Windows, Mac, or Linux?

If you had read my post, you would see that I build and repair computers. My desktops have always been custom built and I run multiple OSs and I very much enjoy the DIY computer experience.

I have a beautiful home-built desktop.

When I said "perfect solution", I was talking about laptops.

I've been looking for a PC laptop to get away from apple (I agree with you about their approach, and I dislike the direction Apple is going) but I have been unable to find one that will stand up to the current mac laptops.

I would NEVER buy an Apple desktop though. That would just be stupid. Apple makes solid laptops, though. You can tell by the way that all the PC laptop manufacturers are always trying to copy them, and always failing.

Check out the thread I just posted. I think some of the Lenovos are almost as good as apple laptops... I need to figure out what to buy for school. Laptops for me are basically textbooks.

 

I bought this... http://discountpc.net/lenovo-thinkpad-x61-1-600ghz-core-2-duo-120gb-2048mb-408877.html

(best website ever for buying cheap computers) it looked brand new when I opeded the box and even had Windows 7 installed on it, but ran kind of slow so I put linux mint on it, runs like a charm too, no wifi problems or anything...

 

Same here for almost 20 years.
Didn't pick up that you were talking laptops.
I just bought a Lenovo laptop for my daughter, has an AMD quad core running at like 2.2 ghz or something, don't remember the exact cpu # , but it seems to be pretty solid so far and cost under $400.

Too bad you can't build your own laptop with off the shelf parts.

 

I have stated a few times on this forum that I am using dream studio Linux . As I was reading this post , I had a thought . There may be people out there that would like to use Linux , but have no idea of where to start . The simplest thing is to down load an iso image , burn it to a cd /dvd and run it as a live cd/dvd . If any one needs help , just say so . Hear are links to some of what is out there .
http://www.ubuntu.com/
http://distrowatch.com/
http://www.livecdlist.com/
The os I am using as I make this post
http://distrowatch.com/table.php?distribution=dreamstudio

 

Actually looks like a few do-it-yourself laptops exist...
http://www.computershopper.com/feature/build-your-own-laptop

Also check out Raspberry Pi

Search using these key words: DIY Laptop

 

If you're checking out Raspberry Pi then also check out Android TV sticks. You can get a quad core RK3188 stick with 2GB DDR3 and 8GB flash for under $70 shipped from dx.com. They will also boot Linux (PicUntu).

 

I have a macbook pro budget. In other words, I'm looking for a computer that will be extremely fast for heavy heavy usage for 4 or 5 years (my macbook pro from 2008 still runs VERY well, but my new one from 1012 is a piece of shit), so I'm looking to spent 1000-1500$ and I cant use AMD cuz it's a pain in the ass with linux. I'm looking for an i7 quad 2-2.4 ghz hopefully...

but yeah I was talking laptops. building is fun and afford you better performance. Why would anyone buy an iMac or something? It's a laptop on a stand...

 

While interesting, it is far from a DIY build. The only thing you are doing is dropping in CPU, RAM, and some type of drive.
When I think of a DIY build, I'm talking cherry picking every component from the motherboard up.
As such, there are very few options aside from gutting and refurbishing an old laptop, but you are still limited to whatever proprietary motherboard and other components will fit in the shell, so in the long run the best/closest a person can do is to get one that you can pick/choose what components are used. Most of the big manufacturers offer that ability, though for some reason this pat year Dell greatly curtailed the customization choices, unless you pay top $$$ for an XP class or Alienware laptop.

There are good offerings in laptops from most manufactures, you just have to dig deep sometimes. One of the coolest ones I ever saw was made by Toshiba and it was a military grade laptop. You could drive a fucking truck over this thing, put it in an oven, drop it into an ice bath, kick it across a football field and still search for your favorite porn. It only cost about $6000

The most important thing and it relates to what I said concerning OS choices, what do you need/want to be able to do with the machine in 6 months? By the machine/OS combo that will do that for a price that meets your budget.

