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Which version of Linux is the best for a guy that basically downloads or watches videos, sometimes streams to my TV, the usual, e-mail, reads the news, etc. I'm so tired of Windows, I build my own computers but I'm no programmer which one apparently has to be to keep Win 7 running right. XP was rock solid and heck 98 not that bad considering.
I don't run games, have a decent MB, Creative sound card, but even that's basic. My MB is a Gigabyte-B85-HD3, got it so I could watch some great videos on my TV. Creative Audigy FX. Very basic, but I gotta get away from Microsuck.
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another vote for chromebook.
So far I've had nothing but problems trying to get any Linux working. Some the downloads don't work, have tried Mint, Ubuntu, that' the only one that installed but the sound was all messed up. Zorin wouldn't install.
I want a simple OS I can watch videos on, listen to music when I don't want to play records. But I need to be able to have an EQ device and that seems to be a no show with Linux. I guess I should have learned code as a youngster.
I posted below about CentOS. I had used some Linux's for work, didn't see a lot of differences but I was mainly dealing with tool chains. My wife was useing windows and had a problem with attracting malware. For the heck of it I installed from CentOS disks I had laying around. Install was about 15 minutes, and she had zero questions. Just started using it from a base of windows experience. UBUNTU experience may be just as good, if you are avoiding windows, do it.
I'd suggest a ubuntu variant, MINT perhaps ?
( mint offer KDE as desktop and window manager, which is what i prefer as
i feel offended by ubuntus "unity" desktop). But that's me, the installation
is fast whatever ubuntu you try, so i would suggest you try a few.
The learning curve is there for a windows user, it cannot be ignored. But once passed the first corners one has a much better experience and can
use the better parts of any os.
Junking MS office is just one of the benefits
Ubuntu and it's derivatives e.g. Mint offer the best new user experience because they have a friendly installer, GUI tools for most things, and they make an effort to support as much hardware as possible out of the box. But don't expect them to require less maintenance than Windows 7. I have found them to be less stable than some of the other major Linux distributions and subject to long term bloat and rot, because they are very large distributions with lots of interdependent packages. Updates are very frequent and not always adequately tested, so things break. Same with Fedora.
Even worse in this respect are the rolling release distributions. These are really best suited for Linux developers and maintainers, and for end users who like to stay on the bleeding edge and don't mind spending time maintaining their system or even enjoy it.
At the other end of the spectrum are the likes of Slackware and Debian Stable (and its forks), which are rock solid and hardly ever break. Slackware is definitely for experienced users only. Debian Stable could be suitable for a new user as long as you're fairly computer savvy, but you usually won't find support for recent hardware.
Red Hat/CentOS is pretty stable too, but sometimes frustrating to get working. Red Hat seems to base their releases on oddball kernel versions which have caused driver issues for me. Also, a lot of NVidia users have had problems with the Nouveau driver and Red Hat makes it hard to remove and replace with the proprietary NVidia driver.
SUSE is somewhere in the middle. I haven't used it in several years because I don't like its YaST configuration tool, and it's relatively bloated. But when I was using SUSE it was fairly easy to get running and fairly stable.
So if you want to try Linux because you want to try something new that's not Windows, I would start with Ubuntu or one of its derivatives, whichever one has a graphical shell which looks appealing. On the other hand, if you want to try Linux because you think it will be easier than Windows 7 to keep running right, I would reconsider. I've had my frustrations with Windows 7, mostly with Windows Update, but in general my Win 7 systems have been less of a hassle than my Linux systems.
"Red Hat/CentOS is pretty stable too, but sometimes frustrating to get working. Red Hat seems to base their releases on oddball kernel versions which have caused driver issues for me. Also, a lot of NVidia users have had problems with the Nouveau driver and Red Hat makes it hard to remove and replace with the proprietary NVidia driver."
I am using RHEL 6.7 at work. They tends towards ultrastability which is why they use the pre 3.x kernels. It's not oddball, it's just old and more suited to workstations.
