Best Operating system to load onto a new PC

Sublime_2

britishboy wrote: »

Cheers people, and what Windows OS should I get? XP, Vista or Windows 7?

Windows 7 definitely. Avoid vista like the plague.

paddyrg

Win 7 or Linux Mint.

longwalks1

sorry to be a pain again, whats the difference between Windows 7 32-bit and 64-bit? (other than 32 bits of whatever!)

Sublime_2

Don't forget Ubuntu, a very user friendly linux. Might be worth downloading and giving it a try, before installing Win 7.

debitcardmayhem

Do what I do , not what I say, Dual Boot Win 7 64bit / Ubuntu 10.10

spud17

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

Do what I do , not what I say, Dual Boot Win 7 64bit / Ubuntu 10.10

Snap!

But both 64bit. :beer:

patman99

O/P, what do you intend to use the computer for?.

Surfing the net/emails, office work and playing games = Windows 7 64bit - Runs smooth as silk and no system crashes in 14 months.

Or

Surfing the net/emails and office work = Linux distro. Any will do, but for a Windows user choose one that uses the KDE4 desktop as it will be more familiar.

I put PCLinuxOS2011 KDE4 Full Monty on my laptop the other day after the 'System Tools' scare. Was quite impressed, even had 3 very powerful photo-editing programs pre-installed along with LibreOffice (MS Office compatible), Scribus (commercial-grade DTP) and proprietry drivers for Nvidia, ATi, Atheros, Broadcom and many more.

There is absolutely no harm giving Linux a spin, after all, it costs nothing, so if you don't like it, just format the drive and bung on Windows.

DVardysShadow

GeoffX wrote: »

Windows 7 64 bit. Masochists use Linux.

Me, fresh install of openslx as opensuse is now known. 2 hours, online upgrade done and all hardware working. Windows 7 upgrade from XP, 3 weeks later, still not able to get it to load. Masochists install windows.

esuhl

Windows 7: Easy to use & maintain, lots of software & help available. Costs money. Lots of anti-malware software required.

Arch Linux: Easy to use if you can follow simple instructions and edit text files. Highly customisable, and you install only what you need so it's very fast. Well supported (but not as much support as you would find for Windows). Ideal if you're a control freak or want to install a minimalist installation (on a netbook or low-spec PC). Has a "rolling release" model where the OS is gradually upgraded package-by-package - instead of suddenly having to reinstall to the latest version of the OS. It's also good if you actually want to learn how Linux works - it's "Keep It Simple, Stupid" (KISS) philosophy makes it relatively easy to pick up.

Ubuntu Linux: Very popular. A "standard" installation is quite bloated - this means that everything you are likely to need will be pre-installed and ready-to-use, but it can run slowly on older hardware. However, I found it quite complex and difficult to configure anything beyond basic settings. Good if you want a "fully featured" desktop and aren't interested in tweaking/configuring or learning about Linux.

Red Hat Linux: Widely used in business. Perhaps a good choice if you're looking to embark on a career in Linux.

If you're going to give Linux a go, it's definitely a good idea to try a few different distributions to see what suits you.

Personally, I triple boot between Arch Linux, Windows 7 and XP. I tend to use Arch 90% of the time, though.

esuhl

GeoffX wrote: »

Windows 7 64 bit. Masochists use Linux.

For most people (who just want a computer that works and don't want to spend time tweaking it or learning new skills), Windows 7 64-bit is probably the way to go.

There's no way I would want Windows on my netbook, though. XP performed atrociously once I'd installed anti-malware applications, and keeping them updated was painful. Arch Linux is sooo much faster and a pleasure to use!