View Poll Results: Im my humble opinion, the best desktop OS is...

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  • Windows 7

    71 83.53%
  • A previous Windows incarnation

    4 4.71%
  • Linux/BSD

    2 2.35%
  • Some other OS

    2 2.35%
  • I'm sitting on the fence in fear of ruining my geek cred

    6 7.06%
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Thread: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

  1. #1
    0iD
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    Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    OK, I'm donning my flameproof suit & I'm feeling brave.

    I like win7. There I said it.

    Everything I've tried it on from crappy old Socket A systems with 512mb of ram, to my gaming rig, to my laptops etc, it all just works. Now it's probably the first OS of any flavor I've used that's this consistent out of the box. Now don't get me wrong, I'm not a fanboi, of Windows or Linux, just airing my opinion s'all.

    So, specifically in the arena of the home desktop, what has Linux got going for it with the advent of, dare I say it, probably the most usable OS Microsoft's released so far?
    [
    Quote Originally Posted by Blitzen
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    DILLIGAF GoNz0's Avatar
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    wash your mouth out and and lock your own thread!

    it could get as messy as a mac fanboy vs windows thread

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    Headless Chicken Terbinator's Avatar
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Its a hard topic I think. 'Out of the box' I'd say Ubuntu at least has everything you would need and it does this using less system resources. However I think doing behind the scenes stuff is easier to get to grips with on Windows and learn your way around than Ubuntu - of course this is coming from a Windows user.
    Kalniel: "Nice review Tarinder - would it be possible to get a picture of the case when the components are installed (with the side off obviously)?"
    CAT-THE-FIFTH: "The Antec 300 is a case which has an understated and clean appearance which many people like. Not everyone is into e-peen looking computers which look like a cross between the imagination of a hyperactive 10 year old and a Frog."
    TKPeters: "Off to AVForum better Deal - £20+Vat for Free Shipping @ Scan"
    for all intents it seems to be the same card minus some gays name on it and a shielded cover ? with OEM added to it - GoNz0.

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    Senior Member KidChameleon's Avatar
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    I tried very hard to set up Ubuntu as a media pc on an old Pentium 4 PC. It took me 8 months to kind of get it working but not really, then it completely screwed itself over and would only load a bunch of text. Then I found out that pc had an XP licence attached to it, so I installed XP. It then took me two days to achieve more than I ever had with Ubuntu.

    I've tried Ubuntu on two laptops and a Core 2 Duo PC and it just doesn't work for anything other than a fresh install.

    I got so fed up with having to go to the Ubuntu forums to search for a programme I needed, doing "sudo make install" etc for everything then spending five hours trying to work out which dependencies were missing, then spending another two days installing something else just so that I could have a temperature meter on the taskbar.

    Going back to Windows, I realised how much it "just works". It may well be user error. But there's much less chance of the user erring if they only need to double click an exe file to install something.


    I've been happy with Windows 7 over all. But I keep getting a "COM surrogate has stopped working" message when I'm in a folder with lots of JPEGs, and sometimes when I'm browsing folders, Windows Explorer will crash and restart.

    I tried to get into Ubuntu but it just didn't work for me. And that is why it won't become mainstream for a very long time.

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Windows 7 ftw. It's just such a good OS. Far far far far far better than Vista or XP. I love it

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    Senior[ish] Member Singh400's Avatar
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    No doubt about it. Windows 7 wins hands down.

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    I love how you COMPLETELY missed out OSX as a specific option in the poll

    Win 7 for me, 3 licences for my htpc, laptop and main pc. Enjoying 7 on my laptop/main pc more than vista with the snap feature, very useful for widescreen/multiple screens
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Has to be Windows 7 for a desktop. Intuitive and familiar for 99% of the computing world, UI enhancements that actually enhance usability, good backwards compatibility with most software... as much as I hate to say it - Microsoft got it right.

    I've used Linux for desktop before, and tbh I could do everything I wanted in it, but I had to work to have linux running smoothly. I had to edit config files to get 3D graphics drivers working, I had to manually build Java... all things I was happy enough doing, but it took time and effort that just wasn't needed in Windows. I've not seen any indication that Linux, in any flavour, has changed significantly (indeed, one of the big issues is that the different linux flavours can be very different indeed), and I certainly wouldn't recommend anyone I know to use it in favour of Microsoft if they were happy paying the license fee.

    So, yeah, Windows 7 for (if you'll excuse the pun) the Win!

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Quote Originally Posted by 0iD View Post
    OK, I'm donning my flameproof suit & I'm feeling brave.
    Pff, brave would be routing for ME
    The most common complaint I've heard is not anything regarding the functionality/usability of the OS (though there may be the odd thing that doesn't work), but rather the fact that some people are annoyed that it's released so soon after Vista and they expected it as an SP.

