Best Linux

all of them can run a few windows apps with a little configuration. battlefield 2, dont count on it.

however, most people dont bother with this because linux apps are all free and ussualy better than their windows versions. instead of using msn, you can use something like kopete or gaim, which support all the different IM programs.

You're really not going to game great windows game support from Linux, possibly if you get virtual PC running on it - but you're going to sacrafice a ton of speed; if it will even run on linux.

You'd be better off with a dual boot machine.

I'll take your questions in order.

1) All Linux will run some windows apps via 1 of 4 programs.
-Win4Lin: Install WinXP on top of Linux and they will run just as they would in WinXP
-CX Office - based on the Wine project, will run productivity software in linux such as MS Office XP and Photoshop (does have limitations)
- Wine Project - native "wine is not an emulator", its a compatiblity layer. will run many basic apps with little problems.
-Cadega (WineX) - specifically designed to run games. (www.transgaming.com)

2) you're not dreaming.


Now for my 2 cents:
Why the hell would you get rid of windows just to wanna run Windows apps? there are thousands of native linux apps that are in many cases just as good, if not better than their windows counterparts. One thing you might consider is Cadega so you can run your games, but thats about it.

Lets take a few apps and see what Linux has to offer:
MSN - there is an MSN subsitute called aMSN, but there are also apps like gaim and kopete which will let you connect and chat to your msn buddies.

MS Office - open office 2.0 beta is the shiznit. I've been using OOo in both Linux and Windows for the last 3 years and i love it.

Internet Explorer - Firefox, Opera, Mozilla, Epiphany, Konqeror, Links, shall i go on?

Photoshop - GIMP. Granted it is "not as great" and "not as common" but it will easily let you perform all your basic photo editing needs.

Battlefield - Like i said, i have nothing against running Cadega on linux, i was a member of cadega for 1/2 year my self (recently expired). However, there are native linux games out there too you know, sadly Loki Games had to close their doors and they will be missed, but somebody will come along to replace them.

And now for your title question. It is hard to say what the "best one" is, because each one works differently on different sets of hardware, they also have unique features that one might like and the other might hate, so its up to you to try about a dozen fo em and see what floats your boat. I myself tried like 40 distros and out of them my favorite (and which i currently use) is Ubuntu.

here is my recommendation. before you make the jump and install linux, why not try a live cd first. i know i said ubuntu is probably the best noob-friendly distro out there (in my opinion, others would argue in favor of Fedora Core, Mandrake, or Suse), they do have a livecd and i guess you can always give it a try. What you might also do is get Kanotix Live CD (not Knoppix, yes, it matters). That said, its a very well done livecd and shall suit you well.

Just in case you're not up with the program, a livecd is a linux distro that you can run right off a cd, no need for installation. It shall give you a good estimate on what hardware will work out of the box, and it will let you fiddle with stuff without risking your system because any damage that you cause on a livecd will be removed when you reboot .

ya if you use linux use it to get away from windows lol. the only prob with linux is you may not be able to get drivers need.
i like to use programs like gaim openoffice and firefox in windows... they all work nice in both

o and i think gentoo is good but for starting out redhat maybe better
http://distrowatch.com/

gentoo is good, but for n00bs it will not work, you need some linux experience to go for it.

I am enjoying the Live CD option and highly recommend it for noobs. Kanotix picks up my winmodem with no problems and seems to work well with laptops. You can also save your settings to a thumb drive which can be retrieved on bootup I use Knoppix on DVD for my wireless sessions because of the many programs that are on the 4.7 gig DVD, and Knoppix will pickup my wireless card well but wont pickup the winmodem. Kanotix pick up both wireless and winmodem.

I'd definitely give OpenSuse 10, Mandriva, or Ubuntu a spin. They are all great ditros (although I dislike the commercialization of Mandriva) and very noob friendly. My first choice is SUSE 10 because of the massive number of options and preconfigured software programs available when you install. Ubuntu is better in some respects because its gnome integration is much better and it is only one cd. you can also have an ubuntu cd shipped to you for free through ubuntu's ship it program (get to it through their main website). If you go ship it, you will get an install and a live cd (both high quality professionally made cds). If you go SUSE, you'd better have broadband, but IMO it is a better distro. As for cedega, its a nice program, but you can get it (legally) for free. Cedega CVS, the free version of cedega runs almost as many games (including WOW and HL2) and is free. Its fairly easy to setup. The tutorial and link is here (http://www.linux-gamers.net/modules/...?articleid=45). If you want to follow the tutorial exactly, you should use ubuntu (which is debian derived). It also works great on SUSE, but you have to know a little bit more. Also, a video driver from you graphics card maker is a must. Good luck! Linux is the way to go.

NOTE: just found out that when cedega 5.0 was released, Battlefield 2 was reported as working. The Install is much easier for cedega full (noob friendly) but not exactly cheap. Most games run fairly well and transgaming has some decent support to make sure the games work as advertised. Hope you make the switch.

