Re: Is SuSe ready for me yet?

markzoom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
Golaff wrote:
markzoom@xxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
<bunch of stuff snipped>

I have many other projects in progress (doing up a house in the azores)
and on the drawing board (green energy stuff for it), so realisticly I
don't think Linux will fit into the slot I'm prepared to devote to
computers. I've now got it installed on a spare computer, so I can
fiddle with it at leisure or not. It looks like I'll put up with the
devil I know (windows) for a while yet.


That project in the Azores sounds like it will be an interesting one. I've always wanted to go on a search for Atlantis so see if it actually existed. Anyway, I see why it needs to be a PC. I strongly recommend you take a look at Ubuntu. You may not get a good perspective on it if you use the Live CD so you should install it. I believe Suse 10.1 should also work fine. Either way, you're going to need to read a little. Ubuntu's forum is very noob friendly. Ubuntu itself does't have a mechanism to automatically install all the codecs and video players but you can download these mechanisms and install them easily. After that, a few clicks and a few plain english questions and it will be setup will all the codecs and support software to play most video and music files. As far as hardware goes, you'll also have to spend some time to see what hardware people use that works. I usually find this information within a few minutes on google. I think the best part for you is that once this is setup, there's no need to reinstall or fuss with it ever again. When Suse 12 is out, you can still be on 10.1. There's no need to upgrade unless the new version supports something better than the version you have.

Other than this, I don't think you will find what you're looking for in any OS for a very long time to come. Vista and anything that comes after that doesn't seem like it will fit your requirements with all the crap Microsoft wants to have to secure its monopoly.

So the way I see it, try Ubuntu and do a little reading to get your hardware setup. Relax your requirements about using the mouse only just in the beginning to get everything setup then never worry about it again.

Or

Stay with Suse 10.1. Read a bit more and possibly learn or copy and paste some command line stuff to get your stuff working then never worry about it again.

Or

Stay with what you have. Maybe get a router even if you only have one computer just so your computer isn't directly accessible from the internet. Get a good anti-virus program (I recommend AVG Anti-Virus) and an easy to use firewall (I also recomment Zone Alarm.) (by the way, both of these offer free versions). Once in a while run a spyware/adware program to clean off the little stuff that does get on (I use Adaware and Spybot Search & Destroy. Both free). Be careful what you click on. Scan downloaded files before running them. Don't use outlook/outlook express for email. Use as little microsoft software as possible. Use another web browser other than IE. And every few years depending on use wipe your hard drive and reinstall windows to keep it running fast. This last one may be a problem because of updates. You can buy a legitimate copy of Windows from such places as newegg.com for around $150. Why wipe and reinstall? For some reason, windows develops a lot of crap over time that slows it down. Not adware/spyware/virus stuff but just crap. I do this on my own windows computers and never had a problem. A few clients that listen and actually do what I tell them have never had any problems with viruses, spyware/adware.

So that's it. I hope this helps.

Richard
.

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