Before you upgrade to Vista

If you're planning to buy Vista, you're about to get deeper into the grip of the MS beast, and you'll probably have to spend a lot of money upgrading your hardware.

So if you're considering it, at least TRY Linux first. It's FREE, and it works! Why spend all that money just to get deeper into the planned obsolescence trap?

Go to www.ubuntu.com, and give it a test drive. If you don't like it, you can still buy Vista, and you've lost nothing. It works fine on old and new computers, unlike MS products that seem to be designed to get you to constantly upgrade.

That'll be two cents, please.

that is all.

to install Linux you dont need new hardware.

But both are great platforms... if your software will run on it -- and they are more likely to under emulation under Linux than natively on Vista, yeeouch...

It's not so old and it should be screaming fast with Linux! :woohoo:

But, I'm of the opinion the only rational way to 'migrate' to Vista is to buy a new
system.

I foresee disaster on a biblical scale as people try to upgrade to it on their
existing hardware. :scared:

One word: BACKUP!

and I am hesitant to use it. My husband says I should just bite the bullet because eventually everyone will be using Vista. I have until March 31 to use it....thanks for your opinion.

I won't upgrade until at least SP1 comes out... and verify it fixes the performance problems...

I have XP running right now.

I bought my computer before XP was released. They said I'd get a free upgrade after the release date.

Well, when the time came, the company (Gateway) said I was supposed to BUY a voucher for the upgrade at the time I purchased the PC, and it was too late now. I called the store, and they were still telling people it was free, and had no idea what the company required (yes, it was a Gateway store!). Big SNAFU, and they couldn't care less!

I felt no compunction about installing a bootleg copy of XP. Well, it may not have really been a bootleg. I got it real cheap from an auction site, not ebay, and they said it was legit, but I had my doubts at that price.

Anyway, I use Linux now, and I don't give a rat's ass what MS is selling these days.

special website and key in my computer # and my ms xp # and then I could download the upgrade.

I think I will stay where I am at for now.

Of course, nobody can know if the original user really uninstalled it from HIS machine after selling it to you. In that case, you are still not commiting copyright violation -- the seller is.

Did you have any trouble activating it?

it refused to install on a brand new drive, and it was summarily shitcanned

...I just "rejuvenated" a machine for my little sister, who starts nursing school next week, with Ubuntu. It's a Dell with an 800mhz celeron processor, 40gb hard drive, 32mb video card, and 256mb of RAM. The only thing I had to buy was a wireless card, and voila! She now has a machine that, while not a rocket by any imagination, will get her through her first year. Try to find a LUG (Linux Users Group) in your area. Almost all of them do monthly "Install Fests". You'll get the answers you're looking for there. That is, of course, if you're really that interested in Linux to begin with.

I'm pretty happy with Microsoft XP.

Thanks for your advice.

Ubuntu would work well on it? The site said I could try running it without changing anything on the OS, so maybe I'll give it try anyway and see how it goes...

...If it will install on that machine, I'm willing to bet it will install on yours.

not sure about hard drive size or memory), but it can't really hurt to try it. I am planning on upgrading to a Mac soon anyway, as I'm at the end of my rope with the whole Microsoft experience!

As I've told people. Linux is free, and if Ubuntu is too big for your hard drive, try a different distro. It costs you nothing to test drive every single one of them* until you find one you like.



*Almost true. There are a few Linux distros that are not free, but they're mostly heavy versions that you'd want to avoid on an old computer anyway.

I started using a high-speed connection at home, and MS doesn't seem to give a crap about their users, so it wouldn't bother me to "start over" with a new OS, as long it works on my PC.

in frustration is worth it.

Unless you really have to buy a new computer anyway, in which case a Mac really is a viable choice.

The Shuttle SFF that I had built about two years earlier was a bit long-in-the-tooth and had a power supply that was starting to act up a bit. I bought a PowerMac and haven't looked back yet. I still have to run some Windows apps on another PC, but they are getting fewer and farther in between so I may just give Ubuntu a try.