XP or Linux

Wardad · #1 January 3rd, 2005, 08:02 PM

Well, I am finally biting the bullet and replacing my computer after all these years. It's still a decent system but the primary IDE port died.

My old WIN98SE operating system never could reliably use DMA mode on the IDE bus. So it has to go too, because I'm doing a home entertainment DVD thing.

I am waiting for the MSI K8N2 mother board to arrive. It should be a beauty, and has nForce 3 on it.

Is linux really ready? For DVD video? For gaming (Direct X games)? Web Surfing?
I am technically literate and tolerate a little software tweaking. I just do not want to burn up a lot of hours.

So XP or Linux? (Wich Linux package, Utilities, etc?)

Fyron · #2 January 3rd, 2005, 08:14 PM

If you choose to stick with Windows, go find a copy of Windows 2000 Pro. Won't cost much at all, and is leagues better than XP. XP is just 2000 + crap - some good stuff. If you play a lot of old DOS games, many might not work under 2000, but then they probably won't all work under XP either. A parition of a few hundred megabytes with win98 installed on it is great for old games that don't work in 2000 or XP.

Debian Linux is good. Great package system for installing software and the libraries they depend on and all.

Linux is quite capable of web surfing and playing videos of any sort. OpenOffice.org provides an office package that is nearly as good as MS Office, except for some of the more advanced macro features of Excel that most Users don't use. Gaming is another issue...

How many modern games do you play? SE4 works using Wine under Linux (with a bit of work... you'll probably want to bug people like Parabolize and Sivran on the #SpaceEmpires IRC channel for help on that). SE5 may or may not work, who knows. Older games tend to be easier to get working with Wine or Cedega than newer games. If nothing else, you can always create a FAT32 partition and install Win 98 on it and boot into it for those games that you can not get working in Linux.

Thermodyne · #3 January 3rd, 2005, 08:24 PM

IMPO
If you want it to be an easy setup and more or less work right out of the box, then use XP pro w/sp2. xNIX on the other hand is very stable, but has less software/game support and requires a more complete understanding of PC�s Win 2k is ok, but will not be as easy to set up on a newer system, and is end of life. So there will be no additions to its functionality, only security patches.

Gandalf Parker · #4 January 3rd, 2005, 10:57 PM

In my opinion Linux is better for a server, and WinXP is beter for a desktop and games. So I have one of each.

Thermodyne · #5 January 3rd, 2005, 08:35 PM

Quote:

Wardad said:

I am waiting for the MSI K8N2 mother board to arrive. It should be a beauty, and has nForce 3 on it.

I've been running an NF3 for over a year now, and really have loved it. I had a little trouble with the bata drivers, but the newer ones are fine. It was a real early set of parts, here is what the first screen displayed
First boot

Electrum · #6 January 3rd, 2005, 09:04 PM

If you looking at setting up a PC as a DVD / Entertainment PC, you might want to look at Windows Media Center 2005. It's based off XP, but with some addition features, including the ability to work w/ multiple video capture cards & a GUI designed for TV Screens.

parabolize · #7 January 3rd, 2005, 09:11 PM

Is linux really ready? For DVD video? Web Surfing?
Yes. But in the USA avi and mp3 is a legal no no.
Is Linux what people are using? For gaming (Direct X games)? No.
Linux doesn't do direct x but Cedega trys to act like it. Here is a list of native games.
Gaming is the main problem with Linux right now. Not to many people make games for Linux.

PvK · #8 January 3rd, 2005, 09:27 PM

I second Fyron's comment that Win 2K Pro is to be preferred to XP, if you are not computer-illiterate.

Linux is my sentimental preference, but if maximum game compatibility is important, then Win 2K Pro and/or Win 98SE are my choices.

PvK

Arkcon · #9 January 3rd, 2005, 09:53 PM

I just bought an OEM Version of Windows 2000 pro, based on the opinions of the people on this board. I'll install it, then maybe someday later I'll try Linux again.

Linux is excellent for the web. Mozilla is great, Opera is fun to play with. And you can use a variety of email programs. If your favorite web site only works with IE's ActiveX, you're out of luck. But I just see that as an exploit waiting to happen, so don't mind.

Mplayer comes with Linux, and Gnome and KDE provide graphic front ends. It will play my DVD's and Online video clips. There's no way to view stuff encoded with Microsoft's Digital Rights Management, AFAIK, but I hate that snooping codec and just don't keep videos that rely on it anyway.

SE4 runs under WinE, but it is a little slow. And it hangs sometimes. This is one area where lots of tweeking is needed, and I am a little disappointed.

But DirectX games won't work without a commercial package called Cedega. Some people claim its also needs lots of tweeking, and will slow down a game. I kinda don't care, buying a commercial package to layer over a free copy of Linux just to play a game seems wrong.

If SE5 has a native Linux Version (hey, I can dream, can't I?) then I may dump Microsoft brand OS's for good.

Aiken · #10 January 3rd, 2005, 10:58 PM

OS Ready status, according to independent research conducted by AIII (Aiken's Imho International Incorporated)
Linux:
DVD video: 99% (-1% because of DRM and other closed stuff, which rarely used)
Web: 99% (-1% because of ActiveX, doesn't matter unless you go for bank services Online)
Games: 10% (directX support is pathetic, but some games go multiplatform these days, ie Doom3, UT 200x).

Win NT 5.x (xp or 2k)
DVD: 80% (-20% because _really_ good dvd soft is nonfree)
Web: 20% (-80% due to spyware, trojans, viruses, blackholes....)
Games: 99% (-1% because linux games don't run in windows

).