Poll

What kind of computer do you for this forum?

PC
38 (58.5%)
MAC
27 (41.5%)

Total Members Voted: 30

Author Topic: PC or Mac  (Read 81627 times)

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Willi

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #150 on: August 27, 2017, 01:47:46 AM »
Which should I try? (as a noob) So far, I like the sound of Fedora ;D
The most user friendly is Ubuntu. But it is really important the desktop enviroment. It depends if you have an old PC or a new one. In my opinion Gnoem3 is the most beautiful and practical Desktop enviroment, but if you have an old PC you can enjoy xfce or lxde. I mean, with more than an intel core i3 with 2 gb of ram you can run properly gnome 3.

So:
Here's the download link:
http://cdimage.ubuntu.com/ubuntu-gnome/releases/17.04/release/ubuntu-gnome-17.04-desktop-amd64.iso

Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #151 on: August 27, 2017, 03:34:34 AM »
I've used AntiX for years, Debian based, but I'm running Vuu-Do, Devuan based, & a straight Devuan now.

If you like Fedora, go with it, it's as good as any, the differences between the Linux distros is mainly their package managers.

If you liked 95/98/XP go with an LXDE or XFCE desktop, rather than Gnome or KDE, as they use less of your computers resources.
(Personally, I use a Window Manager. :) )

Offline SlideMeister

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #152 on: August 27, 2017, 11:24:38 AM »
Thanx willi
I'll download that. :)

Okay Keith,
Notebook is an i5 with 3Gb ram
desktop is an i7 with 6GB ram
old notebook is an AMD 6200 with 3GB
old Mac is a mini intel 166 w/2 gb ram

All these have problems but they all work. Both notebooks have bad displays, the i7 has a weird memory recognition glitch and the Mac is just old
what can I use with each of these machines

Le Chef

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #153 on: August 27, 2017, 11:30:00 AM »
I switched to Macs about 10 years ago because I was so sick of having to constantly run software to protect from viruses, ads, and trojans.

And Macs are better in that regard, but ...

I was going to say something negative about Apple, but let's just say I'm leaning to Linux from this point forward.

Offline Scotty

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #154 on: August 27, 2017, 11:37:27 AM »
oh my--I'm SO in over my head, here. You'all might as well be speaking (writing) in an entirely foreign language, lol.

(picked up on that 'fedora' though, AJ. Named for  you, no doubt?  ;D)

All I know is the Windows PC my husband buys for me - and then calls in a computer tech guy to save my files and fix when things go awry
(as they usually do).

My 28 year IT Manager husband learned and worked on Main Frames...knew Fortran and Cobol. When they switched to PC's he was left nearly
as much in the dark as me --so now resorts to calling up the 'experts' in India for help in the middle of the night, hahaha

If you think we're bad --I have friends who STILL haven't ever bought a computer and have no idea how to get online. The best they do is use a
smartphone for communication.

Remember -- we only began getting online in 1999 (at least I did). That isn't so long ago. Those of you who grew up in the computer age are
vastly more advanced than some of us. I realize I should have taken a class but could never find the time.

Elizabeth (scotty)

Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #155 on: August 27, 2017, 11:45:59 AM »
Your mini Mac will be your problem, because of the way Apple boots its Operating System, see online for how to install to that one.
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=Installing+linux+to+a+mac+mini&t=ffsb&ia=web

Quote
Notebook is an i5 with 3Gb ram
desktop is an i7 with 6GB ram
old notebook is an AMD 6200 with 3GB

Any of these should accept Linux without much bother. Use a 'live installable' version of your chosen distro, first try running it 'live' to check that all your computers components get recognized, i.e. if the desktop comes up, most everything will work when you install it.
Wifi is sometimes a problem, depending on whether the distro has included enough drivers, set it up whilst running 'live', & take a look online to make sure it works OK.

Back up all your (personal) files you want to keep to exterior media.

