Linux Users...

[machron1]

went from opensuse to ubuntu myself

[fortinbras]

Originally Posted by MotoLex

No need to pick one or the other.

No need to be scared of incompatibility.

No need to format your HD.

Choose both. Use both.

Dual boot, people. Dual boot.

Or triple or quadruple boot like some of us!

[MotoLex]

Originally Posted by fortinbras

Or triple or quadruple boot like some of us!

. . . or 5 or 6 . . . . well I didn't want people to think I was showing off!

('98/2000 is good for all those cool old fullscreen DOS games . . . . and puppy linux just boots SO fast, gotta have that in there. . . . . )

[Ishpeck]

I'm a fan of Xubuntu: It's light-weight. Runs faster than most Linucies you see out there.

Xubuntu Home Page | Xubuntu

[MotoLex]

Originally Posted by Ishpeck

I'm a fan of Xubuntu: It's light-weight. Runs faster than most Linucies you see out there.

Xubuntu Home Page | Xubuntu

Great for older machines, and functionally almost identical to Ubuntu.

Oooh and you can choose which GUI (ubuntu/xununtu) to load at login, not just at boot

[nalioth]

Originally Posted by Ishpeck

I'm a fan of Xubuntu: It's light-weight. Runs faster than most Linucies you see out there.

Xubuntu Home Page | Xubuntu

Originally Posted by MotoLex

Great for older machines, and functionally almost identical to Ubuntu.

Oooh and you can choose which GUI (ubuntu/xununtu) to load at login, not just at boot

Once you get Ubuntu installed, you can grab the KDE3 or KDE4 (Kubuntu) window managers, or the xfce (Xubuntu) window manager, or fluxbox (fluxbuntu) or many more. All are available with the "Add/Remove programs" menu entry.

Using xubuntu or fluxbuntu on a modern machine leaves more resources for actual work (such as video editing, code compiling, etc).

[Cannibul]

Originally Posted by nalioth

Allow me to shed some light on why open source software (linux, BSD, others) is "better" than Microsoft offerings. "..but Microsoft Office and OpenOffice both do the same things! How is OpenOffice better?"

The difference is that the open source software people go by international standards for file types.

How many times have you had to upgrade Microsoft Office because someone sent you an Office document written on Office 2008 and you only have Office 2005? Microsoft changes the design of their filetypes to force people to upgrade.

Open source software standardizes a filetype, and the supporting programs evolve to offer more innovation, with no change to the filetype standard. This means that old Granny with linux from 10 years ago can write a document on her linux office software that you will be able to read. Conversely, you can write an office document on your 2008 vintage linux, and she'll be able to read, and write to it w/o any difficulties due to changes in the filetype (ala Microsoft).

.rtf - Rich Text Format -is an open standard.
.pdf - Portable Document Format - (yes, believe it or not) is an open standard.
.html - hypertext transfer markup language - is an open standard

There are many more filetypes that are held to international standards (meaning Microsoft can't change them to their benefit [they can't change them to make you upgrade, just to be able to keep up]).

And standards are great. That's why the NEW .pdf standard doesn't work on anything but Adobe software.

[MotoLex]

Originally Posted by Cannibul

And standards are great. That's why the NEW .pdf standard doesn't work on anything but Adobe software.

Haven't found anything I can't open yet. . .

[terpdx]

Once you get Ubuntu installed, make sure to pick up some of the many open source goodies:

100 of the Best (Useful) OpenSource Applications | Ubuntu Linux Help

Been getting my hands wet with Ubuntu for the last few months. It's liberating.

[Cannibul]

Originally Posted by MotoLex

Haven't found anything I can't open yet. . .

I have one that Foxit Reader Pro can't open. If you want a stab at it I can arrange to give you access to it. Just PM me.