where to get windows 7 from?

[cyberknight]

I have found it on ebay for around £40 but does anyone know where i can get it from full disk+ key from at a good price from a trusted seller?
As win xp is not getting support from april and i just did a full wipe/reinstall due to issues i am considering the upgrade while theirs not a lot on the pc.

 

[Smurfy]

http://www.cclonline.com/category/414/PC-Components/Software/Operating-Systems/

 

[Octet]

If you don't need a Windows operating system in specific then I would such swapping to Ubuntu (13.10), it is free and runs on Linux which on its own has many advantages.

It is more than capable of running things like word processing, spreadsheet, email, web browsing and other such software (all of which you can also get free) as well as software which for Windows you would be paying hundreds for such as 3D Architectural design, scientific simulation and other cool things (again a lot of this is free, from either the Web or from the built in Software Centre).

Otherwise Amazon or Dabs

 

[Smurfy]

Or you could break free.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

You can even try the above on your system without installing it, and it will cost you nothing more than the price of a CDR!

 

[Smurfy]

Or you could break free.

http://www.ubuntu.com/

You can even try the above on your system without installing it, and it will cost you nothing more than the price of a CDR!

Haha, Octet beat me to it!

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Better off with Linux Mint than Ubuntu IMHO, its a far better distro.
You don't even need a CDR to install Linux you can do it from a USB stick
Or the OS used on Apple devices is pretty stable and as its Open Source its also free.

 

[cyberknight]

I have tried ubuntu in the past and although its ok theres are a couple of bits i need windows for and under wine ( ?) the performance was dire.

 

[Smurfy]

Better off with Linux Mint than Ubuntu IMHO, its a far better distro.
You don't even need a CDR to install Linux you can do it from a USB stick
Or the OS used on Apple devices is pretty stable and as its Open Source its also free.

I might give Mint a go at some point. What is it that makes it better than Ubuntu?

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

Mint is based upon the Ubuntu code base, however it features all the codecs required to play everty type of media and features better integration with the desktop and applications. Its also not using that horrible unity desktop that Ubuntu uses,
Mint is generally considered to be Ubuntu which has been finished and polished. Mints reputation is increasing all the time. It's why its been ranked the number one Linux distribution for the past two years on distrowatch.

http://distrowatch.com

 

[Octet]

Better off with Linux Mint than Ubuntu IMHO, its a far better distro.
You don't even need a CDR to install Linux you can do it from a USB stick
Or the OS used on Apple devices is pretty stable and as its Open Source its also free.

You don't need a CD for Ubuntu, it has a Live Distro which works of a USB Flash Drive, in fact the majority of (modern) distros will work from a USB.

And what do you mean the OS on Apple devices is open source and free? It is very much closed source, and is certainly not free by any extent.

I think you are thinking of Unix which is what it is based on (developed by AT&T as a closed source system). Linux is its younger sister, designed to do what it couldn't which was to be open source and free for everyone. This has may advantages over Unix, with the main ones being security and stability, which is able to happen only because thousands of people work on it instead of a single company.

 

[Crackle]

The OEM discs for sale on ebay are worth a punt. You normally activate via an automated phone system rather than online and most sellers guarantee the code has not been used. What normally happens and I've done it myself, is that a company gets a bunch of new pc's and the operating system discs get flung in a cupboard as a standard build with an enterprise license is dropped on each pc, hence the oem discs you find on ebay.

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

You don't need a CD for Ubuntu, it has a Live Distro which works of a USB Flash Drive, in fact the majority of (modern) distros will work from a USB.

And what do you mean the OS on Apple devices is open source and free? It is very much closed source, and is certainly not free by any extent. I think you are thinking of Unix which is what it is based on, of which Linux is its predecessor.

No your totally wrong.
First of all Apple OSX is based on BSD called Darwin and it is completely free and Open Source. It is only the graphical user interface called Aqua which is proprietary and closed source. You can legally run the Apple Darwin OS on any device you like.
http://www.opensource.apple.com

As you can't legally run the Aqua desktop environment, you have to run an alternative desktop environment. (The gui is not part of the OS as its not dependent upon it, you can run any Unix, BSD, Linux without a gui).
You can compile any desktop suitable for BSD or Linux on this environment such as KDE, Flux box and Gnome but you can also get precompiled distributions such as GNU-Darwin which uses the Gnome Desktop
http://www.gnu-darwin.org

Linux or GNU-Linux to give its correct name is only a POSIX compatible system same as Unix but they are not directly related. The Kernel philosophy of the two OS's is totally different. Unix uses a micro-kernel approach while Linux remains monolithic in its approach and has received condemnation for this at various times.

 

[Octet]

No your totally wrong.
First of all Apple OSX is based on BSD called Darwin and it is completely free and Open Source. It is only the graphical user interface called Aqua which is proprietary and closed source. You can legally run the Apple Darwin OS on any device you like.
http://www.opensource.apple.com

As you can't legally run the Aqua desktop environment, you have to run an alternative desktop environment. You can compile any desktop suitable for BSD or Linux on this environment, but you can also get precompiled distributions such as GNU-Darwin which uses the Gnome Desktop
http://www.gnu-darwin.org

Linux or GNU-Linux to give its correct name is only a POSIX compatible system same as Unix but they are not directly related. The Kernel philosophy of the two OS's is totally different. Unix uses a micro-kernel approach while Linux remains monolithic in its approach and has received condemnation for this at various times.

Well that's me told

 

[Mr Haematocrit]

we all learn something new everyday.
You can do some cool stuff with open source... I currently run Ubuntu on my phone (nexus4). Apple Darwin on my Dell Laptop (too tight to pay Apple prices for hard wear), and Android on my TV and Tablet....
I'm mixed up..
I'm also trying to get iOS (open source as well) running on a old phone with no joy, the only functionality it has at the moment is making me swear a lot.

 

[Smurfy]

Mint is based upon the Ubuntu code base, however it features all the codecs required to play everty type of media and features better integration with the desktop and applications. Its also not using that horrible unity desktop that Ubuntu uses,
Mint is generally considered to be Ubuntu which has been finished and polished. Mints reputation is increasing all the time. It's why its been ranked the number one Linux distribution for the past two years on distrowatch.

http://distrowatch.com

I don't mind Unity, but maybe I'm a bit weird. As for media, I use VLC, which I believe is able to play anything and everything.

Maybe we should start an 'Anything but Microsoft and Apple' thread where we can discuss all this stuff.