OK have been thinking of getting Linux Ubuntu because....?

Question

OK have been thinking of getting Linux Ubuntu because it seems to be the best version of linux. But I have been wondering should I stick to windows? Will linux make my computer faster and safer? What are the AVs out there for Linux that are not total trash? And lastly, is it cool?

Answer 1

Installing Ubuntu as a dual-boot with Windows without partitioning

http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/wubi



You keep Windows as it is, Wubi only adds an extra option to boot into Ubuntu. Wubi does not require you to modify the partitions of your PC, or to use a different bootloader, and does not install special drivers. It works just like any other application.



Wubi keeps most of the files in one folder, and if you do not like it, you can simply uninstall it as any other application.



Boot in to windows insert the Ubuntu 10.04 LiveCD and you will offered the option of installing inside windows which is where the Wubi installer comes in, you will be asked how many gigabytes you wish to allocate to Ubuntu (I recommend 8gb) then you set a password for your installation then click install and thats it.



Once Ubuntu is fully installed upon starting your PC you will be given a choice of which operating system you want to use Windows or Ubuntu



Ubuntu 10.04 Download

http://www.ubuntu.com/desktop/get-ubuntu/download



Ubuntu 10.04 (Lucid Lynx) User Guide

http://ubuntuguide.org/wiki/Ubuntu:Lucid



If you do have a CD Drive Linux Mint 9 which is built upon Ubuntu 10.04 has a similar feature called mint4win and the directions given above for Wubi can be followed

http://duncsweb.com/2009/09/27/mint4win-a-wubi-based-installer-of-linux-mint/



Linux Mint 9 Download

http://www.linuxmint.com/edition.php?id=52



Linux Mint 9 User Guide Download pdf.

http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_isadora.php



Ubuntu 10.04 and Linux Mint 9 can also be run straight from the LiveCD without touching your Hard drive





LUg.

Answer 2

Run dual boot and you will never regret it. You have the best of both systems. Cool would be something like Ultimate Linux which is based on Ubuntu, a lot of the files are already installed for you. It is a DVD .iso file. Boot up time may be a little slower than you like, but in general once it is up and running it tends to be faster, it's no invulnerable, but in general it is safer, more stable and hardly ever crashes unless the user done something stupid. The Virus program for Linux is Clam and it runs in the background. I have noticed the air being exhausted from the computer is cooler than when using Windows. This would tell me it runs a lot cooler.



Go with Mint Linux if you want to start out with a little lighter version, that already has some of the files installed, that you would need to do in Ubuntu itself. It is also based on Ubuntu. Any Linux you can make it bloated with software. Stay away from versions using KDE 4, it is unstable, causes software issues and errors and some time will not open some of it's own programs, causing them to hang up and you have a hard time getting them to close.

Answer 3

there is not any malware in any respect concentrated on linux machines, different than in keeping with probability unix servers someplace. protection is magnificent. Linux is unfastened, different than for finished-help variations like pink Hat or Yellow canines large-ps3 clusters. in the journey that your laptop is previous, there is incredibly a linux available which will run on it. Linux has been put in on almost all varieties of hardware there is. attempt ubuntu first, because of the fact person-to-person help is the terrific. it works like a extensive crowd of people sorting out some thing, and as quickly as somebody figures some thing out they submit it on the boards and then there is the help. It commonly works greater sensible than a gaggle of impolite bastards in a tech help middle. If ubuntu won't artwork on your laptop, attempt some thing else. attempt puppy linux in case you will desire to. right here is between the terrific motives to apply linux: you will not forget approximately a thank you to type.

Answer 4

have a look at this link



http://www.dedoimedo.com/computers/mandriva-2010.html



should I stick to windows = no



Will linux make my computer faster and safer = yes



is it cool = oooh yes



concerning antivirus, there are some virus's for linux but they are in a laboratory, as far as i know there are no 'in the wild' virus's for linux,



linux is a lot more secure than windows, all the software you need is in your software manager, thoroughly tested,

if there was a virus in your repository then everyone who uses that repository will have it,

for instance - i use mandriva with rpm (redhat package management) software, redhat, fedora, suse, pclinuxos, etc also use rpm's - don't you think that someone would know,



and how would you get a virus if you don't continually download software from unrecognized sources on the web ? (like windows users)



yes, i hear you say 'but there are antivirus programs for linux, so there must be virus's'



these programs are not for detecting linux virus's, they are for detecting windows virus's that are embeded or distributed through e-mail attachments,

you will get e-mails from windows machines, using your e-mail client (kmail, for instance) that could have an infected attachment, if you forward that mail to a windows machine it could get infected,

you will not be infected though as windows virus's cannot run on the linux file system,



its the linux way of protecting windows (a minor way)



don't believe me ?

google linux virus, and check the date



note - kde4 unstable ????? it used to be, many moons ago,

kde4 is shipped with nearly all distro's that use the K Desktop Environment

Answer 5

Hello,





linux tends to operate faster generally, since it has less hardware dependancies that "other mainstream" operating systems.

