Seriously thinking of running Linux Only

[Azakus]

I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS now for about 7 months, while dual-booting with Windows XP. At first, I was near even between them as I play games on Windows, and do general surfing on Linux. However, within the past few months, I've noticed that I don't really go on Windows at all any more. Actually, the last time I was on Windows was about 3 weeks ago, for some really mundane reason. So, I finally started to consider completely dumping Windows and running Ubuntu only. I'd love to hear any comments about anyone's own experiences finally dump Windows, or the one lone person screaming "DON'T DO IT!".

[dfreer]

DON'T DO IT!!!!



kay, that's done.

[mand0]

I've done it... I am still alive. I don't even miss the games anymore.

[GuitarHero]

It doesnt really matter unless you have some idealistic opposition to dual booting. It never hurts to keep windows on there in case you need to run a windows only app and dont have time to get it to work under wine(or if it doesnt work with wine). Just dont go on windows anymore. Its the same as being all linux, just with a backup plan.

[justin whitaker]

I'm Linux only, and I feel fine. I didn't even give up the games I was playing...but then I am a WoW addict, and that runs on toasters apparently. :D

[matt_risi]

Gonna have to vote with the "Don't Do It" crowd. Never hurts to have Windows around, plus you have the benefit of having a freedom of choice. Dual-boot is the ultimate solution, makes your computer that much more capable and robust!

[wuzzerd]

Go for it. I've never used it at home:D

[maniacmusician]

there are some decent games for linux as well, if you need to whet your appetite once in a while. Doom is great, Quake is great, Tremulous is good, Sauerbraten is good as well. there are a few others, those are off the top of my head.

I deleted Windows a while ago too, it's been fine. I have a windows VM that I never use unless I'm remotely troubleshooting someone that has Windows on their computer. But GuitarHero is right. It doesn't hurt to keep it around. Either shrink the partition down to a really small size or put it on a virtual machine. It'll be there if you need it, though you likely won't.

[BarfBag]

I've been using various Linux distros for over three years and still haven't been able to give Windows the boot. School requires that I have a Windows partition. Also, Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion is reason enough.

But if you can, I'd say go for it. Just make your home folder a separate partition. That way, if something goes wrong with the OS, your files are safe.

[karamba_kid]

I dumped MS Windows about a year ago and all is well. My reason was I needed the hard drive space and I never booted windows anyways.

[SishGupta]

I'm not a fan of the dual boot. In my eyes, I only have room for one operating system since I can't do true simultaneous booting. The hassle of restarting to get to another OS is just out of the question for me.

I run ubuntu full time on this machine.

[FoolsGold]

I run XP under VMWare; I think it's a waste to dedicate a whole partition just for something I'll use VERY rarely. This knocks out the idea of running games in the VM though, but games for Linux are plentiful if you know where to look (Urban Terror, Beyond the Red Line, Freespace 2, Enemy Territory, etc). You just have to get beyond the idea the only games people play are Counter-Strike/Battlefields.

As far as I'm concerned, this counts as a Linux-only system.

[grte]

If you haven't even booted into it in three weeks, all it's doing is taking up hard disk space. Ditch it.

[PatrickMay16]

I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS now for about 7 months, while dual-booting with Windows XP. At first, I was near even between them as I play games on Windows, and do general surfing on Linux. However, within the past few months, I've noticed that I don't really go on Windows at all any more. Actually, the last time I was on Windows was about 3 weeks ago, for some really mundane reason. So, I finally started to consider completely dumping Windows and running Ubuntu only. I'd love to hear any comments about anyone's own experiences finally dump Windows, or the one lone person screaming "DON'T DO IT!".

What's the point. Just keep windows in case you need it some time, or get rid of it if you need the disk space for something else. What's the big deal about 'making the switch'. Does it matter what you use? Just use what gets the job done, and get rid of windows if you don't need it or if you feel like getting rid of it.

