4570,
Thanks for raising this query. I’ve wanted to get back into Linux for some time, had a box w/ RedHat and later Slackware distros. A bit cumbersome but ran fast and stable until the MB decided to nuke itself… Guess I’ll have to take a peek at Ubuntu & Mint.
I personally run openSUSE Linux full-time, and have only booted into Windows a few times in the past few years to run a program for installing firmware onto my Samsung Android phone.
I started trying to use Linux full-time around 2001. My reason for switching was probably one of the strangest (and most invalid) ones out there: I received a trial of a program that I wanted to learn for my job that required Windows >= 2000, and my computer only had Windows 98SE. Since I am indefatigably cheap, (see the name of this website) instead of upgrading Windows, I chose to install Linux and tried to run the program under Wine. Well, needless to say, it didn’t run under Wine either. 
But I was sick of blue screens on Windows 98SE, and I kept using Linux from then on. Frankly, Linux on the desktop in that era was awful, especially on my machine, which had a SiS 6326 graphics card. The Linux driver for the SiS 6326 was dreadfully unstable, and during the long period of time that I continued to use Linux on that system, I ran into far more hard crashes and loss of work under the Xfree86 environment than I ever did with Windows 98SE. But the siren song of free software kept me in the game. 
Enter circa 2005, when I bought my first laptop, a very old and — you guessed it — cheap, IBM Thinkpad. Since it didn’t come with an OS, I naturally installed Linux on that laptop. Windows never did see the light of day on that machine. The Xfree86 (by then “Xorg”) stability issue was greatly improved on this laptop, due to a much more compatible video card. But desktop performance was still abysmally slow because, like old4570, although I do know how, I hate command line and text file settings configuration. Thus, I was continually searching for a desktop environment that would consume less RAM than a Windows 98 or 2000 system while still being easy to configure with point ‘n’ click GUI tools.
I got more than a year of constant use out of that old IBM Thinkpad. Around 2006, I started to worry about hard disk mechanical failure, and when I found a great deal on a new Dell B130 laptop, I jumped on it. It came with Windows XP, which almost completely eliminated the blue screen issues of the bygone Windows 9x days. Also, in those days I was still dependant on dialup internet service, since there was absolutely no other option available where I lived. Since that laptop came with a weird “soft” modem, controlled by software drivers instead of onboard hardware logic, I was forced to jump ship to Windows XP, due to a lack of modem drivers under Linux. I had minimal problems with Windows XP on that machine. I never even installed an antivirus system, but I meticulously maintained and monitored my system and used only reputable open source software for Windows, which left me with a lightweight and fast system. But then two things happened: First of all, Dell surprisingly released a Linux driver for the soft modem in my laptop. Second, one day when something happened to my printer, I went to a public computer to print a file on my USB flash drive. When I went back to my Windows XP laptop and inserted my USB flash drive, I immediately noticed that it infected my machine with a virus. I manually removed it and sanitized my machine, but that still left me really worried about security. The feeling that my data might be in risk of corruption or possibly even transmission to a criminal really unnerved me. So, I finally completely wiped Windows off that laptop and installed Linux again.
I have gone back and forth between several Linux distros for daily usage, and I have briefly tried countless distros. Many of the distros are small projects started by a nice guy with good intentions, but the creator usually burns out after a year or two and the distro disappears. Most of the other small distros that manage to keep going still suffer from a plethora of bugs and weird hacks, and the project usually doesn’t have enough manpower to properly maintain itself. Most of the small distros have one or two really unique, innovative features for a specific target audience, but suffer from lack of overall integration and fail to satisfy the needs of a large general audience. There are a few exceptions. Although I would never run it on a daily basis, Puppy Linux is an incredibly useful tool for testing and fixing broken systems, it’s blisteringly fast, and its hardware support is nothing short of incredible. I always keep a copy handy.
So for a good Linux distro with plenty of manpower that it stable, professionally developed and maintained, and suitable for daily use on the desktop, my personal preference is openSUSE. It is incredibly flexible, very professionally presented, extremely well maintained by many enthusiastic supporters and developers, and it doesn’t force a default desktop on its users. It has commercial support, its entire infrastructure is superb, and it’s here to stay for the long term. Its package manager is second to none for flexibility. It allows for new releases of software to be easily installed on top of a stable base system, or the user can opt for the Tumbleweed rolling release paradigm. OpenSUSE arguably has the best installer of any OS, and its YaST system configuration tool is unrivaled for the amount of system features that can be configured without munging around text config files and typing arcane commands in the terminal. It has very good multi-lingual support. It is very stable, uses minimal hardware resources, and is generally consistent from one release to another. SUSE Studio is the icing on the cake— it allows a common user to configure a custom, re-distributable openSUSE live desktop and installer ISO, essentially a point ‘n’ click distro creator. In general, with openSUSE I can just get work done and concentrate on the task at hand without messing around with my OS.
