Ok, I don't have much time to make this blog, and it's technically been a day since my last one :p
Basically, I downloaded Ubuntu last night, and wanted your guys' opinions. I'm not putting it on my laptop, but on my old desktop I have sitting on my desk (disconnected from the internet). The reason we put it in storage for years (before I found it again and nursed it back to health) is because we got a trojan of some sort that screwed windows up. It's in a workable state, but there's obviously something wrong with it. ANYWAY. Sometime today, after I get home and write Ubuntu to a disc, I think I'm gonna try to boot it on there. I know I'll be restricted to GM on my laptop after that (but I could always try to dual boot windows, right?). Do you guys think this is an okay idea? I've never really used any other OS than windows, so I think it could be fun. Anyway, end of short meaningless blaug.<edit>Ok, now that I have some time, might as well go over what's wrong with Windows. The most apparent problem is the fact that windows explorer is screwed. I have to open my task manager every time I boot up just to force it to start. There's also a run-time error it throws frequently, which I've just ignored. The one other main problem that I've noticed is that files frequently become corrupted. So far, this hasn't become a terrible issue, as I haven't lost anything I needed or had spent hours working on. At the same time, it could easily happen. What I'm planning on is trying to boot Ubuntu, and if I still experience problems, re-formatting and trying again. There's not really much on it that's important other than my dev stuff (which I can back up on my usb drive). About to start writing to the disk. I expect it to take a while so I won't get to the tough bit for a while :pShot down 6773 n00bs at time of blog.
Ubuntu, provided all your hardware works, is a really easy distro.
If your hardware doesn't work straight away, this is bad, because it's quite good with drivers and stuff.I had to delete Windows once because it had gotten to the stage of extreme crash/bugdom, so thought I'd use the opportunity to try out Ubuntu.
Bad idea. I happened to have pretty much the least compatible modern graphics card I could've had, a Radeon 9250… Went downhill from there. If the hardware fits, I guess…Reinstalling Windows is your best bet, imo.Like PY said, Ubuntu is the easiest and most user friendly distro out there. However, I still don't like linux, it feels like you have to be a huge geek to use it.
Ubuntu is a pretty good distro, drivers can pose an issue. As far as Linux vs Windows, I dual boot my laptop (XP/Mepis 8), for basic computing needs (internet, documents, etc.) Linux is perfectly fine and should be pretty intuitive. Its when you start delving into the power that Linux gives you that you can enter "huge geek" zone Josea mentions.
-At my 3rd attempt at installing Linux on my computer, my secure bet was Ubuntu through Wubi, so should it suck or crash, I could just uninstall it.
-When I succeeded, I looked around, played with programs, downloaded stuff (only driver I needed was my Radeon X1300, which I found)… Unfortunately, despite my enthusiasm on moving to Linux, I just didn't need it.-So after my experience I agree with drspazz, use it for basic computing needs.-The only irritating thing I found was that I has to throw in some code on the command line to have the ability to modify system files. There's probably a way to bypass this, but I didn't give it much time before getting bored.Thanks for your input guys. I think re-installing Windows would be optimal, only problem is I don't have a Windows disc. I also don't wanna put out the cash for one. Sure, there's always the questionable Windows Black, but I figure if Ubuntu (and whatever else I can dig up) fails, that'll be my last resort. I'm about to write Ubuntu to a CD and then I'll begin the whole set-up process.