A few tips for DIY;
1) always double check the revision number of the motherboard you plan to purchase and NEVER purchase a Rev.1 board unless you like being a beta tester.
2) just assume that you need to update the mobo BIOS as one of the first steps, or at least double check if the current BIOS supports the hardware you intend on using, you can save yourself a lot of potential headaches.
3) If installing a new SATA drive, HDD or SSD, and the MOBO doesn't "see" it, set the controller to IDE MODE and try again. Often it will then see the drive, do what you need to (firmware update for some SSD's, etc.) then go back into your BIOS and reset it it SATA/AHCI mode. if using anything older than Vista, you will need to install the AHCI drivers after this during the set-up routine, Vista and subsequent versions of Win have the drivers and if the MOBO is set to AHCI, the drivers will be installed automatically.
(YOU CAN NOT SWITCH ONCE THE OS IS INSTALLED, SO MAKE SURE YOU DO THIS FIRST IF NEEDED)

4) always start with the vanilla settings and get everything installed/stable before you dabble with overclocking.

5) always create a small (80-150 gig) partition for the OS/boot drive and keep your programs/games/data on a separate partition or drive. It makes back-ups, re-installs, etc. SOOOO much easier and faster.

6) after I have the OS, all hardware, networking, anti-virus, and a few other basic essentials, I always make a back-up image/restore disk, etc. of the drive before I install software, again, it's been a headache saver more than once.

Think twice before you plunk down the dollars for the huge 3 or 4 terabyte drive, can you back all that shit up?
Do you care if you can back it up?
3 terabytes of data is a lot too lose if something goes wrong.

External NAS set-ups are pretty solid nowadays, I use 2 terabyte WD MyBook for data storage and a sister USB version to back that up too.(WD MyBooks can be had dirt cheap now because they replaced that line with a new one, I've seen 2 terabyte USB and NAS drives for about $100 )


Oh well, I see I'm rambling mindlessly on in an effort to avoid working.....*sigh*

guess I'll get back to work now.....


oh, and the Raspberry does look cool, I've been checking those out lately.

 

I use Windoze most of the time for everyday stuff and it's the best for playing video games.

I also use Linux for some things that are security sensitive/

Not a Mac user, those computers are too expensive, but they are nice. Always seem them being used at places like Starbucks by hipsters.

I find it hard to completely convert to using Linux only as my main OS, I know it will do pretty much everything you want it to do, it's just I grew up with Windows 95. Our first computer ran I believe some version of CP/M operating system with a dot matrix printer, no hard drive or anything...this was back when you had to know a little bit but I don't remember any of the commands. Computers these days are too "easy", I feel bad for the most current generation of kids...they will grow up thinking they know alot about computers because they can use smartphones and have the latest apps that do cool things but have no idea what is really going on and will have no idea what a partition table is. Used to you had to create the partition table and do other things using shell commands and it was real easy to break your system if you didn't really know what you were doing.

 

After 14 years of using Windows, I recently made the move over to Linux! Installed Ubuntu 12.04 on my desktop, though was planning on getting a MacBook Pro (to replace my desktop).
The longer I stayed in Linux, the less I had any interest in getting a MBP, so I purchased (two weeks ago) a new laptop and installed Linux.
Currently running Kubuntu 13.10, but debating between Kubuntu and Mint 16 KDE.

Found the switch quite easy and unlike the Windows 8 that came with the laptop, any Linux distro I've installed has been blazing fast (and stable).

 

I'm gonna quit using Windoze one of these days, sometimes it can be a headache.

It's not like you can't do anything on Linux that you can do on Windoze...I like GNOME personally but the first time I installed Slackware I picked KDE and that was years ago so I can't really remember much about it.

Anyone ever fuck with FreeBSD? I wanna get around to experimenting with that one of these days.

 

I like KDE just because it is so easy to customize.
I use to like Gnome, but I'm not a fan of Gnome 3. It's too radical of a change.

For desktop environments, my personal ranking would be:
1. KDE
2. Cinnamon
3. XFCE

After that it's a toss up.
If I was putting Linux on an older machine, LXDE or openbox would be my choice.
Unity is better than what it was when it first came out (performance wise), but I'm not crazy about the Amazon lens being enabled by default.
My experience with MATE was never that good. Pretty unstable. Granted it's been a while.

I was going to give FreeBSD a try, but I find it a tad more advanced for me. GhostBSD is suppose to be more user friendly but haven't tried it.

