[MdaG]

I'm thinking of buying a new stationary computer. I'm putting a price max at €1000 (hopefully I'll get one for half of that). As I've recently come to run Linux (Kubuntu) on my old laptop without any hassle I'm thinking of getting a machine that only runs Linux. What are the drawbacks of only running Linux? As far as I can see there is only one. Commercial games. Since I now own an XBOX 360 I'm not that concerned about being able to play games on my computer so that one I can live with. The good things about Linux that I can think of are: Stable, less security hassle, free, lots of free software and it's pretty

Any comments? I'm sure I've missed some important drawback of only running Linux.

[undeaf]

The main drawback is that you have to pay for windows anyway, unless you assemble your own computer. In which case there instead is a big drawback to running windows: having to pay much more for it than systems assemblers.

Are you interested in any specific type of computer, eg. a really small one, and/or a very quiet one?

[MdaG]

I want it to be reasonably quiet. Other than that I'm looking at a dual core machine with a NVIDIA card (256Mb should be enough).

[Squinky]

The reason I personally never used Linux as my only OS was because I play and make games. The reason I stopped using Linux altogether was because practically all the free software I liked in Linux was either also available for Windows, or had better alternatives that only ran in Windows. I've never had any stability or security problems with XP, personally; my laptop's almost three years old and I still haven't had to reinstall the OS or anything. (Whereas back when I was using Linux, I'd do that quite often...)

[akane_t]

The only drawback I can think of is games, especially adventure games. Not many of the new adventure games will be playable on a Linux machine. What are you going to do if Vivendy decide to develop and release GK4? I'd keep a Windows based machine around just to play AGs if you do decide to go with Linux.

Unless you are a power user, I personally don't see a great benefit in going with Linux. It does take some work to maintain a PC with Windows but Windows does offer you the largest library of readily available software including games .

[undeaf]

Overlall, what's your attitude towards assembling your computer yourself? You live in sweden, right? How do parts and premade computer availablity and prices compare there?

[MdaG]

The adventure game drawback might be troublesome unless Cedega starts supporting it. The only time I've had to reinstall Linux was back when I played around with Gentoo, but Kubuntu just worked on the fly and I've been using it for six months now without hassle. If I should get a computer with Windows, should I choose Vista or XP ?

[undeaf]

So you're not really interested in putting it together yourself? Are you willing to go through the trouble of getting a refund for windows?

[MdaG]

Originally Posted by undeaf

So you're not really interested in putting it together yourself? Are you willing to go through the trouble of getting a refund for windows?

I've never tried getting a refund for Windows, what kind of trouble am I to expect?

I already own a copy of XP, I'm not sure what kind of EULA I've accepted, but I think I can use that copy on any computer. I haven't tried it though.

[SoccerDude28]

Why don't you have 2 partitions, one that runs windows and the other that runs linux. Then, you don't have to choose

[MdaG]

Originally Posted by SoccerDude28

Why don't you have 2 partitions, one that runs windows and the other that runs linux. Then, you don't have to choose

Unless my copy is hardware locked (I bought my laptop from DELL aka MS biatch) I'll do just that or even use two hard drives.

[rlpw]

You can always have Linux and then run Windows in a Virtualbox. It's simple enough that I got it going with Windows 2000. But honestly if you want to play decent games I would dual boot with XP. Kubuntu Linux makes it really easy to install right beside Windows.

[Not A Speck Of Cereal]

I've built computers by buying the components as I wanted it, then paid the store (Fry's) $60 to put it all together and burn it in, no OS. I've spent my last weekend putting together machines then troubleshooting why it wouldn't post.

In that scenario, you could take it home and put whatever OS you wanted on it. (I took it home and installed my copy of Windows. I don't want someone else's branded image.)

[MdaG]

Originally Posted by rlpw

You can always have Linux and then run Windows in a Virtualbox. It's simple enough that I got it going with Windows 2000. But honestly if you want to play decent games I would dual boot with XP. Kubuntu Linux makes it really easy to install right beside Windows.

I've dual booted with Gentoo Linux for three years before I switched to Kubuntu and went Linux all the way on my laptop. I just realized than I hadn't used Windows for anything else than play games. Everything else I did on my Linux partition and it worked well. DOSBox and SCUMMVM are both available on Linux so the retro gaming won't suffer . I'll look into Virtual box. Thanks all!