[LookTJ]

I've done it... I am still alive. I don't even miss the games anymore.I have to say this too.

[use a name]

I dumped MS Windows about a year ago and all is well. My reason was I needed the hard drive space and I never booted windows anyways.

Indeed. No reason to delete it if you do not need the space.

[Spr0k3t]

I went cold turkey in January as something I gave up for new years.

All my base are belong to Linux. You are on your way to destruction. You have no chance to survive make your time. Zig

[adam.tropics]

If windows forms part of your realistically thought out backup plan (which I suppose requires the consideration of what you use your computer(s) for), then keep it, why not, you paid for it! But if you are confident enough with Linux, to be able to deal with whatever problems may come your way, be that through personal knowledge, forums or whatever, then ditch it. Ditched a while ago now, loved every minute of it, plus the added bonus that nobody tries to borrow my laptop anymore, which can't be bad!

[anaconda]

I have windows in VMWare only. Actually I have 3 windows images. win98, win2000 and XP. Each fit to one DVD so If I need the space I can easily delete them from the hd...

I dont use them very often. havent used them for atleast a month now, but they might be handy to have around sometime.

[adam.tropics]

...
I dont use them very often. havent used them for atleast a month now, but they might be handy to have around sometime.

..and that, in a nutshell, is how you make windows sound like the distant elderly relative, that nobody really likes, but we keep on life support so we can roll them out for weddings and funerals as required!

[coxy]

I had Windows on my laptop until I tried Debian Etch on the seperate partition last night. That is something I won't be doing again in a hurry! There still seems to be little hardware support in Debian for the laptop, it couldn't even setup my wired network card.

Anyway, I have not booted Windows for months and when I do it's a nightmare because it starts to install updates x, y & z for programs a, b & c. I have to wait 30 minutes before it can be used. With the release of Feisty my laptop will be a Kubuntu only system with a VM Ware XP session just in case.

My vote is scrap Windows and have the VM Ware session available so if in the event you need Windows you have something that can be used.

[jlk]

I recently found a second reason to retain my XP partition; I keeps the security wienies happy at airports. Seeing Ubuntu boot up might make them think you are a terrorists.

Oh yes, the first reason; I allows me to run U3_UNINSTALL.EXE

[eentonig]

I haven't got any Windows anymore at home. And I don't miss it.

I was a bit scared when I decided to erase that last XP partition, even if I never used. The only times I still get in to contact with XP is at work where I'm not allowed to use Linux. (Allthough we do have a Workstation with XDMCP shared amongst a few colleagues.)

[kramer65]

Hi,

I have a dual boot and for now I'm not getting rid of my windows. As much as I would like to ditch it, it is for now impossible since I need to hand in papers and do presentations for my university. Now you can say that openoffice also creates .doc files. However, they are always just that tiny little bit different when viewed in MS word, that i just cannot take the risk.
As for presentations.. I don't want to make a presentation in OOo and then the next day do my presentation on a university computer and mix things up because the presentation doesn't display exactly as I want/expect it to..

I am just waiting for my university to switch to open standards. But I don't think I will be around anymore then, since I'm in the last year of my master...

I am thinking of setting up a little company. If I will, I will definitly run everything on ubuntu.. :D

Linux is the future for sure!

[FoolsGold]

Hi,

I have a dual boot and for now I'm not getting rid of my windows. As much as I would like to ditch it, it is for now impossible since I need to hand in papers and do presentations for my university. Now you can say that openoffice also creates .doc files. However, they are always just that tiny little bit different when viewed in MS word, that i just cannot take the risk.
As for presentations.. I don't want to make a presentation in OOo and then the next day do my presentation on a university computer and mix things up because the presentation doesn't display exactly as I want/expect it to..

I am just waiting for my university to switch to open standards. But I don't think I will be around anymore then, since I'm in the last year of my master...

