Germans Give Out Linux to Windows XP Die-Hards

[Guest]

Windows XP's time is running out as the government of Munich, Germany, urges its citizens to switch over to Ubuntu.

Germans Give Out Linux to Windows XP Die-Hards : Read more

 

[JD88]

Good to see this happening. Canonical and more specifically Mark Shuttleworth have had some pretty innovative ideas about where the future of tech is heading, yet don't get a whole lot of recognition for it.

Not ignoring positives the other Linux distros of course.

 

[daxchunjae02]

Yeah but how do you run and/or install games on Ubuntu or Linux or whatever? I'm really curious..

 

[hannibal]

Allso it could cause some cost saves in long run and allso mean that Unix environment can be real alternative to windows in long run.

 

[JD88]

Well games have to be native to Linux. Valve recently released Steam for Linux although there aren't that many games for it available yet.

The other option is to use Wine, a Windows emulation tool that allows you to run Windows software on Linux.

I still have a Win 8 dual boot for some of the newest games, but I now play League of Legends, Starcraft 2, and others on Linux using Wine with no difference in experience or performance.

 

[Jim_L9]

Linux is great, but even Ubuntu is harder to use than Windows.

 

[dextermat]

I still have a windows 98 system no virus or anything on it (need it for old printers at work and such)
I don't understand the fuss, worse off, stay with windows xp + deppfreeze or a recovery card.... If you get virus and such,

 

[hydac7]

I would push linux mint debian (LMDE) with mate, it's much more light on old computers and full featured

 

[Cory Reisch]

Linux Mint>Ubuntu!

 

[jimmysmitty]

Yeah but how do you run and/or install games on Ubuntu or Linux or whatever? I'm really curious..

Steam runs natively on Linux and a lot of VALVes games run on Linux now. But that said there isn't much out there compared to PC because it requires OGL and the majority of games are DX9/11 right now.

Allso it could cause some cost saves in long run and allso mean that Unix environment can be real alternative to windows in long run.

I doubt it. Without reliable support, it wont gain traction. Most common people wont be able to troubleshoot Linux as a lot of it, even Ubuntu, requires familiarity with a command line interface and administrative commands. Hell to install proper graphics drivers in Ubuintu you have to stop the GUI and do it from a command line interface and hope the driver install does not kill the GUI from loading all together.

Ubuntu is not a proper alternative to XP. Honestly those people need to move to 7 as it was on release more secure than XP ever has been and as well the majority of new hardware and software will start to drop support for XP soon and as well Ubuntu wont support the majority of software people want to use, or rather it wont be written for it.

XP is dead. 7 is the way to go at a minimum and 8 is better if you are willing to actually learn.

JD88, I would like to see actual performance numbers as you are running a VM for Windows and I doubt performance is the same as running it directly on Windows.

 

[rodbowler]

I have found Linux Mint to be an excellent alternative to XP/7/8.
There are currently 290 games available for Linux within Steam, though only a few AAA titles. Performance on my hardware (Core i5, AMD 7970) is better (Source games) in Mint than in Windows 7.
WINE is not a VM - it is a compatibility layer. When I can get games and other software working within WINE (about 50% of the time for me), the performance is comparable to running under Windows native.
Currently the only Microsoft software I run is Visio 2007, which runs reasonably well in WINE.

 

[JD88]

The numbers are not the same, but my hardware is good enough to where there is no difference in overall experience. Those are pretty basic games.

As for how difficult it is to get Ubuntu up and running properly, things have improved tremendously in the past few releases. Getting the drivers is as simple as selecting the one you need from a list. There is no reason to use the command line at all for most basic activities. I actually installed Ubuntu on my 63 year old father's new laptop. He is a very inexperienced user with no technical knowledge and he likes it better than his old Win 7 machine. I used to have to remote desktop him weekly to take care of some "popup" or to help him find something. I've had to do so once since I installed Ubuntu about a year ago.

No antivirus to worry about, updates are one click for everything on the machine, and the unity dash is way simpler to use than the Win 8 start screen.

 

[JD88]

The average user doesn't need anything other than Chrome, a media player app, a chat app (Skype and most others work on Linux), and an office suite. All of those are available free on Linux.

Even for advanced users, there are viable replacements. I use Gimp instead of Photoshop and it's fine for my needs. There are also some very nice free video editors with functionality that mirrors those of proprietary software costing hundreds of dollars. All of Google's Android development tools are made for Linux.

 

[digiex]

"system looks and functions a lot like Windows." Luckily Windows is not produce by Apple.

 

[DragonChase]

Running XP here

 

[jdwii]

I feel like i'm the only one who thinks 7 is faster than this version of ubuntu

 

[shin0bi272]

F*ck linux

 

[ap3x]

""system looks and functions a lot like Windows." Luckily Windows is not produce by Apple. "

Now that was out of left field. Not sure what how they have anything to do with the topic.

 

[Mike Frett]

The truth is, Linux is the future and Microsoft is a dead duck. I disagree with the switch to Ubuntu, instead a better choice would be Xubuntu (Still in the Ubuntu family).

jimmysmitty, That's pure ignorance. DirectX is a Windows Only API. OpenGL is the standard that runs on ALL platforms. At PAX 2013, developers recommended abandoning DirectX due to it being a Microsoft only API.

Linux is about Community, chances are your question is already answered on places like askubuntu. You do NOT need support. One guy asked about Games, you have the Humble Bundle, Desura and Steam. There are thousands of games to choose from. If you like FPS, Linux has the most of any OS.

Steam makers, Valve are moving to Linux guys. Windows is becoming a closed platform (walled garden) where you can only use the things Microsoft wants you to use. If you enjoy Steam, Windows and Mac are being left behind.

Gabe (Valve/Steam) announced at LinuxCon 2013 that they believe Linux is the future platform for Gaming. People, you already use Linux in your Phones, TV, Router etc. It's everywhere!. In closing, I suggest if you are ignorant (like those here) then stop replying about things you know nothing about.

I used Windows for 15 years until I switched to Xubuntu last year. I will never go back to Microsoft's chains of forced upgrades and security ridden Windows filled with NSA backdoors.

 

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