Linux Ubuntu -- Anyone use it?

[philco1]

Hi, I will be buying a new pc in April//May and I was considering using Linux Ubuntu instead of Win XP or Vista or perhaps I may partition my drive and use XP and Ubuntu and well I was wondering if anyone on the forums uses this OS.
From what I've heard, its a great OS however I've also heard that it doesn't work well with graphics cards as there are very few drivers for it and general support. So anyway I was wondering ... If I were to buy a descent vid card (nvidia 9000 series) would Ubuntu be able to fully utilize it? Moreover, does anyone know if Ubuntu has issues with large amounts of RAM (for my new PC I will prob get 4 gb of ram), I know that WinXP has this issue when you go above 3 gb (I think). Also, if anyone does use it on the forums, could u post your general opinion of it.

[movieman]

Nvidia release Linux drivers for their cards, but they're usually some way behind the Windows release; I wouldn't expect to have decent support for the 9x00 cards until later this year. Large amounts of RAM shouldn't be a problem so long as you run the 64-bit version.

Ubuntu have a downloadable, bootable CD image, so if you get the computer with Vista you can always try booting off of that and see what works and what doesn't . I'm looking to buy a cheap PC for Ubuntu right now and figuring out what's actually supported isn't easy; someone really needs to make a list of what hardware works and keep it up to date.

[hagbard]

Yes. Plenty of people.

[gordholio]

I've used it. Suffice to say, I'm back to using Windows XP.

[ASharp]

I've tried it for a time. There's nothing much that it offered me that I couldn't do with Windows not to mention I'll have to re-learn an operating system. In the end, it wasn't worth time or effort so I went back to Windows. Seems like a solid OS though and if you're willing to sit down and spend time to learn its intricacies then I'm sure it's actually quite awesome.

[satcom]

Just use Windows like a normal person.

[hagbard]

Been using it on an old desktop and yesterday installed it on my laptop. Had to work out a few bugs (video, wireless) but now its working pretty good. Mouse needs some work. Given the direction MS has been heading in the past ten years, I want to be prepared to jump ship before they push things any further.

[movieman]

To a certain extent, if you have to ask whether you need Linux you probably don't . The main benefits are that it's free, has a ton of free software, is more secure than Windows, at least if run as a workstation (most Linux exploits are in server code), can run as a server for all kinds of uses without having to pay lots more money for a server version, supports old hardware much better than Windows, and generally needs far less RAM than Windows does to get anything useful done.

Another feature I make a lot of use of is being able to run a program on one PC and display it on another; there's no need to actually sit in front of the computer you're using and you can even display the output on Windows if you want. Windows has VNC, but that's really limited in comparison; e.g. you can only run as the user who's currently logged in and you take over their desktop.

The downside is that there's a lot of Windows software which won't run on it, so if you need that software you're stuck with Windows. Games and video editing are the main reasons why I still have Windows on two PCs.

[phucyall]

My desktop run Windows because of gaming and my laptop dual boots between Windows and Ubuntu (although I do mostly use Ubuntu) but all my other computers run some flavor of linux (my main server is on a laptop running FreeBSD, which technically isn't linux but close enough).

Out of all the linux distributions perhaps one of the best ones is Ubuntu for beginner users. Installer is very user friendly and install disk is a live cd, meaning you can boot straight from CD and try it out for look and feel before installing. There are multiple flavors of Ununtu too. For example, KUbuntu Live CD defaults to KDE for it's desktop (looks a lot like Windows), but you can also use Ubuntu which has Gnome for it's desktop (look and feel of an older Mac OS).

At the very least you should partition your hard drive and try it out. There are much more things to learn and run and if you want to remain a very basic user without learning anything technical you still can because most of the options can be set through some sort of a GUI.

[cliff]

support isn't an issue, just do a search on google or use the ubuntu forums, there is too much info out there IMO, many cases you need to read through a couple recommendations before finding one that works, or one that has a solution.

Ubuntu is great for a basic internet/word processing, minimal config is needed, and much prefer the microsoft 5-button mouse in ubuntu then windows, it seems to have more precision.

I'm undecided on what I will use long term, 7.10 is much better then 7.4 it ran the install and update drivers automatically. You can do a search (google) to findout if your hardware is compatible, most HW is out of the box now.

Keep in mind virtualization is an option - you can run windows from within ubuntu so you don't need to loose the windows only applications. (Likewise you could do the opposite) I still don't quite get the linux disk system (maybe I've used windows too long and everything else - including OSX - seems foreign on the micro level), I just don't get it why all the disks need to be mounted every boot, they are there in the explorer - just mount them, but that should change eventually.

[stevelam]

I still don't quite get the linux disk system (maybe I've used windows too long and everything else - including OSX - seems foreign on the micro level), I just don't get it why all the disks need to be mounted every boot, they are there in the explorer - just mount them, but that should change eventually.

you can just add the configure to automount your drives.

honestly i still prefer windows xp. theres just no compelling reason to jump to linux/ubuntu besides the free factor which really isn't much of a concern considering todays world of torrents and etc etc. plus i do a lot of work in adobe apps and they aren't native to linux at all (yes you can possibly run through wine or some other virtual crap but no thanks).

also, ubuntu support for wireless devices is absolutely awful. i have 3 random usb dongles/wifi cards that just don't want to work in ubuntu (and yes i've scoured the ubuntu forums and tried all the ndiswrapper workarounds). they all work fine in windows.

[billccwu]

Ubuntu has come a long way as an open source OS, and it is definitely one of the best ones out there for beginners breaking into Linux.

[philco1]

Keep in mind virtualization is an option - you can run windows from within ubuntu so you don't need to loose the windows only applications.

Are you referring to Wine or something that I am un-aware of. If I can run Windows apps w/o emulation in Linux, I'd be formatting my laptop right now. Man I wish I could install XP and install Ubuntu and have Ubuntu use the XP os to run Windows apps, but most likely this is against the law

[ShadowVlican]

I've used it. Suffice to say, I'm back to using Windows XP.

same here

i have an older AthlonXP desktop that i use for Ubuntu experimenting.. i always like to see how they're improving


but on my main work station (and any other computer that requires getting work done) i'm using WinXP

it's bullcrap like this that pushes me back to windows (i can name another billion things, but i'd u get the point from that single one)

[brunes]

Are you referring to Wine or something that I am un-aware of. If I can run Windows apps w/o emulation in Linux, I'd be formatting my laptop right now. Man I wish I could install XP and install Ubuntu and have Ubuntu use the XP os to run Windows apps, but most likely this is against the law

www.vmware.com

'VMWare Server' is free to download and lets you run Windows in Linux. You can even copy/paste between apps.