Which Operating System is most suitable for home use - Windows XP or Ubuntu?

[tracey__]

As part of my IT Diploma course, I have to complete a Higher Project that involves answering a question in the form of a report. I chose the question, "Which Operating System is most suitable for home use - Windows XP or Ubuntu?". I chose this question as I find the many Operating Systems interesting. However, I'm not very advanced when it comes down to the technical side of the Operating Systems.

I currently have Ubuntu 8.10 installed on my laptop, with Virtual Machines, Windows XP and Windows 2000 - so I do have slight knowledge and experience on both of the Operating Systems. I must say, I have only recently discovered Ubuntu last year, so I'm a little rusty when it comes to Ubuntu and how it works. However, I am aware of some of the basic commands used in the terminal such as apt-get, su, etc.


I have to obtain primary research for my report; I thought I'd use ubuntuforums to do this. I am considering writing about the following in my report:

Word processing
Gaming
Installation process
Internet use
I need some opinions from users off this forum as part of my primary research. This will benefit me, as I can use possibly all of the research obtained from here in my report. I am aware that the majority of users dislike Windows, so if it's possible, could I please ask you to talk about Windows' features in a positive way. Thank you to any responds.

Thanks,
Tracey.

[RichardLinx]

I use Ubuntu (Well, Linux Mint right now, which is basically Ubuntu with some preinstalled codecs and a different menu) for the 'general everyday tasks':

- Word Processing (OpenOffice Writer)
- Powerpoint Presentations (OpenOffice Presentation)
- Music (Banshee)
- Movies (Totem)
- Internet (Firefox/Opera)
- Instant Messaging (Pidgin, Xchat)
- Image Editing (Gimp)
- Calculator
- Limewire ("File Sharing")
- Transmission Bit Torrent Client (Torrents)
- Games: - Chess (PyChess, Gnome-Chess, GNU Chess)
- AssaultCube (FPS)
- Text Editor (Gedit)
- Terminal (Many tasks are much faster through terminal then they are through GUI)
- Synaptic Package Manager (Look for other applications, games, etc)

I occassionally do other miscellaneous tasks like converting a video into a sound file If I want a song from the video, soundconverter does the job perfectly.

Linux meets all my daily requirements and is stable and secure at the same time. I don't use Windows so I have nothing to say on that matter.

[Yashiro]

It depends what you do at home.

If watching new movies and playing the latest games is a priority then you have no choice but to choose Windows.

In everything else Linux can compete.

[RichardLinx]

It depends what you do at home.

If watching new movies and playing the latest games is a priority then you have no choice but to choose Windows.

In everything else Linux can compete.

Why would watching new movies be an issue in Linux? I've never had any issues watching new release DVD's under Linux.

[xpod]

If watching new movies

Am i missing something here?
I could name a few "new" movies we`ve watched on Ubuntu although i refuse to say which on the grounds i may incriminate myself;)

[kestrel1]

I use both Ubuntu & Windows, although I prefer Ubuntu or Linux in general Windows doees have some good things for first time users & the like.
Basically it boils down to what you want to do & achieve with your computer. If you are using a computer in business, most business packages are Windows based although there are alternatives for Linux, the operation of such software is often different in each OS.

[ErwinC]

Hi Tracy,

Here's my story. I have 2 PC's, 1 for the 'Parents' and 1 for the 'Kids'.

My 1st step with Linux happened when I bought a magazine with a live Knoppix-distro included. I tried it, kind of liked it but I did not dare to install it. That must have been 2004-2005...

Then came Ubuntu 6.04, on the moment the 'parents' windows Xp system was so slow I was considering to reinstall. I managed to set up a dual boot, with a fresh Xp install.
The adaptation went quick, We were already used to Firefox and OOo so that went smooth. My wife had some problems to find her way to her files but once she was directed to them, all went well.
I managed to learn a bit about the Linux system, learned some basic commands and learned to install codecs and so on. Last year, I cleaned up the windows partition and wiped off Xp. Now we are dual booting with Mint 6/Fedora.

The 'kids' PC: This January, I set up a dual boot Mint with Xp. Xp for pc games they bought at the time and non-on-line activity's. Mint for all the rest...The knew already the look and feel of linux so that went well to... and the are loving the Gnome-games; :-)
So they are rarely booting into Xp...

