LINUX vs windows XP

Im tired of all the freakin software I have to keep up with to keep my PC secure with XP. I heard linux was a better choice..........does anyone have experience with linux............pro's and cons?

I don't have a whole lot of direct experience with Linux per se, but it is a 'Unix' flavor so it is not a whole lot different than other Unix flavors. Unix can be much more secure than XP just in the fact that it is Unix. The operating system provides quite a lot of security right 'out-of-the-box,' and the system is far more stable than XP with benefits of protected memory so that when a program crashes, it doesn't take the OS with it. There isn't a whole lot of software written for Linux yet though that is slowly changing so that can be one count against it. Luckily, Macintosh based its new OS on BSD Unix so security updates come from them when a 'hole' is discovered. With Linux, you'll have to keep up to date yourself and apply patches yourself unless they've created an automatic software update like Apple did for OS X.

I agree.. Linux is far more reliable except there remains some compatilbilty issues with some preipherals. I am almost thinking I will divide my system to run two operating systems Linus and Windows, but still mulling that decision over.

What version of linux? I see a whole lot and it looks confusing? maybe partioning the drive or adding an extra drive(external) to run linux to see which to go with. yea im confused as far as linux choices..........

get yourself a MAC and forget all that bullshit... lol.

Mikey likes Macs

yea.........thats another alternative............Msoft should be sued for making software you have to spend money on to protect so many holes.......gates is a bitch.

he is a bitch but a very VERY rich bitch... Oprah is very rich but Bill Gates would throw himself out of a window if he woke up with her bank account

If you wanna try it without installing it, there are several Linux distros out there you can run from a CD. For a good example try PCLinuxOS I kinda liked it and there is an Icon where you can install the CD to your HD. I think it's very user friendly, it's based on
something like Mandrake (now Mandriva) which is also a very good distro and uses a RPM software package system for installing programs.

I can't believe I missed this post. I actually have a dual partition with linux & windows.

Pretty much any of the flavors are good. I like slax myself. You can try it out without installing it to your hard drive with the live cd. Goto http://slax.linux-live.org

If you want something more permenant or "fully-featured" goto http://www.distrowatch.com

Be careful some of them like ubuntu and kubuntu are good but they cause a real problem when trying to compile/install software, because you can't access the root account. (which is like the administrator account on Windows boxes.)

There is a bit of a learning curve, but linux is great. Tons of free software...and it's not as hard as you would think. Over the years it has gotten way better. I remember way back when there was only command lines and shells. Best of all you're immune to most any spyware and viruses. BTW you can run your windows programs in linux with some great software. WINE and crossover office allow you to do this.

Let me know if you need any help...

Don't knock gates for making a product. Windows is the same as steroids it works great but you have to take many precautions to keep it running correctly just like your body.

I would like to alter my opinion on kubuntu linux. It is by far the best linux out there IMO. All software is free. Once you set up the correct software you can run many windows programs on it (through Crossover Office) and best of all no more viruses or additional costs to keep your computer secure. I use it on most of my machines at home and work. If anyone would like help with Linux please let me know. I prefer it to Windows 10 fold especially now since they've been doing all this crap with WGA (Windows Geniune Advantage). It's a complete scam that is causing problems for users who have already legal copies of Windows. The only way to fix your "illegal" copy is buy another product key for Microsoft for over a hundred bucks. That's when I wrote off MS for good.

um, actually there is a way to get rid of WGA once it takes hold and gives you the usual BS "illegal copy" messages. You just gotta know what file is causing the trouble. Like I told my friend a while back, I have ever paid for one OS and it was a real POS. winme. Vista x64 is really good, once you take out the BS. http://www.vlite.net/