Which OS is best : Microsoft XP or LINUX

[singh]

Tell me which OS is best Microsoft XP service pack 2 or Linux (any one). If Linux is best then which OS of linux works properly for internet PC's.

[mehulved]

There's nothing as best OS. What suits you more is good for you. If you need something that's quick to learn and more newbie friendly go for windows. If you are willing to work a bit and learn a few new concepts and break your head over a few things then linux is definitely for you.
If you need better security out of the box and lesser maintainance go for linux. Almost same amount of security is available in windows, but you will need to find a lot of third party application and run them. It will also require more maintainance, though XP has considerably less maintainance then it predecessors.
If you are proficient with one of the OS'es then better stick with it. People who are very good at windows come to linux thinking that it will be a piece of cake but they fail to understand it, miserably. Same goes for linux users who migrate to windows.

[knight17]

Originally Posted by tech_your_future

There's nothing as best OS

Correct
Everything depends on your needs.On most occassions I reccomend Windows.

Originally Posted by tech_your_future

If you need better security out of the box and lesser maintainance go for linux. Almost same amount of security is available in windows, but you will need to find a lot of third party application and run them

But I use windows xp for more than 2 years i was able to keep virus free with my AV,Spyware progs and firewall.
I dont think it is a hassle considering the complexities in linux to do even simple tasks.

[gaurav_indian]

Windows are more user friendly so i'll go for Windows.

[eagle_y2j]

first of all topic should be Wich 1 is best Win or Lin ? or anything like tis or u may hav asked to compare specific OS fron lin. coz as win lin is also having many flavours !

and my vote goes to win due to gud customer support and Lin is suerly for intermediate nd Geeks

[praka123]

GNU/Linux is the Best.

[QwertyManiac]

Originally Posted by knight17

But I use windows xp for more than 2 years i was able to keep virus free with my AV,Spyware progs and firewall.
I dont think it is a hassle considering the complexities in linux to do even simple tasks.

LOL
You buy an XP, unsatisfied by its security, you also buy an antivirus and then you feel the need to run an external firewall, and then Anti spy programs.
And what the hell are you calling a 'hassle' to do a job in Linux? What cant be done in Linux you say? And you probably havent experienced how easy it is to install any stuff in Linux rather than rebooting the lame xp each time to complete some vital install

[ayush_chh]

wix xp is more user freindly and therefore to understand the basics one must start with wndows......

[Sykora]

Originally Posted by QwertyManiac

And you probably havent experienced how easy it is to install any stuff in Linux rather than rebooting the lame xp each time to complete some vital install

Oh yes. In 99% of cases, installing software in Linux "Just Works". No strings attached. You hardly ever _need_ to reboot your machine, only if you recompile your kernel, and that only geeks do, so no worries.

[Zeeshan Quireshi]

Originally Posted by tech_your_future

There's nothing as best OS. What suits you more is good for you. If you need something that's quick to learn and more newbie friendly go for windows. If you are willing to work a bit and learn a few new concepts and break your head over a few things then linux is definitely for you.
If you need better security out of the box and lesser maintainance go for linux. Almost same amount of security is available in windows, but you will need to find a lot of third party application and run them. It will also require more maintainance, though XP has considerably less maintainance then it predecessors.
If you are proficient with one of the OS'es then better stick with it. People who are very good at windows come to linux thinking that it will be a piece of cake but they fail to understand it, miserably. Same goes for linux users who migrate to windows.

+1

[sanju]

here vote for windows

[tuxfan]

Originally Posted by singh

Tell me which OS is best Microsoft XP service pack 2 or Linux (any one). If Linux is best then which OS of linux works properly for internet PC's.

AHH!! Not again!!

Please search the forum and you will find this thing has been discussed 100 times before

Use both & then decide

Linux is faster on older system, there is no gaming in it, drivers are hard to find, but old hardware is certainly supported fine. U get Windows alternative for all the applications in it, except for a few, but for that u can install Wine. It secure cos it has low desktop market share compared to Windows, so u won't need to install Antivirus or firewall, as most of the adwares etc out there affect Windows only, but this also makes it less compatible, like there is no Shockwave player for linux, but u won't miss it anyway.

Remember, if u r going to use linux, u need an Urge to learn

Windows is easy, it just works, there is little need to configure it, it can be molded in anything u like, don't need to learn anything in it, just install it, install the software, there are free alternative to every paid alternative in Windows too. Just install the Windows updates & some free antivirus like AVG, the inbuilt firewall works fine most of the time, but u can install again some free firewalls etc for it.

If u don't like IE switch to Firefox or Opera, u will miss a lot of compatibility though

[drsethi]

Linux
Free,easy,stable
Suitable for office users,internet users and gamers alike
Mandriva, FC5 and SUSE are popular ones.

[Ash_63]

Originally Posted by drsethi

Linux
Free,easy,stable
Suitable for office users,internet users and gamers alike
Mandriva, FC5 and SUSE are popular ones.

well friend,
I had never used or had seen being used of known friends this os called linux, but I do feel like trying it. just let me know how to get this software, and if it is possible to install it on partition along with xp on the same drive and run. As it is said it is free, is it possible to download the same from somewhere, please provide me the info.
Thanks.
Ashfaq.

