Should I switch?

[Guest]

Hi, new to this OS. Before I DL and install, I'd like to know some things first.

1. How good is driver support? When I put my new rig together with the new Ivy Bridge and Z77 board with a 600 series Nvidia GPU, will I have problems? (I will also have an SSD)

2. Will this install past and newer games? I game a lot but also do a lot of Graphics and webdesign. Will this install and work well with past and current programs?

3. Is this really that big of an improvement over Win 7? I understand most MS haters will quickly say yes, but I'm not a programmer. I don't want to be, and not a hacker either. I'll leave both those to my dad and bro.

The only reasons I could give you for wanting to change is I'd like a quicker OS. Also more secure and stable?

Thanks...

[sithlord48]

download and burn the live cd. and try it out. if everything is working then after install everything should remain working.(the live cd will not make any changes to your system unless you choose to install)

as for your windows games/programs . it depends on the game/program and how well they work with wine. driver support depends on the device itself. idk about nvidia cards. but if it works for the live disk it will work when installed.

[Snowhog]

All that sithlord48 said. Burning and trying a LiveCD is the smart way to go. It allows you to 'try before buying' as it were. Generally, if everything works running from a LiveCD - network connections; web browsing; sound; video (for DVDs and other proprietary formats, you will have to install other packages [programs] in order to use these, but they are available and not hard to get.

[Guest]

Alright, I'll check it out.

[whatthefunk]

Honestly, if youre a gamer, you might want to keep a Windows install on your system and dual boot. Games made for Windows will not run naturally in Linux...youll have to run them in a program like Wine which emulates the Windows environment. It works for some programs, but not for all. Same goes for whatever graphic design programs youve been running.

[jameslloyd]

Games that are made for WIndows work best in Windows. I would recommned setting up a dual boot same partition with wubi if you choose to stick with Kubuntu, with Win 7 as your default. I am not a gamer, so I use Kubuntu exclusively at home now. :P Unfortunately I cannot control the OS my boss put on his computers

[Jonas]

Hi, new to this OS. Before I DL and install, I'd like to know some things first.

1. How good is driver support? When I put my new rig together with the new Ivy Bridge and Z77 board with a 600 series Nvidia GPU, will I have problems? (I will also have an SSD)

Depends on what driver you mean? Graphics, it's improving alot, but it's not the like on windows. You'll likely not have any problems at all ... boils down to what you wish to do (see #2) My personal opinon about Nvidia 6xx is that there be alot of money for not such a high performance, but for graphics & GNULinux go for Nvidia and not ATI.

2. Will this install past and newer games? I game a lot but also do a lot of Graphics and webdesign. Will this install and work well with past and current programs?

Even though many games/programs do work with wine, the straight answer is NO to games, do what other have said - dual boot with windows, if games your cup of tea. Graphics is a wide field, do you have clients? Do they demand a certain format? Adobe & Autodesk suite, don't expect it to run well with wine. If you're up for some fun and improving graphical tools, go ahead and try it, there are many, Inkscape, GIMP, Blender, Krita etc. As for webdesign, I' have littre to no reference but if you aim to do/develop flash sites, then you're out of luck with GNULinux/Kubuntu I'd say.

3. Is this really that big of an improvement over Win 7? I understand most MS haters will quickly say yes, but I'm not a programmer. I don't want to be, and not a hacker either. I'll leave both those to my dad and bro.

Again, depends on what you expect and demand, you will have to learn the basics (as you have to with windows too) so you'll have to accept "GNULinux is not windows", willing to learn you'll find some (or most) parts a improvement.

The only reasons I could give you for wanting to change is I'd like a quicker OS. Also more secure and stable?

Thanks...

VERY much more secure then any other OS (but as with any OS - digging in dirt - you'll find dirt). For quick OS; I'd say yes, though it depends on what you are doing, I use Blender quite frequently atm, and when I looked for a new GPU I read some benchmarks, and GNULinux systems render about 10-30 % faster(!) with Nvidia chips, slightly quicker then Mac/OSX. I went for the CUDA cores (see sign), 560 was most bang for the buck. (if you want to read more, search the net for benchmark blender, there are several out there for refence

Overall I'd say keep your win install (imho to purchase a windows license for a desktop is waste of money) and have a go with a liveUSB and dual boot, and give it time make your own opinion. If your willing to learn some about GNULinux, Kubuntu is a great distribution.

B.R

Jonas

[mhumm2]

Chris;

First of all, I suggest you consider your paradigm on "what" an operating system should do. If the only one you've used is Windows, then accept the fact that you're biased. You come to the table with a certain set of assumptions and expectations. There is no Linux distribution I know of that accommodates high-end, Windows-like gaming -- it wasn't designed for that. For me, the priorities, in order, are: stability, security, and usability. Kubuntu provides exactly what I want in an OS.

