Leap of faith?

[Diamon]

Trying to decide whether to change from win 7 to linux or not since I'm not using my computer to play games a lot anymore, even though I still want to be able to do so from time to time. And I think using linux will improve my computer skills a lot, as well as I like to try new things. Should I make the jump?

-Diamon

[Luke122]

THere's no need to sacrifice one for the other. You can do a dual boot setup, or just try a Linux live disc to try it out and learn.

[Diamon]

The thing is that I want to try linux on my ssd to see how fast it will work, made a complete backup of my c-drive using a live-cd though.

[x88x]

Well, using a live-cd obviously won't tell you anything about how fast Linux will run off your SSD, but as for switching, it really depends.. IMO, the fastest, best way to learn Linux is to install it as your full-time OS on your main system. Just make sure that you have internet access, and you should be fine. ;)

[Diamon]

I think so too.
Meh, what do I have to loose except a few hours of work? Might as well go for it.

[Luke122]

I'm not 100% on this, since I dont run Linux on an SSD, but apparent you need to disable caching, or you could damage/destroy your ssd.

[mDust]

I'm not 100% on this, since I dont run Linux on an SSD, but apparent you need to disable caching, or you could damage/destroy your ssd.

It won't destroy it per say, but the bits on an SSD can only be flipped about a million times each and then they're done. It sounds like that will last forever, but when an OS or program is constantly writing data to the drive only to write over it a second and a half later, the bits start dieing off after a about a year or two depending on use. While there are plenty of bits on a 60+GB drive, nobody wants to needlessly kill their SSD. Some of the decent quality SSDs have wear-leveling and other features to help prevent this, but that only delays the inevitable. Most companies that manufacture SSDs have forums or other sources of info on what and how everything needs to be configured.

[Diamon]

I've read up on that a bit and there's a few settings I'll change to make it write a bit less often. The linux distro I chose is linux mint btw.

[Trace]

Good, based off of Ubuntu, there will be lots of support & tutorials for you.

[Kayin]

Plus, the new kernel in mint 9 and Ubuntu 10 has wear leveling and TRIM built in. Less worries.

[Drum Thumper]

Do it! Do it now!

[Luthien]

I'm using Mint on my desktop. I like it much better than Windows.

[Diamon]

Thanks for the input everyone. Been using Ubuntu Lucid Lynx for about a week now so I figured I'd share my view of it. I gotta admit it, at first it sucked. I was like windows does that better, why won't this work?, what's the purpose of this? etc. But after a few days when I had everything installed and configured properly I thought it was great. It's a lot smoother and in general more fun to use then windows 7, as long as you're not afraid of the command line. OK, you can be a little scared of the command line, I still am at least, but as long as you're not terrified it's no problem.

The only advantage I can see windows having compared to linux is it's commercialism, 99% of the programs you have on your system now won't work in linux and the linux equivalence of the program might not be as good, even though they're better in a lot of cases. One example is GIMP vs photoshop. I hate GIMP, I gotta say it's one of the worst softwares I've ever used and it can't hold a candle to photoshop. That can be solved by using a dual-boot or a virtual machine running a windows system though.

Conclusion: Linux is better at everything except at having a lot of big commercial programs ready. And if you're getting the "ID: 10 T" error a lot you probably shouldn't move over to linux either.

EDIT: It's in the middle of the night here in Sweden and I'm really tired so the above might not make sense at all times.

[x88x]

I hate GIMP, I gotta say it's one of the worst softwares I've ever used and it can't hold a candle to photoshop.

I would wonder if this has more to do with you not having any experience with GIMP (much like how you thought Ubuntu sucked at first). Granted, I don't know how to use either GIMP or Photoshop much at all, but from what I've heard people talk who do, the general consensus seems to be much the same as Excel vs OpenOffice Calc. Namely, yes, Photoshop has a larger feature set and is a much more refined program...but, GIMP does about 75% of that at least as well, and works just as well for most people.

A couple suggestions for programs to use in Ubuntu to improve usability (imo):
gnome-do : Quick and easy keyboard-controlled application launcher.
tilda : 'FPS-style' drop-down command line program. Can be customized for various colors/backgrounds/transparency/etc. You can also run as many instances as you want too..I routinely run 4 on my work system.

[Kayin]

The GIMP doesn't have a learning curve, it's a cliff, and it's full of pointy spears at the bottom. That said, it's one of the few programs still not up to par on usability.

I like Linux a LOT, but that's one of the few things it still needs work on.

[Oneslowz28]

I was dual booting my old PC but chose not to with the new install. This was simply for drive space and driver issues though. My new board had been released for 8 days when I got it and is full of Sata 3 and USB 3.0 goodness.

I have to agree that gimp can not hold its own against Photoshop. I have been a heavy Photoshop user for over 6 years now and am the guy who uses those features where you say "who uses that?" I have almost every function custom key mapped and my presets folder is about 5gb. Every time I try to use GIMP for something, even simple task I realize I can do it in 1/16th the time in PS.

Glad you like Ubuntu though. I still run Ubuntu server on my file server and love it.

[Kayin]

I'm currently headed the other way, and shouting bugger to Windows.