Should I switch?

i was in the same predicament, but i took the easy way out

I have 2 PCs now, 1 linux and 1 Windows is great no dual boot woes either, and can use both at same time.

I must confess i use the windows one more for my games etc.

Verdict, if you cant have both i''d stick with windows

Try it simply first. Maybe buy a second hard drive (don''t need a big one) and install linux on that so you can dual boot.

Linux is a great operating system for the cost (free!). I think it will probably become prolific in the future on the server end. It''s use a desktop platform is still undirected. There are a lot of people working on a lot of programs to make Gnome/KDE and X meet end user expectations. The debate on if they were successful is still raging on. Personally, with the exception of games, you pretty much have the full abilities of Windows on your machine. I actually like the Window system on Linux, though I wish short-cuts were standardized. I also prefer Int Explorer. I know, I''m crazy, but most of the new browsers just have too many goofy bugs to make me happy.

Only set back...it''s a bit daunting. Not because Linux is hard, it''s really simple, but because the amount of options available make it hard to sometimes know what to use and can create a soup of syntax and features that turns some people off when they first start using it.

I definitely feel it''s a superior operating system, but it doesn''t quite fill the same boots as Windows yet. Hopefully one day. But, if you like to hack around with your computer, Linux is definitely the way to go. I personally find programming on Unix to be more rewarding for my time investment than Windows. Once you learn Linux and Unix are nothing but a collection of very simple, very specific programs chained together to get a result, you''ll have a lot of computing power at your hands.

Personally, I''m so enamored with the utility of the BASH shell and many of the common Unix utility programs, I make sure to install them on my Windows box. A task I could perform in one line of text in a BASH script on Lnux might take me using ActiveX scripting or even a simple C/Perl program to accomplish.

I would give it a shot and experiment. G''luck.

R.

I am doing a duel boot at the moment with Mandrake 8.1 and still learning the system. I have had Linux running for over 3 weeks straight now without any of the problems I find in Windows in mere hours. I am still dependent on Windows for a few games but most of the ones I play are found at the Loki Games site. For me it isnt going to be that much of a change since there are only a few games I play all the time (Tribes2:D :D :D) and they are already ported to Linux. I dont know about the other distributions but Mandrake came bundled with quite a few games also. Good luck with what you decided to do, I know it is a hard choice to make. It took me almost a year and the release of XP to finally decide. I still havent tried that Wine thing they were talking about but as soon as I can figure out the docs on it I will. Good luck.



SDB - If you are the only one that can fix it, why are you complaining to me?



Edited by - sdb on November 21, 2001 2:16:21 PM

WINE is interesting. It''s an implimentation of the Win32 API on linux. The idea is that when they''re done, you should be able to run Windows App unaltered on your Linux box. All the calls to Windows OS code would be handled by Wine.

Unfortunately, while they''ve made some great successes and you can run some of the older stuff with few bugs, it''s not ready to be the perfect solution yet.

Although, I recently hear about Lindows I think. From what I read, they''re going to start up by making a distribution centered around WINE and windows compatibility. Now, sounds good, but unless they know something the WINE team doesn''t, not sure if they''ll be offering anything new to the Linux crowd.

R.

One other thing. Here is a web site you can check out that will give you a basic crash course in working Linux. I dont know how complete/incomplete it is but it was helpfull to me.

Linux Survival

Good luck.



SDB - If you are the only one that can fix it, why are you complaining to me?

Hey, this post is just in time! I was about to ask this question:

I was planning on using a dual boot between Mandrake and WindowsME. I am trying to figure out where I can get the stuff needed for my sound blaster and vodoo to support Linux, how I would split them, where I would get Madrake, and if someone could explain what compiler I would use for it.

Can anyone help?

Thanks in advance.

/me wrote above reply

lol.. thanks.

For christmas I am going to get a new hard drive just for linux, and the Linux Game Porgramming book from the Prima series. Ill come back to this post for reference then.

Thanks again.

Artificial intelligence is the devil... resist intelligent NPC''s

"He who fights with monsters should look to it that he himself does not become a monster... when you gaze long into the abyss, the abyss also gazes into you..."~Friedrich Nietzsche

I am running a duel boot Windows ME/Red Hat 7.2 and couldnt be happier. After reading this it occured to me that I havent booted Windows in over a month. Not sure when the need to do so went away but it did. Oh well I hope you find what you are looking for, I did.

Grellin

"Every beautiful woman you see is some other guys pain in the ass" my dad