Linux OS distributions are now a Reasonable Option for average users still using Windows XP on older computers.
Not to long ago Linux wasn’t for most users with it requiring a total commitment to switch or a large hard drive and somewhat complicated duel boot installation. Along with the somewhat bigger issues of hardware support, limited programs and clunky interfaces that were computer expert focused often times requiring some text entry low level coding to do even basic tasks. A lot has changed in the past couple of years now there are numerous Windows user friendly distributions of Linux with nice graphic interfaces that can be nicely run on most hardware from initial boot without additional configuration or downloads. Most of the more popular versions can run live from a USB or DVD/CD letting users try or take a second look at several versions of Linux without committing much more than a couple of hours of there time. Then decide if they want to do a fairly simple duel install alongside Windows or even install a full version of Linux to a larger USB pen drive which could be used on more than one computer.
Looking at some of the more user friendly versions of Linux those who haven’t tried or used Linux in awhile will be pleasantly surprised at just how nice some of the distributions have gotten like Ubuntu , Lubuntu , Mint and Peppermint come in user friendly 32bit and 64bit versions and can be run easily on most computers. Ounce you have downloaded the ISO for a distribution you have chosen to try from there website. You just need to make bootable USB Flash drive using one of the several simple programs for bootable UBS drives one of the best programs for this is YUMI which you can get from Pendrivelinux. You can also burn the image to a blank DVD to boot from, note most current Linux ISO images are too large to burn to a CD-RW disk. Then you simple reboot your computer from the USB which may require you reset the boot sequence to have the USB and CD/DVD drives before the hard drive on most computers this can be done by pressing F2 or F12 immediately after stat up to enter the Bios menu. Ounce the computer is restarted you should get a nice friendly start menu like this one from Peppermint in about a minute select the Try option and in a few minutes you will be running Linux.
Not to long ago Linux wasn’t for most users with it requiring a total commitment to switch or a large hard drive and somewhat complicated duel boot installation. Along with the somewhat bigger issues of hardware support, limited programs and clunky interfaces that were computer expert focused often times requiring some text entry low level coding to do even basic tasks. A lot has changed in the past couple of years now there are numerous Windows user friendly distributions of Linux with nice graphic interfaces that can be nicely run on most hardware from initial boot without additional configuration or downloads. Most of the more popular versions can run live from a USB or DVD/CD letting users try or take a second look at several versions of Linux without committing much more than a couple of hours of there time. Then decide if they want to do a fairly simple duel install alongside Windows or even install a full version of Linux to a larger USB pen drive which could be used on more than one computer.
Looking at some of the more user friendly versions of Linux those who haven’t tried or used Linux in awhile will be pleasantly surprised at just how nice some of the distributions have gotten like Ubuntu , Lubuntu , Mint and Peppermint come in user friendly 32bit and 64bit versions and can be run easily on most computers. Ounce you have downloaded the ISO for a distribution you have chosen to try from there website. You just need to make bootable USB Flash drive using one of the several simple programs for bootable UBS drives one of the best programs for this is YUMI which you can get from Pendrivelinux. You can also burn the image to a blank DVD to boot from, note most current Linux ISO images are too large to burn to a CD-RW disk. Then you simple reboot your computer from the USB which may require you reset the boot sequence to have the USB and CD/DVD drives before the hard drive on most computers this can be done by pressing F2 or F12 immediately after stat up to enter the Bios menu. Ounce the computer is restarted you should get a nice friendly start menu like this one from Peppermint in about a minute select the Try option and in a few minutes you will be running Linux.
For new users not sure of what distribution to try out loading Lubunto to a USB flash drive with persistence using YUMI is a good choice. After you have tried it you can simply can simple shutdown you computer remove the USB and restart to go back to Windows and there won’t be any changes to your computer. If you do decide you want to use a distribution of Linux the various websites have pretty good walk throughs on how to install it alongside Windows so you can use both or install it to a larger USB which will allow one to use a full featured version of Linux on more than one computer without making changes to those computers.
Now looking a bit closer are there any real compelling reasons for using both Linux and Windows or even just Linux? The answer is yes there are some good reasons for the majority of computer users to have a bootable version of Linux on USB flash drive. One of the best reasons is to get a current secure 64bit web browser for older systems that are 64bit compatible but have a 32bit operating system which is about half of the Windows XP computers still in use. This can be checked by using Windows System tool to determine a computers CPU specs then looking them up online if ones not sure. Another and about the best reason is to start and check a computer that is having Windows problems. One can use Linux to verify that computers hardware is functioning properly and retrieve access data files from the hard drive in most cases. Also a live version of Linux with no persistence can be used for secure browsing session with nothing saved or left on the computer or USB drive.
