PC Linux OS: An Alternative Operating System from Microsoft Windows
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Whats Wrong with Windows?
How many times are you waiting for Windows to stop doing something before you can start a program or finishing working in Word, Excel or Photoshop? Windows uses a lot of CPU power when it's performing background task. This leaves you with restricted CPU usage which prevents you from working effectively and quickly.
Microsoft Windows is not a true multitasking system and when it has to perform background task like, downloading and installing updates, virus scans, or svchost task, your computer slows down because these are high priority tasks for your CPU. With dual core processors this problem has been reduce because you now have more CPU power.
PC Linux OS
Some of you might have heard of the Linux Operating System. Linux OS is an open source operating system. What this means is that the computer code is free to everyone and can be used to make different versions of Linux, called distributions.
Linux is a UNIX based operating system that is used world wide by engineers, scientist, corporations and everyday people like you and I. Linux has come a long way since it was first developed and now looks like Windows but is much more diverse.
Support and documentation for Linux is everywhere and if you ever need a question answered just join one of many Linux Forums.
I forgot to mention one important thing, Linux OS is free and the thousands of programs that are available are also free. You don't have to go looking all over the internet for these programs they can all be downloaded from a program module that's part of the PC Linux OS.
There are many different distributions (versions) of Linux and it can be confusing on which one to try out. You can visit the Linux homepage HERE. Feel free to browse around and get acquainted with Linux. The one I am using is called PC Linux OS 2007 and can be downloaded from this website HERE. Just scroll down the page and click on the download mirrors link. The download is an ISO file and you will need a program to burn the ISO image to a CD. See my references below where you can download a good freeware ISO program that is easy to use.
I found that PC Linux OS closely resembles Windows XP. I highly recommend that you use this one to try out. Once you burn the ISO to a CD you have 2 Gigs of compressed programs on one CD.
You can try out PC Linux OS 2007 straight from the CD without ever having to touch your hard drive. When you first turn on your computer you will see something like: "Hit F12 to enter Setup" or "Hit F2 for Boot Options. These selections don't remain on your screen very long so you have to look and act quickly.
Once you change your boot options to boot from your CD drive you are all set in trying out PC Linux 2007. Everything you need is on this CD and ready for you to use. Just remember that the programs on the CD are compressed, so when you go to open a program it will take a while to open.
Using PC Linux OS Can Become Addictive
PC Linux OS can be tested and tried out completely before you decide to make it your permanent OS. What Windows OS will do that for you?
You can try out all the programs included with the CD. You have a Word Processing program that will open MS Word Docs. You have a spreadsheet program that will open Excel spreadsheets. You have a variety of Video and Audio multimedia programs to open all you songs and movies.
You can perform true multi tasking operations without your PC slowing down or crashing.
No need to spend money on anti-virus programs, spyware programs, identity theft and malware. Linux OS is not affected by spyware and viruses.
Defraging hard drives is a thing of the past. The Linux file systems handles defraging on the fly.
Since Linux will read a CD or Memory stick with windows data, you can easily transferee all your Word Docs, Music, Video files, pictures and anything else.
Now imagine an Operating System on your computer that will let you do multiple things at once and not freeze up, crash or slow down. You also have thousands of programs at your fingertips that are free. This all sounds too good to be true but it is true.
PC Linux Repository
Linux has a Package Manager that lets you update your software with point and click. With Package Manager you have access to many sites where you can download all the software titles and then install as many as you like. All this software has been tested for your Linux OS.
If any of the software you have installed on your machine gets revised it will be update the next time you check for upgrades and apply the changes. The package manager already knows what's installed on your machine so it will download all upgrades that apply to your software and up date it. It's a little like Add/Remove programs in Windows but a lot more advanced
To keep up to date on the development of Linux and new software development you should join at least one forum to stay up to date and used it for any questions you may have about the operating system. The PC Linux OS Support Forum is a good place to start and learning this robust operating system.
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I tried ubuntu 8.04 on the CD, was pretty happy with its graphics and internet surfing capabilities, and so wiped out Win XP and installed it. Guess what happened ??? !!!! The installed version couldn't run X server when booted. I won't trust running off the CD to be the same as running an installed version of an OS if I were you; I learned it the hard way : looks can be deceiving.
