Ubuntu or XP?

Mim

I'm hoping I put this in the right forum, I figured Moe's was more like a programmer forum.

Anyways, I'm trying to decide should I use Ubuntu or Windows XP on my computer. I'm not looking for anything special, I do from time to time play online computer games (I have FF11, the Sims and I am thinking about playing Ragnarok Online again) but other than that I'm not really doing anything special. I might pick up VB.Net again if I can find the software I had.

Which is a better operating system? And if I do download Ubuntu, how do I get rid of XP all together? Actually, how do I clear off my hard drive without the OS discs in general?

I also use MSN/AIM/Skype and I do like the mic/webcam functions on MSN, is it possible to keep that?

DeShadowC

Why not use both, so you can still have the gaming in XP, and other services linux doesn't offer, while still learning linux.

japan

Mim wrote: »

Which is a better operating system?

Whichever does what you want it to do with the minimum of hassle.

To answer your specific questions, the Ubuntu install disc gives you the option of wiping the disc. If you're not sure, and you don't have any Windows installation media, I'd recommend against it.

As far as I can tell, FF11, The Sims and Ragnarok online don't have linux versions, so you'd need to run them using WINE, which is hit and miss at best. I'd see if anybody else has had any success doing it first.

MSN and AIM can be accessed through Pidgin, which is the IM package that comes with Ubuntu, there's a Linux version of skype (google medibuntu if you're using ubuntu). I have no idea if the MSN webcam/voice features are available on Linux.

locopostal

another option for the IM is meebo.com. they've got a pretty great interface, that also supports file transfers and video/audio chat (neither of which I've actually used, however..) I've been using that site for my IM for..almost two years now?

Reverend_Chaos

I have Ubuntu and Vista on a partitioned computer. I also have a third partition that has the majority of my memory where I save all my files and can then access them all from either Windows or Ubuntu. I am glad that I had it set up this way.

Mitsuhide

If you are thinking of partitioning, don't. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. You could kill your hard drive.

I just use a nifty little utility called Wubi.

This lets you download and install any of the ubuntu distributions on your PC, but it doesn't mess with your hard-drive at all. All it does it create a folder called ubuntu (or linux, can't remember), and if you want to get rid of ubuntu, all you have to do is uninstall it from Windows' Add/Remove Programs window, and delete the folder afterwards. :P

exis

I was in a similar position to you. I didn't really need XP except to play games (I could play them all under Wine, but I don't see the point when I have a perfectly good set of XP discs here; this way I don't need to bother with the hassle of screwing with Wine). So now I use Ubuntu for everything except Visual Studio (could be using linux for C++ too, I just really like Visual Studio) stuff and a few select video games.

I don't know if I would describe it as 'better' or not. I find it a lot easier to play around with. The package manager actually helps you find updates/drivers that you need, instead of sending you on a treasure hunt. The online community is incredible; if you need help with a specific task/application there's almost certainly a documented instance of it on the forums, and if not you probably won't have much trouble getting an answer. And honestly, I think it looks really really good.

As for wiping your discs, there are a few tutorials on dual-booting Windows/Ubuntu out there (and I would recommend it if you think there's even half a chance you'll need Windows in the future; also if you find you don't like Ubuntu you can just continue using Windows only having wasted ~10 gigs on a hard drive for the partition, rather than having to reformat again). I installed both OSes onto a 20 gig HDD, and left all of my files accessible to both on my 200 gig HDD. Which would be effectively the same as taking one hard drive and splitting it into three partitions, one for each OS and one for your files (+ swap and page). If you don't mind losing your files I would do it that way. Just be aware that if there is stuff on there that you need: partitioning can be risky, and you could lose everything on the hard drive. If you do decide to partition, the Ubuntu install process walks you through partitioning; you shouldn't need a third party app like Partition Magic or anything.

theSquid

http://appdb.winehq.org/ says that The Sims and Final Fantasy XI Online have atrocious Wine support, so you will probably need to dual boot if you want to try Ubuntu and keep playing your games. If you're going to dual boot, do a fresh install of XP first, then install Ubuntu, since the XP boot loader doesn't show any options other than the Windows OS' you have installed. If you want to test Ubuntu before you decide if you want to dual boot, use wubi, but keep in mind that Ubuntu's hard drive access will be slower (which also increases boot up time) and it won't be able to hibernate.

As for losing stuff on the hard drive, well, you should always be backing everything up before you start toying around with OS installation anyway.

And aMSN definitely has webcam support.

I doubt there's anything for VB.NET, though I've found Eclipse to be an incredible IDE for Java and C++. They're better programming languages to know, anyway. :P

Daenris

I'd say if you're new to Linux you may want to keep XP on there for at least awhile to wean yourself off it. Ubuntu will work perfectly fine for a large number of tasks you'd want to do, but you'll occasionally run into something that, while possible in Ubuntu, will be much more easily accomplished in Windows. If it's something that isn't time critical, then you can take the time and search online forums to figure out how to accomplish it in Linux so that you can do it from then on. But if it's something that needs to be done now, you'll still have the XP there to fall back on and you can research how to do it in Linux for the next time you need to.

Mim

Well I mean even if I don't install Ubuntu, how do I erase the hard drive (partition?) for Windows XP? I no longer have the OS discs, so I was wondering if there is a manual way to do it.

theSquid

Any of the Linux liveCDs should have a partition manager on it. Ubuntu, Knoppix, hell even Gentoo, though I wouldn't touch Gentoo with a 20 foot pole. The name of the program is GParted, I believe.

Silvoculous

GParted has its own LiveCD. Good to have one separate, because it boots faster than a Live CD with a full distro.

Impersonator

Mitsuhide wrote: »

If you are thinking of partitioning, don't. Especially if you don't know what you're doing. You could kill your hard drive.

I just use a nifty little utility called Wubi.

This lets you download and install any of the ubuntu distributions on your PC, but it doesn't mess with your hard-drive at all. All it does it create a folder called ubuntu (or linux, can't remember), and if you want to get rid of ubuntu, all you have to do is uninstall it from Windows' Add/Remove Programs window, and delete the folder afterwards. :P

Wow, ok, I need more info on this