Which version of Linux is right for me?

Question

I'm accustomed to using Windows. That said, I'd like a version of Linux that's similar to Windows in use and in underlying programming. That is to say, I want WINE to be able to run almost all Windows programs near-perfectly (if it could somehow run windows programs natively that would be fantastic). I also want it to take full advantage of my 4 GB of RAM and powerful video card/CPU (a 64-bit OS designed for gaming, basically).

I tried Ubuntu but the main problem I found with it was that it was SLOW. Really, really slow. Despite being a 64-bit OS it felt like I was using a very outdated computer, and it took a lot of coercion to get it to recognize my GPU (and even once it did, it would only use old drivers (newer ones didn't work)).

System specs are as follows (from memory; my computer's hard drive is all zeros at the moment so I can't exactly ask it what its specs are):

GeForce 9xxx GT
2.8 GHz Pentium Dual Core whatever
4 GB RAM
250 GB HD

Of course, it doesn't HAVE to be Linux. I just really need an OS that can run modern Windows programs and is fast.

Answer 1

When I read your Additional Details I have to go, Sigh. Linux is basically a simplified version of UNIX. Someone just asked a question the other day where he specified UNIX, not Linux and although I emailed him off-line as well (his best answer comment contained information relevant to the question so needed addressing) I never bothered to say that most versions of Linux are FUNCTIONALLY IDENTICAL to UNIX for his purposes.



While DOS 2.0 was specifically rewritten to include many UNIX concepts, and Microsoft has gone back to UNIX so many times they probably have licenses and contracts enough to rebrand a UNIX as Windows (something they will not do -- they just probably have the legal right to) the differences between UNIX/GNU Linux and Windows are sufficient so that compatibility is a real issue.



There are three live cds you might look at. While faster than Windows these are slower than a regular install of Linux and you may actually notice how slow they are. Also, since they are OSes from CDs any customizations you may do will be lost every time you turn off the computer. Anyhow, for a week's emergency work I reccommend the following:



Knoppix http://www.knoppix.com



This is a Live CD which was created by a German Consumer Consultant as a portable personal desktop. It has diagnostic tools which aren't relevant here and it has normal desktop applications. For writing you can use OpenOffice.org which reads and save doc (but not docx) files. The desktop is KDE which means you select everything from a menu on the bottom left hand side of the screen. For esoteric reasons, they call their web browser Iceweasel. It's really Firefox. Believe me. The actual Operating System is Debian which is for developers and when we explain aspects of it, it intimidates people more than it should. I don't have the resources to check right now, but I believe that it contains Wine, which is a program that does allow you to run many Windows programs on Linux. If it doesn't, open a terminal and type "sudo apt-get install wine". It will demand a password. Just hit enter because there isn't any. Then once you have downloaded the program, or an installer, type "wine " in the terminal to get it going. It will create an imaginary C drive and you shouldn't have too much trouble running it.



http://www.slax.org



Usually Knoppix will boot to the desktop and allow you to do what you can out of the box. Slax boots to the command line and provides simple instructions for YOU to configure the desktop. You log in, according to their instructions, type xorgcfg and when a GUI appears select save to disk (the configuration file which the computer just guessed to get your GUI running) and exit. Then start it with startx. Once on the desktop (something called XFCE which is VERY small) surf over to their web site and pick up as many modules as you are likely to need. The instructions are very straightforward and if your computer has drives you can save to you will only need to do this once.



Finally try gNewSense. http://www.gnewsense.org/static/homepage/



This was created and is maintained by people who don't believe we should be using proprietary software. They are also superlative engineers. You will not find any familiar packages (the web browser, for example is Epiphany) but everything will work out of the box and should create files which are compatible with older versions of Windows.



There are other suggestions, even other suggestions for Live CDs but once you are up and running, these three will give you LESS trouble than any other distros and will hopefully keep you productive till you are ready to go back to Windows.



Oh, for Knoppix, while most LiveCDs come as ISO files you burn to disk, you can also go to Barnes and Noble and ask for Knoppix Hacks by Kyle Rankin or Hacking Knoppix by -- I forget who . No these are not books about being a criminal. Hacking means working hard at -- whatever computer forensics or repair task the computer technician needs. But they come with Knoppix in back. Both of them. So you will get the CD without having to resort to burning an ISO file if you aren't used to doing that.

Answer 2

It doesn't matter which Linux distribution you choose. They all use the same Wine, and Wine (even the latest version) doesn't have 100% success with 100% of Windows programs.



You can check the Wine app database to see if the programs you need will run in Wine.



If they don't, you should find native Linux programs. You can go to http://www.linuxappfinder.com to find Linux equivalents for Windows programs.



And if you can't find Linux equivalents, and if Wine can't run all your Windows programs, you need Windows. Buy a license and install it.

Answer 3

first of all, you will NOT be able to run all windows apps natively. If u want to use all windows apps, especially vista apps, use windows.



Your problems most likely stem from the fact that your computer is so up-to-date. Nothing wrong with that, but since most programs/drivers for linux are developed in programmer's spare time (not getting paid, after all), they take awhile to catch up with the newest hardware.



It sounds like u just want windows.



However, I am preferential to Fedora myself. www.fedora.com

Answer 4

I doubt that you will see a really big difference using wine but you can try Gentoo if you want everything optimized.

Answer 5

Hopefully the one you get :)

Answer 6

you can learn from Fedora,Suse