Couple notes:

1) Linux is not for newbies. It really requires effort to learn it, and while unix is really nifty, it has a HUGE Learning curve.

2) You're probably running ubunto via a livecd, which basically is the easy linux, and isnt an actual install. Actually installing linux usually requires compiling ,setting options and customizing <- what linux is all about. If you really want to just put the CD in and go, get windows. The closest "easiest" distribution is probably the most recent fedora core.

3) If you're not willing to go through a bunch of error messages during your learning curve, do LOTS of google searches for help, and do alot of reading, IMO turn around. I really do NOT mean to bash linux, as i use it on my server. Its an amazing alternative, but people don't realize that its not like windows and it puts the user in control... of everything, which is the glory of it. But that fact has its consequences, in that it takes time to learn and understanding.

None of the above is an insult, as im sure you're capable of it, as i believe everybody is. Just not everybody understands that linux isnt simply another type of windows, and that it takes effort to learn.

With all that said, try out fedora. Get a bit of experience in the world of linux. It'll have a GUI (Graphical) installer to guide you through the installation, and probably setup a window system for you (KDE or Gnome likely... personally if you get really experienced <3 Enlightenment... You can have opengl enabled and rendering your desktop for a realllly cool environment. Its just so hott) and then you can take off from there.

There are also lots of online forums you can go to for help, and especially IRC. Unix junkies are often quiet helpful.

All that said, good luck :-)


//edit don't put too much effort into getting drivers to work on a livecd =P

I have no idea what may be causing this? are you running breezy? well, i'm telling this because if I use hoary the drivers will work if I apt-get the drivers and that's OK. However, if i install breezy, the drivers won't work using apt-get, no matter what I do. That's sad... it's so sad that it's making me use more windows than what I normally do :P

About linux apps, I agree with abf, in some aspects. OOo 2.0 is great, love it. And that's not (only) because it's free. OOo can handle style on documents, for example, much better than MSWord, if you don't know that. And I don't need to say that I can't give a college teacher an work that has subtle differences in each subtitle. With OOo, making your doc look professional is much easier. However, I don't agree with abf on OOo beeing good forever. OOo 1 was + - awkward. That's my opinion, of course.

Finally, again about Ubuntu: I'm kind of dissapointed that ATi drivers don't work (the way it should be). I know, I know ATi is trouble, but for some reason I think they hurried the release of breezy only to be on schedule. That's not my philosophy. If you are ever going to do something, do it right, and make it good, whatever it is. And since Ubuntu is awesome for notebooks, I'm sure it was not difficult to Ubuntu guys to test it under a notebook with ATi graphics.

WARNING: FOR BREEZY 32-bit w/ default kernel

well, here ya go. basically this is the truth about ATi drivers and linux...they suck and sometimes can be a pain in the arse-hole.

that said, you have 2 options.

#1 is you apt-get the driver.

Step 1: Make sure your sources.list looks something like this:

step 2: Download and Install (assuming you run default kernel)
1 - Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2-
Step 3: Configure

1 - Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2 - 3 - Find where it says:

and replace it with:

note: instead of "ati" it might say "radeon", doesn't matter, same thing. also where for me it says "Mobility 9600/9700" its just the name of the card, it will be different depending on what you have.

Step 4: Test
1- Applications > Accessories > Terminal
2 - it should give you something that looks like this:

if it gives you some crap about MESA you've screwed up.

if it gives you what i said it should, then run in terminal

you should be in at least 400fps range somewhere.

ok, now if that doesn't work, there is options number 2 (i had to do it this way on my laptop because the version included on the restricted modules sucks ass)

follow this HOWTO for that: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=423589

good luck

Yet another reason i dispise ATI :P

It is so much easier to deal with Nvidia hardware in linux than it is ATI's... Sure you can get ATI hardware working, but nvidia's is infinately easier to install

Just my opinion

Gentoo user 4 years and counting

i wouldn't say that. Installing nvidia drivers on my desktop for the first time was quite a challange, took all of 10 minutes to figure out, but still... not quite as simple as click, click "next", click "finish" restart X. had to do a little bit more work than that.

installing ati and nvidia is about the same difficulty wise, its just that nvidia works better. as in their drivers support suspend and other things that ATi terribly fails at (the one and only reason i can't suspend on my lappy).

I use Libranet Linux on a semi-old Athlon desktop. I've run the original UT on it with success, but the graphics seemed a little faded. I only use linux on legacy PC's of mine, rather than use the PC as a boat anchor or door stop :-). If you want a Unix flavor, I'd go with Apple, or run a rope through the machine's vents :-)

Well part of the reason, I'm sure, that Nvidia's just works better is because they take the time to develop drivers for the linux platform. ATI, tried it once or twice, but never got it right. But hey, they can barely develop windows drivers Kidding :P

Most of the drivers in linux are developed by Open source developers, and not ATI.. so they don't quite know the ins and outs of the hardware enough to write a fully functional driver (that whole proprietary thing :/)