[Ben Jacob]

I am using my computer for more than 5 yers . Even though am not an Xpert
i prefer Windows XP SP 2 than Linux

[mehulved]

Originally Posted by Ash_63

well friend,
I had never used or had seen being used of known friends this os called linux, but I do feel like trying it. just let me know how to get this software, and if it is possible to install it on partition along with xp on the same drive and run. As it is said it is free, is it possible to download the same from somewhere, please provide me the info.
Thanks.
Ashfaq.

Since you are just starting with linux it will be advisable to try out a live cd. Live cd is an OS, that runs off a CD/DVD. If you have a DVD drive, you can try out Knoppix DVD, it is just superb. It can be obtained from a Linux user's Group in your city- google for that or from some magazine.

[Pathik]

if u try linux 1st try any live cd/dvd......
for more install fc5...... its far better than ubuntu.... 4 me atleast...

[mehulved]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

Linux is faster on older system,

Linux is faster on any system.

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

there is no gaming in it

There are games for linux too, though not as many as windows. But, there are games for it.

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

drivers are hard to find

Most drivers are present in the kernel unlike in windows where you have to install drivers for everything. Most problemsome hardware are graphics card, webcam and winmodems.

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

It secure cos it has low desktop market share compared to Windows, so u won't need to install Antivirus or firewall,

Now again the classic instance of your stupid half knowledge. Wise people haven't said "Half knowledge is very dangerous", for nothing.
Linux is more secure cos of it's interent Unix properties, which make it very difficult to break into like permission system, limited functionality to non-root user, presence of various different permutations and combination of software unlike windows, making it way more difficult to launch massive attack. And firewalls are present in every OS. Even Linux has a firewall. You will get iptables in every linux distro, most of the distros will preconfigure it during the install itself. Iptables is a very strong firewall.

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

Remember, if u r going to use linux, u need an Urge to learn
Windows is easy, it just works, there is little need to configure it, it can be molded in anything u like, don't need to learn anything in it, just install it, install the software, there are free alternative to every paid alternative in Windows too. Just install the Windows updates & some free antivirus like AVG, the inbuilt firewall works fine most of the time, but u can install again some free firewalls etc for it.

In short windows is idiot friendly, so most users are never going to learn more about the OS or about computers, making it more likely to make mistakes due to lack of knowledge and then they are blamed for being idiots. Linux makes things user friendly. But since using windows they now look forward to something that's idiot friendly. In linux you will find and be able to do anything very well, if you can make some efforts personally.
That is one reason newbies grasp linux better than geeks who are used to windows, but there can be exceptions. If you are new to computers and want to try out linux sometimes, this is the best time. Pick up some easy distro like Ubuntu, Suse, Mandriva or Fedora Core and start with it.

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

If u don't like IE switch to Firefox or Opera, u will miss a lot of compatibility though

Firefox and Opera are also available for linux, and noone misses Internet Explorer unless he/she has such work which requires using IE. Besides Linux has many more browsers like Konqueror, Galeon. There are also command line based browsers like links and lynx.

Mind you linux is very different from windows, if you have knowlegde of windows, you will need to forget many things that seem obvious but aren't so obvious in other OS'es. Every OS, be it windows, Linux, BSD, Mac OS, etc are all very different and take you to learn many new things and leave behind many things that are used in other OS to that OS.

[Stalker]

linux is pretty gud .............but i would recommed windows as it is much more user-friendly

[satyamy]

Windows XP

[Kniwor]

i dont know how many of u have been administrators for a comp lab, but let me reassure u the comparison is beyond doubt, for all those saying that windows does not require maintanance i say u've only 1 PC to care for and u dont mind running AV n all day/night, but say if i got 10 comps, to be used for surfing internet, I'd say try both windows and linux, and see what works for u, and i bet u will not dare argue again, even if u are a master in windows XP OS, u will eventually end up installing Linux in all the machines, because it simply is secure, it is meant to be a multi user system, being based on unix, and windows compares nowhere, the only reason people are using windows is support, more applications, and most importantly gmes, for surfing internet, there stands no question as to what should be used.

mehul

r u saying that Windows users are idiot?

Kniwor

Well, yeah, i have used Windows XP SP2 on both as a render farm, & also in a cyber cafe, almost all the computers were same in hardware config & it wasen't hard to configure & manage any of them

the server was configured, & nodes were configured using gpedit.msc, & most of the useless things were disabled for users, it's simple to manage if u know what r u doing.

oh & by the way, in both the cases, only the server had antivirus & firewall, in case of cyber cafe, a hardware firewall, & in case of my institute, well, there was no need, as it never connects to the internet, another computer does

[mehulved]

Originally Posted by gxsaurav

mehul

r u saying that Windows users are idiot?

I am not calling windows users idiots but your answers reguards linux as idiotic. It is quite obvious you are spreading FUD as reguards linux with wrong answers.

[anandk]

its windows xp for me...said to be more user friendly...

[zualtea4]

From ur msg, i think u must use Windows. It will be friendlier 4 u. C da thing is...if u use Linux, u will have many troubles on device driver and other software. So, go for WINDOWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[mehulved]

No need to open a 3 month old thread.