Alternative OS

[Dangermouse]

I have Win 7 on my laptop and it always slows to a crawl after a few hours use, I dont want to buy 8 as its not a touchscreen, so what other OS are as good as Windows (if not much better) but dont have the boxy feel of Win 98, my laptop is a decent spec dual core with 4GB ram so should be capable of running any OS are any of you using a Linux based OS, if so what are your thoughts and how hard is it to network to my printer that runs wireless through my Virgin superhub.

Quite a few questions but if I ask on a Linux forum I just know I will be blinded with things I dont understand.

 

[Dangermouse]

Ohh forgot to say, my laptop has fingerprint entry so any OS would have to support biometrics

 

[vernon]

Sell the lap top and buy a Macbook.

No need to pi55 about with installing a new OS

Simples

 

[Dangermouse]

Sell the lap top and buy a Macbook.

No need to pi55 about with installing a new OS

Simples

I have been thinking about a Mac but the prices and anything apple puts me right off

 

[Dangermouse]

Ubuntu is downloading now and will install automatically...........either I will be back in a short while, or need to do a format and reinstall of 7.......................watch this space

 

[vernon]

I have been thinking about a Mac but the prices and anything apple puts me right off

Don't let prejudice blind you.

I acquired a Mac mini computer three years ago and ran it in parallel with a Windows PC. The PC last saw active service two years and eleven months ago. The Mac has never crashed, never been infected by a virus, shrugs off attempts to seed it with trojans and the like as they tend to be targeted at Windows software.

On the other hand I acquired an iPhone two years ago and once the novelty of Angry Birds wore off I found that it offered little more than the Nokia N95 I was using at the time. I returned to the Nokia and gave the iPhone to my daughter who now thinks that I am the best dad ever.

 

[Doseone]

Ubuntu is downloading now and will install automatically...........either I will be back in a short while, or need to do a format and reinstall of 7.......................watch this space

LOL. Good luck!

Windows have a great deal on Win8 pro - £20 odd quid if you download it. You don't have to have a touch screen for Win 8. I didn't bother though 'cos I've got an older version of Office that isn't supported by Win8, so would have had to cough up £200 for new version of Office.

 

[vernon]

Ubuntu is downloading now and will install automatically...........either I will be back in a short while, or need to do a format and reinstall of 7.......................watch this space

Linux installations are a lot less hassle than they used to be. You should be fine.

 

[Dangermouse]

I cant work out how Ubuntu is installing, yet I am online and still using Win 7 and ie????

 

[Dangermouse]

I'm back and it didnt work, when rebooted the PC asked which OS to boot to Win 7 or Ubuntu so I chose Ubuntu and nothing apart from a DOS screen with the command Grub......?
so I booted back to windows, any ideas chaps

 

[ianjmcd]

Ok couple of answers DM

I run several OS on Different computers atm im using this laptop which is dual boot i can boot into either win 7 or Ubuntu (linux)

I would suggest you start your linux journey with ubuntu download the live cd/dvd so you can boot from CD and use it as test version before committing to installing it

Once you choose to install it you can do as ive done and install it as a dual boot system or fully commit

Ubuntu is pretty good with drivers for most things these days but as i said safest way to try it is using a live cd

Only thing ive had issues with drivers is older gfx/sound cards when using ubuntu

 

[ianjmcd]

I'm back and it didnt work, when rebooted the PC asked which OS to boot to Win 7 or Ubuntu so I chose Ubuntu and nothing apart from a DOS screen with the command Grub......?
so I booted back to windows, any ideas chaps

sounds like Ubuntu has not fully installed the GUI

 

[Dangermouse]

I have just checked Ian and it only installed the windows installer, I am trying it again now, it is going to run alongside windows for a while and I have also found out it supports biometics too so that shouldnt be too much of a problem if I go the whole hog on Ubuntu

 

[redcard]

Never owned a laptop with fingerprint recognition, but I presume you can probably switch that off in BIOS. Might be worth checking.

 

[Dangermouse]

Never owned a laptop with fingerprint recognition, but I presume you can probably switch that off in BIOS. Might be worth checking.

I can, but whats the point having it if you cant use it, I have had a look and it should be recognised so once I do switch it shouldnt be a problem