, mostly pros though, to list about using a Linux GUI environment.
What would you mainly be solicitous about if you were to move to a *nix desktop GUI?
Like do you have specific concerns...(e.g.: will MS Office work, will all my movies play, etc)?
No I'm not to concerned with things like MS Office I already use Open Office half the time as far as browsers I use Firefox and Chrome probably Chrome more once they fix it to allow the extensions but as for as utils I'm not worried... my concern is more function.... Vista gives me issues with everything and I keep waiting for it to get better and it hasn't made the progress that it should have by now and if I am going to have to tweak and fix something it might as well be something that works... besides I can run the emulators correct? or should I just partition my drive and run both for the time being?
Like what exactly? (that vista is giving your trouble with) ..just curious.
There's Wine and one other program designed to allow you to run windows apps/games, but they don't work for everything.
You can dual boot, sure. Lots of people do that. I believe foo here does.
Or you can virtualize windows in a virtualbox or vmware environment.. which is what we both do - both at home and at work. Which is great. However, accelerated video doesn't translate through so.. it wouldn't be good for games really or whatever. But for whatever else it'll work.
It's tricky, and will require tweaking and modifying (wink) but you can get other devices (like USB drives) to work in virtual environments as well as the sound to come through, and as I like to do it, a shared folder that's right there on ubuntu's desktop that you map to from within your virtual xp, so you can easy move files back and forth.
Last edited by Phases; December 2nd, 2008 at 11:39 PM.
Like what exactly? (that vista is giving your trouble with) ..just curious.
There's Wine and one other program designed to allow you to run windows apps/games, but they don't work for everything.
You can dual boot, sure. Lots of people do that. I believe foo here does.
Or you can virtualize windows in a virtualbox or vmware environment.. which is what we both do - both at home and at work. Which is great. However, accelerated video doesn't translate through so.. it wouldn't be good for games really or whatever. But for whatever else it'll work.
It's tricky, and will require tweaking and modifying (wink) but you can get other devices (like USB drives) to work in virtual environments as well as the sound to come through, and as I like to do it, a shared folder that's right there on ubuntu's desktop that you map to from within your virtual xp, so you can easy move files back and forth.
Hard for me to nail down and give you just one issue as to why I just don't like it.....It's been a progressive thing for me.... Honestly I was so excited when it came out I got my copy brought it home and went WOW it looks great almost MAC like with the graphics love the new search for programs etc.... you know had that "NEW CAR SMELL" but then the annoying security protocol with the pop up window asking permission every thirty seconds needed to deactivate that with in 5 minutes of my original install or I would have thrown the damn thing out the window...I tried running my staples NERO gone... wouldn't work right until 8.0 so that's kind of fixed, anti-virus waste of time still have conflicts here and there.... firewall that came with it what a joke... and the list goes on and on....If I listed everything that has annoyed me with Vista and continues to annoy me it would be 5 pages long....
Man. Wait till you see what ubuntu + compiz can do (hit up youtube for some cube examples, but that's the majority of what they show.) if you want eye candy. And it uses a mere fraction of the resources that vista demands for even the capability to do a fraction of said eye candy.
Last edited by Phases; December 3rd, 2008 at 12:26 AM.
I switched out of XP about six months ago and haven't looked back (for my desktop). With the release of 8.10, they fixed a lot of nitty things, but the big issue that seems to have been resolved from 8.04 is multiple applications running sound (I could only get one program at a time in 8.04). I run WINE, and have played everything flawlessly from WoW to GTA:SA to Max Payne, yeah that game is still gangster.
Do yourself a favor, install Ubuntu, make an iso of your XP cd, shred it, and force yourself to really learn Ubuntu, you'll thank me.
btw, new GTA IV (for PC) should be out VERY soon
it's good to hear you got gta:sa & maxpayne to run flawlessly. a lot of people seem to have trouble getting it to run properly..
Wow, I thought maybe 1 person would say stick with it.... probably be equally as one sided on a windows site but I think I am going to download the ISO tonight.... probably make the switch this weekend.... Any tips on wireless internet I should know before I jump?
In fact, I'm going to wait for 9.06 (9.06 at the moment) just because 8.10's new features/changes aren't big enough a deal for me to justify going through with the upgrade.
(and for me - it would be a chore. Just not worth it at this point.)
Do 8.04, then upgrade to 8.10 if you are feeling feisty(pun?). It takes about 1 hour to upgrade, as opposed to a full reinstall to go the other way.
Well either way I am going to be asking ALOT of questions probably some really dumb ones too.... So if you guys don't see me on the board this weekend you know I had some problems with the install going to give it a whirl on Saturday night so....
OK, so I just downloaded 8.04.1 as you said and I know that with Ubuntu spyware and Virus issue drops off by like 80% but would you recommend any anti-virus/spyware programs?? and what other downloads/add-ons do you recommend before I do the install....
Well, it's much higher than 80%, from what I understand.
I've never used any virus or spyware protection with linux.. though I'm sure there's some out there....
