Linux?

[FuzeAllianze]

hi there

I was wondering if I should use Linux on my new computer or windows. I was also thinking about possibly dual booting.

 

however I have never used Linux and don't know anything about linux

[mopman94]

What do you want to use it for?

[electrolux]

hi there

I was wondering if I should use Linux on my new computer or windows. I was also thinking about possibly dual booting.

 

however I have never used Linux and don't know anything about linux

Well, just install Linux, see if you like it, if not get rid of it and install windows. Or dual-boot as you say.

[Redicat]

Linux is more for like poor machines that barly handle Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10... only install for testing & troubleshooting purposes...

 

Windows is more for the average consumer and its much more easier and user friendly with Windows 10 having Direct X 12 support for games...

[KemoKa]

If you go into it thinking that it'll be like Windows, you'll be either sorely disappointed or just be put off Linux altogether, because it's a very different environment to Windows and even OS X. It's nothing like either. So to really get into it, you have to go with a mindset of a blank slate, willing to learn about it. You're gonna have to learn how shells work, what a window manager is, and you have to be prepared to have the entire operating system laid at your feet for you to configure to your heart's desire. Windows users can barely even choose the colour of their taskbars anymore. On Linux you can choose to accidentally gouge out half the system files without even knowing it. It will ask you once, and then be like "OKAY, SOUNDS GOOD! :D" and then just kill itself. That is the level of control you have.

[beach_boy98]

Linux is more for like poor machines that barly handle Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10... only install for testing & troubleshooting purposes...

 

Windows is more for the average consumer and its much more easier and user friendly with Windows 10 having Direct X 12 support for games...

Linux can be used for a lot more than that. I use linux as my main Os and it is perfect.

[FuzeAllianze]

hi there thank you KemoKa it sounds great but which version should I use?

[Redicat]

Linux can be used for a lot more than that. I use linux as my main Os and it is perfect.

 

Well i only use it in combo with herins BOOT or any sorta Troubleshooting/testing boot USB stick i've laying arround i dont see any point of having the boring Linux os as MAIN os tho... its too boring nerdy...

[Azgoth 2]

What do you plan to do with your computer?  If you plan to game on it, go Windows.  Basically every game is Windows-compatible, while the list of Linux-compatible games is relatively small.  This number is growing on Steam, but it's mostly smaller games, and I don't think any of the big-budget AAA games are Linux-compatible (there might be a few, but they're the exception rather than the rule).  If you need to use a lot of enterprise software, most of it is designed for Windows, and most people probably use it on Windows (since Windows is the standard OS in a lot of business environments).

 

If you plan to do a lot of tinkering with your OS/programs, go Linux.  I don't think there's a single distribution that isn't open-source, so you could in theory download the source code, tweak it, and re-compile it for your machine, and a much larger proportion of the software on Linux is open-source as well (at least, the commonly used software).  If you plan to do a lot of coding/programming, Linux is a good bet--a lot of people do programing in a Linux environment--but you can make Windows work for just about every language (though Linux comes pre-built on most distros with a large variety of compilers, while Windows requires you to download programs to do a lot of compiling).  Finally, and perhaps most importantly, if you want an OS that's both pretty secure and completely, 100%, forever free (as in "free food" and "free speech") then Linux is your best bet.

 

If you're just curious about Linux, you can usually make a Live USB for most distributions and boot from the USB drive, rather than your on-board hard drive.  This lets you play with Linux without worrying about installing it or changing anything on your hard drive.  If you're on the fence, install Windows, then make a few Live USBs for some distributions you're interested in, and play around with them a bit that way.

 

Personally, I'd recommend Linux Mint as a great distribution to start with (my computer dual-boots Mint and Windows).  Ubuntu is also a great choice, but the desktop layout is very different from Windows (Mint is much more similar).  You can get used to Ubuntu's layout, but it'll take a little bit longer than Mint if you're coming from a Windows background.  Mint also comes with a few more things pre-installed (e.g., some proprietary code like Flash), where Ubuntu doesn't, though you can always install it on Ubuntu really easily.  PinguyOS is also a pretty good one, and I've never gotten around to using OpenSUSE but people who use it seem to love it.  I'd go with Mint, though, since it's got a huge user base and there's a LOT of support out there for it if you run into problems.

[matwoodson]

Linux is more for like poor machines that barly handle Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10... only install for testing & troubleshooting purposes...

Windows is more for the average consumer and its much more easier and user friendly with Windows 10 having Direct X 12 support for games...

Really? Only install for testing and troubleshooting purposes? Yes I admit, Windows is more consumer friendly, but Linux always will have the upper hand in boot times and memory and management. Also, since Vulcan is coming out, which supports Linux, and a lot of devs have already have said Vulcan is better than DX12, the gaming issue may be soon resolved. Could you give a reason why you think it's only got testing and troubleshooting?

[Burusutazu]

If you go into it thinking that it'll be like Windows, you'll be either sorely disappointed or just be put off Linux altogether, because it's a very different environment to Windows and even OS X. It's nothing like either. So to really get into it, you have to go with a mindset of a blank slate, willing to learn about it. You're gonna have to learn how shells work, what a window manager is, and you have to be prepared to have the entire operating system laid at your feet for you to configure to your heart's desire. Windows users can barely even choose the colour of their taskbars anymore. On Linux you can choose to accidentally gouge out half the system files without even knowing it. It will ask you once, and then be like "OKAY, SOUNDS GOOD! :D" and then just kill itself. That is the level of control you have.

While it's true you need to go into Linux with a different mindset; learning about the details of the OS is not needed at all. I have used Ubuntu for years without really knowing what a Shell or window manager is. (I have learned about them more recently) There is also the fact that most mainstream distributions, (Debian, Ubuntu, Fedora), have safeguards against terminal commands that destroy core system files. (elementary goes even deeper into preventing bad commands). Learning about all this will help you with building from scratch but with prebuilts? Not really. This is with me assuming op means mainstream Linux.

[SubTract]

Wow you guys are all overcomplicating it. I also feel that at least some of you have never used Linux

 

@FuzeAllianze Download Linux Mint (cinnamon) and create a live CD. Boot into it, Have a play around for a while. It will be familiar enough for you to be comfortable with. It has Graphical tools for everything, You can branch out and learn the CLI (command line interface, normally Bash) if you want to, 

 

Linux has come a long way in the last 5 years, People saying it's not user friendly are either getting put off by the not so user friendly distros/? (LFS, Gentoo, Arch, Slackware) or they've never used it before. On the other hand there are hundreds of very user friendly distros.

 

Ubuntu/Mint, Fedora, Elementary or Manjaro/Antergos. A few you could look into in the beginning.

 

Dual boot with Mint or Ubuntu is super easy. Once you've installed windows, boot from the liveCD/USB click install, When it prompts you, select "install along side windows" it will take care of the rest for you.

 

Good Luck.