Linux? Should i..

[ShiftyShift]

I hear so much about how linux is great, so i ask you.

Why should i switch from windows to linux, how will it benefit me and what will i like about it. I dont game so games not being native doesnt bother me

[Arty]

I hear so much about how linux is great, so i ask you.

Why should i switch from windows to linux, how will it benefit me and what will i like about it. I dont game so games not being native doesnt bother me

its free

[SIGSEGV]

It's faster, less malware, it's open source, it's very customisable (you can even strip out the whole GUI if you really wanted to) and it's free

[Hans Christian | Teri]

Honestly if you don't like tinkering with stuff stay away from Linux. If you do like tinkering with stuff however, getting a bit dirty with the sexy terminal etc the OS alone is so much fun. It's a learning experience from start to finish and it feels great.

[dalekphalm]

I hear so much about how linux is great, so i ask you.

Why should i switch from windows to linux, how will it benefit me and what will i like about it. I dont game so games not being native doesnt bother me

You need to provide a little bit more information.

 

How do you use your PC? Please list the applications that you use (Emphasis on things like Adobe programs or Office, etc).

 

If you're not doing gaming, and not using industry specific programs (eg: AutoCAD or something), then you can likely use Linux for your day to day activities, such as web browsing, email, video consumption, etc.

 

I would suggest either Ubuntu (Most current Stable version), or Linux Mint.

[ShiftyShift]

its free

 

I already payed for windows, im not getting that money back.

 

It's faster, less malware, it's open source, it's very customisable (you can even strip out the whole GUI if you really wanted to) and it's free

 

What makes it faster?

 

Honestly if you don't like tinkering with stuff stay away from Linux. If you do like tinkering with stuff however, getting a bit dirty with the sexy terminal etc the OS alone is so much fun. It's a learning experience from start to finish and it feels great.

 

I like tinkering, but i also like when im bored of tinkering i can get back to what i was doing.

 

You need to provide a little bit more information.

 

How do you use your PC? Please list the applications that you use (Emphasis on things like Adobe programs or Office, etc).

 

If you're not doing gaming, and not using industry specific programs (eg: AutoCAD or something), then you can likely use Linux for your day to day activities, such as web browsing, email, video consumption, etc.

 

I would suggest either Ubuntu (Most current Stable version), or Linux Mint.

 

I use photoshop other than that mainly media consumption.

 

 

I have a few questions to ask before I make any real recommendations.

1. Apart from gaming, do you need any software not available on Linux?
2. What hardware have you got? (Mainly want to know the graphics card)
3. Do you have a printer or a scanner of some kind?
4. Does your mouse or keyboard require any special software for certain functions to work? (Depending on what you have, some can save everything to the device so the software is only needed for installation)
5. Do you want a stable platform to last several years or do you want pure bleeding edge (stable builds though)?

 

 

1. I dont know what software is or isnt available on linux, i use photoshop, azureus/vuze, and filezilla, other than that not much..

2. I'm planning on putting it on my laptop (use it 90% of the time), it has an intel t4200 with intel onboard graphics (wooooo for old as fuck processor) I reserve my desktop for gaming only so i'd prefer to keep windows on that.

3. No

4. Nope

5. I dont understand "pure bleeding edge"

[Momas]

I would recommend trying Linux in a virtual machine (that's how I started using Linux), performance might suffer a little bit, but you can try various flavors(distros) of Linux very easily. You won't need to set up dualboot or anything like that. Setting up a virtual machine is extremely easy. If you need any help with setting up a virtual machine you can find plenty of info online (or PM me), my preferred virtualization software is VMware Player, you can get it here: https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/downloads

If you decide that you don't like Linux you can just simply delete the virtual machine without losing any of your files on main OS.

[Burusutazu]

If you start using linux, and want to tinker around, be prepared to reinstall it multiple times. Theres also allot of choice, like above states I would recommend using a virtual machine to try various linux distros, although you can always play around with them from a live cd, or usb drive.

[Opcode]

I already payed for windows, im not getting that money back.

Either way nothing extra is coming out of pocket. If you like the OS you wont have ever to worry about paying for one.

 

What makes it faster?

I wouldn't say "faster" although Linux is more responsive than Windows as it's a light weight operating system. The file system never becomes fragmented, there's no need to run additional software (antivirus etc), so booting and general use of Linux tends to be more fluid.

 

I like tinkering, but i also like when im bored of tinkering i can get back to what i was doing.

No problems there, you can endlessly mess with Linux. From interface skinning to advanced analysis there's always something to do on Linux that at least looks cool.

 

I use photoshop other than that mainly media consumption.

Photoshop doesn't have a native Linux client. So you would probably need to run that in WINE or switch over to an open source alternative. GIMP is a great alternative but I will say that it has a steep learning curve for someone that's familiar with Photoshop. I actually stopped using it at one point because it simply didn't make sense. One day I installed it and used it for a bit and like magic it does everything that I normally used Photoshop for (signatures, banners, etc).

 

1. I dont know what software is or isnt available on linux, i use photoshop, azureus/vuze, and filezilla, other than that not much..

2. I'm planning on putting it on my laptop (use it 90% of the time), it has an intel t4200 with intel onboard graphics (wooooo for old as fuck processor) I reserve my desktop for gaming only so i'd prefer to keep windows on that.

3. No

4. Nope 

5. I dont understand "pure bleeding edge"

1. As stated above Photoshop doesn't have a native Linux client. Although FileZilla and Vuze should have a Linux native client.

2. Your laptop will be a perfect candidate for running Linux. It tends to spark new life into old hardware (because of being so light and optimized).

3. -

4. -

5. Meaning an up to date distribution like Ubuntu launches builds like 14.10/15.04 that are supported for 9 months. Then they have LTS builds like 14.04 that are updated for 5 years. It shouldn't matter either way. I personally would recommend starting with Ubuntu 14.04.2 LTS as a "dummy" setup to hack your way into learning the OS. 15.04 will launch on the 23'rd of this month which will be worth upgrading to (Unity 7.3.2, Compiz 0.9.12, systemd).