Looking for a new laptop and finding out that almost everything has Vista, which I hate. So what are my other options? I've never used linux, ubuntu, or any of their variations.

I'm on my computer all day, surfing, dling movies/music, visit a few car forums, steal pictures of peoples cars for my background, play a few games online, play a few games like Roller Coaster Tycoon (1,2,3). Im also a geek, degree in computers and electronics tech.

Are theyre any OS's that I can completely remove Windows and run them no problem? Id like to run it on my current laptop before I buy a new one so I can get used to it. The hd on my current is teeny tiny 40g.

I also have some programs that I am partial to such as VLC, Bullguard(antivirus/firewall) Utorrent, Opera browser.

 

How do you have a degree in computers with no unix experience?

Anyway, You can probably buy a vista machine and load XP on it if you are that anti-Vista. I was hesitant to buy a Vista machine myself, but I have had my laptop for about 8 months, and the only issue is that vista and peer guardian don't get along all that well sometimes.

 

After a more than 10 year hiatus, I've been dabbling with Linux again, and I must say, I can't figure the damn thing out any more. Life was relatively easy with Slackware and the shell, but I'll be damned if I can actually get an application to install under Ubuntu.

My advice: Windows XP.

Most (if not all) PC vendors will still let you order it as a special option.

You can also still buy it new in stores for about $95 for the OEM Edition, which is what we still do on all the client-side administrative computers we supply with our audio routing packages.

If you're feeling really brave, you could try ReactOS.



If his degree was granted in the last 5-10 years or so, this wouldn't surprise me a bit. They were saying the same thing about VAX/VMS when I was in school.

 

i've heard positive things about windows 7 speeding up slow machines... but it sounds like you've got some anti windownian hurdles to overcome.

 

I was thinking the same thing.

I had a book written out about Linux and the good and bads about it, but in short, if you are looking for an alternative to Vista and not specifically Windows, XP is really the best choice. Linux is great don't get me wrong, but it's like owning a DSM. Although it is super fast, easy to modify exactly how you want it for cheap, and you CAN use it as a daily driver, it just never runs perfect, and almost on a daily basis you are changing it a bit and modifying it to get it running better. It NEVER ends. XP is install it and forget it. It just works (usually). Welp, I don't know if that makes sense to anyone else but me, but I'm writing a book again.

[edit]
Oh and if you DO want to try linux, I would go for:
Slackware
or
Arch Linux
[/edit]

 

Suck it up and use Vista, or install windows 7 beta and use that till it goes gold.

 

Somebody needs to compile TunerStudio for DOS.

(Ok, ok. I know it's JRE-based and not a native binary.)

Somebody needs to create something similar to MegaTune for DOS.

(Is that better?)

 

You could go the hackintosh route and put mac OSX on it.

 

Ok this might sound weird, but Im using vista now and Im having an issue.

I cant get to gmail, or gcn.cx another email, cant log into yahoo to check my mail, cant log in to hotmail to check mail. Why does this computer hate email?

Edit: turns out I cant get on myspace or facebook either.

 

I'm stoked to see Android on future netbooks. I'm a bit burned out on relying on microsoft.

 

Great. Let's write all of our applications as managed code under Java and run them in a virtual machine environment. Hmm. Where I have I seen this idea before?

Oh, that's right:





icantthink4155, seriously. You want an operating system which is stable and easy to use, has excellent application support, and will run on something slightly less than cutting-edge hardware.

You want either Windows 2000 or Windows XP.

 

+1
Usually it just works. If it doesn't, then the reason why (and usually the fix) is already out there.

 

Yeah I def want XP, but I dont want its pricetag. The only reason I was asking about ubuntu is the freeness. I like free. Im going to fight with vista for now, and maybe Ill break down and steal xp.

 

Are you getting access to any websites? Using the IE7?