Next, if everything is OK, find & run the installation program. Accept the defaults. You should then remove the 'live' installation media & reboot into your new operating system. :)

EDIT: Regarding which distro - I would suggest AntiX, as I know it best.  http://antix.mepis.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
« Last Edit: August 27, 2017, 11:48:41 AM by Keith »

Willi

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #156 on: August 27, 2017, 02:00:24 PM »
I've used AntiX for years, Debian based, but I'm running Vuu-Do, Devuan based, & a straight Devuan now.

If you like Fedora, go with it, it's as good as any, the differences between the Linux distros is mainly their package managers.

If you liked 95/98/XP go with an LXDE or XFCE desktop, rather than Gnome or KDE, as they use less of your computers resources.
(Personally, I use a Window Manager. :) )
What windows manager do you use? For years I used a Debian installed from scratch with OpenBox.
I used to do all the work: First install the core Debian system (without any desktop enviroment), then intall xorg, configure manually the xinit file, then install OpenBox, slim as a session manager Thunar as a file manager, lxterminal... Hey, I even managed to adapt a script on python to have a window with a "shut down" and "reboot" buttons. That was REALLY lightweight. Nawadays I got lazy. And with the corei5 I have today I can run gnome 3 very smoothly and I really like it.
I know is a matter of personal taste. I used to use gnome 2 and when they upgraded to gnome 3 I got very angry. But now I think It was not so much that I did not like the idea of gnome 3 but the fact that in my old pc it was really slow and enoying.

pmelissakis

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #157 on: August 27, 2017, 02:13:26 PM »
Which should I try? (as a noob) So far, I like the sound of Fedora ;D

That's the problem (as well as advantage) with Linux. Too many Distros.

Lets hear from the Linux users, which distro do you use???


Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #158 on: August 27, 2017, 02:32:14 PM »

What windows manager do you use?

Usual choice is Fluxbox, (AntiX Full comes with several to choose from), Vuu-Do comes set up with Openbox, which is what I used to use on #! (Crunchbang), many years ago. :) It doesn't matter to me how powerful a machine is, I hate wasting resources.  ;D

Willi

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #159 on: August 27, 2017, 02:59:01 PM »

What windows manager do you use?

Usual choice is Fluxbox, (AntiX Full comes with several to choose from), Vuu-Do comes set up with Openbox, which is what I used to use on #! (Crunchbang), many years ago. :) It doesn't matter to me how powerful a machine is, I hate wasting resources.  ;D
I know the feeling. I started using Crunchbang for a few months before going on Debian with OpenBox, and the reason I abandoned Crunchbang for Debian was exactly that I want every little program installed in my machine, to be installed by me. No programs that I do not know they are there and maybe do not even need.
Maybe I give it a chance and try again. It's been a few years.

Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #160 on: August 27, 2017, 04:23:43 PM »
Maybe I give it a chance and try again. It's been a few years.
Suggest you give Vuu-Do a try. :)

Blowout

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #161 on: August 27, 2017, 07:02:04 PM »
I can't really vote in the survey, I use both Mac (Sierra) and Windows (10 Pro) for the forum.

Lets hear from the Linux users, which distro do you use???

At work I use lots of RHEL, my private servers are all Ubuntu now, but I used to have CentOS.


Willi

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #162 on: August 27, 2017, 09:45:48 PM »
Maybe I give it a chance and try again. It's been a few years.
Suggest you give Vuu-Do a try. :)
Wow! First time I read about Vuu-Do AND Devuan. Right now trying to understand the difference between Debian and Devuan.

Keith

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #163 on: August 28, 2017, 02:47:16 AM »
Devuan is basically Debian with systemd stripped out of everything. Some of us don't like the MS way of doing things, RedHat does, as they can make money out of fixing it. >:(

ECF

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #164 on: November 08, 2017, 09:54:32 PM »
Right now I'm writing on a surface pro 4 with windows 10 pro, it gives me the least number of problems, a while back i got into linux, I liked it even thought about trying Arch, but I found it took up too much time installing this or that, looking for the right drivers, ect. The biggest reason i don't use it much is compatibility, company email is thru Exchange, just couldn't get that to work, (issue with company servers and a dumb It guy) open source office suite's Libra, and Apache, are both good and can give Microsoft a run for the money, but again compatibility, I tried to send a complex matrix, in a spread sheet format to my boss, his software was a bit old so he couldn't open the file, ended up taking screen shots and resending as PNG files, only thing he could read.
So theres the problem Microsoft is everywhere, with a lot of people running older versions of their software, and it doesn't always like to play with others.
Simple solution, go back to windows get their office suite, Hey it's only money!

