BalerB 0 Posted December 17, 2004 I'm getting very sick of Windows. It's bulky, allways has an error and is jut plain annoying. I'm looking for a Linux distro that I can pick up quickly. I don't want to have to learn new controlls and rules just to open notepad. The thing I am most worried about is program compatibility. I play lots of video games (Halo, Warcraft, World of Warcraft) and I was wondering if there are any Linux distros which had Windows program compatibility from the start or if I need a Windows emulator. If so which one? Besides gaming I like to create websites so I would need Notepad (word pad), Photoshop, Firefox, etc. Any thing sound good for me? Any help greatly appriciated. ~Linux Noob Share this post Link to post
danleff 0 Posted December 18, 2004 Maybe it's been a long day for me, but you sure don't sound like someone who wants to dump Windows! I'm known for my short direct answers sometimes, so here it goes. Get a copy of Mepis and load it. It won't touch the hard drive...it will run from the cd. Look around and get comfortable. Look at the following packages; Bluefish or Quanta Plus for web design. Gimp for photo editing. Try out some of the inlcuded games just for fun. No, they are not hardcore games. Look around the menu choices of other included packages (apps.). Tru out some Linux alternative programs that look interesting to you. And yes, there are a lot more choices! Your comments sound like some users at work. We just converted over to Windows XP systems. People became frustrated at first. They wanted everthing to function exactly as it did in Windows 2000 or NT. All of the sudden, they started saying "You mean all I have to do is...? If you expect no learning curve, then Linux is not for you. However, if you are interested in finding and exploring something new, try my suggestions. Come back and ask questions. There are a lot of great folks here that will be willing to help. But, you have to expect to be open minded, not think in "Windows" terms only and I think that you may be surprised at what you find! BTW, Firefox comes in a Linux flavor, as well. Share this post Link to post
Dapper Dan 0 Posted December 18, 2004 Ditto what danleff said. Anyone serious about switching to Linux from Windows should look in the mirror and say to themselves ten times: Linux IS NOT Windows! I run Half-Life and its mods with Transgaming's Cedega and they run great. In fact, as far as I can tell, as good as under Windows. Starcraft runs great. I understand Warcraft runs perfectly though I think there are still problems with Halo. Check out this list. Remember, Wine is not a magic program that will run Windows programs under Linux. Windows programs will run to varying degrees of satisfaction from, perfectly to not at all and everything in between. Linux can be very frustrating for new users. I know, I used to be one of them. Once you get past the brunt of the learning curve though, you'll never go back. It's kind of like taking the red pill... Share this post Link to post
mjwebb007 0 Posted December 18, 2004 Just think if everyone had been so resistant to change from DOS to Windows...."GUI? Who wants to use that?" I remember when I used to play text based adventure games for hours on end....my dad was an accountant so we had one of the IBM PC XT computers...before even 286's.... Sorry about rambling and reminiscing.... Hey Dans...I have all my parts now...and I happened upon an IBM 120GB IDE HD. The plan now is to put Win98 on that (as well as some storage partitions for everything else), WinXP Pro on half the 250GB SATA, a trial copy of WinXP Pro x64 on the other half, and SuSE on the 74Gb Raptor.... YEEHAW!!!! (Yeah Dapper I am born and raised too....) Share this post Link to post
Dapper Dan 0 Posted December 18, 2004 Originally posted by mjwebb007: Quote: YEEHAW!!!! (Yeah Dapper I am born and raised too....) Every time I see "Hampton Roads" below your name, it always makes me think of the C.S.S. Virginia! There's a lot of history in your part of the country! Sorry for getting off topic... Share this post Link to post
mjwebb007 0 Posted December 19, 2004 Yeah well hopefully the Hampton Roads part will change soon. I am originally from North Carolina and will be moving back late spring.... Isn't this a Linux forum? Share this post Link to post
Dapper Dan 0 Posted December 19, 2004 Yes, so no more, "YEEHAWs," or "rambling and reminiscing" please... Share this post Link to post