 

I've been a Windows user most of my life but I tried Ubuntu a little while ago and I loved it I might start using it more often in the future.

 

unless you absolutely need windows programs, or you're a gamer, my choice is: Linux. Mature enough, free and virtually virus-free. customizable. rock solid , particularly with Debian, the distro by which all other distros are judged. really don't have a clue about why one should buy obscenely overpriced apple stuff, except for showing off with friends, but i accept suggestions. :2thumbsup:

 

Windoze is a good gaming platform

 

It still really comes down to what OS can run what software you want to use, with the exception of Apple, it's just pretty and the OS is for the mentally incompetent.

Then we have the obligatory "such and such OS is virtually virus free", heard it a lot from Apple-ites, until they got slammed with a good virus last year that took Apple developers weeks or months to patch, when Windoze had it patched in two days.

Same will happen to Linux as well. As more people adopt an OS, the more it becomes a viable target for virus developers.
What the fuck is the point in writing malicious software that will only effect maybe 1% of computer users??????

THAT is the main and ONLY reason that Windows has been the target of 99% of the malicious software developed, it's simply numbers, it's not not that any one particular OS is iron-clad secure. They can ALL be defeated if the person writing the code is determined enough.

With Widows you get the double edged sword of wide compatibility across hardware platforms vs increased security and reliability issues.

One idea I have had since Win XP came out was why the Hell doesn't Microsloth just put out the OS as a bare bones; no GUI, then allow the customer to decide which GUI they want to use.
You could then do anything from a total bare-bones install with a simple command line, all the way up to all the glitz and needless crap of Windows 8, or somewhere in between.
There really is no reason that can't be done, every time you click on a pretty icon it is executing some command that could just as easily be invoked from a good old fashioned command line interface.
They fool people into thinking they have that now with being able to choose the desktop style, but naw, not the same thing at all.
You could put together some pretty nice hardware/software configurations that way.

But Windows/Microsoft isn't going anywhere anytime soon.
After working in the industry off and on for 20+ years, with a lot of that dealing with the corporate implementation of said software, nobody comes even remotely close to Microsoft in terms of the small/mid-sized business/corporate sector.......nobody.
The only one that in my memory even remotely gave Microsoft any "competition" in that market was Netware, and that has essentially gone the way of the dinosaurs.

Business suites/server software from Apple SUCKS BIG DONKEY BALLS!!!!!!!! (that's why they just use MS Office )
If you have ever had to deal with it in a large corporate environment, especially if it's a mixed network; Apple/Windows, you understand.

For mega-corporate infrastructures, Unix or some variant has been and is the best way to go, but it doesn't lend itself to the small-mid sized business profile; 20-100 users, as well as the offerings from Microsoft.
As far as that market is concerned, Microsoft has it nailed down both in terms of market share and developing a complete and robust business solution.
One other issue with Unix/Linux in a small business setting and one I have encountered is when some yahoo "customizes" the software, but fails to actually document ANYTHING he did, then the fuck-tard moves out of state and can't be contacted, but without his help there is no fucking way to migrate the corporate e-mail accounts and mail over to the new server!!!

There is a LOT to be said for consistency, especially in a business environment.


So it all boils down to "what do you want/need the hardware/software combo you have to do.





but don't buy Apple, glorified inferior garbage.

 

I have a 27 inch iMac,and I love it.

 

Lol, yeah macs just have all the eye candy

People write viruses targeting windows simply because by doing so they can encompass a huge majority of computer users running the exact same software packages with systems generally configured similarly.

 

I use Windows for gaming and Ubuntu for everything else. Tried Fedora Core and FreeBSD as well, but really am liking Ubuntu. I've tried using WINE with Ubuntu for gaming, and it works ok for some games, but overall, easier to just keep a small amount of the hd set aside for Windows just for gaming.

Mainly I got into Ubuntu because of how neat and efficient it is. Windows drove me up a wall with all the crap that it makes. Empty folders and files everywhere, copies upon copies of unneeded crap, tons of services running that I didn't need or want :/ Not to mention always worrying about exploits, vulnerabilities, malware, spyware, viruses, etc.

 

In my world, few people know anything other than PC with Windows