No worries any thing else I should download or install? Anyhow I have been running the test version off the CD for about 20 minutes now and I had forgotten how quick computers can be.... it is at LEAST 5 times faster than Vista and VERY easy to navigate... felt weird for about five minutes but as soon as you figure out where things are it is just not even close.... I think with about a month of true usage and tweaking it could be unreal.... I feel like I have been missing something it's sweet should have thought of switching instead of upgrading to Vista....
way harder to get spyware, adware and viruses...so in fact that as a linux user...you can download AVG for free from their site.
I have used Ubuntu since Drapper....unfortunately my wife broke her laptop so we are sharing one, and she cannot stand it...so I switched back to XP until we get her a new one.
You can always do the dual boot option as well so that when you turn on the machine...you will be asked which operating system you want to boot. You can only do this if installing linux onto a windows machine...not the other way around.
well i could use some help can't seem to get the wireless network going any suggestions...... it detects my nic card but that is all it does i dont even have the option for a manual setup only shows point to point......and cant add unless i am missing something
Right click your networking icon by your clock.. have "edit wireless networks" there?
I did not on 8.04 for some reason so i installed 8.10 now and i do have the edit options but does not allow them....
i am going to network icon by the clock then to network connections from there edit wirless connection 1 then i enter the ssid and mac i have temporarly disabled the wep to ease my installation so i skip wireless security then to ipv4 click auto dhcp address only enter my dns search domain and dhcp client id but from there i can not continue the only way out of the edit screen is to abandon my settings and close it???
make sure you have the driver for your wireless card installed. Go to system - admin - hardware drivers and see if there's a driver you need to enable.
Also google "ubuntu [yourwirelesscard]" and see if anything pops up.
Don't give up man, Ubuntu has a huge community, we'll get cha figured out.
make sure you have the driver for your wireless card installed. Go to system - admin - hardware drivers and see if there's a driver you need to enable.
Also google "ubuntu [yourwirelesscard]" and see if anything pops up.
Don't give up man, Ubuntu has a huge community, we'll get cha figured out.
I didn't give up already up and running on XP but about to install again and try the dual boot until I have it set the way I want then I will eliminate the windows not giving up just taking a different approach.... hopefully I can have all things functioning by tomorrow back up to one of my other drives do a clean install of the 8.10 and cut windows out by then.... Just not doing the clean cut until I know what needs to be done this time... I like it though man I'm sold on it... the functions I did have still just run so much smoother and quicker than windows....
ok I will make the clean brake from Windows as soon as I can get my internet working and for the life of me I haven't been able to... So if anyone is willing to help I am right now running XP and on my other drive Ubuntu 8.10 i downloaded the ndiswrapper-1.53tar.gz and I have attached my hardware and basic specs of my wireless internet....
I appreciate all the help guys I'll give it a go in a few minutes....
Ok I have installed and am now running only on Ubuntu 8.10 however I have to go through the process of reinstalling the internet drivers everytime.. even though it says that it is saved. any suggestions?
Here's what I have to do or go through to restart the internet everytime.....
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$ ndiswrapper -a 11AB:1FAA wg311v3
Driver 'wg311v3' is already used for '11AB:1FAA'
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$ sudo modprobe ndiswrapper
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$ iwconfig
lo no wireless extensions.
pan0 no wireless extensions.
wlan0 IEEE 802.11g ESSIDff/any
Mode:Managed Frequency:2.462 GHz Access Point: Not-Associated
Bit Rate:6 Mb/s Sensitivity=-200 dBm
RTS thr=2346 B Fragment thr=2346 B
Power Managementff
Link Quality:0 Signal level:0 Noise level:0
Rx invalid nwid:0 Rx invalid crypt:0 Rx invalid frag:0
Tx excessive retries:0 Invalid misc:0 Missed beacon:0
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$ sudo ndiswrapper -m
module configuration already contains alias directive
I really have to suggest that you start with 8.04. I'll wager good money that you will have better results. I just did a complete wipe so I could downgrade from 8.10 to 8.04. That's how much I missed it.
You were right down graded to 8.04 and worked on the first try rebooted 3 times just to make sure works every time.... thank-you all for your help it feels good to be free of my "Windows" problem....
I didn't think I was done by a LONG shot just feels good to have everything functioning correctly at least for the time being... As far as ad ons etc.... any suggestions on download spots or is it just kind of hit and miss while your hunting on the internet?
Also, i don't remember if you are still running Windows on another partition, but it would be wise to install an antivirus on linux just in case that a virus were to spread from your linux to your windows partition. It has happened, and can happen.
sudo apt-get install clam
or
sudo apt-get install clamav
should do the trick. ClamAV is an antivirus, hint the AV, program that is very very good. I use it at work when i run Suse just incase so it will not spread to any windows machines. I don't run it at home because my Vista is in a virtual machine, but this is just a suggestion for you.
No I am no longer running any partitons of windows... I do however have 2 other machines running XP but not worried about that... mostly for the kids and wife.... but thanks for the heads up
no problem, always good to see people switch to linux and try something out of the box for once.
Force people to use Vista for a month then tell them they have a choice to switch and they will when XP dies there will be ALOT of people switching that is until windows 7.... I have my hopes but after Vista I've just had it....
