XP, Vista, OS X and Linux Comparisons

[OrangeCrate]

An interesting page on the strengths and weaknesses of the major operating systems can be found here:

http://www.pcworld.com/zoom?id=129284&page=1&type=table&zoomIdx=2

[bob3160]

To efficiently run your computer, you need Software.
This comparison points out one interesting fact:
More software is available for MS Windows than for any other operating system. 

[.: Mac :.]

because MS uses its market share to force users to use its OS and whatever OS has the biggest share of the market will have the most software

[bob3160]

because MS uses its market share to force users to use its OS and whatever OS has the biggest share of the market will have the most software

I don't remember being forced.  It was a simple economic choice. 

[Lisandro]

I don't remember being forced either...

[OrangeCrate]

I don't remember being forced.  It was a simple economic choice. 

I don't remember being forced either...

Gentlemen, my name is Leo, and I'll be your server this evening. On the menu, we have a deluxe cheeseburger, or a deluxe cheeseburger. Which would you prefer? 

[mouniernetwork]

I don't remember being forced.  It was a simple economic choice. 

I don't remember being forced either...

Gentlemen, my name is Leo, and I'll be your server this evening. On the menu, we have a deluxe cheeseburger, or a deluxe cheeseburger. Which would you prefer? 
[/quote]

I must agree with OrangeCrate that XP and Now Vista are the Only OS you see in stores. So It's either XP Or Vista or Nothing 

Al968

[Spyros]

I must agree with OrangeCrate that XP and Now Vista are the Only OS you see in stores. So It's either XP Or Vista or Nothing 

Reminds me of this 

[mouniernetwork]

Nice cartoon 

Al968

[Negeltu]

I don't remember being forced.  It was a simple economic choice. 

I don't remember being forced either...

Gentlemen, my name is Leo, and I'll be your server this evening. On the menu, we have a deluxe cheeseburger, or a deluxe cheeseburger. Which would you prefer? 

I must agree with OrangeCrate that XP and Now Vista are the Only OS you see in stores. So It's either XP Or Vista or Nothing 

Al968
[/quote]

I just went to Office Depot and Best Buy and say a few flavors of Linux right beside Windows OS's.  I wouldn't exactly say XP and Vista are the only OS's you see in stores.

[OrangeCrate]

I just went to Office Depot and Best Buy and say a few flavors of Linux right beside Windows OS's.  I wouldn't exactly say XP and Vista are the only OS's you see in stores.

Your comment interests me...

I'm into both of those stores on a regular basis, and the only Linux distribution I've seen was Xandros at Office Depot. Nothing at Best Buy. I just checked their websites, and it's the same. Xandros at Office Depot, and nothing at Best Buy. And there's a reason why you don't see Linux desktop distributions in stores. They're free.

The top ten desktop distros for Linux are listed and described here:

http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Please note that all offer free downloads, though Xandros has several paid versions, which we've already discussed.

The choices I see in stores are the various versions of Windows, and Apple, though the "box" their operating system comes in, is a bit more expensive that the cardboard boxes Windows Vista comes in (read that - you have to buy the computer too).

All distributions of Linux are free (as in freedom). Read here:

http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html

Though free (as in freedom) does not necessarily mean free (as in price), ain't it great, that the top ten desktop distributions for Linux (including a version of Xandros), are also free (as in beer).

 

Edit:

Forgot to mention...

The reason that there are so many Linux distros, is that free (as in freedom) thingee.

Free (as in choice) is a wonderful thing!

[Negeltu]

Actually...  It was Fry's not best buy...  my mistake.  However...

They did have I believe.. Xandros and Linspire...and FreeBSD (not linux based of course but still an optional OS).

And I believe Office Depot here in Oregon had both Xandros and Linspire (I could be wrong, I know they had Xandros.) 

Xandros at Office Depot is what?  $80?

[OrangeCrate]

Xandros at Office Depot is what?  $80?

I think that's the price I saw too. I've seen Linspire at CompUSA. For the benefit of others, I'll provide the links to the Wikipedia entries on both:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linspire

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xandros

Both use the KDE desktop interface as default, which resembles Windows in appearance. I personally like the softer look of Gnome, and as you can see from my signature, Ubuntu is my distro of choice.

And yet, both Tech, and Justin1278 use Kubuntu, which are KDE. That's the nice thing about Linux, lots of options and choices, they all work well on older hardware, and most distros are free (as in price).

Oregon's a beautiful state, I envy you living there. 

[DavidR]

I think both Linspire and Xandros are both trying to make it considerably easier for the novice user to get into Linux with their ease of installation. Probably most importantly the ease of installing additional software, Linspire with its on click-n-run CNR, this is a service that you have to pay for but there is also Freespire if you don't like the cost, http://wiki.freespire.org/index.php/Freespire_Roadmap.

I get the occasional Xandros and Linspire newsletter, but I'm not ready to make the jump just yet

[Lisandro]

I think both Linspire and Xandros are both trying to make it considerably easier for the novice user to get into Linux with their ease of installation.
But I'm not ready to make the jump just yet

When you want, I suggest you start using VMware server (free) and learn into a virtual environment. Most robust distros (like Fedora or my beloved Kubuntu) could have a more difficult installation but, after all, you have a more complete and functional Linux installation at the end.
Why are you afraid? You'll learn a lot...