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chimpian

chimpian

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Hello all,
I was just wondering what everyone uses on a regular basis in terms of OS's and how happy they are with them.

I just built a pc for about $250, decent specs nothing special, mostly for the misses to do use for her blog and I am having a hell of a time with blue screen errors and vista.
Really tired of it actually.

Any suggestions for a cheap OS? I know win 7 is better but I have no funds for that right now.
Anyone have any ideas on a SUPER user friendly version of linux you are enjoying or an alternative to that even?
Free is for me lol.


thanks,
 
Windows XP SP 3 and Ubuntu.

You can get Windows XP for under $20 in NYC - Legally. Strand's Bookstore, Craigslist, Unique Thrift Store, GoodWill, Amazing Savings and other places.

Ubuntu is free - http://www.ubuntu.com/ - I just upgraded to 11.4 and all of the games that worked in the previous version work with this one with no problem.

Take that Vista CD outside and nuke it from orbit...it's the only way to be sure.
 
[quote name='Megazell']Windows XP SP 3 and Ubuntu.

You can get Windows XP for under $20 in NYC - Legally. Strand's Bookstore, Craigslist, Unique Thrift Store, GoodWill, Amazing Savings and other places.

Ubuntu is free - http://www.ubuntu.com/ - I just upgraded to 11.4 and all of the games that worked in the previous version work with this one with no problem.

Take that Vista CD outside and nuke it from orbit...it's the only way to be sure.[/QUOTE]

any issues with compatability with xp and newer software? most importantly for the little lady web browsers and office software?

i am pretty sure i have an xp disc somewhere......
 
There's very few newer software that wont work on XP, including Internet Explorer 9, but you should be using firefox or chrome, so that shouldn't be an issue.
 
Either Ubuntu or PCLinux OS. It will require some setup on your end, but that's minimal. Once she learns how to use it, it will just be like windows.

Since Firefox, Thunderbird and OpenOffice is all cross platform, that should be all she needs for office, web browsing and e-mail.
 
I'd suggest trying out the live CD of Ubuntu. I used it to transfer some files I had on a windows hard drive, it's very user friendly. And you can try it out before you actually install anything, so that's a bonus.

Edit: And try LibreOffice over OpenOffice. It's designed by the guys who did OpenOffice before Sun or whoever got rid of them.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
[quote name='chimpian']any issues with compatability with xp and newer software? most importantly for the little lady web browsers and office software?

i am pretty sure i have an xp disc somewhere......[/QUOTE]

None.
 
Shrike, holy shitballs. Definitely jumping on that, thanks for the link!
I wonder if my school email is still active, hmm...
EDIT: aha, I can probably get my brother in law to get it for me, he's still in school.

Dude, get mint or Ubuntu. Mint is a little more familiar to windows users, but Ubuntu is easy to get used to (my mom even uses it with no problems, and she knows nothing about computers.)
It comes with OpenOffice, or if you install Wine, you can install MS Office 2003.
Plus, it's free. :D
 
you may want to look into the cause of your blue screen. if it's not the OS, then changing it won't make a difference.

one of the leading causes of blue screen is faulty memory, so make sure your memory is good and healthy first with memtest. (which, i think is on the ubuntu livecd anyway.)
 
A friend had a spare install of win 7 that he let me borrow, so i installed that on a different hard drive and my blue screen problem is gone. I also ran memtest + and got no errors in 5 passes.

I narrowed down the problem with the blue screen.
It is either Vista or the hard drive.
Either way i am returning the hard drive and burning my vista disc in the yard.
I am also prob going to dual boot ubuntu with win 7 so mess around with.

thanks all :)

as always you guys rule.
 
My main operation system is OpenSuse (currently 11.4) with Windows XP for gaming. I'll play BFBC2 which doesn't run within Wine.
 
XP SP3 and Ubuntu. Bought a laptop that had Win 7 --- that OS, so far, is not very useful to me. In fact, it deleted files written by Ubuntu; I suppose this was because Win 7 didn't recognize them. That was the final straw. So, I nuked it and installed XP SP3.
 
[quote name='yester']Do you have one? Really? How is it.[/QUOTE]

don't have one but it's just a dual core atom machine inside. It would make a good HTPC for streaming and blu rays but overall atoms really aren't that fast. (those are the same processors used in netbooks)
 
[quote name='hordak']XP SP3 and Ubuntu. Bought a laptop that had Win 7 --- that OS, so far, is not very useful to me. In fact, it deleted files written by Ubuntu; I suppose this was because Win 7 didn't recognize them. That was the final straw. So, I nuked it and installed XP SP3.[/QUOTE]

You made the right choice. Windows 7 is still in OPEN BETA.
 
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