Overselling it! After ew trials on many version & brand names of Linux in the last few decades, all on i386 - PC LINUX is the best so far; even read-write onto VISTA-NTFS-COMPRESSED storage media (flash drives, etc).
However it will not allow me to easily upgrade nor install Linux software because the Linuc community has sp many types of installations.
I have tried several non-Windows OS programs on my computer in the recent past. All look great, but none work. The so called Linux is actually a dozen variety of totally unrelated different Operating systems. None of them are compatible with Windows and none of them are even compatible with their own older versions!!! for example once you learn DOS, you can be sure that any DOS program that you encounter is written the same way. If you want to see directory in dos, for example, you just say "Dir" and it works every time. In Linux there are dozens of programing languages and commands. In one Linux OS you may need to type "Directory" to find out what is on the computer. While in another Linux OS or another version of the same darn Linux OS you should use "list" to get the same results. In another one, you should use "Files" or "Show" or "Tree" or some other randomly chosen word to do the same job. For some reason the Linux programmers like to change the Linux commands constantly from version to version and from OS to OS. This is true of all the commands used in Linux, and so it is quite difficult to learn and actually use your knowledge of Linux, because by the next version absolutely everything is changed and mixed around again. So that the "list" command now opens a file and the "File" command now connects to the internet!!! But don't be upset, because by the next version they will mix it up all over again.
If that was not enough, your Linux OS can only see itself! No kidding! When you run the Linux CD or install it on your computer, like all the other non-Windows Operating Systems, they can only see their own files. Almost all of them can-not even recognize that they are on Disk "C" of your computer!!! Most of them can not even DETECT the existence of Disk "C" or any other file on your computer. With Windows OS you may not be able to open certain differently formatted Disks on your computer, but it can at least see them and acknowledge their existence.
I have heard a lot about Linux being used everywhere in the scientific community. I can tell you for a fact that this is a total lie. I am in the Scientific community and I have yet to see any one or any device using Linux for any purpose what-so-ever. Most Scientists that I see do not even know what Linux is, but some have "heard of it". They all use some version of Windows or Apple operating systems. A tiny few, like me, try to play with Linux to see what is this thing all about and eventually realize that Linux is all worthless junk and give up on it.
Yes, maybe in certain specific computer technology field some people use a version of Linux for God knows what, but the freely available versions of Linux and the other free Operating Systems on the Internet are all junk. Play with them if you have the time, but stick to your Windows and Apple OS's for your serious work.
So where do I download the ISO. Too many "Free scan for Windows Errors. Do I have any?"
@Greg: You get new software and upadtes from your distributor. That ensure that they behave well together.
@Robin: What a load of rubbish! If you want to see a list of files, click on the Computer icon on the desktop, of File manager in the menu, or type "ls" in the command line. Not file, not list, not anything else. Who uses Linux? London & New York Stock Exchanges, Amazon, Google, CERN, Fermilab, Gendarmerie Française, Pixar, Sky, BBC, most ISPs.
Where do you get it? Visit http://distrowatch.com/search.php and search on Distribution category = Beginners. That will list a dozen distros, with links to their websites.
Robin above is a total windows fanboy - he does not speak the truth!
Everything he wrote is utter fabrication.
Unix based operating systems have been around for so long, that you can bet that steve jobs and bill gates both learned to use computers on a unix based system.
Linux is unix based and the comand line uses unix comands older than windows itself.
David - thanks for identifying robin as a poser.
Get a copy of windows to run from a CD.... not a chance!
Linux always sees your windows drives - it just doesn't call them 'c' or 'd' but rather lists the hard drives as
drive a partition 1 - 14 or drvis b partition 1 - 14 like this
sda1, sda2, sda3.....
then
sdb1, sdb2.... and so on.
Linux is fun, free and imune to windows viruses - give it a try and see how to live without the problems windows users have.
Of course, if you have no clue about computers and how they work, and don't want to or can't learn anything new, then stay with windows - you deserve what it dishes out.
; D
Ghanshyam 3 years ago
tell you after use