Hello! I was considering switching to Linux from windows XP and I was wondering what are the pros / cons ove each OS?

Right now all I do in windows is type up documents, listen to mp3s and watch music videos, chat on AIM, MSN, and Yahoo and on mIRC. I also play Half-Life but I am willing to give that up.

Here are my Systam Stats(pulled off a script I use in mIRC.. so I don't know if you need it or not and if its all you need):

[os] Windows XP Professional 5.1.2600 Service Pack 1 [cpu] 1 Intel Pentium IV @ 1794.4 MHz Intel(R) Pentium(R) 4 CPU 1.80GHz x86 Family 15 Model 1 Stepping 2 [memory] 353/512mb [68.95%] [IIIIIIIIIIIII-------] [display] NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS/GeForce2 Pro card(s), Plug and Play Monitor SyncMaster 753DF(T)/ 783DF(T), MagicSyncMaster AQ17DF 1280x1024x32bpp - 60Hz monitor [sound]
[hdd] [C: 76,279.3mb (55,650.31mb free)] [bios] D845PT - 20011113 [connection] GTW V.92 Voice Modem Intel(R) PRO/100 VE Network Connection Packet Scheduler Miniport RAS Async Adapter
[uptime] 1day 19hrs 56mins 26secs [record uptime] 5days 1hr 11mins on Nov 21 2003

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My sound card isn't showing up here so, I don't know what to say.

PRO- you can install one linux distro on everybox you have in your house.
CON- with XP, if you want to upgrade hardware, you have to call uncle bill gates and get permission.......(Windows Product Activation is basically spyware!!)

So... you basically can't use a computer.

Just as hobby and nothing really serious.

You'll love Linux!

Just perfect for you.

I want to learn webdesign - i'm buying my own domain name within the next month or two and getting a years of hosting, and I already know html / css/ and im learning php. I wanna learn how to script stuff and whatnot

Linux is ur mate if u are into scripting. I've been using RH forever for my webdesign, php, coding in C++ using GCC etc.

Plenty of good books available to configure ur system for Apache, MySql, PHP.

One more gud thing about linux, u are never alone in the hour of need.

Ok, next question even tho its already here probably somewhere - how do I get linux? I mean like ftp://ftp.phys.ttu.edu/pub/mandrake/iso/ is one of the ftp sites from mandrake.com's links to download from - but what do I do? I was told to burn linux to a cd and format my hard drive? to just use LILO and keep both win XP and linux.

This is a biased opinion (many distributions can do this) but I'd recommend Ark Linux, as it can do everything you need (with the exception of half-life, of course) right out of the box. Plus, once you start to get more experienced, you can use WINE (WINE Is Not an Emulator) to play Windows games and run Windows applications.

But yeah, pretty much any fully-loaded KDE or GNOME-based distribution should do the trick (others include Mandrake, SuSE, RedHat, Fedora, etc.) but I would have to recommend against RH/Fedora (can't play MP3 files without a patch, and software can be difficult to install)

And remember, the Linux world _hates_ mIRC. So from now on, drop the "m" when you're referring to it. The most popular IRC client on linux is Xchat, but there are a plethora of others to choose from.

As for Instant messaging, Ark Linux comes with Kopete by default (it's a lot like Trillian for windows if you've ever used that) but there's also gAIM which is probably the most popular (although I prefer Kopete).

As for MP3s, Ark Linux comes with Platero, which is a lot like KaZaA for windows only it runs on all the most popular networks (not just fasttrack like kazaa) but again, there are many alternatives that you could get on other distributions, but I can't think of any that come with a file-sharing application by default.

Happy Linuxing!

sorry for the double-post, but I just noticed your other question. Most mainstream distributions provide GRUB nowadays, along with installers that detect Windows automagically and work around it.

Hi LinuxLALA and Obsideus..you both seem to be from my hometowns - I'm a student from New Delhi studying at IWU in Bloomington :-)

Obsideus, you can partition your harddisk, and install linux in the new partition. That way you won't have to format the harddrive, and Windows will be safe.

Here are some links that may help you.

# Pre-installation guides
GNU/Linux pre-installation checklist
The Pre-Installation Help File

# Linux filesystem structure
Directory Navigation Help File
Filesystems, Directories, and Devices Help File
Proper Filesystem Layout
Advanced filesystem implementor's guide (requires registration)

How To Check MD5sums On A Linux Iso Image
# How do I burn a bootable CD with Nero?
Information and Links For Nero CD Burning Software
# Cheap CDs
AlmostFreeLinux
Discount Linux CDs
Linux Central
Cheapbytes
TuxCDs
ComputerHelperGuy
CheapISO
Os Heaven

You will need the nVidia driver, you want the Linux IA32 driver unless you just bought the new AMD 64 bit CPU

I reccomend using Fedora as a beginner, it is very customizable and great for coding anything. Im a PHP/HTML/JS/.NET/C++ (sadly, lol) coder, and Fedora has been my choice of programmin between my 3 Linux OSs (mandrake, fedora, white box)

The only con of linux that I could imagine may be hardware support... even though ALOT is supported, it is harder to install some things than on XP.

A few things that may be bothersum I'd assume to be the learning curve. Linux takes you from the passanger seat and throws you into the drivers. You are really in control, and the only way to understand that is to get your hands dirty with it.

Getting used to the command line can at first seem pointless. But, it seriously is a powerful tool.. and at first, you may seem like it is slower.. but, its really not, there is alot of "combanations" that can be pulled off to make life so easy..

Point and Click gets very boring.. and with linux, Personal Computer becomes a WHOLE new meaning. Your computer actually becomes what you want it to be. It is your computer.

Good Luck to ya..

PS Don't feel overwhelmed by the flavors of linux. Take your time on an easy one, then expand your knowledge by tryin others. You'll see one day that Mandrake may be easy, but Slackware is just so much more fun *my opinion

thanks you guys rock! but umm so what do I do, say i order a mandrake cd and get it in the mail - then what?

Then you open the box, open the CD cover,
insert the 1st CD into the drive, and reboot
the computer. If it's not set-up to boot from
CD you enter the BIOS, change that appropriately,
and boot again....



Cheers,
Tink

I would wager you need to defrag Windows if you plan on using a single hard drive, put install CD 1 in and reboot.

I posted some valuable links for getting ready called Pre-installation guides previously.

Do a board search for "Mandrake links" and you will find my handy links for Mandrake as well, in the documentation of which you will surely find an installation guide or several.