Re: Help me choose
From: pat m jr (none_at_yahoo.com)
Date: 01/31/05
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Date: Mon, 31 Jan 2005 16:15:39 GMT
On Mon, 31 Jan 2005 06:42:30 +0100, I.C. Koets wrote:
> Alea iacta est; in the same way I was forced to abandon DOS, I am now forced
> to abandon W98se. My new computers hardware is no longer compatible with the
> old OS. Now I have to choose a new OS, and so far everyones' opinions are
> running counter to each other. I have a few choices, all have their own
> disadvantages:
>
> I could go with:
>
> * Windows XP. It is the current standard, so drivers and program
> compatibility shouldn't be a problem. My new machine should run it easily.
> Running with the masses makes a lot of things quite a bit easier.
> However: I tried it some time ago, and I wasn't impressed by the amount of
> overhead running. I knew how to strip 98 down to its bare minimum, but XP
> proved very resistant to such measures, and after it sat on my machine,
> smugly unperturbable, without me being able to stick my hands in the
> workings, I wiped it off. Not only that, but I have loads of DOS, W3.11 and
> W98 programs that I want to be able to run, and that didn't go smoothly at
> all. Also I got the distinct impression that XP is as open to hackers as a
> drunk whore is to sailors. If I go with XP, I'd have to find ways to get
> past these issues.
>
> * Windows 2000. Not standard, but still supported, perhaps not for long.
> Stable, businesslike.
> However: I never tried it, so I have cold feet. I heard its DOS support was
> even worse than XP's, which would disqualify it. I also heard it doesn't do
> games very well, and even though I don't game a lot, that doesn't sound
> nice. Furthermore, I have been warned that W2k is 'difficult', although I
> don't know if I'd mind that.
>
> * Some flavour of Linux. Finally free from Redmonds' shackles, open source
> software by the shipload, often for free. Great choice in different
> flavours, active community.
> However: I tried SuSe 8.2, and it really annoyed me. Buggy, complex, help
> system was useless for a novice like me [if it didn't crash on me!], I never
> got any work done on it. The only thing I ever got to work was OpenOffice.
> Hurrah. The Linux newsgroups, forums etc. weren't very helpful at all. Half
> of the scarce answers I got were of the order "That's weird. Never heard of
> it doing that before." and the other half was "RTFM". So I'm sceptical. I've
> seen other peoples' systems running well, but I don't feel like having to
> become as involved in Linux as them in order to get it to run. Knoppix
> impressed me, when I saw it on a friends box, but I am wary. Not only would
> I have to know that it has good emulators for my old software, but I'd also
> have to choose a distro, which is not trivial for a newbie like me. And then
> there is the problem that my job requires me to work with certain standard
> programs, which might not have a Linux edition...
>
>
>
>
> So here I am, stuck without enough knowledge to make an educated decision. I
> just need to get my machine running, being able to run DOS, Win 3.11 and W98
> applications (mostly CAD, Algebra software, MatLab, FEA, graph generators,
> office apps, other miscellaneous engineering and scientific software), but
> also a few games, some video and audio, and web browsing as well as a bit of
> data pumping on P2P networks. That's about it.
>
> Advise me, please!
Not advise, just an opinion,
You are going to have a hard time shaking DOS and Windows if you really
depend on those applications that much. Kind of a good thing really, you
should chose your OS based on the applications you want to use and not the
other way around. If you want to have a go at Linux you might take a look
at Xandros http://www.xandros.com/ they have a free version 2.0oc or
something. It is supposed to be designed to be a transition distro. As far
as the Windoz, I have only a little experiance with 2k and XP but from it
I I would say 2k is more streu=ight forward, less crap and glitz. True,
you can turn this stuff off in XP but I still like 2k better. I do run a
DOS application on my 2k box but it nothing to sexy. Only tip here is to
get real familiar with the net command, hey! a command line command in
Windoz just like Linux!
Oh and one more tip, backup backup backup. Don't ya just love that CD
burner!
Have fun! That is one thing Linux is over Windoz, fun.
Pat
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