I know what you mean, i was a Vista beta tester, so its safe to say i've had vista for a while. It wasn't all that bad, other than the fact i needed 2gb just to run a smooth system, where ubuntu only requires 2gb to burn a dvd, run a vm of xp, surf the net and listen to music. Funny how much crap Microsoft piles on each OS.
I know what you mean, i was a Vista beta tester, so its safe to say i've had vista for a while. It wasn't all that bad, other than the fact i needed 2gb just to run a smooth system, where ubuntu only requires 2gb to burn a dvd, run a vm of xp, surf the net and listen to music. Funny how much crap Microsoft piles on each OS.
Not only that which made it SLOW but all the issues with software, drivers etc... I had errors or just wouldn't work on have the stuff I have.... And I kept going back and forth upgrading to Vista hating it down grading to XP the back and forth over and over..... got to the point where I said if I have to do all this crap for microsoft I might as well run better software so Ubuntu is where I am now.... Only a few days entirely Ubuntu but the more I use it the more I kick myself for not doing it sooner....
Last edited by noonehereyet; December 12th, 2008 at 12:15 AM.
Sorry for my ignorance but as I have been using ubuntu for a short time can someone tell me what this means?
This is what I get when I try to install manually and the pic attached is what happens when I go through the installer...
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$ sudo apt-get install sun-java6-bin
[sudo] password for noonehereyet:
E: dpkg was interrupted, you must manually run 'dpkg --configure -a' to correct the problem.
noonehereyet@noonehereyet-desktop:~$
Last edited by noonehereyet; December 12th, 2008 at 12:29 AM.
I am back to dual booting.... still trying to get a handle on how to tweak it the way I want installed wine so that is helping to wean me off the windows completely yet again... so much better though so much faster and getting software for it is so simple never would have guessed that... internet speeds are better etc... can't believe this isn't industry standard why are people still using windows so heavily?
Ok my patience with Vista is running thin... I am sick of it, my XP machines run so much better and am wondering if I should switch to Ubuntu... Now having never used Ubuntu for more than 10 to 15 minutes I was kinda looking for pro's and cons other than the fact Ubuntu is open source.... basically I want your opinion on if I should switch or down grade XP or deal with the issues...
I really enjoyed reading this thread. Nice to see someone take the initiative to see what can be better.
I have been using Ubuntu for years now (many other Lunix/Unix before that) as a desktop. I switched when Vista was released. I knew the basics of Linux from years as a network engineer, so figured it was time to see if it could make it as a desktop. First few revs weren't great. But it has been fantastic since Ubuntu 7.06. You made the right choice.
I have to keep a copy of windows (three of them) so I can test code in the three major IE's (6,7,8). If you have to have windows for some reason check out the VirtualBox app in the repositories. Works very well , no more dual boot.
I really enjoyed reading this thread. Nice to see someone take the initiative to see what can be better.
I have been using Ubuntu for years now (many other Lunix/Unix before that) as a desktop. I switched when Vista was released. I knew the basics of Linux from years as a network engineer, so figured it was time to see if it could make it as a desktop. First few revs weren't great. But it has been fantastic since Ubuntu 7.06. You made the right choice.
I have to keep a copy of windows (three of them) so I can test code in the three major IE's (6,7,8). If you have to have windows for some reason check out the VirtualBox app in the repositories. Works very well , no more dual boot.
Gram
Yeah, I am loving it and feeling like an idiot for paying for Vista when I could have had Ubuntu all this time for free... still duel booting but at this point it is more for the kids games that for some reason won't run on wine but I can't even tell you how much nicer, cleaner smoother etc it has been.... few more months and I will go completely Ubuntu again just feels weird having used windows for so long to learn something new but hey I still remember the good old days of dos and commands like edlin so.... I'll post in here from time to time just so people know I haven't given up and hopefully there are a few others who will be willing to see what I see now....
Don't know if anyone else has used the google chrome browser but I have and it is seriously fast even compared to Firefox the linux release should be out soon and for anyone who is interested here is a link to be notified when it is completed.... FYI it's open source as well....
I am back to dual booting.... still trying to get a handle on how to tweak it the way I want installed wine so that is helping to wean me off the windows completely yet again... so much better though so much faster and getting software for it is so simple never would have guessed that... internet speeds are better etc... can't believe this isn't industry standard why are people still using windows so heavily?
Well got it pretty much the way I want it or so I think so today I started fresh and eliminated windows so single boot and took me just a couple of hours to get everything including installing the software I wanted and had back.... Just wanted to say thank-you to all who encouraged me and helped me do this... it was well worth it!
Ok my patience with Vista is running thin... I am sick of it, my XP machines run so much better and am wondering if I should switch to Ubuntu... Now having never used Ubuntu for more than 10 to 15 minutes I was kinda looking for pro's and cons other than the fact Ubuntu is open source.... basically I want your opinion on if I should switch or down grade XP or deal with the issues...
You should ditch Vista and switch to Windows Mojave.... :-P
Operating System Ubuntu, Xp or Vista
ff/any 
