Sometime ago I mentioned Desktop Linux as a viable alternative to Windows Vista. The usual response to that is: “Linux is for Geeks, just give me Windows or something really simple“. Linux is not just for geeks, but I would be lying if I said it was “really simple”. What I would say though is that it is worth trying. It costs less than Windows. (Exhibit A: Novell SUSE Linux 10.1 for less than $15)

So why Linux? The website Why Linux is Better lists more reasons (in multiple languages!) than I could ever think of, although it is slightly out of date. In regard to running Windows software and games on Linux, major advances have been made in this area. Also, defragmentation is not so much of a problem on Windows XP as it was on Windows 98 - with NTFS defragmentation still happens, but not as bad as on previous versions of Windows.

Most Linux distributions (I’ll try to explain what a distribution is later) are free or have a free version. If you had a broadband internet connection you could download a couple of Linux distributions (preferably “Live CDs”), and burn them to CD. The definition of a Live CD is in the article What are live CDs, and how do they work? at Free Software Magazine.

Next: Linux Distros – what and why?.

Posted on May 28th, 2008 by mervyn