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"The Switch"

C

cieje

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 19, 2006
Messages
252
Probably get this kind of post a lot...

I'm sick of how bloated winxp is... I've been wanting to change, or at least dual-boot to a linux distro for years...

My system specs are listed in my sig. I guess I'm looking at ubuntu; seems user friendly and fairly straight forward. I just have a couple questions:

Should I use the i386 version or the AMD64 version? What performance/compatibility differences would I expect from either?

I'm a little confused about the ATI drivers... what should I use for my x1800xl to get the best performance?

I only really am concerned about a few applications... all the linux-based replacements are fine, but I do play cs:s and sims 2 from time-time. I don't intend to really play anything else anytime soon... I've been reading about using either Wine or cedega to run cs:s but what about sims 2? What kind of performance difference from windows can I expect?

Sorry these questions are probably asked a lot...

Basically, if I can get Sims 2 to work (girlfriend can't live without it) I can switch completely to be honest.
 
for games you NEED an XP dual boot, forget what ppl say about WINE and whatnot, they suck....

Dont complain about "bloat" if you are switching to Ubuntu, it has just as many, if not more, services and applications installed as XP does. Please explain by what you mean by "bloat" in windows xp...

if you do want to use Linux, use the i386 version of any distro you want to use. That is what most people use, and those who run 64-bit versions are few and far between (not to mention that many multimedia codecs are a bitch to get working in 64-bit linux).

I can't comment on ATI drivers, but I do hear that they suck.... lol I know, not good advice on this part, but I think Ubuntu has an ATI drivers repository, so that will probably be your best bet.
 
I guess by bloat... I just mean I want a more stream-lined operating system environment. I guess I can strip winxp myself, but I think right now it's running 50+ services in normal operation.

I guess I'll just try it myself. I have a 10g partition sitting for a 2nd o/s for testing purposes; I'll just use that.
 
Uninstalling the apps you don't want in ubuntu is a cinch, as is installing those you want. Unless you have a specific reason to use 64 bit (graphics, compiling, folding, etc) just stick with the 32 bit version. I use the 64 bit version because I fold, and the ubuntu forums told me how to get flash and all that stuff working in 64 bit.
 
64 bit is more trouble than it's worth, obviously not the case if you fold like the above.

And yes, uninstalling packages is easy (sudo dpkg -r package)
 
i have been dual booting my primary laptop for about 2 months now, i have the current version of Ubuntu (edgy) and i love it!! once i figure out how to get MS OneNote to work correctly under wine then i will totally ditch XP all together, at least on my laptop.

You should do what i do on my desktop machine, and dual boot XP and Ubuntu so you can still play games, but for everything else use Ubuntu.
 
cieje said:
I'm sick of how bloated winxp is... I've been wanting to change, or at least dual-boot to a linux distro for years...
Click to expand...

cieje said:
I guess by bloat... I just mean I want a more stream-lined operating system environment.
Click to expand...

Like it has already been stated, you're going to get the same kind of bloat if you move to Ubuntu. You can tweak the OS the way you want to, just like XP, but just know that by making the switch you're not going to end up in this magical world of a non-bloated OS without having to put some work in.

Anyway, with that said, I would dual boot, if you want to play games. Wine is fine, but it's not 100%, and if you wanted to play various Windows games, without the kind of issues that could arrise, I think you're better off keeping Windows, if only for gaming (and maybe a few other things every now and then).
 
i know I said that Ubuntu is bloated, but it is actually the Linux I use (im still a learner myself...), but I've been experimenting with slackware, and that thing seems trim as all hell. Of course it isnt anywhere near as usable :)

but yea, I use ubuntu in a dual boot with XP, and since I (FINALLY) found out how to get VPN working correctly in Linux, i've been using it 99.99% of the time. Sure, there are actually alot of things that Windows is better than Linux is for, but it sure is fun to use Linux, as there is TONS and tons to learn, and learning is what life is all about!
 
BSD is also a great, unbloated OS. I run a NetBSD workstation at work and on my server, I'm also considering putting it on my laptop.

I have several years experience working with linux/unix so it's easier for me but the manuals are excellent and cover just about every task.
 
I ended up putting a 10gb ubuntu installation on my HD.

It was a freaking pain in the ass. Ati sucks balls with linux. Xserver would not, for whatever reason run in vesa on my card, so I had to do a console based install and then sudo command installs of fglrx. And even then, it's still not working too well; no 3d acceleration etc.

But everything is useable and much nicer than windows imo. Just faster and smoother - it'll take some time to get used to.

ntfs-3g is wonderful too - I don't have to redo my old filesystem till I'm ready =)
 
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