Best Operating system to load onto a new PC

spud17

Sublime wrote: »

Snap (sort of). Triple booted: win7 64bit, win7 32bit, Ubuntu!

If you aren't comfortable with multi-boot, best to stick with win 7, or perhaps try ubuntu first.

Then there's the 1Gb flash drive with Puppy, the 256Mb flash drive with SliTaz, the webserver with Ubuntu Server/Xubuntu, the backup running Freenas, not forgetting the retired XP machine, and I've just started messing around with thin clients.

Ain't got time to watch new TV, besides sorting others PCs.

debitcardmayhem

23n1th wrote: »

I think he wanted linux suggestions for his new computer[?]

THank goodness I thought he wanted advice on Mac vs Windows

spud17

debitcardmayhem wrote: »

THank goodness I thought he wanted advice on Mac vs Windows

Isn't that usually scheduled for the Friday argument?

wantsajob

I always seem to have constant problems with things after updates in Linux, but I think this is largely due to using a rather old machine. On my net top it still does not recognise the in-built track pad.

esuhl

Toxteth_OGrady wrote: »

Consumer versions of Linux (Ubuntu, Mint, PCLinuxOS) are winning over converts because they are becoming a lot closer to Windows in look and feel...

You're right, but sometimes I think the Windows-like-Linuxes bring together the worst parts of Windows & Linux.

Windows is great because the OS comes in one solid preconfigured "blob" that does what most home-users want and is easy to use.

Linux is great because it is completely modular and is highly configurable, although that comes at the cost of being a bit more tricky to use.

The Windows-like-Linuxes try to solve the problem of being difficult to use, but in doing so you end up with a distribution where lots of stuff is pre-installed and pre-configured. You lose the specialised, modular, highly-configurable appeal, but still don't have something that's as easy to use (for non-techies) as Windows.

Having said all that, the Windows-like-Linuxes are getting quite sophisticated now... It'll be interesting to see if they ever become a popular mainstream option.

pinnacle

I like WIndows 7 SP1 x64.

free4440273

spud17 wrote: »

Isn't that usually scheduled for the Friday argument?

bring it on !:rotfl:

Cricri

I used to be a XP fan, but recently had recurring blue screen problems on my desktop. I figured out it had to do with some drivers, but couldn't really fix it with different versions, and there were no more drivers updates anyway.
I installed Win7 and every single device was supported out of the box, and a very decent OS. So I ended up upgrading the laptop too.
My only gripes are:
1 - UAC is a PITA, but can be disabled.
2 - all removable drives are flagged as needing a scan, but if you do scan it the first time around, you should be fine subsequently.
3 - Samba file sharing is a PITA to setup compared to XP. It's supposed to be more secure, but for a home network, XP was sufficiently secure and much easier to setup. again, after struggling days with the issue, I could solve this one too.

I wouldn't say that 7 blew my mind and radically enhanced my computing experience, but it works well, and was a breeze when it came to installing hardware drivers (in particular SATA as you don't need to slipstream the driver on the CD like you do with XP).

free4440273

I wouldn't say that 7 blew my mind and radically enhanced my computing experience, but it works well, and was a breeze when it came to installing hardware drivers (in particular SATA as you don't need to slipstream the driver on the CD like you do with XP).

^^yep/ agreed/ and Windows Updates remains an awful mess! always has done// always will lol/

esuhl

Cricri wrote: »

1 - UAC is a PITA, but can be disabled.

I've heard quite a few people say that, but I don't understand why. The raising/lowering of priviledge levels is quite useful in terms of security, and even though I'm technically-minded and see more UAC prompts than the average person, it's never really bothered me.

Vista's UAC does seem to give me double the number of prompts as it should, and the flickering screen and brief delays irritate me a bit, but Windows 7's UAC seems fine...