basic

[David Gerard]

On 3 February 2010 12:57, q0k <q0k.character at gmail.com> wrote:

> 1) I have been using Windows for 5 years. Why should I choose Ubuntu?


GNU/Linux in general is good because it's ridiculously more stable,
you don't need an antivirus so you get much better performance on a
given box, etc.

It can be problematic if you have some obscure (or sometimes not so
obscure) piece of Windows software that doesn't have an open-source
equivalent or won't run under Wine. (Note that a lot of games work
really well under Wine!)

Why Ubuntu? Because Ubuntu expressly considers stuff working well for
new users to be important. If a n00b can't understand something -
that's a valid bug.

That said, most major Linux distros are entirely suitable, and it
really is a matter of personal taste.

To be sure, you can use a Live CD to try it out without doing anything
to your Windows installation. This will also check your wifi, webcam,
etc. works. Most laptops work really well with Linux these days, but
not all and not everything - you still should check first.


> 2) Which version is better for home use by a student - 9.10 or 8.4? Why?


9.10. The world of open source software moves fast, and 9.10 is 18
months ahead of 8.04. For a desktop, you basically want the latest
release.

(You can get even further ahead running beta versions, but I really
wouldn't advise it until you know enough to fix a broken system and
unless you actually want to do that ;-) )


- d.