I use Windows for a few games, but the rest of my time I use sidux. (dual boot)

linux isn't cool, it's a choice.

In sidux I do not require any anti-virus/spy/mal-ware.

I suggest you read more @ http://distrowatch.com/

linux is the "core" of distro's such as Red Hat, SUSE, Debian, Slackware and sidux basically.

Most distro's will have support forums for issue's.

Windows users don't adapt well, since they want instant gratification and not learn how to use something new.

I am not trying to flame or create issue's with anyone.

It's just a fact.

Answer 6

I think my own experience might give you a better answer than it appears at first: I went back to college in my thirties to study painting and programming. In 1994, just before I graduated, our school opened a slackware linux lab because it let us students surf the web with netscape and compile c++ programs. This was six months before it was released on Windows. Now there wasn't exactly a Netscape for Linux -- it was developed on Unix. Much of Linux was nothing more than Unix programs running on a Linux kernel. You basically took the source code for Unix, put it on a Linux system with GCC and typed "make".



Now actually I've had to deal with a LOT of unemployment and couldn't afford my own computer until 2001. And among other ways I coped was a UNIX shell account I got very good with the bash shell, which I'd always preferred, and gcc/g++ with its debugger gdb. When I got my computer I messed up on repartitioning so I bought a forty dollar hard drive and put Red Hat 7.0 on it. I found I was able to update it from staples for forty dollars a pop until 2003 when they split red hat into RHEL and Fedora. At that point two things became obvious. One. Fedora liked big computers. Two. I didn't. I tried administering a slackware box for a year then I discovered Debian. To make a long story short, two years ago I put gentoo on a laptop which was just recently stolen. Last year, Debian got too big and crazy for me. I decided to try slackware for a few weeks. I'm typing on it right now. Karmic Koala saved my bacon on the road when the hard drive on that now=gone laptop was stolen but Lucid Lynx brought my replacement to a near halt.



I got sick of Windows AFTER I switched to Linux. I really don't believe you should try Linux for ANY reason except to run a UNIX-derived OS. Most of Linux is STILL BSD UNIX programs and in programming and design there is a woman who says "Help me with my mac" then asks a question involving sudo and the bash shell -- two essentials for Ubuntu. It occurred to me while answering it that those "There will never be a Year of the Linux Desktop" people miss the point that Linux never has been and can never be exactly a separate OS. Linux in the sense most people use it is a subfamily of the UNIX family of OSes. I never heard of the year of the UNIX desktop before I heard of Windows Desktops. I heard of Desktops but that was pre-UNIX Macs. Now Mac is part of the BSD family -- a cousin. And yes it is faster than Linux.



The thing is that most attacks on *nix machines are targeted attacks. Very often the attacker IS someone who has spoken to you. Many of these do go unreported but both attackers and attackees have given blunt and honest accounts on Security Web sites. Lately they have announced that someone uploaded a compromised linux version of the Unreal Tournament server to a mirror site -- in NOVEMBER 2009 they only discovered NOW because "nobody does that" so they never checked. Even that pwn to own contest where they gave analysts a choice of three machines, a vista machine a Macbook pro and an ubuntu box, when they were cracked in that order the most serious analysts said that they were cracked in order of the number of people working to crack it --everyone wanted to crack the Vista Machine,so it went first. Then the Macbook. Only two people even TRIED to crack the Ubuntu box and fanbois were saying, that PROVED Linux is safer. Grump. I use clamav with rkhunter on ALL my boxes have for years. Have I been hacked? Yes. Did I report it? no. Did I take revenge? That is laughable I don't HAVE OR WANT those chops. I'm securing myself better but it's hard not to.



In point of fact everything you've heard about Linux is wrong. EVERYTHING. I was SICK of 3D desktops before M$ even THOUGHT of their Aero. Linux is a great development environment so most of this stuff is prototyped here then moves over to Windows. And of course it is not safe and this and that. Good and bad, everything you have heard about linux is wrong. I do recommend trying it. And I recommend learning Unix. You will find most Unix tutorials are about the bash shell. So look them up.

Answer 7

Ok, absolutely do not switch from windows to ubuntu, I had it on my laptop for a while after i had removed vista and was in the process of getting windows 7. it took longer than i had expect to receive it... anyways, at first it looks really cool and stuff but eventually i was so fed up with it that i just didn't get on it until i installed windows 7. i had trouble downloading anything, my laptop overheated too easily.. and i just had to forget about watching videos. really the only thing i didn't hate about it was the desktop interface, and the built in games.. but i certainly recommend that you stay with windows 7 especially if you aren't very adaptable to new stuff.