  11. #10
    Jay
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    I love Linux I really do and when put next to XP or even Vista its miles better but I have to be honest and say I am quite liking Windows 7 at the moment.
    □ΞVΞ□

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    I've been using Snow Leopard & Windows 7 and I have to say they're both impeccable systems. I installed Windows 7 on my girlfriends laptop (from Vista) and it managed to improve the laptop so much in terms of speedy and user friendliness (it somehow even unlocked better laptop brightness settings and a much louder speaker setting) that it's perfect.

    Personally I use OSX more but I think that's down to personal preference, as I can't really fault Win7. Which is, I must add, the first Windows operating system I've ever run without having the urge to format & reinstall some months into its lifetime.

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Ubuntu has been a total fail for me. First time I tried it it wouldn't even install, and then about a year later when I tried it on a different machine, some updates stopped it working and it was in general more trouble than it was worth. I'm not a linux n00b by any means as I deal with it on a work basis every weekday.

    Really very impressed with Windows 7. It makes OS X look seriously dated in my opinion. Still, there are some annoyances:

    1) The Windows console/terminal is a total joke. No y-axis resize, max history of 9999 lines (should be infinite). The OS X terminal is amazing, and the Windows one has had no development effort in the last decade by the looks of it. Console2 solves some shortfalls, but it's still way behind. IMO, a decent console/terminal is essential to an OS, and Microsoft really need to sort it out.

    2) After getting used to Exposé on OS X, I find it extremely annoying to do without it. I really appreciate the ability to change windows with just the mouse using an Exposé hot corner. Switcher fixes this problem magnificently, and is probably one of the best-written free apps I've ever come across. Admitedly, it takes a fair bit of experimenting with the settings before you get an exact equivalent of the OS X exposé functionality, but once you've reached that point, Switcher can actually give you even more functionality than is availble in OS X.

    3) The CPU scheduler seems a bit funny (i.e. worse) compared to Windows XP. I always have World Community Grid jobs taking up all spare CPU cycles. On XP this didn't affect the operation of any other programs at all. I could play games and I'd get no appreciable performance hit (other than a bit of RAM used) by having the grid jobs running. In Windows 7 I can't play games with grid jobs running - it makes the framerate all choppy. Also, there are some *very* weird other issues. If I have 100% CPU usage, which is basically all the time for me, opening up the Win7 backup tool takes several minutes. So... if I want to browse the file content of one of my backups, I have temporarily suspend all my grid jobs or suffer a ridiculously long time for what is basically just a fancy zip-file browser to appear on screen. Very weird.

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Depends what it is you are after. I like the easy access to the CLI on a *nix machine. The software is open source and works well. IT can be cut down to give a minimal system footprint.. THere are so many sound and video applications to run as a client it is difficult to choose sometimes, and loading pre-compiled applications is a doddle. Even compiling your own from source code isn't difficult once you have taken a little time to master it. The choice of guis is good too.

    But if you aren't partcularly interested in the internal opeartion and you can't be bothered with getting a computer do act as you want (rather than as some monolithic corporation thinks you want) then it has to be windows.

    But for a basic web browsing/office machine, Linux/Open office/firefox/evolution does all the basics - and does it well.
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Ubuntu works well been using it here n there, I think one of the best O/s has to be Windows 2000 in terms of a business use, There are thousands of places still using it on MS Extended support. We use it and it 'Just Works'.

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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    Linux easily for me, all the main desktop apps i use on Linux i have not really found as good a replacement on windows. But when it comes to games, wine can only go so far so I did upgrade my XP to Win7 and for games works really well, but that is all Windows gets used for.

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    jim
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    Re: Linux Vs Windows7 debate thread

    At the end of the day, I installed Windows 7, downloaded 4 sets of drivers (although Windows Update would've done it for me), downloaded a few programs off the web and installed them - job done, working PC.

    When I installed Ubuntu, it took me a day to figure out how I was meant to use my DVD drive because I couldn't find it anywhere, a couple of days to figure out how I was meant to use various bits of software in tarballs and whatever other formats, and I had no idea what sudo was doing behind the scenes so wasn't a big fan of that either.

    I still like Linux in a way, I really like the idea of being able to install a really bare OS and then customise it fully. But having said that, I suspect it would take me an enormous amount of time to get to grips with, and once all said and done, I don't know what I'd use it for. My PC is mainly used for music (tick), web browsing (tick), email (tick) and games... oh dear. Sure, I could split it off, and use Windows purely for games, but why would I want to reboot just to play a game when I can have everything under one system?

    So I think Windows was already far ahead of linux with XP and Vista (excepting performance issues on old PCs), but Windows 7 has really raised the game in so many ways... it's so easy to use with the new search features, and the performance is good as well - I really don't see how ubuntu can improve from my experience of it to match up to Windows 7... how many years will it take?

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