If it wasn't for a particular program we have to use, we'd likely be using Ubuntu or Mint at this point.
SuSE is ok, too. But I don't have as much experience with it.
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As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.ster
I have been using Linux more or less continuously since 2004 or so.
Ubuntu and Mint would be the ones I would choose in general. The nice thing about Mint is that it includes the drivers you need for DVD etc.
I have to say while I don't like Windows a lot (I use Linux and Mac at home and Linux and Windows at work) it's not as bad an OS as some would have you believe for simple general use.
But ... if you go Linux give Mint a try.
=Signature=================
As audiophiles, we take what's obsolete, make it beautiful, and keep it forever.
Hey! I have a blog now: http://mancave-stereo.blogspot.com or "like" us at https://www.facebook.com/mancave.ster
I use Linux Mint (KDE version) on an old Pentium D desktop that originally came with windows XP and it's been great. I have no need to either update the hardware or the operating system. It's fast, sturdy no video or music freezes or hiccups. Depending on the processor the XFCE version of Linux Mint is even faster but I like how customizable KDE is.
Since it's so easy to try different versions of Linux I ended up downloading 3 versions each of Ubuntu (The unity version plus Xubuntu and Kubuntu) and 3 versions of Linux Mint (Cinnamon, XFCE and KDE) I tried each for a while and finally settled on the one I liked best which for me is KDE.
Centos, easy download, install, updates and practically no learning curve.
Sure there are times when I am frustrated because I can't do something I did with WINDOWS but that isn't often and if it is important I do it at work.
You will have to learn to do things differently but if you stick to the basics you will likely never have to deal with much of that.
I do not plan on making a change.
One interesting thing, I have a slow internet connection - nothing I can do about it - it is the best the horrid AT&T can do. It is true that WINDOWS is using your internet connection for their own purposes. With UBUNTU my "speed" is greatly enhanced.
It boots up in less than a minute.
You might get slightly annoyed at all of the software updates.
Give it a try you will probably be satisfied and happy with it.
Or is the absence of Windows all that matters as far as *increased speed* is concerned?
Ubuntu is likely the best choice if you need a general purpose system. It is actually easier to use and keep running than Windows, but only after you've paid your dues and have become sufficiently familiar with command line and how to use it with a lot of help from Google.
If you want an ultra lightweight version of Linux and have serious geek tendencies, then Arch may be a good way to go. I've run one of these, but all my non-windows machines are presently running Ubuntu.
Tony Lauck
"Diversity is the law of nature; no two entities in this universe are uniform." - P.R. Sarkar
-its for machines with reduced capacity (usually due to age).
There really isn't a 'faster version', you either have it or you don't.
I've been running Linux for the last 17 years now. Its really humorous how much faster it runs than windows (and no worries about viruses and the like).
I'm no expert on Linux flavors. Debian and now, Ubuntu, seem to be the flavors of choice i the server market. I have played with Linux Mint, Cinnamon version, and it was quite easy to install and get working. Add the Plex server app to stream recorded TV or pictures or whatever multimedia you have to TVs, tablets, phones, etc. You can then run an app to search for apps to load like OpenOffice or whatever you might need.
You can also boot it either from a CD or a USB memory stick to play with it or install in a separate partition and boot to whichever OS you want.
Mint will also read all of your Windows files, so it makes it easy to migrate and get the old files that you need.
-Rod
I switched to a chromebook 2 years ago,and could not be more pleased
for anyone that just does basic stuff like you mentioned, they are great
and cheap.
Great product (have an Acer Chromebook) and dirt cheap.
There are also chromeboxes,
I have a chromebox which I hooked up to a monitor and keyboard.
I also have a Google Chromebook pixel, it is high end and way overboard for basic stuff. Good chromebooks are about $400,
I would say get Linux mint if you are a first timer and just want to wipe out windows a repurpose your existing machine ... :)
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