which is a better operating system?

[qandaseeker]

hi, ive been windows OS all my life, but i dont know if i can get better features out linux. i mean is there a huge difference? what are the advantages and disadvantages of linux and xp. im not too keen on the windows vista system beacuse it takes up A LOT of RAM! Although ive used both, i think XP is better. im asking this question becuase i intend to purchase a netbook (maybe the eee pc or acer aspire one). They offer Windows Xp and linux.

please advise me of the better product.

thank you

[terambulan]

Look here and decide what you like

http://www.linux.org/info/

Most IT adverts I see ask for Linux experience whereas none have stipulated Ms to my knowledge.

[vehelpfulguy]

Well you should understand the Windows and Linux are different operating systems (obviously).

Therefore a program written for Windows will NOT run on Linux, and vice versa.

Also any hardware you have or buy (like a printer) will almost certainly have a Windows driver but not a Linux driver.

Also if you are used to the way Windows works it may take you a while to understand how Linux works.

The Linux "code" is in effect free, so many companies build their own "versions" of Linux, and they can all be very different.

If you ever need to re-install it you may have problems.

Not easy to say which is "better".

Windows XP is more mainstream (due to its high user base) whereas Linux is perhaps more for the hobbyist (although mainstream use is growing).

More than half the worlds web sites are stored on linux boxes so they must be doing something right.

[fo3nix]

Firstly, Linux is NOT an OS.

Linux is a kernel, that operates at the heart of an OS, that tends to be called Linux. There's certainly a lot of confusion here (the above link points to the kernel's website, for example).

GNU/Linux (the OS using Linux), is very good for a lot of things.

1) Principle of free software (free as in freedom, not beer). It's your computer, you should be able to modify it to do what you want. Just as the engine in your car is yours, so if you want to modify it, you should be able to in principle. This is the central idea.

2) You can make it quite heavy with lots of graphic effects, or very light. It's up to you.

3) There's really far more to talk about than in an answer here.

4) You can try GNU/Linux out straight from a CD, without installing to your hard drive. Try ubuntu from ubuntu.com. It's a free download to get the CD image, and then you can try it out on your current PC. Take the disc out again, restart, and you're back into Windows with nothing changed.

BTW, Asus put Xandros onto their machines. It's a distribution of GNU/Linux, much like Ubuntu. And it's really not too bad. But there are nicer alternatives out there, that are pretty easy to install. You might want to try eeeUbuntu, for example, if you get an Eee Pc.

[LeMarchand]

Just came across this, which may be of help: http://www.reghardware.co.uk/2008/09/12/rh_bg_ netbooks/

I'd say that the OS and whether an EEE or similar is going to be what you need depends greatly on what use you want to put the machine to. Bear in mind that the storage space on some of the machines is (in today's terms) often limited, and that they rarely come with optical drives. They're also going to be of very limited use as games machines.