what are the downsides of using a linux machine vs windows?

Question

what are the downsides of using a linux machine vs windows?

Answer 1

Your best choice is to run your computer dual boot. Windows and Linux. That way you have the best of both worlds and will not become disappointed from your experience. I run PCLinux 2009-1 KDE because I want the Windows look and feel. Both systems will do things that the other one won't or at least not yet. And yes Linux and MACs do have viruses, trojans, worms and malware thrown at them at a minimal level. Both systems have their pros and cons

Answer 2

You can get most programs to work, but they need various workarounds etc.



Running ubuntu is just as easy as running windows and everything is free an opensource.



You may need a slight knowledge of command line stuff.

Answer 3

Games seem to be the only downfall as most game publishers don't make a version of their game that will work with linux but other than that linux is great for office, entertainment, etc

Answer 4

Unless you have a reason to switch, why bother?



Downside of Linux:

- you have to learn some slightly different ways of doing things;

- you have to do some online research to figure out that which you don't know

- there are some proprietary programs that are better under windoze than the equivalent programs under Linux

- if you have some key programs that you must have (games don't qualify) you may be "locked" into windoze



Pluses of Linux:

- a wide variety of programs, high quality programs, are available, most at no cost

- often performance is better under Linux than windoze

- virus / malware is a non-issue under Linux (and should be a non-issue for a PROPERLY configured and maintained windoze machine)

- extremely powerful options available for configuring your machine they way you want it, not the way the mfgr wants it; much, much more customization possible with Linux



Fallacies about Linux:

- Linux is no more difficult to learn than windoze, or mac - if you know Mac, windoze is difficult, if you know Linux mac is difficult

- command line - it is not needed unless you would like to really be able to control your system, install exotic software, do things that a nerd would want, not a "normal user"

- if you break Linux, you can often use the command line to fix things; if you break windoze, you can use the command line to fix things, but if you are like most windoze users, you break it, the usual response is reformat and reinstall (because people don't know how to fix it, or are afraid of the command line)



there are linux games, many games, but most windoze games are not "ported"; there are hardware issues, because hardware manufacturers provide drivers for windoze, but don't provide drivers for linux (mfgr fault, not linux's fault), many programs exist linux and windoze - but Micro$oft progarms do not run natively under Linux



I prefer and use Linux 99% of the time - in part because windoze is so slow, I have used Linux to fix virus problems on windoze machines



Like I said above, if you don't have a reason, why bother switching to Linux?

Answer 5

If you like big commercial brand name games, you will be out of luck with Linux.



Windows programs won't work in Linux out-of-the-box, but there are plenty of easy-to-use alternatives in Linux.



If you want to stick to some of your favourite Windows programs after migrating to Linux, the best solution in my opinion is to install the Virtual Box virtual machine and install your Windows inside that one. I have Ubuntu 9.04 with Virtual Box installed, and Win XP running inside Virtual Box - if you run it in full-screen mode, you won't even notice that you actually have Linux running under the hood.



And you don't have to use the command line if you don't want to. Modern Linux desktop environments such as Gnome or KDE are as easy as Windows desktops - maybe even easier in some respects. I find myself using the command line only on fairly rare occasions, and it's not even that difficult. You use a command line every time you search something from Google (yes, that search bar where you type in your search terms is in fact a command line!).

Answer 6

There are many pros to using Linux but since you want only the downsides here they are:

* You can't buy software for Linux at your local Big Box store (if you do expect it to not work 100%, if at all), Programs like WINE help with this but it isn't perfect (not even close).

* While there is a lot of hardware that is supported, there is some devices (especially ones made during the peek of Microsoft's dominance of the PC market (1996-2005)) that doesn't work properly. Some devices (ATI Graphics Cards being the biggest culprit) only provide minimal functionality under Linux.

* While there are some great Linux communities out there (Ubuntu, Linux Mint, Fedora, SUSE), there are some that are hostile towards "newbs" (Gentoo, and Slackware being the biggest two). This turns off a lot of people to Linux.

* Linux was designed with developers in mind and as such it isn't as user friendly as other operating systems (it is getting a lot better each year but it isn't at the Mac level yet). Lucky for Linux once a system is running you need to do something stupid to break it, otherwise there would be a lot more people leaving Linux for other OSs.

