XP or Linux

[ecowarm]

I keep on trying different distros to see if I can move to Linux for any of my personal systems, but I always go back to XP (or lately Windows 7). My problem though is that I am a Windows Network admin and a gamer. Both of these mean Windows is a necessity, as would use of your computer for many other tasks such as music production, pro graphics work, CAD, 3D animation, etc.

Where Linux has survived in my life is on my Girlfriend's old laptop and on the browser boxes for the staff common room. Basically Linux is perfect for most standard users, it has free Office, Web, MP3 and Video software. You can get many other useful apps easily for free such as web design, programing, etc. Puppy Linux is my choice on ancient hardware, Kubuntu or Mint are nice looking versions, ideal for systems with minimum 512MB RAM and a 1.5Ghz Processor.

If your usage fits the Linux mold then I would have a play with a USB or CD version of one based on the spec of your machine. If you are going to XP then the best advice given here is to restore using the manufacturers disks / image then put SP3 on before using Auto / Windows Update whatsoever.

Also I seriously think you should test your memory and your hard drive. Slow / faulty windows installs are usually down to one or the other. They can also cause problems such as core apps (Internet Explorer in your case) failing over time. Hiren's Boot CD is the best app for this.

[roluwafu]

I have a five year old laptop running XP but it has refused to auto update for a long time now and is still on SP2. Internet Explorer refuses to work ( hence no SP3) and it is really slow to start and update AVG free.
My question is should I dump XP and move to Linux, or just restore and update the whole lot ( which takes several evenings of watching and swearing at the screen ) ?
Any advice gladly received.

Linux is the best if you can take the pain to learn new stuffs, dump windows.

[charliebrown]

steep learning curve with linux. install xp and use a linux live cd to see if you get on with it. when u are happy mae the switch

[manit]

I have a five year old laptop running XP but it has refused to auto update for a long time now and is still on SP2. Internet Explorer refuses to work ( hence no SP3) and it is really slow to start and update AVG free.
My question is should I dump XP and move to Linux, or just restore and update the whole lot ( which takes several evenings of watching and swearing at the screen ) ?
Any advice gladly received.

xpsp2 is all ya need load image with clonezilla turn all updates off and xp will run great dont use avg its crap use commodo firewall with anti virus the best there is out there turn updates on xp will die you been warned keep any microsoft crap out of the pc know matter what any body says msn can and will turn you updates back on microfoft updates will kill ya pc m8........ i know i used ta be a Microsoft techi did it for 8 years M.C.S.E ps just let ya know all microsoft products esp operating systems have at least 3 back doors that mr billy gates can snoop on ya so if ya have any sence at all get rid of windows use ubuntu and if you do need windows use virtualbox in ubuntu and no need ta have antivirus firewall ya have the best of both worlds...........have fun

i binned windows years a go and no going back and tried a load of distros then stuck with Ubuntu easy ta use secure more support than any other distro out there am running 10.04 at the mo and testing 10.10 alpha 1 also found out why my drives started to die ntft keep checking ya drive every 2 sec not good reduces hdd life i use oracal virtualbox to use xp and win7 in Ubuntu 10.04 will never get a virus runs great stick with Ubuntu carnt go wrong m8 theres a lot of distro that are ubuntu based loads of them i myself prefer gnome and my op-com works under vm in both xp and win7 nice 3 os on one lappy
download here this is the dvd ver for old pc without 64 bit use i386 with 68 bit use amd64 http://www.mirrorservice.org/sites/c...10.04/release/

[mak21]

try both

I think XP will be more conveinent for you if u r used to it, specially from the point of applications, so u cant just move to linux like that, the best way is to have dual boot and try to spend more time on Linux each time and c when u need to get back to windows why u need that and try to find some thing for Linux to perform that task...also I think u'll get less viruses issues on Linux.

[noreturn]

I am very content for years with linux (debian), use Windows only very rarely - however I have also no interest in PC plays. There would be windows the better choice.

[kourkoutas]

unless you're using strictly windows programs, i don't see a reason to stay with xp. i'd start with ubuntu.

[rwl408]

It all depends on the hardware

To run XP with bearable speed (for e-mail, internet, not gaming stuff), you need at least 512MB of memory and CPU faster than 1 Ghz. Below that, go with Linux. However, one may have to spend more time to get Linux going. This is especially true for notebooks.

[fatty123456]

windows is good for desktop

[bkejji]

hi all
even if this post is old i wish say that linux is a good solution if you can define the uses of the laptop and you verified that the solutions availlables in the net are good enough.

but if you have various uses and these uses are to satisfy rapidly so i think that winxp is your need.

for an old laptop a professional use is not to consider so it will be a very good solution to initiate to using linux with this laptop.

good luck

[kona4]

linux bsd free

[markybhoy007]

Go on be adventurous, give linux a try, it is a lot getting your head round but once you get started you'll love it, you teach it and it teaches you, been using linux for almost 2 years now and would never change back

[Instigator85]

Ubuntu 11 is awesome... I recently swapped from xp and I am not going back. If you need to run windows programs on it you can install wine. The best part has to be no finding drivers to operate hardware... You plug in what you want to use and it works, wifi dongles, usb modems, video card, sound card all work without installing drivers. XP sucks

[flyingpig]

It doesnt even come close.... Linux all the way!!!

I put Ubuntu 10.04 on my PC last year and have never looked back. If you have windows already installed you can install Ubuntu and it will provide a dual boot menu for you. You can then keep XP for bits like I-Tunes, Zune or Kies. etc...

Ubuntu is fast, driver free, easy to install, virus free, and best of all it costs absolutely nothing!!!!

[quattro80]

dft. ubuntu... is pretty good