OK, I use Windows. I have to for various reasons. But I still have some ‘nix boxes–mostly VMs–because I really like some of the Linux and BSD distros that are out, and I just like FOSS period.
I also like Windows 7, for the most part. Definitely THE best desktop OS from Microsoft since Win2K Pro, IMO.
But.
Showed Son&Heir just ONE of the advantages of a modern ‘nix OS. I had done some work on a Toshiba A205 that required putting a new OS on it (long story), so I installed Linux Mint 10–based on Ubuntu 10.04 but much slicker and with all the multimedia codecs necessary for an ordinary Windows user to be able to make the switch easily. So, booted the thing. About 30 seconds. Shut it down. About 6 seconds. Yep. To fully off.
Heck, it takes one of my Win7 boxes 45 seconds to resume from sleep mode! And shutting it off? Longer.
Advantage: Linux Mint.
BTW, while it’s a really cool distro to use in converting an average Windows user over to a ‘nix OS, PC-BSD 8.2 is just too cool for school.
Can I send my Dell in to you? Convinced me my friend!!!! Personally I am sick of Windows and imho I thought Windows 98 SE was their best edition. Right now I use Windows 7 and I like it, but I know something has got to be better….guess you just told me about it…..will seriously check it out. Thanks.
Layla,
The thing to do is to try PC-BSD or Linux Mint or some other distro out as a Live CD. Just boot the CD and run the OS from that. It’ll be slower than an installation to the hard drive, but will allow you to “test drive” it for your hardware and usage patterns.
One Linux distro I really like for “underpowered” or older computers (and even for occasional use on modern barn-burners) is Puppy Linux. It boots from a CD but then loads everything into memory and into a “pup” file on your hard drive, which you can either preserve or dispense with when you power down or reboot. Really cool. Really fast, especially for a “Live” CD distro. And it works on a very wide range of hardware. The new networking wizard is also a “best in class” among ‘nix distros for setting up one’s connection to a network, IMO. Painless and easy-peasy. ANd if it’s booted from the CD, it leaves any OS that’s already installed and any data already on a hard drive untouched.
And all on a 130MB CD. And if you use a CDRW, you can store your session on it when you power down. Pretty cool.
Its only real disadvantage is the smaller selection of installation packs for add-on software and the slightly less straightforward hard disk installation, should one ever want to dispense with the CD. (I have one couple I helped out that’s run Puppy off a CD for several years now on the old computer I salvaged for them. All they do is browsing, webmail, listen to music and play browser-based games, though.)
Thanks for all the information. I really appreciate it. I am familiar with Linux and Mac. I like Mac also (shoot me, ok! lol).
Anyhoo, knowledge is great. I love learning new things. I never perport to “know it all.” —-even though we know I am smarter than you….hhhaaaaaaaaaaaahaaaaaaaaaaah, just kidding. 😉
Seriously, thank you! 🙂
Layla, you know the Mac OSX is essentially just BSD (Berkeley Standard Distribution Unix) wrapped in the Mac GUI straitjacket, don’t you? Heck, one could “skin” PC-BSD to look and feel “Mac-like” and have most of the benefits of OSX w/o the straitjacket…
LOL! No kidding, just checking to make sure you did! 😉
I was thinking about taking up a foreign language, Spanish, German or maybe Chinese; but I can see there is one even better, computer talk. I have no idea what you’ve said most of the time. lol
@TF: *heh*
BTW, re: “I have no idea what you’ve said most of the time.” Google is your friend. Back in the day, when I was getting my computer tutoring via books, fumbling around in the dark, a helpful IBM techno-guru (no, a REAL IBM techno-guru) and a U.S. Army sysadmin (retired colonel, Civil Service), I could have used Google for most of what I was struggling through with these aids. Had it existed. *heh* Nowadays, anyone who simply takes time to learn how to parse a search can locate almost any information necessary, including how to become their own techno-guru.
Almost any information. I recently gave up resurrecting a hard drive that was locked by a password stored on the hard drive’s circuit board, because NONE of the techniques I knew, none of the ones I discovered in an on-again-off-again weeklong search (not just using Google) enabled unlocking the drive. I spent way, way, WAY more time (which is $$ in many ways) than was cost effective and ended up just replacing the notebook’s hard drive and installing a new OS.
I almost felt I ought to pay the notebook’s user for the education. 🙂
I’ll stay out of this one… lest a former blogging friend call me a troll here too.
Eh?