Also understand that it's a different animal. For example, Linux users usually don't have to reboot after we install a program ("Packages" in Linux speak). For my distribution, I have around 38000 packages available for free ("Open Source" in Linux speak) from protected archives online. Many of them are for different languages, and such that I have no need to download, install, and use, but if I need a program to do something, the biggest challenge I have is the time it takes to test all my options to find the one that works best for me. Take email programs for instance. Although Windows users have some choice, MS Outlook is the predominate leader. There are hundreds of packages developed for email; from editors to servers and everything in between. I suppose that would be the one thing about Linux... it was designed to give the user choice in an open source environment. With Windows you have the MS windows graphical user interface or GUI. Linux has many different GUIs depending on what you want your desktop to look like. Some people don't even use a GUI and run their system or server from a terminal screen.

Some programs aren't really that important in Linux such as a file defragmentor and perhaps an antivirus application. Again, Linux is different; even down to the choices we have for a file system. In Windows you have your choice of FAT, FAT32, or NTFS. Linux has more choices and none that I know of need to be defragmented because they don't fragment files in the first place.

I do have one suggestion though. If you decide to dual boot, I suggest you use two physically different HDD and switch the power to the OS you want to use. I can provide details if you're interested, but I've found that having my OSs on separate HDD makes for a safer system. If one HDD crashes, I don't lose both OSs. Good luck and stay objective in your testing.

mhumm2

[SteveRiley]

Again, Linux is different... Good luck and stay objective in your testing.

If I may add to mhumm2's excellent post... it's fair to say a large portion of our membership is comprised of (partial) Windows exiles. I'm one, too! While Linux-based operating systems can do many things as good as Windows, some things better, and some things not so well, do remember that Linux and Windows aren't the same thing. I mention this only because I've seen a fair number of posts by people complaining that Linux doesn't do something the same way Windows does. It's only natural that different operating systems will take different approaches. Don't be afraid to experiment, sharpen your m4d G00gl3 ski11z, come to the forum if you need help or want to offer advice, and -- most importantly -- have fun!

[Goddard]

It is faster and more stable.

Often times using a program called PlayOnLinux you can easily get your games working and even though they are using emulation they still perform better, but that isn't in all cases and sometimes the games aren't 100% perfect day one. The good news is nowadays a lot of gaming companies are recognizing the fact that Gnu/Linux users like to gamee so they are either making native clients or making it easier to emulate with Wine.

Using Windows is easy until you get a virus and you have to completely reinstall everything. Using Kubuntu is easy and most likely no viruses or horrible bugs are going to kill your systemm. You might run into a few snags with newer games, but most popular games you are good to go.

Over all there is a few HUGE benifits.
1. FREE
2. Show some love to the people fighting for freedom on all fronts .. digital, intelllectually, or physically.
3. Less Virus issues .. way less
4. Awesome community with people that are usually on average I would say more technically inclined(which may be changing since it is starting to become more popular .. haha)
5. Learning something new adds vitality to life ... or something like that hahah

Any way.. my 2 cents.

[james147]

I would also suggest dual booting for now, but you might be able to get some games to work under wine as mentioned above but not all games will work with it and quite a few need a little tinkering to get to work (see the winehq for a archive of what games will work and how well they do as well as tips to get them to work better). Also, allot of indie games are fully cross platform and work excellently under Linux and there is even some interest in being main stream games to Linux.

[capt-zero]

Might as well put my 2 cents worth in. I agree with the idea of playing with a live cd first. There are many recent complaints with the stability of the Nvidia drivers for linux, but Nvidia has recently come out with a new version that I haven't checked out yet, but if your card works well with a live cd it should function the same post install.

You definitely might want to consider the sugestion made by mhumm2. I've installed both dual boot on the same HDD and presently on a separate HDD. Using a separate HDD is the way to go if you have access to one. Since you are new to linux, one issue that will take some getting used to is the device naming protocols in linux. Until you get used to it, it is very easy to become confused by it and write over something inadvertantly. Having seperate HDD's considerably lessens that chance. Also it greatly simplifies the install process.

thanx,
capt-zero

p.s. welcome to Kubuntu

[zebedeeboss]

Hi, new to this OS. Before I DL and install, I'd like to know some things first.

1. How good is driver support? When I put my new rig together with the new Ivy Bridge and Z77 board with a 600 series Nvidia GPU, will I have problems? (I will also have an SSD)

2. Will this install past and newer games? I game a lot but also do a lot of Graphics and webdesign. Will this install and work well with past and current programs?

3. Is this really that big of an improvement over Win 7? I understand most MS haters will quickly say yes, but I'm not a programmer. I don't want to be, and not a hacker either. I'll leave both those to my dad and bro.

The only reasons I could give you for wanting to change is I'd like a quicker OS. Also more secure and stable?

Thanks...

Hi Chris

Like you I am a newb but after this post I might have to start calling myself a beginner.