Switching and going to only Linux it doesn’t make since for most users who have a good working version of Windows XP or higher that there using. Yet one good use for Linux only is to set up an older Windows Laptop as a net book, lightweight 32bit versions of Linux like LXLE and Linux Lite will work for this application on computers with only 512mb of ram and a 700MHz processor or better and 8gb of space that can even be on a USB there are numerous reports of people successfully running older Laptops with no or bad hard drives from a USB drive using Linux..
Some thoughts on the current state of Linux distributions for Windows users Linux has come a long way recently. It is no longer a somewhat scary OS for computer specialists and Open Source idealists like it was only a few years ago. The long scary text driven start up and boot sequences were you have to enter several lines of commands to start are mostly gone and nearly all the distributions have nice looking well functioning graphical interfaces that can be configured nicely in only a couple of minutes like this one from Lubuntu .
Now looking a bit closer are there any real compelling reasons for using both Linux and Windows or even just Linux? The answer is yes there are some good reasons for the majority of computer users to have a bootable version of Linux on USB flash drive. One of the best reasons is to get a current secure 64bit web browser for older systems that are 64bit compatible but have a 32bit operating system which is about half of the Windows XP computers still in use. This can be checked by using Windows System tool to determine a computers CPU specs then looking them up online if ones not sure. Another and about the best reason is to start and check a computer that is having Windows problems. One can use Linux to verify that computers hardware is functioning properly and retrieve access data files from the hard drive in most cases. Also a live version of Linux with no persistence can be used for secure browsing session with nothing saved or left on the computer or USB drive.
Switching and going to only Linux it doesn’t make since for most users who have a good working version of Windows XP or higher that there using. Yet one good use for Linux only is to set up an older Windows Laptop as a net book, lightweight 32bit versions of Linux like LXLE and Linux Lite will work for this application on computers with only 512mb of ram and a 700MHz processor or better and 8gb of space that can even be on a USB there are numerous reports of people successfully running older Laptops with no or bad hard drives from a USB drive using Linux..
Some thoughts on the current state of Linux distributions for Windows users Linux has come a long way recently. It is no longer a somewhat scary OS for computer specialists and Open Source idealists like it was only a few years ago. The long scary text driven start up and boot sequences were you have to enter several lines of commands to start are mostly gone and nearly all the distributions have nice looking well functioning graphical interfaces that can be configured nicely in only a couple of minutes like this one from Lubuntu .
Unlike in the past the basic OS runs most hardware with no setup or downloads needed making a working version of Linux bootable from a disk or USB with only minimal computer skills needed. It also runs slightly faster and allows the nice feature of being able to upgrade some applications to 64bit from 32bit on a lot of computers without having to buy a full current version of Windows or a new computer. All of these are great features making it worth a try.
Yet it hasn’t quit reached the point of being a viable replacement for most users because it doesn’t readily support a lot of popular software most notably Microsoft Office or most major copyrighted games which is a deal killer for this author. Also it still has a lot of annoying quirks. While minor two I found really annoyed me were the startup sequences with long periods of scrolling text or blank screen making one think there may be something wrong. Next was that none of the versions have a DVD player that works right off because of copyright reasons you have to enter and run several scripts from the command terminal in text mode and then the players basically suck compared to the nicer Windows based DVD players. Most of these issues are largely part of bigger issue that will likely always hold Linux back from being a good stand alone option for most users, because of Linux’s Open Source nature a lot of copyrighted programs and media will never be officially offered or supported for Linux.
So in conclusion Linux can be a great addition to a older Windows system that most users should give a try. The following are links to some of the better distributions of Linux that are worth looking and some good resources for users new to Linux.
Yet it hasn’t quit reached the point of being a viable replacement for most users because it doesn’t readily support a lot of popular software most notably Microsoft Office or most major copyrighted games which is a deal killer for this author. Also it still has a lot of annoying quirks. While minor two I found really annoyed me were the startup sequences with long periods of scrolling text or blank screen making one think there may be something wrong. Next was that none of the versions have a DVD player that works right off because of copyright reasons you have to enter and run several scripts from the command terminal in text mode and then the players basically suck compared to the nicer Windows based DVD players. Most of these issues are largely part of bigger issue that will likely always hold Linux back from being a good stand alone option for most users, because of Linux’s Open Source nature a lot of copyrighted programs and media will never be officially offered or supported for Linux.
So in conclusion Linux can be a great addition to a older Windows system that most users should give a try. The following are links to some of the better distributions of Linux that are worth looking and some good resources for users new to Linux.