what is a good operating system?

my friend is keeping my old pc and i am wondering what is a good operating system?

Edit: he doesn't care what OS... and he is a great tech person

Edit 2: he would like a OS that has good security...

Edit 3: it's given and i put on linux mint 9

pc computer os working desktop

asked Apr 29 '11 at 00:55

TheTechoWiz
71●3●4●9

edited Apr 30 '11 at 07:18

12 Answers:

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Haha if they don't know Linux, then Linux Mint. But if they do know, or know a bit more say of Mac OS X terminal, then say openSUSE or Fedora. But I'd definitely recommend Linux Mint, Ubuntu, or openSUSE. Linux all the way! For safety, go with Linux or say BSD.

answered Apr 29 '11 at 01:27

Shark_Basketball
56●6●7●12

If it's from 2006 or later and has 1GB of RAM or more, then Windows 7. If not, then it's Windows XP.

If you're looking for a free OS, then Linux Mint or Ubuntu. If the PC is old and slow, then you should check out Lubuntu, which is a light version of Ubuntu.

answered Apr 29 '11 at 02:32

henrikanilsen
146●2●3●8

I don’t see why People feel that they have to use windows.

The only reason you couldn’t use a free + faster alternative is if you need to use software that requires windows. But I guess if it is an old PC you wont need to so I would suggest trying out Ubuntu 11.04. It came out yesterday 28/04/2011. It is the most up to date OS and I think that it is the best.

answered Apr 29 '11 at 06:12

Louis Jenvey
591●6●9●20

People like to use software they've heard of.
Options. Everything runs on Windows. On anything else, you have to pick and choose.
Everyone knows how to use Windows. Even if you don't, it explains itself.

(Apr 30 '11 at 02:33) tsilb

Yeah!!!!!!

(Apr 30 '11 at 02:37) Yogi

windows xp without a service pack running IE6 is definitely the best OS.

answered Apr 29 '11 at 01:11

Gary
1.2k●25●35●51

are you sure? it's really unsafe and he loves a safe os

(Apr 29 '11 at 01:18) TheTechoWiz

I think he was joking. For that its worth, Windows 2000 was the last version of Windows that didn't phone home to the mothership. But good luck getting anything to run under it. Might be able to find an old version of Firefox, but you'll be hard pressed to find an antivirus for it.

(Apr 29 '11 at 02:09) Duodave

im obviously trolling :)

(Apr 29 '11 at 02:41) Gary

0	Windows 7 Home Premium W/Windows Defender And trend micto titatium antivirui answered Apr 29 '11 at 02:11 pjob797 2.6k●38●49●82

0	Google Chrome OS + 3G/wifi or Windows fundamentals for Legacy PCs answered Apr 29 '11 at 06:08 iFox 101●1●2●5

0	It really depends on the specs of the PC, but if you say it's pretty old, than I'd say go with a Linux OS only (depends on the uses of the PC of course), but Linux should do the job better than any OS for the PC. answered Apr 29 '11 at 15:56 yeahmeknows 356●15●19●27

0	Windows 7 Home Premium is your better option answered Apr 29 '11 at 16:05 Neakiaro (suspended) But auto-cad 2010 doesn't run on it. (Apr 30 '11 at 02:37) Yogi

I'd say that to have a good experience, your friend needs to match the OS to the hardware.

When you say, "old"- how old & what are the specs?

I'm a proponent of Linux- I use Mint 9 right now- soon to upgrade to 10. But Mint really runs best on newer equipment. Not saying it can't run on lesser- just that it wouldn't be the best way to do it.

If security is the main point, and the hardware is a bit long in the tooth- check for specific Linux OSs that are designed to run on low-spec machines. Damn Small Linux (DSL), Vector, & Arch are a few I've tried on older machines & been happy with.

Check here.

Cheers!

answered Apr 29 '11 at 23:59

geekomatic
1.8k●11●13●36

If he is a great tech person, why not let him choose and install his own OS? Any great tech person would simply wipe and reinstall anyway upon getting any new system. Even if it came with one.

answered Apr 30 '11 at 02:32

tsilb
21.0k●65●199●333

he can't, he can never decise...

(Apr 30 '11 at 02:53) TheTechoWiz

Then he should do a multiboot with all of his favorite.

(Apr 30 '11 at 12:48) Josh_M

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