1 - I am not qualified to answer that other than I have a new 2012 i5 machine and everything works just fine, including the GT430 nvidia graphics card.
2 - In my experience - NO - not without a lot of sodding about with Wine - Not worth the effort - dual boot with windows
3 - Short answer - NO - if you simply want to turn the machine on and work, you will be fine. The minute you start thinking about a hobby or such you will need to spend time (a lot of time) finding the Linux equivalent of the windows program you're used to. (Unless that program works fine under Wine.) The plus side of that is there are Thousands and Thousands of FREE programs to use and some turn out to be far better than their windows counterparts.

You say you're not a hacker or programmer and don't want to be, so ask yourself the question... Do I want to spend hours working out how to do things you did naturally on Windows 7. How quickly do you learn? It has taken me over 12 months of playing with Linux to get to the stage where I am now comfortable with installation, partitioning and install software from the repositories. I can even use the Command line to do stuff (but I still have loads to learn) I love playing.... so its been a great time for me

You say you want a quicker OS. In my day to day experience of Kubuntu and Windows 7 - No difference. Now people will start quoting this stat and that stat and show pages of timings where Linux is quicker. In my experience... its no quicker.

You say you want stability... What's unstable about your current windows 7 setup? Mine... rock solid - works 24/7 left on for weeks on end and still works.
Will Kubuntu be any better - Not in my experience. They are both rock solid - Linux is better at no more reboots when you have installed something (or very very few reboots)

Finally you said

The only reasons I could give you for wanting to change is I'd like a quicker OS. Also more secure and stable?

For me the only one of those three requirements to hold true is - Kubuntu will be more secure.

Now for the big plus points for Linux - Its Free - The Kubuntu Community is Great - plenty of people about to help and "Willing" to help. Too many forums are full of "Experts" who simply sit there with a superior smug posture looking down on you and scorning you for not knowing.

Kubuntu forums are 100% the opposite, they are helpful, friendly and quick to come back with help and guidance. if you're going to change, Kubuntu is the way to go.

[perspectoff]

Might as well put my 2 cents worth in. I agree with the idea of playing with a live cd first.

On a USB stick...

It's painful to run a LiveCD from an actual CD or DVD. It's much better to run it on an 8 Gb USB stick.

Ubuntu provides lots of instructions for putting the (K)Ubuntu OS on a USB stick:

http://www.ubuntu.com/download/desktop

Personally I'm an 85:15 Kubuntu:Windows user at my main location. I actually run a Windows computer and a Linux computer simultaneously and just use a KVM switch to go back and forth rapidly. Each OS/computer can do its own thing continuously and quickly, that way. Sure, it uses a bit more power, but it is faster than anything else I can do and I can make do with less expensive hardware as well (which makes up for the small increment in energy usage).

All my servers are Kubuntu Linux (I use absolutely no Windows servers, and I don't think there are any OS X servers). I don't fiddle with those much, though; I set them up once and only need to adjust them every few years (lol).

Despite all the talk of Linux being more secure, security is what you do, not what others do for you.

In 40 years of computing experience, I have only come across 1 virus on Windows (which was intercepted by a virus scanner) and have never had to re-install for that reason. However, I have seen many large institutions completely shut down by viruses; they were using Windows but had very lax security practices. Adobe Flash has been hit by viruses on all platforms, and Android users that installed apps from untrusted sources were similarly hit with lots of malware.

The real problem isn't malware, though -- it's deadwood. With time there are lots of app remnants that were tried and then abandoned, and all of them leave bits of flotsam and jetsam (libraries and code) behind. Neither Windows nor Linux does a good job of getting rid of that. That means that re-installation is inevitable every few years. That's where the price point comes into play. Linux is free to install the newest version when it's time to upgrade, but with Windows it costs a lot to do this (or you have to settle with the same old version you started with).

With Android Linux rapidly becoming the most deployed OS worldwide, the Linux juggernaut is picking up steam and public awareness is quickly ratcheting up. (K)Ubuntu is a far superior implementation of Linux than is Android, and now that Canonical has also ratcheted up its drive to get Ubuntu on devices (including those already sold with Android on them), it won't be long until there is an even larger mass exodus from Windows (especially when the EFI specifications go into place, effectively locking computers into one OS, forcing users to make real choices).

Kubuntu is very stable at the moment -- it's not a bad time to get well established with it. Linux Mint is a very popular implementation, as well, but neither have the marketing muscle of Ubuntu. I don't personally like Unity, but I don't like Mac products either, yet they sell well.

Marketing and "one-touch" mechanics is what much of the consuming public desires, and Ubuntu is pushing their properitary vision of that, and I predict they will be more successful than Linux Mint by next year solely because of their push for OEM partnerships.

Google Android was garbage for a long time, but now look how many units have Android on them. A strong corporate presence is very important to a distro -- just ask any Red Hat/CentOs/Fedora or OpenSuse user.

Kubuntu has a unique piggyback relationship -- you can install the KDE desktop even on an Ubuntu platform distributed with Unity. It is one of the reasons I stick with Kubuntu.

[james147]

It's much better to run it on an 8 Gb USB stick.

You only need a 1gig stick if you want to put the livecd image on it.