difference between Windows and Linux

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dartgande

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Ok, I have only ever used Windows all of my life, from Windows 95 through XP, but I hear a lot of gamers say that Linux is better. Could someone tell me the differences between Windows and Linux, and what would make people say which one is better?
 
Yeah, that helps, thanks a lot, but I have also heard that many software applications do not work on Linux, or must be Linux-specified to be used.
 
My question is this. I am almost tempted to switch to linux on my laptop, but I am hazatating because i am affraid that I wount be able to use such things as Power Point and Excel, VPN dialer, Adobe photoshop. Does anyone know if I can ifact use these programs and simular ones. Also how can I check if the software will be working in linux does it specify somewhere on the product box? or should I assume that it would work?

Thanks

Axg275
 
Nothing made for windows will work on linux, although there are emulators that will allow some windows programs to work, most dont work at all.

Linux in most cases has software that does all the same things as windows software, just under different names.Try OpenOffice.org for office apps, GIMP is a graphics editing program but its closer to like photoshop 6 or 7 than what adobe sells now.The good news is linux software for the most part is free.One other thing yuou had better do before you switch is check to make sure your hardware works with linux, especially printers,scanners, and modems.Redhat's webiste has a hardware compatibility list, its generally good for any linux.
 
A full blown linux install with everything runs about 2GB these days, but thats with a video editor, 7 browsers, full networking tools, office suite, compiler that can handle 5 or 6 programming languages,several email clients, several chat clients,2 or 3 dvd players, a couple media players,6 or 7 choices of window managers or GUI's, its probably more than a thousand programs total when its all said and done.About the only thing you may actually have to pay for at some point is games.

Linux is also multiuser, windows is not, that in itself is a huge difference.
 
First of all, the reason your gamer friends like Linux isn't because it is good for games: it's because most geeks are also gamers. Geeks love Linux because it is much better than Windows on hundreds of points. It is more stable, easier to configure (as in more configs availible, not ease of doing it), it's open source, and a million other reasons.

Linux controls aprox. 60% of the server market. What does that tell you? It tells you it is reliable and secure! People don't trust buggy software with their data. The reason that most games are written for Windows rather than Linux is simply because that is where the demand is currently. If people would start insisting that games be Linux compatible, it would happen. The biggest compatability issue is whether the game is written with DirectX or OpenGL. OpenGL is open source and runs great in both Windows AND Linux! In fact, it often outperforms DirectX in system benchmark tests. Great games, such as Neverwinter Nights, have been written using openGL and they do run fine in Linux. But sadly, that is not the majority.

My suggestion is to put Linux on your computer and give it a shot. As mentioned above, there is GREAT Linux software availible for Office, editing, video, cd burning, finances (gnucash rocks my socks off!), and they are all FREE! (Thank you GPL!). The best way to learn is to dive in and get your whole body wet. Force yourself to write papers in Openoffice Writer rather than MS Word. Do your photo editting in Gimp rather than Photoshop. You'll learn quickly because you want to be able to do your work. Anyway, that should give you a good overview.
 
I will if you want to install everything on the disro you will take up room. But thats becuase they actually give you software with the OS unlike windows. Like an entire office suite.
 
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