win 7 pro or win 8.1

[whs]

I run all my Linux systems in VMware Player or from the stick. I hate double booting. It is such a mess with the Grub and difficult to backup.

For the virtual systems, I just copy the VMware folder and in 2 minutes I have an 'image'. And for the sticks I have a little imaging program running in Windows 7 that works well.

Have a look at my series of tutorials for running systems side by side in VMware Player.

 

[BJB]

I won't dual boot Windows and Linux either - chalk and cheese and can sometimes lead to serious issues later. I do like to play with Linux systems though, and using Grub4DOS as boot manager I can simply park a live CD ISO on a stick or somewhere on my hard disk and boot it straight from the Grub4DOS boot menu, no installation or CDs required. Of course if I ever decided to take Linux really seriously I would, as whs does, do so in a VM or fully install it on its own, i.e. not in a Windows dual boot.

 

[whs]

Am I right in the assumption that Grub4DOS does not give you a persistent system - meaning that settings you made (e.g. screensize or desktop background picture) are not being kept.

 

[BJB]

Persistence depends on the chosen distro, Grub4DOS merely boots the ISO. Puppy Linux for instance creates and maintains a secondary file containing all updates and customisation and looks for it on each boot. You can also remaster the ISO to include the file's contents. I'm hoping to find the time to look at how other distros handle this.

 

[SundRance]

Useful information. Thanks.

 

[radracing]

well I have window 7 home on the two computers I built from bottom up and just learning about win 7 how. thinking about adding win pro just to see what the difference is I'm learning what I can about win 7 home I'm new at this and don't know the difference between the 2. upgrading one of them to see difference is ? Maybe I should learn more about win 7 home first before doing anything ????

 

[SundRance]

I went with Ultimate before I learned Professional also includes 'XP Mode'. XP Mode wasn't all I hoped it to be, but I've stuck with 'Professional'. I am unsure how the Professional version stacks up to the Home version. There's a comparison chart around somewhere ... Just saw it here on the forums somewhere.

whs, thanks for the link. I will certainly check out that resource.

Ahhh, gregrocker's link earlier in this very thread:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/14422-compare-windows-7-editions.html

 

[matts6887]

I would definitely go with win 7. I have gone with win 7 ultimate for my system and so far i like it. Windows 7 i feel is much better than 8 as like one of the others mentioned earlier in this thread; it is optimized much more so for the newer touch screen systems.

 

[TanyaC]

I am running a few Linux distros on the side (in virtual or from a stick) and some of them are really nice. But the learning curve is a lot steeper then e.g. moving fro 7 to 8.1.

I haven't had that experience. I actually found learning the Linux distros to be much quicker and significantly less infuriating than trying to learn windows 8.x and find things, get rid of the crApps (as gregroker so eloquently put it).

I installed over a dozen Windows 8 machines and almost tore my hair out. The list of frustrations is longer than my knee-high boots. With Linux, there was very little that didn't work first time, and if it didn't, I found no lack of support for resolving the matters.

Nope. As far as I'm, concerned, stay clear of Windows 8.x. If you have to upgrade, at least use an OS that ain't gonna let you down and drive you mad.

And those who like Windows 8 must already be mad.
(That's intended to be humor - so don't get upset).

Tanya

 

[whs]

If you pick the right Linux distro (e.g. Mint Mate), it can be relatively easy. But if you pick the wrong one (e.g. Fedora), you are in for a lot of learning.

But the first challenge is to find a distro that suits you. There are by far to many for the uninitiated to digest. So many newcomers default to Ubuntu which (since Unity) is a dog.

The main problem is that there are many things that you are used to do easily with Windows programs becomes a challenge. Very often you don't find suitable programs or they are rather difficult to use - example Gimp.

I am still trying to install VMware Player on my big stick Mint and was unseccessful up to now. In Windows that takes 5 minutes. Also the choices of media players is rather reduced and video editing programs are also rare. So the Linux world is not that bright.

If you have simple requirements (mail, web and office), it is easy. But as soon as you want to do more advanced stuff, it gets rather difficult and you are quickly in Terminal which I dread.

 

[Nigsy]

. Also the choices of media players is rather reduced and video editing programs are also rare. So the Linux world is not that bright.

Not sure about other distros but I run openSUSE as my main OS; it has about 10 media players in the repository and comes with 3 installed as part of the OS (Yes you do need to add the packman repo to get MP3 and a few other goodies) as for video editing...you get Cinerlerra and Kdenlive as standard, but Avidmux etc all in the repository and the best bit....all FREE!!
Remember these are installed/available with the OS. How many does Windows come with?? (Rhetorical) it comes with WMP..probably the worst media player out there.

I would steer clear from dual boot; if you get it wrong you'll screw the MBR and/or Grub and be in a world of hurt. VM is by far the best way to go; but if you are looking to just try a linux distro they nearly all run from a 'Live CD'. Also stay clear of Ubuntu...it's a mess. Mint ir SUSE with Kde desktop is the way to go.

 

[brucecadieux]

If you pick the right Linux distro (e.g. Mint Mate), it can be relatively easy. But if you pick the wrong one (e.g. Fedora), you are in for a lot of learning.

