Posted on 12/24/2010 6:24:00 PM PST by Charlespg
VANITY
has anyone had problems setting up internet access
I have medicom which says (I think )that I have to use windows os
Wireless depends on the chip in your card.
Boot up with the lived cd and test it out. That’s the point of a live cd.
Linux Ubuntu is about as easy as it gets for a Windoze alternative.
It will find the net for you.
Curiou about this. What’s the point?
I got tired of microsucks windows xp with its bugs,virus,and bill gates monopoly
If you like Ubuntu, may I suggest Linux Mint? It’s the Ubuntu distro with some very nice enhancements.
I’m surfing FR now with Ubuntu 10.10, love it. Burn a live CD and give her a spin.
One thing: If you decide to install it after trying out the CD, it’s good to defragment your hard drive first. Windows has an option for system cleanup in your menu options. Defragging the drive will let Ubuntu have a good clean patch of drive to install to.
And it is always good to backup your files on Windows first. Ubuntu will put a new boot record on the drive so you can boot either Ubuntu or Windows. If something goes wrong — and it’s highly unlikely — Windows is gone. So just in case, make backups. But you should be ok, for most people it is nearly effortless.
You’ll like Ubuntu.
Ok, but is there any real advantage? Also, what about security?
For most people with Win7 and Avast (for example) there is not much of a difference. Win7 will work out of the box for majority of people, and it will be good enough for a long time.
If you do some risky activities (like searching for illegal MP3 or DVD downloads, or pirated software, on Chinese Web sites) then Windows is not even an option for such a thing. Nothing is, really, except a disposable VM image (VirtualBox) that you discard after each browsing session.
All in all, Linux will work just as well, if not better, but some normal activities will be hampered. I don't know, for example, if iTunes is supported. There were some issues with BlueRay disks too. Generally if you have a good deal of Windows software (especially if it is expensive, like AutoCAD) then there is no reason for you to switch to Linux. But if you are building a laptop for the kitchen then Linux sounds like a good solution; upgrade from XP to Win7 would cost more than the laptop itself.
Security-wise, modern Windows is not that bad, but Linux is still better. If you need a top-notch security, though, you need OpenBSD (and it is only for UNIX gurus.)
Stability, speed, options on browsers (not integral in OS). For most things there are really great apps freely downloadable. Now, that sounds like "cheap", but what open source really means is less complexity. If you don't have to worry about licensing processes, software is just simpler and generally more stable. Win/Win without Windows.
windows xp can only utilize 3 gigs of ram. Does ubuntu have a similar memory cap?
64 gigs is what i heard
a disposable VM image (VirtualBox) that you discard after each browsing session.
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how does this benefit you?
If your computer is that old you might want to consider a lite distro, such as Puppy Linux or TinyMe. I've resurrected old laptops successfully with those two distros. I'm on my desktop right now surfing with PCLinuxOS. It had no problem finding my network.
No, it doesn’t. A 32 bit OS has a limit of 4 gigabytes of memory unless it’s using a PAE (physical address extension) kernel. Windows XP actually DOES have PAE available, but they don’t license the OS to work with it, so they tell you that you’re stuck unless you go with 64 bit.
I use 32 bit Linux Mint and I have 8 gigs of ram, fully usable. Many use the 64 bit version instead of installing PAE, but I’ve never noticed a real speed difference and I found the compatibility issues of 64bit to be annoying to deal with a few years ago and never went back.
“64 gigs is what i heard”
Here’s a C language define straight out of a fairly recent linux kernel sources:
# define MAX_PHYSMEM_BITS 44
That’s for a 64bit processor - it can address memory using a 44 bit address. That number equates to 16 terabytes of physical memory. That should be enough for awhile :)
32 bit processors can address 4GB. Only Microsoft places the ~3GB limit in XP.
Another nice linux distro is Ubuntu Studio. http://ubuntustudio.org It has a ton of really cool multimedia apps bundled in with the distro.
Have fun :)
> how does this benefit you?
First, once, you make a VM that has your OS and browsing tool of choice, and then use that as a "master" (template).
Want to go browsing some dodgy sites? Make a copy of the master VM image. Boot up the copy, surf to your heart's content, pick up viruses, whatever. If you've downloaded anything you wish to keep, copy it to a flash drive or external hard drive, then boot up your main machine (or VM) and virus-scan the flash drive. When you're done, delete the VM copy (it's just a folder of files).
The benefit is you get to do potentially dangerous things without fear of corrupting your main machine. The VM copies are throw-aways. They cost you nothing except the few minutes it takes to make the copy.
Psst, over here.... might be worth a list ping.
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