So I built a really budget pc to play minecraft and other light games,but i dont know whether i should purchase windows or just use linux?The only reason ive been hesitant to use linux is because i really dont want to go through a huge learning curve just to use the os.So what do you guys think,should i buy windows or just go linux.
You have to decide that for yourself.
Do you want a safe and privacy-conscientious system that just works and allows you to really use your hardware for an unlimited number of applications and for developing your own things, or do you just want a no-questions-asked-and-no-fuck-given commercial software console for which you can buy stuff that can't do much besides make you spend money on legacy software, but at least it all looks the same when it can do something, and you can spend a couple of hours removing malware every week and you'll always be living in fear that your data isn't safe or you're being exploited by one of many botnets out there.
Not everyone needs linux on their PC. Everyone needs linux more than windows, because without linux, cars wouldn't drive, planes wouldn't fly, electrical plants wouldn't run, phone calls would be impossible, emails would not be possible, website would not be there, medical instruments would not be there, weapon systems would not be there, etc... but that doesn't mean that everyone has a use for linux on their PC, some use a PC as a tool and a real computer and for entertainment, others just use it as a console and a commercial entertainment content consumption device. Every user has to decide to which group he/she belongs: the so-called "1% of linux users" (not that this is true, it's a stupid US marketing influenced statistic, the real linux use on PC's, especially outside of the US, is much much larger than that) that can use 99 % of the capabilities of their PC because linux can, or the so-called "99% of commercial closed source software console users", i.e. Windows and OSX, that can use only 1 % of the capabilities of their PC, because closed source software won't allow for more.
Well ive been researching all the linux ''distros'',and found a new user friendly linux distro called ubuntu.I think i will install that to my new pc,but i wanted to ask you if you had any experience with this distro.
Ubuntu is a good start - if your using the normal ubuntu with unity you should uncheck this tracking option under privacy. you can also try linux mint which is essentially ubuntu but with a more windows like skin.
checkout http://www.playonlinux.com and http://appdb.winehq.org/ to see if your games will work.
Use windows, but don't buy it.
There's no reason to use linux at home. It's less convenient and it gives you less capabilities and choice of software for everyday use.
this is completely untrue. the "software for everyday use" that everybody needs is mainly a browser. maybe followed by something like the windows explorer followed by the vlc. that's all.
i'd prefer a secure, stable and lightweight system for free rather than pirating a proprietary, insecure and bloated system.
what is less convenient about linux? i'd like some examples.
send from my activated Microsoft Windows 7 Professional rig
The only way Linux is worse is driver support for gpus. That will change soon though. Other than that Linux is superior in every other way.
Linux provides the worst user experience of all major desktop operating systems and that's the reason why it's the least used one.
Not to mention that linux is not an option if you are serious about gaming.
Aside from anything game-related: browser, skype (no alternatives), torrent client, sync client, audio player, video player, reader (pdf, djvu, fv2, epub, mobi), office suite, archiver
When comparing available options for all of those, in cases when the most convenient option is not multiplatform, one available on Windows is superior.
what is less convenient about linux? i'd like some examples.
Installing software not from repositories. Having to configure desktop environment the way it looks at least decent. Solving any encountered technical problem.
It actually because the average consumer is lazy and don't want to spend a couple of hours setting up their Linux Os. Consumers don't want that, they want a simple plug it in and play Os.
I'm not an average consumer. After trying to setup a linux inside a virtual machine just to form an opinion about it, the actual experience of setting it up made me come to a conclusion that linux is a horrible operating system for almost any end user (all exceptions are those 1.5% who actually use linux at home).
so they tricked you into installing Arch huh?
because setting up loonix in a VM is a breeze. Especially specific distributions like openelec - the setup for my HTPC took only a few minutes and it was done. Installing ubuntu, and every other 'big' distribution, is very convenient as well you can't be serious here. There isn't really a difference to a windows setup.
I tried ubuntu, fedora, manjaro and opensuse. I wouldn't bother installing something without an automated installer, I hate when user is forced to do something that software can do by itself.
By "trying to setup a linux inside a virtual machine" I didn't mean configuring linux inside a VM to run properly (although there was an issue with screen resolution on manjaro which was inconvenient to solve).
By setting it up I meant stuff like configuring desktop environment and installing software.
browser: We have more, we have better
skype: Works on linux but we have better alternatives
torrent clients: We have many we have the best
sync clients: We have many and the best
audio player: We have so much that you can't even test them all
video player: We have many and the best stuff on windows comes from linux
reader: We have many
office suite: More than you got on windows
archiver: many and they all work better than windows stuff
Installing software not from repositories: easier than/as hard as on windows
Having to configure desktop environment: at least you can, there is no way to get windows look decent
Solving any encountered technical problem: at least you can; you can't fix stuff on windows
hurr durr
This is ridiculous. it's you opinion. It's a ridiculous opinion but still...
In my opinion nearly every linux desktop is better than what you can get with windows or mac.
So what you're saying is irrelevant.
When talking about subjective things like user experience, it doesn't get better than this.
I don't think there's any point in us discussing operating systems, we seem to be completely incompatible.
browser: We have more, we have better
Whatever. Ordinary users don't need more than Firefox or Chrome, mainly because of plugins.
skype: Works on linux but we have better alternatives
There are no alternatives to skype. I don't care about your free-open-source-whatever, 50+ people in my contact list will not use anything else. Skype on linux is ugly and inconvenient.
torrent clients: We have many we have the best
The best client for everyday use that I know of is uTorrent 2.2.1. qBittorrent may be somewhere on par with it on linux but it's ugly and buggy on Windows.
sync clients: We have many and the best
Maybe. But ordinary users don't need anything more than what there's on windows.
audio player: We have so much that you can't even test them all
And I couldn't find even a single one that I like.
video player: We have many and the best stuff on windows comes from linux
Don't see you having MPC-HC there.
reader: We have many
Everyone does.
office suite: More than you got on windows
But regular users need Microsoft Office and nothing else because of compatibility.
archiver: many and they all work better than windows stuff
They all work the same.
Installing software not from repositories: easier than/as hard as on windows
Indefinitely harder in many cases. If a program takes more than one console command to install, I consider it completely unacceptable.
Having to configure desktop environment: at least you can, there is no way to get windows look decent
Windows looks decent out of box. In case of linux, most of DEs are horrendously ugly out of box and take a lot of time to configure to decent state.
Solving any encountered technical problem: at least you can; you can't fix stuff on windows
On linux, you have to fix stuff to make before you even start actually using it. On Windows, everything almost always works, and if it doesn't, in most cases there's an easy solution in google.
User friendly, plug and play hardware... Here ya go...
gaming? You wanted plug and play, don't come with a computer since you have to fix the settings in that thing to make the games look better.
Writing/paperwork? Plug and play baby.
My personal favourite though is:
Cause it does not require electricity and I could just...
when i don't want/need it or I could, to make sure it's gone and no one will ever know what I've done, just...
Photos? Music? Movies? Well you can draw pictures with a pen or paint with a brush. Otherwise you got the Xbox/Playstation. Not satisfied? Well.. here ya go...
If you don't like the good looking movie player above, there's always...
Edit:
Nothing is friendlier than the XBOne cause it talks to you as well. It might want to watch you jerk off, but otherwise it's quite friendly when asking you questions like "what's your weight?" and how "tall are you?" and so on...
1+!!!! THIS MADE ME LAUGH GREAT JOB!!! I LOVE YOU BRO HAHA
This made me want to write something similar about smartphones.