Not sure where this belongs but had to share, Mods please move if this is not the right place.
Sorry but I am just a bit excited. My PC crashed once again running Microsoft crap. I am a PC tech so I know how to fix it but I was just sick to death of it. Every time I get it back up and running I am wondering when it's going to go down again? 3 months 6 months? It seems it goes down at least twice a year if not more.
Any way I have been threatening to go to Linux for years for just that reason and have just been lazy and not done it. Well I had had it so I did a little research and came across an Open Source version of Linux called ubuntu.
I down loaded a copy (it's 100% free) and burned to a CD and was up and running within ten minutes or so just off the CD! In fact I am up and surfing the net right now just running a CD no files loaded on the PC. It's faster then Windows loaded on the hard drive. I will be installing it permanently today I am so done with Microsoft!!!
It even recognized my ATI video card that Windows XP SVPCK 3 or Vista and ME could never seem to figure out no matter what driver I used.
So of you're sick of Microsoft and Windows and all the BS virus scans, spy-ware, security issues, etc. slowing down and crashing your system. I highly recommend you look into ubuntu. It's the product of the free market and it blows the doors off Microsoft, reviews say it's even better then Windows 7!
Yeah there is a bit of a learning curve. But no more then going through all the hassle of trying to get your system back up after Microsh!t crashes. The largest software company in the world can't even get their flagship OS stable and relatively secure. I wonder what government subsidies (theft from taxpayers) they have taken besides!
ubuntu Linux free open source and works great!
I tried Ubuntu out, I liked it except for the fact that it didn't natively recognize my broadcomm net card, so I had to keep booting back and forth between windows and ubuntu trying to fix the problem which no amount of command line crap fixed. So, I have my plans to switch sitting on the shelf until it's more flexible i.e. I don't have to learn all kinds of freaking command line crap just to do normal operations.
This http://www.reactos.org/en/about.html also looks promising
The only other thing keeping me tied to windows is DX10 support because I still enjoy playing some games when I get a chance.
do a dual boot with grub (Grand Unified Bootloader)
I have had vista and Kubuntu on my laptop for a couple years , pretty simple arrangement. haven't logged into vista for months, just keep it updated every once in a while.
I love linux.
I also learned about this free disk that can boot just about any operating system http://www.supergrubdisk.org/
great for rescuing peoples computers.
its also great to stick it to bill gates. microsoft has built in secret back doors which compromises security, so does apple.
Well after much ado I am up and running on ubuntu Linux!
Most of my troubles were from old hardware and just being new to ubuntu. I had gone out and bought a new 500gb hard drive to celebrate the move away from microcrap and to have a clean drive to install ubuntu on. So of course my motherboard bios did not support anything over 137gb LOL! (that tells you how old my hardware is)
I have never been one to have to have the latest and greatest as I am a firm believer in; if it aint broke don't fix it etc. So after some hair tearing I found a bios upgrade and used an old dos 6.22 disk to flash the bios to it's latest upgrade code and that worked.
If that didn't work I was actually going to buy a new motherboard (I can't afford) but it worked and I am officially running on the installed version of ubuntu 9.04!
Devon just FYI in my travels for information for migrating my stuff to ubuntu I discovered you can run windows on a VM under ubuntu so you can do your netframe stuff. Or you can have a dual boot system (personally I don't want windows anywhere near my PC but a VM would be least intrusive)
I discovered also with my local unemployment office you can only do certain interactive things on their website of you have Windows Explorer %*&$#! Proof all government is evil LOL!!!
So I will have to set up a VM I guess till all government collapses into dust LOL!
So it is a bit of a learning curve but no more hassles (much less)then trying to recover a crashed windows system and trying to preserve all your data. I just plugged my former primary drive in as a slave and all my files are available in ubuntu. I was able to copy all my firefox settings and email setting with no problem. It also does wonders with partitions can see read and edit all partitions fat32, NTFS, Mac and of course linux.
Anyway I still have some learning curve but I am off and running and not looking back. Eventually I will have all my PC's Microsoft free! It's nice to be putting my energy into something that actually has a reputation for being stable etc. instead of wondering how long it will last before another crash.
My only issue...
Is that I bought the engineer's version of both XP Pro and Visual Studio (with the MSDN library).
So if I swap an OS and it doesn't integrate perfectly, I'm out 6 grand.
My compromise was having one comp dedicated... it has VS, my graphics stuff, my web stuff and a stripped browser. That's it.
So it actually works well... I've had it on for, idk... 7 months straight now?
If it ever gives me issues I'll still bail tho.
~Live life to its fullest... with open arms, an open heart and most importantly, an open mind.~
Well if you have a spare computer you could try it on that first. I would think in a VM it should be fine. But you can cruise the forums and sites I am sure someone has already done it.
I was running XP Pro also (paid for copy) and it has crashed at least 4 or five times on me since I have had it and made me jump through hoops. If I have to jump through any hoops I'd rather it be in a direction away from MS at this point.
It does feel very liberating to have a solid alternative to the big corporate mogul on the computer bloc!
Very cool. I have long considered taking the plunge into Linux, but I have a few key pieces of software that are Windows only, and thought of migrating to a new OS (and all of the research required to do it right) is a bit daunting given my current obligations. Still, your posts are pushing me that much closer to the brink. Maybe after the move or (more likely) this winter.
Get a copy of the Live CD...
Khomar,
Go to http://www.ubuntu.com/ and download and burn a copy of the "live CD" You can boot up with it, play with it without touching your files or configuration. It all runs off the CD. Thats what I did and tested things that way. I was so blown away by it that convinced me to load it.
You can begin the learning curve as you have time with just the CD for a while. I didn't even try to recover my latest windows crash because I was up running on the Live CD so quickly without worrying about losing files etc.. That's what impressed me.
Does the live CD have the Windows VM, or do you need to install it on the hard drive to run that? I don't have a great deal of money sunk into my Windows software, but I have a lot of files in proprietary formats or use software that doesn't have any Linux equivalent (yet).
Not Sure
Not sure I know you'd have to load a package and I am pretty sure it probably comes with the CD. I don't know if you'd need it on a hard drive or not to do a VM but you can google it and see if it's possible with just the CD.
I would get he CD anyway and play with it. And if you can't do a VM just with the CD then set up a dual boot system and then try and set up a VM when booted to ubuntu for testing your applications. If you have some free HD space that might be a good option or perhaps a HD your not using you could install on the machine and use to load ubuntu on to?
I'll give it a shot. :-)
Now if I can just find a blank CD around here.... we've packed up most of our stuff.
I agree!
What blew me away when I tried ubuntu was that it integrated perfectly into my stuff, so I forgot about it. Then I took the disc out to do something a few days later and then had no OS.
I didn't realize until then that the whole damn OS can run off of a disc, instead of the what, 3 gigs and an additional whatever gigs that the memory-bleeding crap-infected POS that is a Windoze OS needs.
It is a must-try... my only issue with it is that I need to run .net and a few other things to do my... other stuff.
~Live life to its fullest... with open arms, an open heart and most importantly, an open mind.~