I am thinking of setting up a little company. If I will, I will definitly run everything on ubuntu.. :D

Linux is the future for sure!
Is it be possible for your Uni to accept PDFs for the papers you submit? They'll be seen exactly the same no matter what the platform, and besides, they're the industry standard to documents designed to be read and not modified anyway. Everyone has PDF viewer of some sort, so (assuming the Uni allows it) you could get away with outputting your papers to PDF.

Just a suggestion. :)

[AndyCooll]

Well I'm in the Ubuntu only with an XP VMware image brigade.

I never use the XP image, but it's there just in case I might at some future stage need to (and besides, I've paid for it).

Like others who've commented in this thread, I too was wary at first. However, once I took the plunge I've never looked back.

Another option to consider, if you want to leave XP on the partition it's on but do away with dual-boot is to edit your grub list and hash out XP. That way, if you find for some reason you do need XP for a task you can always re-edit Grub and un-hash it.

The choice is yours.

:cool:

[stalker145]

To echo what's been said before:

If you have no reason to keep Winderz installed on your HDD, then I would suggest keeping it in a rather small and very basically installed VM.
I can fully understand the arguments for keeping Winderz. I have to keep a VM laying around if ever I want to log into my work e-mail via OWA (Outlook Web Access) or if I ever again take a computer course where I'm using Access Database. It stops there for me.
The last computer class I took (Introduction to Computers) turned out to be an introduction to MS Office, hence the MS DB fiasco... ugh. I ran the rest of the course doing .ppt and .doc through OOo with no one the wiser.

It's up to you and your decision after taking inventory of your needs and desires. My vote is to VM it.

[kazuya]

I dumped windows XP three years ago. I still have a dual-boot system amongst my other PC which my wife sometimes uses for schooling stuff. It does not hurt to have it there. I normally reinstall the XP or have XP there with FAT32 file system so I can easily move data from and to the windows partition for my wife.

I use windows only at the office as that is what they use at my workplace. The tasks we do here could be done better with a linux variant or distro..

I say run Linux only if you choose. I do my banking related stuff on my linux machines. I trust that more than the supposedly secure work XP installs...

Keep that one windows to at least test the ability of my new distro to detect the XP install as well as other OSes. This is for testing purpose ofcourse for me. But for someone else, having XP is like having yet another option in case there is absolutely a new app that someone asks you to try out that was only designed for XP and wine, crossover, or cedega would not help..

I am totally windows free for everything.

[tehkain]

I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS now for about 7 months, while dual-booting with Windows XP. At first, I was near even between them as I play games on Windows, and do general surfing on Linux. However, within the past few months, I've noticed that I don't really go on Windows at all any more. Actually, the last time I was on Windows was about 3 weeks ago, for some really mundane reason. So, I finally started to consider completely dumping Windows and running Ubuntu only. I'd love to hear any comments about anyone's own experiences finally dump Windows, or the one lone person screaming "DON'T DO IT!".I am in the same boat except I have been using ubuntu for a year or so as my primary. My issue was and still is I am an avid PC gamer. So I decided to keep a XP(vista once dx10 games come out but dont worry I got my copy for free from MS) installed on my drive for gaming. At the moment I am not involved heavily in any games since the current game market is in a bit of a limbo(no hardcore MMOs).

So my point is: Why not just keep the windows install and never use it unless that one reason comes along. One positive is that the xp install will be fast(for windows) since you only need you basics for gaming and such.

I myself will only be using it for pirates of the burning seas when that releases.

[bcmiller]

I found that keeping my XP partition around was a crutch. Once I formatted and ran Ubuntu only I figured out how to do the things I thought I needed windows for. I did pay for XP and some features of Ubuntu and linux in general are not ready for primetime. Mainly no voicechat web chat in pidgin (formerly Gaim).

So I installed VirtualBox and XP and it's a breeze. If I need it I can have it full screen on my fourth Desktop. I amazed my friend the other day by swinging the beryl cube around to a fast full functioning XP install. Another bonus was that I don't have to reboot and I share the printers for my house from my computer.

