New Starter of Linux

@gcbeldar, If you just want to explore all the Linux distros for the initial selection, you may do so by using VMplayer on Windows and the corresponding Linux virtual appliances..

^^ but then you dont need to install an antivirus in linux . why waste precious system resources just trying to save your pc , nonsense

??? Didn't get you

you dont need A/V's in linux as you would in windows . in windows you have to install a software which hogs up resources just to protect your machine

You must ask in forums rather than wasting your time googling Also Terminal is of no importance now for newbies.. though experts/enthusiasts prefer terminal..
Newbie can install applications using GetDeb - Software you want | http://www.cnr.com/ | Standards/One Click Install - openSUSE | Linux Mint

To all TE,

I am New to TE's, I learned a lot from TS's. I am very much Thankful to All TE's. Thanks to Vishal Rao.

thanks to me? what'd i do??? you're welcome

What TS's ?

gcbeldar, do post back your experience with linux when you're done

Sorry TE's not TS

okay here are my experiences


UBUNTU is WOW!!!!

i used xp like all mortals here.. soon i found out that i was not using xp
BUT XP WAS USING ME!

well here's how.
1. antivirus software->hogs cpu cycles , updates itself everyday. if u don't have it on a windows pc then god save u.

2. antispyware -> earlier not necessary but now a days spywares are so advanced that simple antivirus wont serve u. u need to keep ur pc "immunized" using ad aware or spybot or advanced windows care.then to make antispyware scans i used "spyware terminator". which again needs updating regularly.

3. hips -> extremely important since last two years. without this new kind of Trojans will go undetected by above two utilities. i used comodo firewall 3(best IMHO). man if u are a newbie and if u screw up a policy then then u may cripple an application or whole pc. and those annoying popups when it is "learning" an app. on a windows pc it is now very important to have hips in age of usb trojans etc. again it keeps running in background and hogs cpu cycle.

4. defraggers-> some may say it is not necessary now a days in ntfs partitions. but let me tell u . if u have large unpartitioned space , ur programmes and winxp files will be sooner or later pushed to slower edges of hd.again people say it is not much of a difference, but in long run it will. remember compound interest? it will double itself in 35 years and not in 50 years as we expect.so weekly defrag is a must.

5. registry cleaners-> people say registry is the worst computing idea ever. if registry is messed up then whole pc is gone. upon regular use registry gets filled up with all the useless data-> mru's etc. and for those of us who install and uninstall programmmes regularly , our registries soon become dirtier than yamuna in delhi. thus registry cleaners are a must. needless to say no single registry cleaner is perfect and more u use more cleaning u get. and not to forget that one bad operation on ur registry can render ur app useless(sometimes even reinstall doesn't help)


6. apps-> needless to say people will rarely use microsoft only apps on os .
here are other freeware apps that i use regularly
a. firefox-> only one word is SMOOTH.with all those addons it is more addictive than charas/ganja i have never seen someone go back to ie .
b. openoffice-> my doc requirements are very less so open office was good and perfect for me.
c. mplayer-> best media player IMHO.plays all the file types easily unlike those codec packs which clutter ur xp windows system directories and registry like never before. i think unless u are ripping /encoding these codec packs are useless.thus switch to vlc/mplayer. but i like mplayer for its extreme efficiency(could play 720p smoothly on my pc when no other player could)
d. thunder bird-> again SMOOTH, advanced filtering . no more outlook express for me.
e. pigdin-> earlier i used google chat yahoo chat aol etc etc. then i found this genius pigdin , all in one wow.

AND NOW UBUNTU

1. now since i installed ubuntu on my all intel rig(e6550 , intel dg33fb 2 gb ram)everything has been smooth. intel opens up its specifications(igp , sata chipsets) thus it doesn't have to worry bout drivers , linux community makes it for itself. and man it was smooth.
thus to all linux newbies out there STICK TO ALL INTEL RIG!!!.( u can gofor nvidia chipset but then u will have to use those "NOT RECOMMENDED" closed source drivers , and presently amd/ati is no no for linux but i can see things improving in that arena)

2. no f6 hassels like in xp for AHCI mode. everything worked out of the box(igp , network card , ahci-sata2-ncq)

3. no endless drivers to install and update.

