Ubuntu or XP?

H

haon8

New Member
Hey all, I just finished building a new computer for my father. His old one was about 6 or 7 years old, and was completely riddled with errors and issues despite a number of reformats. I've been trying to decide if I should install Windows XP or Ubuntu on his computer. I realize that Windows 7 has been out for quite awhile now, however he doesn't feel like spending $100 on the OS, especially with Windows 8 coming next year (most likely). I mentioned the possibility of using Ubuntu, which he seems to like. He uses the computer mainly for internet, word processing, photo management, music, hopefully some video editing, and Skype. The biggest concern I had about using Ubuntu was whether or not all of the software he uses would be compatible. We both use Open Office, so I know that will be fine. I know there are tons of programs for music, as well as video editing, so that won't be a problem either. I guess my biggest concern is if these Linux programs are any good, and if Skype is compatible with Ubuntu.

For the record, we'd be using XP because he already has the disk and installation code which he got with his old computer. I know that MS doesn't support it anymore, but I figured I could just manually install all of the service packs and it would be fine.
 
Ubuntu is fun. It can do everything you want, including skype. Though, I have to wonder why you would spend all the money to build a new PC, but then 100 more is to much for the OS. Haha, just speculating. Either way, Ubuntu is a good choice especially with the 11.04
 
Quiltface said:
biggest pitfall to linux is flash support. other than that its great.
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Linux has flash support, but it doesn't have DRM support for silverlight. So, the open source version of silver light for Linux won't run things like Netflix because the DRM is not in the open source version.

I would recommend the most modern OS you can get. XP is old, and you will be stuck in 32bit OS mode no matter what. XP 64 bit had all sorts of issues from what I read, not sure if they are all patched yet.

Either go with a modern version of Linux or just buck up and buy Windows 7.
 
what i meant was, the flash video playback isnt good. I have 4 computers running linux and they all kind of suck at playing flash video back... some are better than others, but they are all bad in full screen.
 
would recommend a lighter DE for the old PC --
such as xubuntu. 10.04.2 because of kernel issues
that probably wil surface if newer versions tried.
(alternate version also recommended)
 
32-bit vs. 64-bit was something we were considering during the build. We ended up getting 4GB of RAM for the computer, and there was nothing to warrant a 64-bit OS. Had we gone 64-bit, it would have made more sense anyway to go with 8GB of RAM, which we didn't see any point in doing.

Two more questions. As much as I know that IE is awful (I use Chrome), my dad has to use it for his work (he has to send files using the browser, not much I can say beyond that) and it doesn't work if using any browser other than IE. I'm assuming Ubuntu has IE support? Also, what's the deal with drivers? The computer I built for him is pretty nice, although we kept it fairly budget. We have a Biostar motherboard and will be re-using his Audigy 2 ZS sound card in favor of the onboard chip. I'm assuming this will be ok?

Oh, and the build only came out to $300 without the OS and case. There was no point in us making a hardcore machine (because he doesn't need one), so an extra $100 on top of that is more sizable than if were spending $700.
 
Yes Linux can run IE, and it does so under WINE

http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page

http://www.wine-reviews.net/wine-reviews/applications/ie-7-on-linux-with-wine.html

It is not as easy as say installing Firefox and running it but it is possible. At my last job they gave me a Windows XP desktop (5 years ago) and I hated how slow and bloated it was so I installed Linux on it. I had to connect to two website that ran Active X background crap and was forced to use IE. I installed it on my Linux box via WINE, and it worked. However, you will probably run into some issues as I did running that set up.
 
Ah bummer... wine is probably the way to go then. I wonder if he is just transferring files through an FTP site and its just easier to do it with IE's folder view? If that's the case just get him a ftp client.
 
Quiltface said:
Ah bummer... wine is probably the way to go then. I wonder if he is just transferring files through an FTP site and its just easier to do it with IE's folder view? If that's the case just get him a ftp client.
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If they are required to use IE it is probably due to some sort of Active X plug in on some corporate site the user is using. I really hate active X with a passion!
 
LOL yeah but you never know, it could just be because they don't know how to use FTP aside from a folder view. Maybe the OP could find out exactly what his dad needs IE for and then we can look at the options.
 
Quiltface said:
LOL yeah but you never know, it could just be because they don't know how to use FTP aside from a folder view. Maybe the OP could find out exactly what his dad needs IE for and then we can look at the options.
Click to expand...

Very true, a lot of times users don't know about other options.
 
It's odd, I don't know what the issue is. As far as I know it's not an ActiveX issue. Either way, I'll try the solutions that you guys suggested and see if they work.
 
Another question, does Ubuntu support floppy drives? I know they're an ancient format, but my dad has a couple different pieces of software on floppy which he got many years ago. If it doesn't support it natively, could we use it with WINE?
 
haon8 said:
Another question, does Ubuntu support floppy drives? I know they're an ancient format, but my dad has a couple different pieces of software on floppy which he got many years ago. If it doesn't support it natively, could we use it with WINE?
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yes it also supports FAT16 and FAT32 file systems which is most likely what the floppy disks are formatted in.
 
yes it supports floppy. you can run ubuntu live and see if alot of your compatibility issues are actually issues before you install... even if there is an issue running it live doesnt mean it cant be fixed though
 
I would recommend Lubuntu. It is the LXDE version of Ubuntu but 11.04 Lubuntu runs so much more smoother then Ubuntu from my personal use and it still has all the software available that I can tell that Ubuntu uses. Just my two cents if you are looking for the lightest and software compatiable OS on the market I dont think there is one that could beat it.
 
I don't know about the other flavors, but Ubuntu 11.04 has slowness issues on some computers. I'd go with 10.10 or 10.04LTS if you are going to try Ubuntu out. At least until they sort out some of the slowness issues.

Also, 11.04 uses Libre Office, which is a branch off Open Office. It should be 100% compatible, but Libre Office is still developing whereas Open Office is now static, so things may change there, as well.

Of course, you could always dual-boot XP and Linux... that way you can switch between the two depending on what you need/want.
 
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