Kram wrote:
>> And even then, XP is far better if you wish to use your PC rather than
>> spend half your time trying to get stuff to work.
>
>
> Switch to Linux and you can run as many cpu's as you like, but the above
> post is conservative about wasting half your time trying to get things
> to work, it will consume the majority of your time.
I'm trying to not get pulled into this, but this is absolutely false. I've
been running Linux on a computer right next to my Windows machine for about
5 years now, and I've never had such a misery installing it. Sure, if you
have hardware you have to have running, and your OEM doesn't support Linux
(it's the OEM's fault that Linux doesn't support it, since they chose not
to support Linux), or the their isn't enough Linux users demanding support
for it so that a couple of willing developers donate their precious time to
write drivers for it, despite no OEM support, then you might have a
problem. If you stick with common hardware that was released _before_ your
Linux distro, you should have no problems.
Secondly, when a problem with something does occur in Linux, I find it far
easier to fix. Usually, I just delete the irritant application's 'rc' file,
and it gets rebuilt by the application with default settings, and I'm back
to normal. No registry to deal with, and rc and config files are written in
almost spoken English and easy to decipher and change.
Lastly, I can install Linux, a bunch of applications, and all of my drivers
and have it setup and running properly in just about 2 hours. Windows, on
the otherhand, usually takes days to install everything one at a time after
the OS itself has been installed. Distros like Mandrake and SuSE just about
take care of themselves, and what isn't can be setup with very few steps.
Now, I don't want to get into debating Linux use on the desktop by normal,
average, everyday users, but this is the absolute truth. Anyone who wants
to find out how well Linux runs on their system can download Knoppix @
<a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.knoppix.com," target="_blank">www.knoppix.com,</a> Mandrake Move @ <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3" target="_blank">www.mandrakelinux.com/en/ftp.php3</a> (scroll
down to Mandrake Move Download Edition), or SuSE LiveCD @ <a style='text-decoration: underline;' href="http://ftp.suse.com" target="_blank">ftp.suse.com</a>
(they're rather busy lately) and see for themselves how easy it is to
install and use. These run off of the CD, so you aren't really installing
anything, despite something of an installation process. If you want to use
the CD over and over for occasional Linux use, some of them require you to
have a partition that isn't NTFS to save your preferences and stuff.
Also, these editions probably do not have any nVidia or ATi driver support
(only open source drivers that aren't as good for 3D use), and you probably
won't have RealPlayer, FlashPlayer, Java, or any other non-open source
software support. You will have an open source Acrobat reader, though. To
get that stuff, you must purchase a retail version. Mandrake has a retail
version of Move that still runs off of the CD and has all the proprietary
drivers and software. SuSE is currently offering a free ftp download of the
complete retail Professional version of SuSE Linux 9.2, but the ftp site
and mirrors are clogged with downloaders right now. Besides, ftp downloads
will work fine, but getting ISOs to burn your own CDs are much nicer
because you won't have to go through the trouble of downloading it again if
you screw something up and have to wipe it.
That aside, there's nothing wrong with wanting to run WindowsXP. If the user
isn't interested in trying Linux, then that's his prerogative. I'm not
advocating that he should, but just that it isn't has bad as people claim.
--
Registered Linux user #378193<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->
>> Stay informed about: Dual CPU good for XP ?