Alternative o/s'

[unclecrash]

Hi all.

I am relatively new to these forums but one subject that keeps popping up and is holding my interest is alternative operating systems.
I have an old pc i can experiment with and so was going to load it with Ubuntu and play around but in reality i have no idea of what i would be getting into.
So, how about some advice and opinions on what to go with.

What alternative system would you recommend and what does it cost?

What are the pros and cons of the range of o/s' in regards to how functional they are compared to xp?

Do i need any special knowledge of computers past what i have accrued in 13 years of using and fixing my own? (with the help of these forums)

Looking forward to your replies
Thanks

[mycarsavw]

There's a nice thread here http://forums.hexus.net/operating-sy...900-linux.html to read with a lot of input from those in the know (and me )

[Spud1]

Depends what you mean by alternative

If you mean an alternative to windows, then sure there are thousands of linux and bsd varients out there to have a play with, and most are infinitely customisable.

Or you can take the other meaning of an alternative OS, and take a look at something i'm very interested in - the concept of a 'Managed' OS. The most interesting at the moment is Microsoft's Singularity, which is a managed OS that once booted does everything through managed code.

see Singularity (operating system - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) for more

Theres no binaries for that yet, but its something to keep an eye on

Some 3rd parties are trying a similar thing though, and they do have binaries you can play with - take a look at Sharp OS (SharpOS - Main - The SharpOS Project) and Cosmos (Home - Cosmos)

An alternative is the VM based OS such as JNode (JNode.org | :: ~ JNode.free(yourMind); ~ ::)

Theres alot going on in the OS world outside of Linux and Windows

[peterb]

Quick one on terminolgy..

Linux really refers to the kernel - but you get Linux as a distribution (called a distro) that conatins a Linux kernel and all the supporting programs that you need to run it. However for every day use, the tem Linux referes to a unix like operating system that includes all the bits!.

There are (literally) hundreds of Linux distros to choose from but the thread that Mycarsavw referred to does explore some of them.

As it stands, linux is fundamentally a command line driven system, but in practice most distros come with X windows - a system that presents te framework for a GUI system. There are several GUI's to choose from, Gnome and KDE - both offer facilities similar to MS windows, but the presentation is different - KDE is more akin to a web browser system, Gnome more a 'traditional' windows system. (These are gross generalisations and simplifications!) However the point is that you can switch bewtween them at will to see which you prefere.

A good place to start is by downloading some live CDs/DVDs You can do that with Ubuntu, Fedora, Knoppix and many others. That enables you to run the OS from a CD/DVD without doing anything to your hard drive, and will certainly give you a feel for the different desktops available.

As for which distro to install - difficult to say nbecause you will probably be using the Gui to start with and KDE on Fedora is similar tro KDE on Ubuntu. etc.

Personally I would stick to one of the mainstream distros, Fedora, Ubuntu, Debian, SuSE are 4 that spring immediately to mind. Be aware that not all come with a Gui, so you would have to download that separately. Fedora and Ubuntu definitely do.

Ubuntu is very much teh distro of the moment - a lively help forum and much to recommend it. Fedora is sponsored by RedHat who ship enterprise versions of the software commercially.

All Linux distros are open source and available under an open licence, so there is no charge for downloading or running it. (And note that even the enterprise versions are available under the same terms - however enterprsie cersuions have the option of support - which you do pay for, and additional closed soutrce applications)

Personally I would recommend Ubuntu (large fan base) Fedora (cos thats what I use, and I like it). Knoppix is also good - you get a lot of software on a DVD, but Knoppix itself comes with KDE. Gnoppix is the Gnome based, but it was one of the earlier live distros, and it makes a great Windows rescue disk!

No doubt others will volunteer with their favourites and recommendations - and that is the biggest problem - you are spoilt for choice.

[unclecrash]

Thanks for the links and replies.
Yes i did mean alternative to windows but only beacuse i didn't know of any windows alternatives aside from the mainstream 98, 2000, me, xp vista etc. So please clue me up and i will look into anything. I am finding this a very interesting topic.

[directhex]

download, burn, boot

[Giraffe]

If your PC is very old some distros won't load. I tried Ubuntu on an old box and was told that the BIOS needed to be post-1999.

I don't know if there are distros that will run. There are some that are small and light, so OK for old hardware.