On the plus side working with linux taught me a lot of tricks to fix problems with windows, so time well spent.   

Keith

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #165 on: November 09, 2017, 03:37:39 AM »
OpenBSD was recently updated to 6.2, so I've just been checking it out again. ;)

(Still a good alternative, for me, should Linux fall foul to systemd.)

Willi

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #166 on: November 09, 2017, 07:28:55 AM »
Right now I'm writing on a surface pro 4 with windows 10 pro, it gives me the least number of problems, a while back i got into linux, I liked it even thought about trying Arch, but I found it took up too much time installing this or that, looking for the right drivers, ect. The biggest reason i don't use it much is compatibility, company email is thru Exchange, just couldn't get that to work, (issue with company servers and a dumb It guy) open source office suite's Libra, and Apache, are both good and can give Microsoft a run for the money, but again compatibility, I tried to send a complex matrix, in a spread sheet format to my boss, his software was a bit old so he couldn't open the file, ended up taking screen shots and resending as PNG files, only thing he could read.
So theres the problem Microsoft is everywhere, with a lot of people running older versions of their software, and it doesn't always like to play with others.
Simple solution, go back to windows get their office suite, Hey it's only money!

On the plus side working with linux taught me a lot of tricks to fix problems with windows, so time well spent.
A few years ago I installed ms office in linux via crossover. It worked and behaved in the user interface as if opening a regular application.

ECF

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #167 on: November 09, 2017, 08:57:23 AM »
You got micro soft germs on a linux distro, the hard core linux users are NOT happy with you! LoL.

Willi

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #168 on: November 09, 2017, 09:40:01 AM »
You got micro soft germs on a linux distro, the hard core linux users are NOT happy with you! LoL.
I was just experimenting. Wanted to try if I could make it work and it was easier than I expected.
I use not proprietary software nowadays except for the stuff that already comes with ubuntu and fedora. And when I use debian I only install the unrar package and the flashplugin-nonfree package.

pmelissakis

  • Guest
Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #169 on: November 09, 2017, 01:35:17 PM »
Right now I'm writing on a surface pro 4 with windows 10 pro, it gives me the least number of problems, a while back i got into linux, I liked it even thought about trying Arch, but I found it took up too much time installing this or that, looking for the right drivers, ect. The biggest reason i don't use it much is compatibility, company email is thru Exchange, just couldn't get that to work, (issue with company servers and a dumb It guy) open source office suite's Libra, and Apache, are both good and can give Microsoft a run for the money, but again compatibility, I tried to send a complex matrix, in a spread sheet format to my boss, his software was a bit old so he couldn't open the file, ended up taking screen shots and resending as PNG files, only thing he could read.
So theres the problem Microsoft is everywhere, with a lot of people running older versions of their software, and it doesn't always like to play with others.
Simple solution, go back to windows get their office suite, Hey it's only money!

On the plus side working with linux taught me a lot of tricks to fix problems with windows, so time well spent.

Ya gotta love Microsoft.  Whenever they update Windoze there is an updated office suite. The office update doesn't add much but it is not compatible with older versions, so if you have an older version of office you can not read files from the new version unless the person sending it uses a compatibility option, which they seldom do. So we are "encouraged" to update or to use free Open Office or Libra.

Offline Edward Brock

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #170 on: November 09, 2017, 01:50:35 PM »
After reading all this again I'm almost convinced I need to go back to Carrier Pigeons.
My 10-year-old Lenovo Laptop is still hanging on. If it dies I might too.
The idea of needing to buy another computer makes me dizzy & I start to break out
in a rash and start scratching.
My great-granddaughter asked me how I lived without computers before.
All I said was, I lived quite well thank you.