So that’s my personal Linux story. I have a few other thoughts and observations about other distros that I would recommend or not recommend, but I won’t bore you further.
*nix is great, especially Mint.
However, USB TV sticks just work on Win7. I’ve wasted a lot of time trying to configure several different brands on ubuntu and Mint. PITA.
Well , I downloaded PC Linux , and Mint ,
SUSE - FEDORA - hmmm!! been a while , might be time to try again ...
Right now Zorin is dualbooting on my computer, I actually really like it. :)
I still think that Windows 2000 was the best Windows version, but I haven’t needed to waste time to re-install XP Pro for what seems like 10 years now.
In their revenue plan, once Microsoft creates a stable platform, they have to create a disaster prone upgrade in order to sell the next version to fix it. So, every other new OS will have fatal stability flaws. Hence the rationale for ME, Vista, and 8, and the need for XP, 7 and whatever they decide to call their next(p)OS.
I’m not “in the know” on Linux. I have Ubuntu on my laptop… It could be better, but i really like it!
loved Win2000 , where the "F" was service pack 5 ?
I heard they were going to do SP5 to keep 2000 around a while longer ( rather than having migrate to XP ) since 2000 was very popular at the time . ( Dirty trick MS )
Ok , so here is the plan ATM :
I have unplugged my SSD drives ( windows ) , and put a 10Gig partition on my 1TB WD and installed ubuntu onto it .. ( 900Gig left for back up )
So plan is to , re plug the SSD's , fire up windows , then re-install Ubuntu ( now have existing Linux partitions ) so I can dual boot ...
Once that is set up I can format the left over GB on the WD HDD , for back up space for Windows ...
This is a real ass about way of doing what should have been easy - and was easy 5 or more years ago ..
The Linux Bunch ( Brady Bunch ) have really stuffed up the Linux installer ... ( PITA )
So will see how this goes ( installing software is time consuming )
Oh yeah - running Ubuntu ATM - its not bad - but installing it for DB is a PITA - with my set up ( Lots of drives and partitions )
I downloaded a Windows 7 64 bit ISO and Windows Loader by Daz, free windows for me.
I don’t believe in paying for software, music, movies etc.
China chooses Ubuntu for a national reference OS.
I’ll make a mental note never to do business with you. Thanks for the warning about your reluctance to compensate people for their hard work!
PPtk
You never recorded something off TV or the radio when you were younger? Never downloaded a movie or song? I find that hard to believe.
I won’t pretend like I’ve never watched a bootleg film or downloaded a song off Napster, but fundamentally, I Do believe in paying for things that are of value. The time it takes to write software, compose songs and create movies isn’t negligible, and I Believe in compensating people for their work.
I wasn’t even so much referencing the activity of downloading pirated works, as I was referencing the fact that you sincerely don’t believe in paying for them. I suppose the world just owes these things to you.
Best wishes,
PPtk
I work 2 paid jobs both for less than minimum wage 5 days a week, and I volunteer 3 days a week. I have very little time for myself and more money than I spend on myself is given to others that need it more than I do. Even with BLF I gave nearly all of my flashlights, parts, chargers, batteris etc away for free to make others happy rather than selling them.
Its not as if I am a tight ass with money or selfish and just want everything for nothing, I just have priorities and putting $1000s in trillionaires pockets isn’t important to me.
I also believe in compensating people for their work but Microsoft for example makes billions and people here are talking about Linux and the creator is a poor hobo looking guy, what about his work? I don’t see anyone making a big fuss and sending him donations, they just use it because its free. The same reason as me when it comes down to it.
90% of pirates would have never paid in the first place…
Hi everyone,
Piracy and software patents are a subject best avoided here on BLF, as they are highly controversial and are bound to cause a fight and hurt feelings.
Thanks!
I'm actually really liking Zorin, I never used Ubuntu or any of the other ones daily as they weren't what I was used to, but Zorin is great. Old4570, the installer works fine. You just need some free space (non-partitioned) and then you can tell it to install there. Still trying to get Windows 8 to work with Grub though.
I get Windows 7 and 8 Professional for free
(legitimate)
and a lot of people do. They just don’t realize it. <:
(hint: google MSDNAA)
I wish that was the case , I really do ...
I tried Ubuntu on its own ( stand alone ) and it worked fine ..
But dual boot - nope = FAIL
The current installer sux's hard , and if you go on the ubuntu forums , seems a lot of people are having issue with dual boot ..
So it looks like the Linux Bunch have stuffed up the installer .. I will wait another 12 months , and try again , maybe the Linux Bunch will have their act together by then ?
I had none of these issues 5+ years ago , and I cant even use those old distros now ( shame )
Oh well , will just have to suffer Win7 and 8 ( dual boot ) until Linux re-learns how to install .
Old, would it help if I gave you a step by step guide with screenshots? As for dual-booting, most of the problems come from UEFI secure boot, which is the problem I have. I have to hit f12 and choose either windows boot manager or hard disk.