So our main system for the hole family is a Linux distro: Mint 6, nearly an Ubuntu, but I switched to Mint because of frequent issues with kernel upgrades...

[bvanaerde]

Why would watching new movies be an issue in Linux? I've never had any issues watching new release DVD's under Linux.

Not DVD... but Blu-Ray & HD DVD isn't that easy at the moment.
But then again, I'm not sure if this works well on Windows XP either.

For home usage (internet, chat, multimedia, documents, file sharing, ...), Ubuntu suffices more than enough, and most of it works out of the box. The only problem for me is gaming: this is the only thing I would use Windows XP for.

[billgoldberg]

As part of my IT Diploma course, I have to complete a Higher Project that involves answering a question in the form of a report. I chose the question, "Which Operating System is most suitable for home use - Windows XP or Ubuntu?". I chose this question as I find the many Operating Systems interesting. However, I'm not very advanced when it comes down to the technical side of the Operating Systems.

I currently have Ubuntu 8.10 installed on my laptop, with Virtual Machines, Windows XP and Windows 2000 - so I do have slight knowledge and experience on both of the Operating Systems. I must say, I have only recently discovered Ubuntu last year, so I'm a little rusty when it comes to Ubuntu and how it works. However, I am aware of some of the basic commands used in the terminal such as apt-get, su, etc.


I have to obtain primary research for my report; I thought I'd use ubuntuforums to do this. I am considering writing about the following in my report:

Word processing
Gaming
Installation process
Internet use
I need some opinions from users off this forum as part of my primary research. This will benefit me, as I can use possibly all of the research obtained from here in my report. I am aware that the majority of users dislike Windows, so if it's possible, could I please ask you to talk about Windows' features in a positive way. Thank you to any responds.

Thanks,
Tracey.

I wrote an article on that a few months ago on my blog, you might find it useful.

http://linuxowns.wordpress.com/try-ubuntu/

--

1. Word processing

Ubuntu comes with a word processor installed called Open Office Writer.

It is the most popular open source processor and is widely used in offices and homes accross the world.

More information on what it can and can't do can be found on the official Open Office website.

Besides the Open Office suite, there are other office suites and word processors available for Linux.

I'm thinking Koffice, Abiword, ...

You can use Add/Remove to look for other word processing software available in Ubuntu.

2. Gaming

Most games are made for Windows.

Thus when you are using Linux your options are seriously limited.

There are lots of Linux games and some games can run using WINE (not an emulator!), but compared to Windows it is slim pickings.

3. Installation process

Installing Ubuntu is an easy straight-forward process.

You boot the live cd and pick "install Ubuntu". You can also try it out before installing Ubuntu on your pc, but because everything comes from the cd (which is a lot slower than a hdd) the performance won't be great.

The installation process has an easy GUI interface.

It will ask you some basic questions and will ask you if you want to install Ubuntu on your entire HDD, a partition you made for installing it or it will shrik you current HDD and install Ubuntu next to an existing Windows installation.

For people with low-end hardware there is an alternate installer which has a text-based interface.

On that alternate cd, there is also an option to install a bare system, so you can build everything up from scratch (improves speed).

I have no experience with the dial-up internet and Ubuntu.

4. Internet use

If you are using a wired connection, the connection to the internet will be made automatically.

The same if true if you wireless card/usb dongle is supported OOTB (out of the box), you will see an icon on the top panel and be able to choose which wireless network to connect from.

If it isn't supported OOTB things can be a bit more tricky.

Ubuntu comes with the Firefox webbrowser and the Pidgin IM client (can use almost all IM protocols and IRC).

It also comes with a email client, remote desktop viewer, bittorent client and voip software (not skype).

You can install alternatives to all those programs easily from Add/Remove.

[utnubuuser]

Hi - Im sure you've looked at why free software exists, but just in case, here's a link to an article by Richard Stallman about free vrs. proprietary.

http://www.sazeit.com/static_pages/Why_Free_Software.php

[gnomeuser]

To hit your highlights

* Word processing

Any off the shelf Linux distro will perform wordprocessing to the satisfaction of a regular user. The problem area might be more specific macro usage or other specialized cases. We are also not as userfriendly as MS Office, the new ribbon interface e.g. is seen as being a massive improvement and current offerings be it abiword or OpenOffice can't really compete here. I would say though that this will serve the average home user perfectly fine.

