http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.html?forumID=77&threadID=231162&start=0
And read some answers from people to the question "Is the Linux operating system for me?"
Various articles and info on Linux at http://www.desktoplinux.com/
14 February 2007
More on operating systems
What are people's thoughts on the new Windows Vista?
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.html?forumID=77&threadID=231162&start=0
And read some answers from people to the question "Is the Linux operating system for me?"
Various articles and info on Linux at http://www.desktoplinux.com/
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-4_102-0.html?forumID=77&threadID=231162&start=0
And read some answers from people to the question "Is the Linux operating system for me?"
Various articles and info on Linux at http://www.desktoplinux.com/
12 February 2007
New Windows
So Microsoft have now released their great new shiny operating system, with its WOW effect and aero-glass features.
But, do we really need it? I read reviews of it, I saw a programme on TV about the launch of Windows Vista, and there is a lot to be impressed by in this new operating system.
But I have also read many things about the negative aspects of this new OS. Such as the new hardware requirements. Although Microsoft will specify a minimum RAM and CPU that seems reasonable, unless you have a very powerful modern PC, you can forget about using Vista, unless you do not mind running it slowly and without its fancy effects. Please read the article at http://desktoplinux.com/articles/AT9727687530.html, read all the parts. That author says he tried Vista on a very new and fairly powerful PC, with 2 GB RAM, and yet when Vista was idle, the display that he pasted there of the Task Manager output, shows that there was only 776 MB free RAM. That means that Vista, when idle, and using all its special wow-effects, can be using up about 1.25 GB of RAM, which is more RAM than most PCs have.
And what is so special about the aero-glass transparency effects? What is the point? Does it make anyone more productive? If you are using Vista and the aero-glass transparency effects has given you a significant increase in productivity, please add your comment to this blog as we can know. But I really cannot see anyone benefitting from it, other than Microsoft. It is a gimmick. I think most of the new features in Windows Vista are gimmicks. It is full of gimmicks designed to lure the unwary into buying a new operating system on the grounds that it looks prettier than XP or other operating systems.
I was using Windows XP Professional on this PC, until it all crashed and I lost it all and could not boot it. I then rebuilt the PC and installed Linux instead. I actually purchased a modern operating system that has lots of great features, and makes me more productive than XP did. I bought Xandros 4 Home Premium Edition, which also allows me to write to NTFS partitions, something which previous versions could not do. So I can access all my files on the various NTFS partitions on my hard disks, and Linux partitions and use Linux to do almost everything I need to. It even runs Windows software, including Adobe Photoshop 7, Quark XPress 5, Internet Explorer 6, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX6 and IrfanView.
There are many great new features in modern Linux distributions, and many attractive interfaces, icons, etc. But the hardware requirements are not that great. Except for the 3D desktop effects which require a modern graphics card, but then so does Vista require a very powerful graphics card for its effects. And we do not even need those fancy effects anyway. For me, the only reason to have a powerful graphics card is for video editing. Which I still do in Windows XP Professional, on another PC, using Sony Vegas 6, which is the best video editing program I have used, and I am not giving up Windows XP completely. But for most day to day tasks, Xandros Linux performs very well and is worth having.
Of course, most existing Windows XP users do not actually need to upgrade their OS anyway. The whole Windows Vista thing of being a great upgrade, etc., is flawed in that anyone who is using XP and finds it meets their needs does not need to upgrade.
I should add that my Windows XP installation for using Sony Vegas is only SP1, I do not like SP2 nor the WGA (Windows Genuine [dis-]Advantage) tool, which is spyware planted by Microsoft to stop people using XP without paying for it, although they can use it to spy people for other things too, in theory. I did find though, when using XP SP2 and WGA that things stopped working, including Sony Vegas, even though my XP is genuine. So I had to reinstall Windows XP and this time not install SP2 nor allow WGA to enter in.
And on a third PC I am trying out various other Linux distributions. One of them is PCLinuxOS, which has the transparency effect on the edge of windows and the taskbar. It looks cool, great, etc. But this is a free OS running on an old PC @ 1.1 GHz, and it has transparency like in Windows Vista (but probably not exactly the same), and without the need for any special or modern hardware. The VGA card is fairly low-spec but it works very well in Linux. And then there is Freespire, a free version of Linspire, both of which aim to be Windows-replacement-OSes, but based on Linux. Freespire is very good and features click and run technology to locate and install software very easily. In fact, installing software in Freespire is easier than installing software in any version of MS Windows. Installing software in Linux in general can be difficult for new users, but Freespire makes it easier than anything. Then there is Mandriva, a good quality Linux OS which comes in paid for and free versions. The paid for version has lots of extras, such as LinDVD, a commercial software DVD player like WinDVD to play all types of DVD videos, including commercial disks which generally do not play on Linux due to the encryption used. I installed a free version from a Mandriva DVD I downloaded, and it has great software and features, including firewire networking, something I had only previously seen in Windows XP and Windows ME (although I could never get it to work in WinME).
There are many Linux distributions to choose from. Just go to Distrowatch.com to see a list of various ones available, and find one that suits you. If you like the Apple Mac OS interface, try Dreamlinux, which is Linux, runs on a PC, but its interface is very heavily influenced by Mac OS X.
I am going to try out more Linux distros as time allows, and I hope to install Dreamlinux soon. Most distros will offer a Live CD version that you can boot from in your PC, which does not add or alter anything on the hard disk, so is completely safe to use and not disrupt what you have already. I have used the live CD of Dreamlinux and from that I can install it to the hard disk, and then try it out fully and install more software on there. Most Linux distros have a package manager of some sort, which allows you to browse and install more software, but it really only works well if you are using a fast broadband internet connection. I have 8 Mbit/s, which on average gives me a download speed of 7 Mbit/s.
