anyone here run ubuntu or any other linux based OS? my old pc was running a copy of xp until it crashed. . don't really feel like reinstalling xp, so i
downloaded and burned ubuntu. .
how's it run when compared to xp?
[Non-geeks take heed! Your eyes may glaze over and you may become dizzy if you proceed to read this post!
]
I've been running Debian for nigh on 7 years now. I'm currently using r4. 0, with the latest 2. 6 kernel. I use KDE, rather than the default window manager that Debian (and its offshoots) use. I am able to do almost everything I need with it: web browsing with Iceweasel or Konqueror, word processing, typesetting and spreadsheets with OpenOffice (which I used to typeset and print the DHRA rule book), image tweaking with GIMP, batch image tweaking with ImageMagick, personal finance (check book) with GnuCash, email with Kmail, Acroread for reading PDFs, SANE for scanning stuff, scanbuttond with a custom mod to work the scanner buttons, SSH for secure remote access to other systems, and a bunch of other stuff.
I even tried Cinellera for modifying videos, but it didn't work too well. Might be because I was running the 64-bit version of Debian at the time. I've since switched back to 32-bit, because there are still a few essential things missing from 64-bit (like Acroread, flash and other video stuff). Oh, wait. I was using 64-bit Fedora Core for a while because Debian's 64-bit wasn't ready. But I switched back as soon as it was, because Debian is just easier to use.
Compared to XP, Linux is generally faster, because it accesses the hardware more efficiently. Memory usage is generally similar, although Gnu/Linux uses less paging space than does Windows. Using GUIs, software tends to be about the same size on either platform; the difference is that Gnu/Linux doesn't maintain compatibility with systems that were introduced 20 years ago. There's a lot of code in the latest Win systems that are hacks to let old, broken software run; all this code tends to slow it down.
That said, you *could* find Linux to be a bit slow, GUI-wise, if you don't have fast video hardware. It'll run well, but things that require fast video can drag. A dual-core CPU makes a big difference. With *two* dual core CPUs, my current system *never* runs slow.
I occasionally have problems with Konqueror; certain things on the web will cause Konqueror to crash. Sometimes Iceweasel (Firefox) is affected. Usually it has to do with video or flash. And there are still a *few* web sites that just won't display on Gnu/Linux.
The only things I *must* use Windows for are Diablo and Adobe Illustrator. Diablo is about the only game I own, and the available vector graphics programs on Gnu/Linux just aren't mature enough for production work. Oh, and surprisingly, Windows Movie Maker actually works fairly well (once I ran it on my desktop; the laptop's video just wasn't quite up to the task). I used it to produce the 30-minute HD promotional video that was shown at the casino in Mesquite and in a theater chain in the Vegas area this spring.
I've had my new dual dual-core CPU system for about a year now. But I'm ready to sell the motherboard and CPUs. I've decided I want new CPUs that have hardware virtualization built in. I really want to run Linux and Windows (and maybe another OS or two) at the same time. Dual-booting is nice; I've been doing it for over ten years. But it's no longer efficient enough; I need at least both OSen at the same time. I'm thinking at least two dual-core CPUs. Four would be nice, as would two quad-core CPUs.
That brings me to something else: memory requirements. Generally speaking, 1GB of RAM is adequate for either OS (Linux and XP). More is needed only if one is doing memory-intensive stuff; a 12000x12000 pixel image in GIMP will get my memory usage close to 2GB; but few people work on images that big (20" x 20" at 600 DPI). And two CPUs are generally adequate for most ordinary uses of either Gnu/Linux or Windows. I can max out all four of my CPUs by telling make(1) to run 8 compiles in parallel, but typically two are nearly always idle, and the third is often idle.
I would surmise that an 800 MHz PIII with 512MB RAM would be adequate for anyone starting to use Gnu/Linux, and for anyone using a computer just to browse the web, fetch and send email, track the checkbook with GnuCash, and create documents and spreadsheet with OpenOffice. I did all that and much more with mine, until it just got to be too slow (for me).
Whoops! Glazed eyes and spinning heads I expected. But writhing on the floor in intense pain I didn't expect. Sorry! I'll stop now.
N
Attention: TDR Forum Junkies 
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