* There is a prejudice against Linux users when it comes to commercial companies (exceptions being IBM, Novell, HP (but not their Compaq department), DELL, and Red Hat). This means that a lot of commercial software will never be developed for Linux and further more some companies (Compaq is an example) state that installing Linux on their machines voids your warranty.

* There is an internal conflict between different Linux groups. Mainly the idea of Free Software (ie all software should be free to obtain, modify, copy, and re-distribute) and Open Source (allow code to be modified by anyone but people can sell servicing agreements for that program). This conflict makes Linux look like a group of fighting pre-teens.



The most common technical problems faced by Linux users are:

* Support for hardware (mainly ATI graphics cards, WiFi cards, Bluetooth, and custom hardware like Software Defined Radios).

* Support for defacto software (Flash being a good example)

* Lack of commercial software (no tax software available, few commercial games, and lack of professional tools).

Answer 7

linux is hard to use but if you want safety choose it.for running windows programs in linux you should download wine package(if have internet)by typing in terminal:->



yum install wine

Answer 8

Everything, Forget about security I want an OS i can use without using command line 90 percent of the time,

Answer 9

1 problem with linux is some are small and others are huge so even on a good computer something like ubuntu might be slow but dslinux might be fast and most programs that work with xp wont work with linux some will like a web browser or something but like a screen recorder might not

Answer 10

You do not need knowledge of command line stuff.

No the programs you are talking about will not work.

Games especially! Several do. Go to wine HQ and crossover Linux to get a list.

You do not need any windows programs as there are alternatives and more of them. Most of them are better and all are from a trusted source. They are accessed via a program that accesses a 'repository' ran by Ubuntu (for example). This means no downloading viruses. No viruses is a huge feature.

You are going to have to go to google for lists of programs because it is just too much to list.

Actually here are some for you. The first one is a list of programs that you use from the command line. You wouldn't use these unless you were interested in programming or running a computer the professional way. It is good to be able to use some of them. typing df tells how much free space is on your file system and typing du lets you know where all your memory is used (which files or directories are what size). As you can see it is very good to know some. The second one is daemons which are background processes. The others are real applications.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_programs

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Unix_daemons

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_GNOME_applications

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_KDE_applications

Web browsers:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_web_browsers_for_Unix/Linux



Ubuntu really is the best operating system available. If you want to play games get a PS3 and a keyboard, put linux on it, connect to the web and play to your hearts content then have the full entire functionality of a PC!

People are scared because they think you get what you pay for and they are correct except when companies start getting power hungry, controlling, abuse the trust of consumers and blatantly break consumer laws etc. People fight back. I would normally tell you about a few of the most hacked devices ever and the pattern of behaviour that leads to this happening. But I have to leave.

Read a little about Linux and why it works. The experts make it then we all use on it out different machines and tell them what is wrong. They fix it. Some of us like the whole idea and join them in one way or another. I can't wait until I am good enough a programmer to get more involved. You can even just post good ideas. If you use Firefox 3.5 you will see that it has some features 'borrowed' from Google Chrome. Someone used Chrome and said we want that. I asked for some features to be added to Ubuntu the other day and voted on some ideas already posted. The most popular are the ones the programmers try to produce. etc etc etc



That is how it works. Linux (and Unix) GNU and some of the 'utilities' have been around for 20 years and more and started their lives in Universities. There are over 1 million contributors to Linux and Unix worldwide.



You usually get what you pay for. So if you get Linux do what you can to help and promote it.



try this first - you need 5GB spare disk space - it uninstalls completely in a minute or so!

http://wubi-installer.org/



You may email me for more info when you have a more focused question.



My regards and good luck.

Answer 11

Linux is safe but windows is risky as it is prone to a large number of viruses..Linux does'nt even support a virus!! But in windows use a good antivirus software like kaspersky for preventing viruses.. Linux does not support any program that runs on windows.. you better chose windows!!

Answer 12

Linux is more complicated for users who are not very computer minded .....Windows is easy to use ,good support and has everything you need as an operating system ..