The main problem is that there are many things that you are used to do easily with Windows programs becomes a challenge. Very often you don't find suitable programs or they are rather difficult to use - example Gimp.

I am still trying to install VMware Player on my big stick Mint and was unseccessful up to now. In Windows that takes 5 minutes. Also the choices of media players is rather reduced and video editing programs are also rare. So the Linux world is not that bright.

If you have simple requirements (mail, web and office), it is easy. But as soon as you want to do more advanced stuff, it gets rather difficult and you are quickly in Terminal which I dread.

Such, misinformation is not only not helpful, but is simply wrong. I am not sure where you get this misinformation, but I highly recommend you look into things a little better before spreading such FUD.

The gimp is powerful, it is as easy to use as any other advanced image editing program, easier in many instances. Best of all you don't have to "pay" to get that power.

VMware is as easy to install for me as a couple clicks of the mouse. In fact no more difficult than in any other operating system. Best of all there are so many pre-bult images that can be used built for free and freely available that it has no equal.

Media players are so abundant that the problem isn't the lack of media players the problem is discovering them all :lol: But the default player that is installed in the great majority of distributions plays far more formats then WMP, or Media Center could ever dream of playing. Of course the most popular that most people install would be VLC.

As for video editing well I currently have 4 editors installed. All available by accessing my package management system, and clicking them.

What I see as the common problem windows users have when using Linux is they go out looking for software on the Internet like they would have to do in windows, when all they have to do is open their package management system and install software right there, no scouring the net for add ridden, trialware crap, no nagware, no give us your information so we can spam you garbage, just easy to install, fully functioning software that works and far surpasses what is available for the broken glass systems.

 

[BJB]

mmm....how NOT to make friends and influnce ppl

 

[whs]

If you pick the right Linux distro (e.g. Mint Mate), it can be relatively easy. But if you pick the wrong one (e.g. Fedora), you are in for a lot of learning.

The main problem is that there are many things that you are used to do easily with Windows programs becomes a challenge. Very often you don't find suitable programs or they are rather difficult to use - example Gimp.

I am still trying to install VMware Player on my big stick Mint and was unseccessful up to now. In Windows that takes 5 minutes. Also the choices of media players is rather reduced and video editing programs are also rare. So the Linux world is not that bright.

If you have simple requirements (mail, web and office), it is easy. But as soon as you want to do more advanced stuff, it gets rather difficult and you are quickly in Terminal which I dread.

Such, misinformation is not only not helpful, but is simply wrong. I am not sure where you get this misinformation, but I highly recommend you look into things a little better before spreading such FUD.

The gimp is powerful, it is as easy to use as any other advanced image editing program, easier in many instances. Best of all you don't have to "pay" to get that power.

VMware is as easy to install for me as a couple clicks of the mouse. In fact no more difficult than in any other operating system. Best of all there are so many pre-bult images that can be used built for free and freely available that it has no equal.

Media players are so abundant that the problem isn't the lack of media players the problem is discovering them all :lol: But the default player that is installed in the great majority of distributions plays far more formats then WMP, or Media Center could ever dream of playing. Of course the most popular that most people install would be VLC.

As for video editing well I currently have 4 editors installed. All available by accessing my package management system, and clicking them.

What I see as the common problem windows users have when using Linux is they go out looking for software on the Internet like they would have to do in windows, when all they have to do is open their package management system and install software right there, no scouring the net for add ridden, trialware crap, no nagware, no give us your information so we can spam you garbage, just easy to install, fully functioning software that works and far surpasses what is available for the broken glass systems.

If you find Gimp easy to use, I congratulate you for your skills. I use it since about 5 years and I am still using the only 2 functions I could figure out. It certainly is a powerful tool with a lot of function, but ease of use for a layman is different.

I know how to install VMware Player - in Windows. I have done that many times on different PCs. But on my big 128GB Mint Mate stick it does not seem to work. If you show me the couple of clicks it takes, I would be grateful.

On media players I stand corrected. I may not have searched enough. I was using VLC all the time.

Video editing is another story. Yes I use Avidemux and that is OK. But I need a lossless editor a la Machete and a filetype conversion program a la Format Factory with which I can crop videos.

Btw - I installed all my programs from the software center. I would not even know how to install a program that was downloaded from the web.

I currently have Mint Mate 16 and 14, Cinnamon, Mint KDE and Zorin running in VMware Player and Mint Mate 16 running from 3 different sticks.

Currently, the stick versions have all my attention. Took me a while to figure out how to increase the size of the Casper-rw file. Now that I succeeded, I ran into problems with the MOM

(daemon/ServAuthDir) is set to /var/lib/mdm but is not owned by user 114 and group 123.

If you Know how to fix that one, let me know.

 

[philandy]

Windows 8 may not be as compatible with your hardware. If you are a student, the tech department may have provided you free Windows keys for various versions. If you have that, you might as well do a dual boot.

However, Windows 8 changes windows about as much as 95 did. Lots to learn. If you don't have time to deal, go 7.