just curious...it's free and I'm looking at alternatives to paying for XP again.  How user friendly is Ubuntu and can I expect compatibility issues with EVERYTHING?

I have ubuntu installed on my sons imac.  it doesn't work with hardly anything, but thats due to the fact that its for the powerpc architecture.  you can re-use your xp serial number legally again though, just fyi

if your not comfortable using a command line, then I wouldn't go to ubuntu

I can use a command line but I don't know that I'll be getting a good benefit/hassle ratio.

Only issue with XP is my Compaq came with it...I had to buy a copy a while back for my Dell but it doesn't cross the void to other PC's so I won't be able to use it.  I would like to get it to work with my Compaq hard drive but I don't know how to go about doing that.

Quote from: makenzie71 on February 15, 2010, 11:09:28 AM
I can use a command line but I don't know that I'll be getting a good benefit/hassle ratio.

Only issue with XP is my Compaq came with it...I had to buy a copy a while back for my Dell but it doesn't cross the void to other PC's so I won't be able to use it.  I would like to get it to work with my Compaq hard drive but I don't know how to go about doing that.

if you own a full copy of xp you can install it on as many computers as you want using the serial number that came with it.  as long as you are installing it on multiple BUSINESS computers you aren't breaking any copyright or piracy laws. each computer owned by a business must have it's own copy, technically.. i have lost track of how may different computers i have installed my copy of xp on.

Compaq doesn't include a copy of XP with their computers...what we have is a "restore" partition on the hard drive.

The Dell copy I have will only allow three installs, and only on Dell machines.

Haven't tried Ubuntu, but I'm running Fedora. Run Knoppix first to see if there are compatibility issues.

Here's what I'd do:

D/L Knoppix and create a bootable CD. Try that first on your hardware. If it works on it, great. Play with the installation a bit then move to a hard drive install. You can use Knoppix to pull all the files you need off the computer if you're nuking the drive during the next step.

D/l Ubuntu, Fedora, whatever and install. The installers on these both are just about completely automated and require little input.

I haven't used Unix in over 10 years, and I've only needed to mess with command line once, to install some gripy software. Everything else has installed cleanly with RPM. I only regret I didn't do this sooner.

I didn't go dual-boot, but there are options to do this as well. I don't trust Windows to play nice; if I need a Win box I've got my wife's computer.

My son uses a few flavors of Linux, but uses Ubuntu most.  He's quite the geek, but at only 12 years of age, he gets frustrated easily.  Using Ubuntu, he doesn't get any more frustrated than Windoze.

I've decided against it...loading open office and WoW are both issue-intensive to install and run.  I'm probably going to end up running 64bit Vista...even though I despise Vista...because it's free.

1) What's the issue with Open Office? I used the old Star office several years back, and *it* was a pile. The new Open Office installed with Fedora, and I've had no issues with use or install.

2) How is Vista free? Unless you're buying a new computer and it comes with (even then it's not free, but that's another issue.)

1) I don't really know...the tutorials made it out like there's a program inside a program you have to run to install and run OO...same with WoW.

2) I have it.

Quote from: makenzie71 on February 16, 2010, 05:30:07 AM
1) I don't really know...the tutorials made it out like there's a program inside a program you have to run to install and run OO...same with WoW.

2) I have it.

I assume you are talking about WINE. Open Office runs without WINE, WoW, and any other windows program you want to use in Linux will not.

Wine was the thing, yeah...I don't like the idea of having to run programs within programs within programs...even though I'm sure it happens anyway.  I'm going the simplest route, though.  I was looking at Ubuntu because it was free, but I'll have 64b Vista to play with...maybe Windows 7.

you can use the dell copy, just install it and use the serial.  there should be a serial number on the side of your computer case with xp serial on it anyway

I thought Dell copies were ONLY for Dell machines?

nope, you can use it on any computer, to activate your serial, just use the phone in method, and tell them your hard-drive messed up and you had to re-install,  they will give you a number to type in and you will be good to go legally 

sweet...I'll look into that.  Now if only it weren't limited to 4gb of RAM...that was my only consolation about having to use Vista...more ram.

Mak, here are a couple things that i know to be true.  

-Dell OEM OS restore discs will not install onto machines that do not have a dell bios.  
-Windows licenses are per computer unless a license that specifies otherwise is purchased.  

That being said, since you obviously game i wouldn't recommend Ubuntu cause getting things to run remotly good using WINE is a pain, esp if said application is resource intensive.  Also you could use vista but if you can swing it i would get 7, it is much more stable that any version of vista in my opinion.

Download ubuntu 9.10 desktop, burn the ISO as an Image CD, boot computer with said CD, play with it. Dont have to install it, see if you like it.

yeah i was gonna say, i know some versions of it allow you to use it "live". we're using both Ubuntu and Fedora in my Linux class at the college. we actually do all of our stuff on VMWare. I've got VMWare on my laptop at home too so I have been playing with Ubuntu there as well. I can't comment as far as compatibility issues with programs though because I really don't know. I do know however that my professor has said that the only real issue he's seen with almost all Linux/Unix based OS is that for the hardcore computer gamers it just doesn't seem to do as well as say Windows OS. Which must have been hard for him to say because he is one of the most anti-windows guys I know.

Ubuntu is fine, it's one of the most used Linux distributions. I'm using it on an Apple Power Mac G4 along with the Mac OS X, then Linux Mint (a Ubuntu derivative) on a pieced together pc, and EB 4.0 (a Debian derivative) on my netbook.
Tony