Help! Help! Help! Noob needing fast answers!

[Kampfzentrum]

OK,

For the longest time I was running a cracked version of Windows XP from a buddy who built my computer. Today I awoke to find my system held hostage by MS wanting some $$$. My friend offered to reinstall another "cracked" copy of Windows but I refused - I have essentially lost some serious data.

I have some questions about Linux. If anyone can answer them, please make sure to get all of the questions answered:

1) Can I run all of my programs I ran on Windows XP x64 on Linux?
2) Linux is free, right?
3) Can I game off of Linux?
4) Where do I download Linux, and do I install it like Windows?

I'll be monitoring this thread regularly, I need some answers TONIGHT!!!

Thanks all! I hope this becomes the first of many conversations.

[teenytinylinuxgrl]

Hi!

The answers depend on what you use your computer for. For most of us, Linux does everything we need it to do (you can even play World of Warcraft). But when it comes to most gaming, that's what your XBOX and Playstations are for. If it's computer gaming you need, nothing beats Windows for now.

1) Can I run all of my programs I ran on Windows XP x64 on Linux?

You didn't list any that you need... OpenOffice does everything Microsoft Office does (and it's free). Firefox and other browsers do the web, Thunderbird and a dozen others do e-mail and newsgroups. I do all my music on it, dance choreography, schoolwork (can't wait for that, lol), and all my stuff on the web.

2) Linux is free, right?

Most versions are free. Some include proprietary stuff you pay for, but they're all much less money than Windows! I've been experimenting with a free one that would be very familiar to a Windows user and includes a lot of awesome software (including "non-free" stuff) called PCLinuxOS. Very nice, but don't try it on an older computer (but there is a lightweight version with all the familiarity of Windows called PCLXDE"). Ubuntu is awesome but very different from Windows.

3) Can I game off of Linux?

That depends on the game. There are plenty that you can, and several that you can't play at all, and some that can play on Linux using "cross-platform" utilities like Wine. You can Google "games on Linux" to find out which ones are which.

4) Where do I download Linux, and do I install it like Windows?

Most use what is called a "Live CD." You download the file (.iso) and burn it to a CD. Be sure you burn it as an image (not a picture, an image) on the slowest speed possible to help avoid errors. Then you set your computer to boot from the CD.

I recommend that you run your computer from the CD instead of installing it, to be sure you like it. This way you make no changes to your computer, but you can "run Linux" and take it for a sweet test drive. Then if you like it, install it from the CD. It takes some time, but it's a lot easier than Windows!!

Linux is free! Linux has no registry (so no registry errors, no registry cleaning, no viruses, no spyware, no defragging, no scanning, no constant, unrelenting vigil to maintain your operating system instead of using it.

Even this little non-geeky 13-yr-old girl can do it!

Have fun!

Amy

[reed9]

I would recommend Ubuntu or an Ubuntu-derivative called Linux Mint. Mint comes with a lot of video and media codecs, as well as flash out of the box. Ubuntu you need to install that stuff yourself.

Windows programs do not run natively in Linux. It is a testament to the skill and ingenuity of linux developers that you are able to run many Windows programs using WINE, as Amy mentioned.

By the way, your data may not be lost. It's quite likely you can boot up a Live CD of Ubuntu or other distro, access your data, and back it up to an external drive.

Here is more info you should probably get at least moderately acquainted with before proceeding.

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Sw...tu/FromWindows
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/BurningIsoHowto
The Free Software Definition - GNU Project - Free Software Foundation (FSF)

[Cabhan]

teenytinylinuxgrl and reed9 have most things right. I want to clarify some things.

I want to point out that Windows programs do not run on Linux. However, we tend to have Linux programs that do the same things as Windows programs. If, for instance, you need to run Microsoft Word, you are out of luck. However, we have an office suite called OpenOffice.org that does the same thing.

There is a program called WINE that allows you to run certain Windows programs on Linux with varying degrees of compatibility. It is always better to run a Linux alternative than the Windows version if the Linux one does what you want, however. If there are specific programs you are concerned about, let us know.

The other thing is that Linux is different from Windows. It has a different filesystem structure, you configure it differently, the community is different, and the usage philosophy is different. Those of us on this forum tend to think that Linux is superior, but it is certainly different. Having said that, I highly recommend downloading a LiveCD and trying it out, as both of the above posters mentioned.

I recommend that you try out a Linux distribution called Ubuntu. It is one of the most popular ones today, and is very new user friendly. reed9 provided you with the link, and both of them told you how to burn a CD image (ISO). So go ahead and give that a shot.

[rokytnji]

Yeah, what they all said +1. I gotta laugh. My way into Linux was different than yours. Hardrive broke during a Windows update. Too much hassle to reinstate Eula, (pissed me off it did). So I jumped into Gnu/Linux Deepend after googling forever looking for a alternative.

All I can say is that Linux runs everything I need to do (except for tuning Bikes, and old Windows releases are good enough for that task) and I never regretted the switch or the learning experience I garnered from my fellow forum members and the linux community as a whole. Just a joe blow home user here. You will be wasting your time if you think React OS will be the way to go also , in my opinion only by the way. But it is a free country. And you seem urgent with your HelpHelp! Help! Noob needing fast answers! title to your post. I hope if you do decide linux is for you that when you put a title to your thread, that it describes your situation a little better. But I can see this is your first post here, so, Howdy and Welcome.

[KingX]

I hope you didn't format your XP install.. you can still recover your data by running a liveCD and saving stuff onto a usb drive.