It's not an answer for games but it's perfect if you must have Excel, Word and PowerPoint. I don't need them since OO and Google Docs take care of my basic needs.

[tehkain]

Bcmiller check out Jabbin. It does Gtalk VOIP.

If you not a gamer dump XP, but if you are then seriously consider keeping it and ONLY using it as a gaming layer. I guess I am lucky since I got the multiple PCs to surf on(GNU/Linux of course) while playing games. Also Wine and all those things are great choices but are a per game venture. Xp is not a crutch if you are using it only as a gaming environment.

[daynah]

At first you may miss your games... but then you'll start to miss your linux games. Right now I'm at work on windows and I'm craving Amarok (yeah I can plug my mp3 player to the speakers but that wont have a gui and wont send things to last.fm WILL IT BOSS HUH) and I really, really, wanna play some Planeshift. And some Supertux. Okay, I can't play supertux because I'm at work, not because it's linux only, because it's cross platform.

But you'll miss your linux. Last night I also just installed Celestia and I didn't get near enough time to fiddle with it. :(

... man I wanna go home.

[igknighted]

I have too many linux OS's on my computer to worry about saving space for an also-ran like Windows :). I have never been a serious gamer, but I have Sauerbraten and AlienArena on my computer for those times I do get the urge. I would say ditch it, you can always reinstall it or create a VM if something comes up where you ABSOLUTELY need it. I think the feeling of "getting the monkey off your back" is great.

[lucia_engel]

I keep Windows around for peripheral hardware support.

Webcam, printer, scanner, digital camera. It takes time to find the right driver for them if they aren't automatically detected. Even if drivers are available, sometimes they were unstable or lack certain functions.

I also keep it for times when my family or friends need me to troubleshoot hardware or software problems.

If you have no problems with hardware/peripherals at all and you don't play Windows games or rely on Windows only software, then go ahead.

There's also a chance of a buggy update or messed up settings that requires you to look up answers using another OS if you don't have another computer.

[Rutabega]

I "lost" windows about two years ago. I was experimenting with SUSE at the time, and I was a little hasty and so decided to delete my windows partition, as I didn't really think I'd need windows. I was wrong, but low and behold I didn't make a master back-up disc of the OEM, so I was basically left in the lurch. I couldn't fathom out SUSE whatsoever especially updating, and YAST was a complete pain for me, also I was without the internet for one whole year. I recently switched to Ubuntu and everything is absolutely great. Synaptic package manager is a real joy.

[Pikestaff]

As you've probably gathered from the responses, there are pros and cons to both dual-booting and going Linux only. I'm currently going Linux only, mainly because my WinXP died on me right before I was going to turn it into a dual-boot with Kubuntu and I figured "Oh what the heck, let's go full Linux"

I have to say my experience with pure Linux has been mostly positive. There are a few minor things that I wish I had Windows for-- scanner support, recording support (for some reason I can't get my microphone to record stuff in Kubuntu, though Skype works fine), certain games. But I can live without those things, and most of the games I like do run quite well for me on Wine.

Overall I'd say I spend considerably more time being glad I didn't dual boot than wishing I had. I feel like if I still had Windows around I wouldn't feel quite so free... but maybe that's just me.

[kramer65]

Is it be possible for your Uni to accept PDFs for the papers you submit? They'll be seen exactly the same no matter what the platform, and besides, they're the industry standard to documents designed to be read and not modified anyway. Everyone has PDF viewer of some sort, so (assuming the Uni allows it) you could get away with outputting your papers to PDF.

Just a suggestion. :)

Indeed an idea. But I am normally also working for about 6-7 weeks on a project with a project group. We have to exchange files and work on it constantly. I cannot send them odt files since they all only have ms office, and again, sending them a .doc file which marks up differently everytime you switch it between OOo en MS office is just annoying. So maybe I would be able to hand in the final last version of the report in pdf, but it wouldn't matter a lot since its also the process in which it needs to be aligned.