Offline Laina

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #171 on: November 09, 2017, 02:59:11 PM »
Although I've a Lenovo Ideapad on Windows10, my Huawei tablet running Android is my daily go to. So easy and fast to use with a brilliant 10" screen. It also fits on a music stand in portrait or landscape so is pretty handy for playing along with MuseScore or YouTube. Some limitations on available apps from Playstore but they seem to be improving availability all the time.
My phones are android too.

EZ-Slider

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #172 on: February 05, 2018, 09:16:23 PM »
I am a Linux creature all the way!

Offline SlideMeister

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #173 on: September 22, 2018, 01:29:54 PM »
Is there an easy way to actually install Ubuntu, Cinnamon, or whatever's the newest, coolest version on my PC without having to be some kind of hacker, or a computer geek?

I'd really like to try it, especially after learning that Windows 7 is going away and Windows 10, and even Mac IOX are getting even nosier than I thought they were was a couple months ago. 

Offline llumagsara

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #174 on: September 22, 2018, 05:37:03 PM »
ubuntu studio it's more creative friendly, for work with music programs better installing kxstudio repositories...
https://ubuntustudio.org/
you can install it without leave windows, so when start you can choose one of the two...  that gives you the advantage of a slowly learn...
for music i think it's better kxstudio, based in ubuntu 14 and waiting for 18 version...
https://kxstudio.linuxaudio.org/

you have a lot of free programs for the most part of the things, except some very special things, the ones that come with the software center are very easy to download install, the others have a install  learning curve...
and most of the programs have the same or near quality of the windows proffesional, and some that not have yet, have people working on them and making better every year...

the advantage is that when you don't know how to do something, only you have to ask in the net, see the answers and do it...

at the moment i don't want to return windows...

good health

Agustín

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Offline SlideMeister

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #175 on: September 22, 2018, 06:23:57 PM »
I have a notebook and an old i7 desktop in the works. The notebook I have is a lot of work to change the drive, so I think I'd like to install it first my "extra" computer.
Thanx for the link! :)

Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #176 on: September 23, 2018, 04:03:56 AM »
I'm not a fan of *buntu, but once you get your first taste of Linux, you'll wonder why you didn't use it before. ;)

I've been using Debian/Debian based distros since 1999, never had a Blue Screen of Death since. :)

Any software that works one one distribution ought to work on any other, as it is Linux & GNU software underneath all distros.

Most, you just image to a pendrive/thumbdrive, plug in & it will give you the option of trying it out running 'live' from the pendrive, or you install it to your machine, it's not rocket science, just follow the instructions. Most distros have their own forums, but if not, checkout Linux Questions - https://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/

Offline SlideMeister

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #177 on: September 23, 2018, 07:50:05 PM »
Well, I do have an old spare SSD (just a little 120 GB) and I will prolly just use that whole drive and not even worry abt the windows stuff. I think I may just want to try it on an old notebook that I can snap hard drives in and outta in abt 30 seconds flat.  8)

Keith

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #178 on: September 24, 2018, 04:15:41 AM »
I set my disks up with a (/) root partiion for the operating system, (most systems need 5GB or more, so add on a couple of GB for extra programs).

Swap partition, only if I have less than 1 GB ram, (or if you want to use hibernate on a laptop, double your actual amount of ram), & the rest of the disk for my /home for all my personal files.

Doing it this way gives you a safety net, if you mess up the operating system, you can just re install it to the system (/) root partition, leaving your /home safely on it's separate partition - but it's always good practice to back up your own personal data to an external drive, don't worry about the operating system, you can re install that any time, (or even change it).

Debian based, (& most other distros), will allow you to upgrade the system easily, unlike MSWindows, who will charge you & make your old system incompatible at times. :)

Offline SlideMeister

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Re: PC or Mac
« Reply #179 on: September 27, 2018, 09:39:21 PM »
Okay, I tried the studio version, then mint 18 somethin' and I think I'm running into a "learning curve obstacle" (kinda like I did when I got my MAC)  What's the easiest distro for an embryonic suckling?  :P
@ge