Whatever OS you choose, I hope you choose the right one for you and your hardware. And if you do use Vista, just be aware that if it all goes wrong, you can only reinstall it once. If you try to reinstall it again, it will fail and demand you buy a new licence. Or get a Linux distro which you can install as many times as you like.
But, do we really need it? I read reviews of it, I saw a programme on TV about the launch of Windows Vista, and there is a lot to be impressed by in this new operating system.
But I have also read many things about the negative aspects of this new OS. Such as the new hardware requirements. Although Microsoft will specify a minimum RAM and CPU that seems reasonable, unless you have a very powerful modern PC, you can forget about using Vista, unless you do not mind running it slowly and without its fancy effects. Please read the article at http://desktoplinux.com/articles/AT9727687530.html, read all the parts. That author says he tried Vista on a very new and fairly powerful PC, with 2 GB RAM, and yet when Vista was idle, the display that he pasted there of the Task Manager output, shows that there was only 776 MB free RAM. That means that Vista, when idle, and using all its special wow-effects, can be using up about 1.25 GB of RAM, which is more RAM than most PCs have.
And what is so special about the aero-glass transparency effects? What is the point? Does it make anyone more productive? If you are using Vista and the aero-glass transparency effects has given you a significant increase in productivity, please add your comment to this blog as we can know. But I really cannot see anyone benefitting from it, other than Microsoft. It is a gimmick. I think most of the new features in Windows Vista are gimmicks. It is full of gimmicks designed to lure the unwary into buying a new operating system on the grounds that it looks prettier than XP or other operating systems.
I was using Windows XP Professional on this PC, until it all crashed and I lost it all and could not boot it. I then rebuilt the PC and installed Linux instead. I actually purchased a modern operating system that has lots of great features, and makes me more productive than XP did. I bought Xandros 4 Home Premium Edition, which also allows me to write to NTFS partitions, something which previous versions could not do. So I can access all my files on the various NTFS partitions on my hard disks, and Linux partitions and use Linux to do almost everything I need to. It even runs Windows software, including Adobe Photoshop 7, Quark XPress 5, Internet Explorer 6, Macromedia Dreamweaver MX6 and IrfanView.
There are many great new features in modern Linux distributions, and many attractive interfaces, icons, etc. But the hardware requirements are not that great. Except for the 3D desktop effects which require a modern graphics card, but then so does Vista require a very powerful graphics card for its effects. And we do not even need those fancy effects anyway. For me, the only reason to have a powerful graphics card is for video editing. Which I still do in Windows XP Professional, on another PC, using Sony Vegas 6, which is the best video editing program I have used, and I am not giving up Windows XP completely. But for most day to day tasks, Xandros Linux performs very well and is worth having.
Of course, most existing Windows XP users do not actually need to upgrade their OS anyway. The whole Windows Vista thing of being a great upgrade, etc., is flawed in that anyone who is using XP and finds it meets their needs does not need to upgrade.
I should add that my Windows XP installation for using Sony Vegas is only SP1, I do not like SP2 nor the WGA (Windows Genuine [dis-]Advantage) tool, which is spyware planted by Microsoft to stop people using XP without paying for it, although they can use it to spy people for other things too, in theory. I did find though, when using XP SP2 and WGA that things stopped working, including Sony Vegas, even though my XP is genuine. So I had to reinstall Windows XP and this time not install SP2 nor allow WGA to enter in.
And on a third PC I am trying out various other Linux distributions. One of them is PCLinuxOS, which has the transparency effect on the edge of windows and the taskbar. It looks cool, great, etc. But this is a free OS running on an old PC @ 1.1 GHz, and it has transparency like in Windows Vista (but probably not exactly the same), and without the need for any special or modern hardware. The VGA card is fairly low-spec but it works very well in Linux. And then there is Freespire, a free version of Linspire, both of which aim to be Windows-replacement-OSes, but based on Linux. Freespire is very good and features click and run technology to locate and install software very easily. In fact, installing software in Freespire is easier than installing software in any version of MS Windows. Installing software in Linux in general can be difficult for new users, but Freespire makes it easier than anything. Then there is Mandriva, a good quality Linux OS which comes in paid for and free versions. The paid for version has lots of extras, such as LinDVD, a commercial software DVD player like WinDVD to play all types of DVD videos, including commercial disks which generally do not play on Linux due to the encryption used. I installed a free version from a Mandriva DVD I downloaded, and it has great software and features, including firewire networking, something I had only previously seen in Windows XP and Windows ME (although I could never get it to work in WinME).
There are many Linux distributions to choose from. Just go to Distrowatch.com to see a list of various ones available, and find one that suits you. If you like the Apple Mac OS interface, try Dreamlinux, which is Linux, runs on a PC, but its interface is very heavily influenced by Mac OS X.
I am going to try out more Linux distros as time allows, and I hope to install Dreamlinux soon. Most distros will offer a Live CD version that you can boot from in your PC, which does not add or alter anything on the hard disk, so is completely safe to use and not disrupt what you have already. I have used the live CD of Dreamlinux and from that I can install it to the hard disk, and then try it out fully and install more software on there. Most Linux distros have a package manager of some sort, which allows you to browse and install more software, but it really only works well if you are using a fast broadband internet connection. I have 8 Mbit/s, which on average gives me a download speed of 7 Mbit/s.
Whatever OS you choose, I hope you choose the right one for you and your hardware. And if you do use Vista, just be aware that if it all goes wrong, you can only reinstall it once. If you try to reinstall it again, it will fail and demand you buy a new licence. Or get a Linux distro which you can install as many times as you like.
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