On an interesting side note, the alpha geek amongst my uncles’ friends showed us a Knoppix boot CD. Just plug it in and hijack any old dickless workstation you like. No installation required, your mileage may vary.
Linux seemed so nice. Then I was forced to use goddamn Suse in class, and now my genital area flares up and rashes spontaneously develop whenever I think about using that OS again.
I’m taking a class on the iSeries systems, which – get this – have no viruses written for 'em. 
In any event, el sigh – I wish I had Windows 2000. I’d like 2K-tan for my wallpaper better than XP-tan … T.T
Long live Raid5!
I have XP(well on the computer I use). I don’t know dick about how to use Linux, but I’ve used XP long enough to know it’s buggy as hell. I also run Mozilla Firefox or Composer as my browser. IE makes this computor asploed. I have not downloaded SP2, and am very leery of doing so. I want to learn Linux, but I’d have to get my own computer for it, as everyone else in my household is a Windows user. I usually shut down this computer(which is my brother’s) four times a week and restart it every 4-6 hours. I hate Windows. It’s essentially a crappy knockoff of the Mac OS, with bugs and consumer control devices.
Between Mac and Windows, I prefer Mac. My only gripe with Mac is the program support. PC game devs port to Windows first, and if Mac users are lucky, they get a port of a game at least a year after the Windows port was released. But if I can get KOTOR for Mac, I’ll get a Mac. It’s also easier to run Linux(on the same or different hard drives) with a Mac OS. Macs don’t get all defensive and raise their tail to another OS like XP does.
You’re just going to have to Get Perpendicular
EDIT I can’t believe I just said that in a thread titled “Horny”
Dizzy, SP2 makes XP steadier. If you installed it, you’d have less problems.
This is the way I see things:
The thing with Windows is not that it’s utterly bad. XP is not a lame system. Microsoft’s mistake was making it in a way it depends on the users to run smoothly. But most users are layspeople when it comes to good ans safe practices with computers. Thus, on the long run, their systems becomed fucked up by spyware, lack of regular HD formattings, lack of updates, excessive loading of programs they won’t even use etc.
I sometimes leave my computer turned on for a whole week when I’m downloading big things. The system is steady and never crashes. On a test I made it went for two whole months 24h/day without crashing, and I only couldn’t push further due to a blackout. And it wasn’t just “oh let’s time how much it takes to crash without a human operating it”. I simply didn’t turn it off when I wasn’t working or playing. I work with a lot of resource hogging software like Visual Studio and the system never suffers. I once even forgot I had both Photoshop and Corel opened and called up NFSU2. The loading times changed so slightly that I didn’t even notice it.
And yes, I run XP. I have SP2 too. I’ve had this computer for years and so far I still haven’t had a single loss of performance. My computer works as smotthly as when I first turned it on. I format twice a year, last time being on December, which makes for, considering this year only, three and a half months of decent operation and counting.
What I mean with all this is that if you have Windows XP installed in an average machine and it crashes or has a poor performance, the problem may be you and not the system.
What I don’t mean is that Windows is better than Linux or any other OS. For me they are equal, and I chose Windows because I work with .NET. I’ll be able to keep on with my work in Linux too, as soon as (and if) the Mono project is completed.
Linux has the merit of being safe from viruses and the merit of being foolproof regarding steadiness - digitally illiterate people may make Windows crashy, but a team of ubberlamers together can hardly make Linux lose its balance. But pheraps the greatest merit of Linux is that those who handle it are way more computer savvy than the average home user. Most people I know locally who complain about XP crashing also don’t use Linux because they have a lot of trouble doing anything at all in it. They should study computer operation before operating in any OS at all, but instead they just think “Oh, I really CAN operate a computer” and choose Windows because it looks more user friendly.
Although certain features like System Restore can be useful, I think it would be better if they could make an OS that was more capable of correcting system errors on its own. Formatting should be a last resort proceedure, but with all the crap computers catch just by being connected to the internet… And IE is notoriously leaky when it comes to spyware and trojans.
Thank You for Choosing me over My large bosomed partner!!!
Yar you know how to treat her, I myself am stuck with 98. My Pc had booting problems with later offering of OSes. Man, I thought XP was a memory hog, but Longhorn you’re a Killer - Queen. (Caviar and cigerettes…)
BN
I heard he likes “stuff” like"ironing Borads"
I love Windows XP. It’s extremely user-friendly, compared to the 3-4 flavors of Linux I’ve used, and I’ve rarely had any crashes in it (some program crashes, but almost never an entire system crash). I do use Firefox instead of IE though.
System Restore, by the way, is not just a “kind of useful” utility - it is an INCREDIBLY useful utility. I’ve already save three people’s computers from viruses and spyware using it. 
Just a quick question?
Do I have to back up my files before reformatting?
Cause if I do, I’ll need a lot of CD-roms(I don’t have a super huge floppy drive)
Yes, you do. Formatting erases all your data. But if you are going to do it, do the following steps after backing up and while reinstalling Windows
- When formatting your hard drive, partition off about 2.5 to 3 gigs for your C: drive.
- Partition the rest as your D drive
- When your install is does, go into your D: Drive and make a My Documents\ folder.
- Right Click on My Documents and change the target to D:\My Documents
- Whenever you install a program, install it on the D:\ drive.
While it may be a bit annoying to set up and use, it allows you to reformat and reinstall on your C:\ Drive without having to backup your D:\ drive with all your data on it (Although you need to reinstall all your programs, so save the install files too)
Psh, dizzy, if you’re using a Mac, don’t worry about linux. OSX (which is what i’m assuming you use) is a Unix kernel anyway. 
Twould be if I had a Mac right now. But I don’t own a computer, so, I’m using my bro’s computer, which has Windows.
(I so screwed up my 1k post thread[at least doing it the right way], I’m gonna do it late as hell just for kicks)
Linux? An alternative? Wow, that’s the WORST I’ve ever heard anyone say about it…
Linux = KICK ARSE!! - I use Linux on my main computer, I have a slackware 9.0 distribution… nice stuff for anyone, new or experienced.
Ninten:cool:
EDIT: Sorry, wrong quote… 1st page, lower down somewhere about Linux being an alternative, I’m lazy at the moment:P
Ninten:cool:
Does Linux have a schpiffy GUI?
There are dozens of different “styles” (or “flavors”) of Linux. I’ve yet to use one that’s as intuitive as Windows, but don’t forget Windows has about ten years of learning from stupid mistakes that Linux doesn’t. Still, there are a few Linux flavors that are pretty easy to use.
Everything about Linux can be completely customised to your liking. Everything. It just depends on how tech-savvy you are and on how much time you want to pump into it.
For linux GUI, you download differet desktop environments to use. I use KDE, some people use Gnome, Blackbox-Wiki, Enlightenment, and others