Well by now I’m sure a lot of folks out there are wondering about the same thing…do we go with this new Vista operating system (OS) and all it’s seemingly expensive requirements? Or, do we stick with our trusty copy of XP Home or Professional that has served us so well?
To be absolutely honest with you, I’m sticking with XP Pro for now but with a hitch. I’m presently experimenting with a couple distributions of Linux as my next choice in an OS. Reasons why are many. They range from security, adaptability, productivity and also…cost. That last reason is a good start for this post.
The cost of a distro (distribution) of Linux is usually free. That’s right, I said free! The reason is that it is considered open source software and as such is free to users world wide to do with as they wish. Modify it, use it, screw it up…makes no difference. The copy they use can be done with as they wish. Now, this is a rough explanation and it is better explained here as they are much better at it than I. I’m merely a newbie at this at this point but, I’m learning! 
My recent trials have been using Xandros Ver. 4 Professional and Ubuntu. The former is a paid for distro and the latter is a free one. Reason why is that I wanted to see any differences between the two as one has a price and the other doesn’t.
I have them both set as a dual boot on both my laptop and my desktop to see if there were any issues that were prevalent to one or the other. So far, so good.
Dual booting is the method I chose to test them out as I wanted the ability to be able to save files, emails, photos, etc. on each whereas if I chose to boot from CD (which is called Live CD) I wouldn’t be able to. You can choose your preferred method of testing that suits you.
To be honest at this point, I am leaning towards Xandros but time will tell if this is my new OS or not. Xandros works very well right from the jump so all there is to learn is a different file structure so to speak. By that, I mean that you would put files in different locations that what you were used to in Windows. Xandros has a very helpful community that can ease the transition from Windows to Linux (Xandros) for you and also answer your questions.
Ubuntu also has a helpful community to help the new to Linux folk get better acquainted with their new OS. I’d also like to add that Ubuntu is one of the more popular flavors of Linux out there and as such has a loyal following. You can see this and much more at a site called Distro Watch which is dedicated to all the different flavors of Linux.
More information can also be found at the Linux Newbie Administrator Guide, Linux Documentation Links, The Linux Tutorial, and many more that can be found by doing a search on your favorite search engine.
Windows has been overall, pretty good to me over the years. It’s taught me how to defend my computer from many types of attackers, hackers and other never do well’s that would rob me of my files, privacy or even my computer itself. It’s showed me how to locate and buy what I would assume to be the best anti-whatever to protect my investment. It has taught me that under no circumstances should I ever leave my machine “on” unattended.
But alas, now Windows is trying to show me that to better my protection and computing experience I must upgrade my machine at a substantial cost ($99 for Home Basic, $159 for Home Premium) plus upgrade the components of my machine that so far, have been of no trouble at as yet another unknown cost.
Seeing as most all distros of Linux are free and they also support many applications that run on Windows (check out each distro for what they support), where is my incentive to stick with Windows?
Here’s my Pros and Cons:
With Linux, I need not upgrade anything on my machine and most distros are free. Many applications are supported that normally run on Windows. Then, there’s the security issue…there are virtually none with Linux.
With Windows Vista, I’ll need to upgrade various components of my machine depending on the version I choose to go with plus the added cost of the version itself. Plus, the many applications that I’ve run for years on XP most likely won’t work on Vista. Security issues are stated to be addressed with Vista but, which Service Pack will address them?
For me, the answer is simple. Linux hands down. But, that’s my choice. What will yours be?
Tuesday, 13. March 2007
Interesting post.
I’ve been interested in Linux for along time. But I’m a Mac user (aka,. not so technical) and love it, so I’ve never had any reason to take the Linux plunge. Interesting to see that Vista is convincing you to do so — I wonder how many other people are, too?
I read some negative commentary on Vista in the blogosphere — including Shelly Palmer’s “Cracked Windows”:
http://advancedmediacommittee.typepad.com/emmyadvancedmedia/2007/02/cracked_windows.html
Between that, and your post — and so many others — I can’t help but wonder if things are totally changing.
WIll Linux become a possibility for the average user?
- Allie
Wednesday, 14. March 2007
Actually Allie, Linux has been around for quite some time and the following is growing day by day. Some folks are just plain tired of all the security issues, upgrades, flaws, etc. that Windows has instilled as a “norm”. Add to that the rather expensive cost of this particular upgrade and you have the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.”
To be honest with you, the Linux flavors I’ve been using are pretty much similar to Windows in many ways. I think the mainstream users out there will be able to adapt if they wanted to. The thing is…WILL they? A lot are really dependant on Windows as their only experience with a computer has been with Windows or a Mac. Time will tell how people react to this latest of M/$’s OS’s.
Saturday, 28. April 2007
You’re in exactly the same position as me.
I don’t want to run Vista, and indeed I just bought a new PC and specifically chose Windows XP Professional as the OS rather than Vista. XP works well here. I’d been using XP Home Edition for a long time, and it’s been very reliable in my experience.
I used to run Red Hat Linux a few years ago, and I’d kind of given up and lost track of what was happening in the Linux world. But I’m now dual booting XP and Kubuntu and loving it! The add/remove programs menu option on Kubuntu is a great place to start - you’ll find all manner of packages available which can be installed easily. Later, as confidence builds, you can go down the route of doing manual installs for packages which are not available from the add/remove option.
Saturday, 28. April 2007
Hi Baxter! Thanks for stopping by. I’m getting more used to Ubuntu each day and thoroughly enjoying it. I’ve been adding programs with the same menu you mentioned and dabbling with Synaptic too.
I’m only back in XP occasionally now especially after mounting my Windows drive. I can just click on over there when I feel the need now. I’ll be reading your blog more often. Could use the insight!