xdave

im thinking about buying a netbook and some dont have windows xp they have linux , is linus anygood ? thanks ..

swampster

iTrader: (1)

It's a great operating system, and is ideal for netbook type computers because it can be virtually stripped to its barebones, and is inherently much more secure than a standard Windows installation.

However depending on how it's been implemented, it can be quite clunky (i.e. not as slick as windows) and particularly on a netbook, I'd expect its functionality to be pretty limited, I'd also probably expect a limited availability of apps.

Markus

Do you know what distribution of Linux (fancy way of saying what type it's running, as there are types such as Fedora, Ubuntu, and many, many others) it's running? If so and if you have a PC, see if there is a LiveCD version available, and if there is, download it and burn it to CD.

This will allow you to boot up and run Linux from the CD, without installing it, thus you can have a quick play around and see if you're happy with what you would be getting.

NotoriousREV

The most important question is: what exactly is it you want to do with it? Linux is great but for certain things Windows is "better".

_Meridian_

iTrader: (1)

I'm (sort of) with him. If all you want to do is surf, WP and play MP3s, there's no reason not to use Linux. The vast majority of main-stream distros (version: Ubuntu/Fedora/OpenSuse etc) have apps to do all the above. OpenOffice does everything M$ Office does, and The GIMP is nearly as good as Photoshop. But if you plan on gaming, give the idea of Linux up now: it's not impossible, but it's hard work for a newbie to Linux. At least getting Windows version to run using Wine is. If you have particular programs that you need, make sure you find out if there's a Linux equivalent.

Distros vary a bit, with Gentoo and Slackware being a bit hardcore, but ones like three listed above (Ubuntu etc) being very easy to pick up, and with loads of on-line support forums and groups.

But unless you actually want to learn Linux, I don't think there's anything to be gained. I'm all for people learning Linux, but only if they want to.


M

swampster

iTrader: (1)

In all probability if its a netbook pc, it'll most likely have a vendor specific distro rather than one of the mainstream distros. It'll almost certainly be a fairly lightweight build as well.

MJW

I've been using Kubuntu on an old nail of a machine and runs great. Looks quite similar to Windows, you can run Open Office on it (and save as .doc files if you need to use them in MS Office) and use Firefox for web browsing.