Getting rid of everything MS

[TechniCT]

I had to deal with MS customer support. It is a nightmare. Right now, I have Vista, Office, Visual Studio, and I even bought a crappy Zune. That's all going out the window.

Here's the detail:
Digg - The greatest X-Box customer support story...EVER!!!

What's the best version of linux for someone with a complete MS OS background? I see there are many types. I really did like the layout of Vista.

Thanks!

[oz]

Welcome to the forums!

There really is no "best" because we all see the different Linux distributions in different ways. Take a look at the link in my signature for lots of good information on getting started with Linux.

Hope you enjoy the experience...

oz

[techieMoe]

I had to deal with MS customer support. It is a nightmare. Right now, I have Vista, Office, Visual Studio, and I even bought a crappy Zune. That's all going out the window.

...

What's the best version of linux for someone with a complete MS OS background? I see there are many types. I really did like the layout of Vista.

Thanks!

As stated above, we can't really tell you what Linux is "best" because it's a very subjective topic. Everyone has their favorites. They all do the same basic things and run the same software; it's just the style with which they do them that changes.

To specifically address the programs you listed above, you may want to look at replacements like OpenOffice for MS Office and KDevelop or Eclipse for Visual Studio.

As for the "look" of Vista; you can skin and theme most Linux desktops (KDE and Gnome are the most popular) to look like pretty much any OS, so I'm sure someone out there has a Vista-esque theme. Some sites you might look for it are:

KDE-Look.org
GNOME-Look.org

[Oxygen]

Get PCLinuxOS.

[anomie]

Try out a live cd or two before you install Linux. Knoppix and Ubuntu (and a few others) are pretty popular.

Make sure you have realistic expectations going into this as well. It's going to require some learning / re-learning on your part.

You can always go back to XP if your needs don't let you leave the MS world.

[Freston]

Sorry to hear about your experience, although at least you got answers... Not helpful, but still.

The best distro for a MS refugee is IMHO one that makes you forget Windows
Although the layout of Vista is pretty good, I saw it yesterday gain. You'll find that not having one type of graphical environment in Linux makes you can easily mimic and even improve on the look&feel. Minimalistic, or one that will impress even yourself



Pick a-one. Try it and try another. Just a friendly pointer. Expect to learn again with any one, as stated above. There are some very fundamental differences between the two OS's and you will find that very common tasks are handled very differently. You don't access drives anymore, you mount filesystems. And although the latter is much more easy once you get used to it (and faster!) it might leave you feeling a little helpless at first.

Don't worry though, my mother is running Linux for a couple of months now and she's even recommending it to her friends..

If you're a GUI person, like most of us, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, SuSE, Fedora, Mandrake, Sabayon, I could go on and on... Best try out a couple of LifeCD's before you install. That way, there is no risk when you don't like it. Remember though that running an OS from CD is like dragging an anchor...

If you want to get closer to the machine room, Slackware, Debian, Gentoo (if you feel up to it).

I forgot hundreds more, and that is not because you shouldn't consider them. There aren't over two hundred entries in the menu of the Chinese restaurant because there is only one good one. Maybe you like SymphonyOS or VectorLinux.
Welcome to the world of Gnu/Linux!

EDIT:
Oh, and like in the Chinese restaurant, don't think because you've ordered something you like that there would have been a possibility of something better. Give everything a fair try. Only then can you appreciate things as they are.

So don't try to mount your USB-stick only once and decide it's difficult. It's not. It's different. Four times mounting and unmounting, that's all it takes.

[jmadero]

Ubuntu has seen some huge growth recently with Dell taking it on as a supported OS. I think that in terms of ease to use Ubuntu will be right up there on the side of "really easy". There are still some definite changes that you will have to get used to as you leave MS but I would recommend:

OS: Ubuntu
Office: OpenOffice
Browser: Firefox
Email Client: Thunderbird
IM Client: Pidgin

That's a decent start to linux, all of that stuff is easy to relatively easy to install (OpenOffice should come preinstalled as should Firefox). It's all free and easy to use as well.

One more quick note: I would recommend dual booting until you get comfortable with linux....unless you have quite a bit of free time to work out the kinks as you go along....things like wireless can be a pain, having a "backup" is a good plan

You might want to be a little more specific with your "needs" from an OS and from software. Hope this helps


jmadero

[flipjargendy]

If you're going from Windows over to Linux, with not much background in UNIX or Linux. I would go with Ubuntu. It's easy to use while at the same time allowing you to do very complicated things.