The only ways for me to use ubntu for the uni is when either the uni switches to open standards, or the integration of OOo en MS office becomes perfect..

This is actually why I think that Ubuntu has to focus their marketing efforts (I'm doing a master in marketing.. ;-)) towards schools and universities. This is why I already think that edubuntu is so smart (haven't used it by the way) to get people to grow up with it. I just think there should be some more marketing towards universities.
Are there people (from cannonical ltd for example) touring around universities to offer their system and services. Because for uni's, I know that customer service and setting up help and so on are really important. If things go wrong, they need to be up and running whitin hours again.
Example; the other day, the printer server of the University Library went down. It was a chaos whitin an hour. People wanting to print and not getting their exams and learning stuff out. Huge lines. Angry students all over. However, we had support pretty quick and the problem was solved. Are services like this also possible for ubuntu?

I also think that the marketing should START with the education system. Companies will not switch so quick since they need to communicate (send over fiels etc) to other companies. In the business world there is not a governing organisation. In the student world we need to exchange files as well, but we DO have a governing organisation (the university) who can tell us all to use one or the other. If students learn to use it during their study, it is highly likely they will keep it in the future or at least promote the idea in the company they're going to work. I would just wait for the next LTS to come out (also important for universities.. how long it is supported) and then market it heavily to expecially universities and colleges..

We'll see whats gonna happen!

[TVMA]

I say.. ... DO EET.

I've been running Linux exclusively for about a year and a half now. I used to game too, but you know what I do now? I play games on my PS2, and XBOX 360 FTW. I prefer console gaming, so I guess it's a win win situation for me.

I say go ahead and install vmware server, it's free, keep an image "just in case" and free up your disk space hombre!

cheers..

[Azakus]

WOW. Thanks for the feedback everybody. I honestly wasn't expecting this many pages of replies. I think I've decided on keeping a Windows partition, but I've begun installing all of my games through WINE (I really only use Steam and Guild Wars, which both work very well).

[samjh]

I suggest gradually phasing out Windows as you become more familiar with Linux.

My current installation of Linux has been the sole OS on my computer for the past two months. No worries. I dual-booted for three months before that, slowing moving stuff over, finding replacement software, etc.

The only thing really missing from Linux is games, and easy multimedia. There are some good media software for Linux, as long as the codecs are available (99% of them are available if you Google hard enough). Games are harder to come by, but they exist, although usually of lesser quality and quantity than the huge number of AAA titles for Windows.

[Incense]

My vote is also for VMware. I never really understood the point of dual booting. Why even use Linux if you are going to just go visit windows every now and then. Don't make Ubuntu feel like the other women. Just commit and role with it. I treat windows as a program, and when I need to run it, I'll start it up just as I would any other program. I shouldn't have to kill my whole system though just to run it. If I needed windows that bad, then I don't think I'd really need Ubuntu.

[igknighted]

My vote is also for VMware. I never really understood the point of dual booting. Why even use Linux if you are going to just go visit windows every now and then. Don't make Ubuntu feel like the other women. Just commit and role with it. I treat windows as a program, and when I need to run it, I'll start it up just as I would any other program. I shouldn't have to kill my whole system though just to run it. If I needed windows that bad, then I don't think I'd really need Ubuntu.

If his big thing is games, what does VMWare gain? I understand where you are coming from... leaving windows reinforces bad habits and discourages users from really giving OSS apps a chance (like those users who just cannot leave their pirated copies of MS Office and Photoshop behind). But if you have a very specific purpose (say you are an engineer and need CAD, or a gamer) I understand leaving a dual boot. If you keep it around JIC and don't actually use it, and you have more than enough HD space, theres no harm in leaving it. But if you use it like I mentioned above as a crutch that keeps you from really using linux, then pick a side... go back to windows or make the leap.

