UNIX for Dummies Questions & Answers

I am buying Netbook as a travel laptop computer. I will use it for watching DIVX movies, word processing, spreadsheets, surfing the net, ETrade stock trading. That's about it, no games other than texas holdem. BTW I'm a Z/OS developer that works on UNIX some of the time, but i'm useless without manuals. So Linux will help me (force) to learn.

Should i get Linux or XP?

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Despite that this is a Unix forums I am going to say that Windows XP is a better option. Power control works a lot better in windows and so you will get better life from your battery. Also Microsoft office is the de-facto standard for word processing and spreadsheets so you will probably interoperate better with most people in office formats.

I am a big fan of UNIX and Linux, and even now, I am typing from my Mac OS X giant desktop. I also use XP every day (laptop) and Linux (server).

If the choice is only between Linux and XP, and your primarily applications are Microsoft Office apps, then XP is a great choice.

If you want to learn UNIX and get all the benefits of Microsoft Office, and enjoy multimedia, then I recommend you broaden your search and get a Mac OS X notebook.

With a Mac OS X notebook, you can have it all, UNIX, multimedia, Microsoft Office apps, and more.

When you buy a laptop and want to run linux DOUBLE check the wifi and ethernet hardware is supported.

I thought I spent alot of time researching my last laptop purchase but I didnt realize the wifi and ethernet was SO new it wasnt supported, even with NDIS. It is now supported and now I dual boot Ubuntu and Vista. There are some programs I use on windows and have to have it. If it wasnt for 1 or 2 programs I would completely run Linux.

Could you tell us what hardware you actually are considering? Most things that are called "netbook" seem to have a wimpy GPU and I would not expect them to do a good job viewing movies regardless of OS.

Is XP still an option? I thought that Microsoft pulled the plug on XP and now pushes Vista.

I guess until recently I may have agreed with you. However, I think the LimeBook from THTF, and which is specifically designed as a Linux Only machine makes a cracking little netbook, with a lovely LimeOS (distro) menu system. Really very good on both eyes and brain for those making the transition.

To your point on the subject of power management, the LimeBook can even run on AA batteries when needed, and has an extremely small watt footprint making it one of the greenest netbooks on the planet. Sounds like a toy, but it's not. It's got some wallop.

And although, as you say, Microsoft Office is the de-facto standard in word processing, I don't see how that in anyway detracts from the excellent achievements made in Open Office, and it's interoperability. To the extent that, although I work across continents, and share files and documents, hasn't caused me any major issues for a long time.

Just my thoughts.