4. NO ANTIVIRUS ->there are only handful of linux viruses and too are not see in the "wild"so u will not get a linux virus unless u compile it and install it urself.

4. NO FIREWALL-> default ubuntu install has no ports opened"unlike windows rpc's). well u can use iptables or its firestarter frontend just to satisfy urself.

5. NO HIPS-> again linux security policy more robust than vista's user control or hips softwares . it will automatically ask u admin password when u are bout to something critical to ur system.

6. NO ANTISPYWARE->partly because i get softs from trusted repositories and partly because of inherent linux security.

7. NO DEFRAGGERS-> u can debate bout it for days that linux(i mean ext3 or reiser) need defrag of not. well u can google bout why linux doesn't need defragment. debates apart i have found that my linux system works at same speed , efficiency as it did when i made its fresh install.

8. MORE STABILITY->all microsoft oses especially non servers ones(vista/xp/98) suffer from one gr8 flaw - bad memory management. u boot up windows , start an application and the n close it , even then it doesn't feel like when u booted it. that is why we never get "fresh boot" feeling and responsiveness in windows. thus is why there is a HUGE market for those memory cleaners and defraggers. if u dont trust me then try not restarting ur pc for a few days.

that is the reason why linux server performance is always greater than microsoft oses.

9. NO REBOOTS-> unless u upgrde ur kernel , there is absolutely no need to restart ur linux box when u update /install a programme. we don't have such luxury in windows.

10. SMOOTH UPDATES->ubuntu biggest plus point , synaptic package manager.microsoft update can only update os patches. then we have different updating services in widows for ll different apps(antivirus , java office , etc etc.) in ubuntu all updates are handled from one point. SIMPLY PAINLESS.

11.ULTIMATE WAY TO INSTALL->just goto synaptic manager , search for say burning and u get genomebaker . just click on it and give admin password and u are done!!!. unlike windows no downloading software ,then all stupid steps to install it giving it directories and file types etc etc, and not to mention those alerts by hips when /after u install a new app.
also these packages are opensource(thus no virus/trojan)and given to us by trusted repositories , we trust them fully. and we never seem to get an adware in linux. also all the apps get installed in their respective directories and get into their own place in "start menu" ->no clutter!

12. DESKTOP EFFECTS WOW!!-> well vista needs u to upgrade ur system to see this puny aero interface. well am enjoying compiz desktop effects and my god it puts vista to shame. see for urself

13. EVOLVING QUALITY-> open source is the only arena where newer version of software can turn out to be faster than previous versions(never heard of this in mcsoft) last time gtk optimizations allowed all gtk apps (like gnome desktop) to increase performance by upto 10-15%.

14. HIGH QUALITY APPS->all the apps i was using were linux native apps ported to windows - firefox, thunderbird,openoffice,pigdin,mplayer. i get same apps here!!! no change , no learning curve.

15. gnome-> again wow. simplest, minimalistic and functional(and thus very efficient).it is the cleanest desktop experience u will ever get.


i am buzy now i will add to my post later. bye

^^ nice post

For freshers I would suggest that they install the linux os in a MS Virtual PC or VMWare. both are free. I mainly use vmware.

by the way of vmware, you can use linux as well as play games whenever you like. without rebooting the system and crapping the hdd by partitioning etc... most of the times, 512MB of ram is enough for running any flavour of linux. and you can play with multiple flavours at a time.

^^ Qemu is the best for beginners , no hassles

Actually an OS like Ubuntu is very easy to use. The points stated by main_trouble are correct. If still an user is afraid of using linux, then buying a distribution with a hard copy documentation is recommended. Having said that the help and support section in most distros is top notch.