* Gaming

There are a lot of games for Linux, not as many as for Windows but for the home user who plays solitaire while waiting for a download we have a great selection. There are also many kid friendly games. We do lack big budget games but really looking at the gaming market it does seem to be moving more and more towards consoles. I would think the average home user will be served well for puzzle games and anything else might be the realm of an XBOX, Wii or Playstation.

* Installation process

I have tried the Windows 7 installation, generally I think both do well with the installation phases. However the end result for the Windows case is a box that boots and goes online. With linux you get a full suite for tools for any basic usecase. The post install experience is much more pleasant on Linux, even when compared to 99% of OEM installations. The same goes for drivers, on Linux the post install experience out of the box is that most of your setup just works, with Windows the process continues with driver cds and downloads. I would say unless a machine is setup for the user in an OEM situation, Linux will win hands down.

* Internet use

Linux shines here, it works out of the box. Aside for flash which is notoriously buggy on Linux. The security is generally tightened, the browser is kept up to date without effort on the users side. There is no nagging about registation that might turn a user off from updating. This all leads to a very pleasant experience with safety for all. Additionally a Linux box is, yet, very unlikely to be infected with spyware or become part of a botnet so the internet experience should be smoother, faster and more stable in the long run.

I have personally been a fulltime Linux user for 10 years, my whole family uses it exclusively. From my mother who basically knows nothing about computers to my father who used to program FORTRAN with punchcards. It serves us very well, I would not hesitate to recommend it over Windows XP to anyone provided it comes with an offer to call with questions.

[Herman]

Word processing in Word processing Ubuntu beats Windows hands down. Ubuntu comes with Open Office.org Word Processor already installed. You don't have to pay another $300 or something for the extra programs to make the operating system be able to do something. Open Ofiice.org can save your document in all kinds of formats, including Windows Microsoft Word .doc format, although you lose quality because Open Office.org has more features. Microsoft Word can't save in .odt format though.You can also make .pdf files in Open Office.org Word Processor. It's about $600 for the software to do that in Windows.

Gaming - Sorry, but I don't know very much about gaming.

Installation process - the installation process for Ubuntu is a lot easier because Ubuntu is free and isn't bothered by anti-piracy boobytraps. At the moment I have a Windows Vista computer that I'm trying to fix for someone. It had a hard drive failure, and I re-installed from the Recovery CDs, only to find they installed Windows XP and not Vista, (I don't know why). Then I tried copying the recovery partition from the damaged hard disk to the new hard disk, but it won't run because there isn't a Windows Vista there to restore, (It thinks I might be a pirate). I tried copying the old Vista from the bad hard disc but the hard disc is too far gone now and that part of the disc doesn't seem to be able to be copied anymore. I could install any kind of Ubuntu there in about half an hour, (I think I probably will too).

Internet use - Ubuntu is the best for internet use because it isn't affected by viruses and it doesn't need a firewall.

I have run into a few programs that businesses and governments use here in Australia that some people need to keep Windows in their computers for. MYOB accounting software is one, and there's a database for chemists (drugstores), and MapInfo, a mapping/database program is another. For all of those programs, and likely there are more in the same category, the computer owner needs to be able to send/receive files that will be compatible with the software the majority of other users are using and I don't think there are equivalent programs for in Ubuntu yet. Those are their business or work programs, and if any virus gets into their computers, it will stop their work and cripple their business.
For those people, Ubuntu is even more important than it is for the rest of us, because they can use Ubuntu for all internet uses and avoid exposing Windows to any viruses. They can save their Windows for using the vital business/work programs only.

That's why I recommend Ubuntu for all home use.

[zwdev]

most has been said;

Have a look at this for more pointers. In regard to HD-DVD's and Blu-Ray, you can indeed watch them in Ubuntu with a little effort.

http://ubuntulinuxhelp.com/switching-from-xp-to-linux-should-you/

[tracey__]

Thanks ever so much for the replies; they will benefit me greatly!

[zakany]

"Which Operating System is most suitable for home use - Windows XP or Ubuntu?"

Your question seems much to open-ended to be answered in a definitive manner.