[sloggerkhan]

I dumped windows. Cut down on the time I wasted on games. Now I use wine. Turns out it works with my favorite old-school games anyhow. (BGII, Deus Ex, DoTA (WCIII)).....

So I don't think you'll miss much.

[DoubleQuadword]

In my opinion, if games are the only thing that keeps you away from doing that then it's up to you to decide. I once had dual-booting with Windows XP, but finally dumped windows off of my machine (by the way I don't regret it) because I was wasting so much precious disk space. Now, if games constitute an important matter in your daily life, then I would recommend you to consider it more deeply before attempting to do anything. (Just to avoid losing 45-50 minutes of your day trying to reinstall M$-Window$).

Despite that, when it comes to non-substantial issues, (without any offensive intentions), it's up to the user to decide that. Many people left Windows (for what I've read in this thread), and are actually 'still alive'.

Best regards and luck to you. :)

[raul_]

I also kept Windows for the gaming reason, but i realized i don't use it for months...i really don't miss the games. But that's just me. I still keep it though. Sometimes i need windows programs for college works (like PovRay or Cortona) but i always end up taking 2 hours to find a decent Linux alternative :)

[valkarin]

I got a second hand laptop that had XP on it. I used it for a year and then won a computer that had no OS on it. It being a spare, I installed Ubuntu on it. Two weeks later, and I had given the laptop to my daughter.

She never uses it. She's always playing on my computer. Sigh...

[dspari1]

I've been using Ubuntu as my primary OS now for about 7 months, while dual-booting with Windows XP. At first, I was near even between them as I play games on Windows, and do general surfing on Linux. However, within the past few months, I've noticed that I don't really go on Windows at all any more. Actually, the last time I was on Windows was about 3 weeks ago, for some really mundane reason. So, I finally started to consider completely dumping Windows and running Ubuntu only. I'd love to hear any comments about anyone's own experiences finally dump Windows, or the one lone person screaming "DON'T DO IT!".

The only game that I play nowadays is WoW anyways, and since Cedega 6.0 came out, I haven't had the need to log into windows; thus I deleted my windows partition a few days ago and haven't had the need to do so.

[zoetrope666]

Windows is OK for burning.. but I guess we (my partner & I) could learn about burning on Ubuntu but we haven't got around to it yet. For work-related tasks I find I need Windows.. but only because of formatting issues. We use Macs at work, and on those we run MSWord. I find that OpenOffice doesn't open files I'm working on in MSWord flawlessly enough to be suitable for work - where quality control is important and formatting of documents needs to be perfect. I can't really risk it.

Or at least, that's what I thought. MSWordXP died completely on my XP partition today, so that belief is now a little flawed. I had tried to run MSWord in Linux using CrossOver Office before, and found it ran really slow. However, today, MSWord on Ubuntu ran really well, and read my documents clearly (compared to Windows, which was scrambling them in to some kind of alienspeak).

I'm pretty much finished with Windows I think. As someone else has said on here, it just uses up way too much HD space to warrant keeping a dual boot setup if I'm not using it anymore.

Interesting, too, is that the response time on Ubuntu is super fast on all my computers when compared to Windows. My boyfriend has a dualboot setup on his Acer PC. It has even higher specs than my laptop, and Ubuntu runs like a dream on it. Windows, however, literally chokes up on itself. You can barely open up the start menu without it slowing down, seeming to get clogged with work. And we're not talking about an abused computer here - we're talking about a PC that has maintenance frequently performed on it.

A good analogy between Ubuntu and Windows, that came to mind today, is the difference between a coal-fired train and an electric train.. much less smoggy, quieter, and a hell of a lot easier to run.

[b4k4]

I used to dual boot win98 and Mandrake 7.1. That must have been around 2000. About a year later, I dumped the win to give me more space. I have only bought bare-bones systems since then, and I install all kinds of Linux on them. It was a great relief to be free at last. I don't worry about breaking my systems. I keep my data safe, then do what I want.
After all, whose computer is it - yours or microsofts?