Which operating system is right for me?

Question

i have a dell xps 200 that uses a sata hard drive and i wanna get a new operating system installed. i heard of other operating systems like black xp and hackintosh if anyone can give me info on that that would be great.

Answer 1

Take a look at Linux Mint 5.0 Elyssa (Main Edition) http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php its highly polished reliable and easy to use.

Here are some other Linux distros. worth considering

Mandriva 2008.1 Spring http://www.mandriva.com/

SimplyMEPIS 7.0 http://www.mepis.org/

Ubuntu 7.10 http://releases.ubuntu.com/7.10/ (My Preference)

Ubuntu 8.04.1 http://releases.ubuntu.com/hardy/

Linux Mint 4.0 http://www.linuxmint.com/rel_daryna.php (My Preference)

All are easy to install and easy to use.

LUg.

Answer 2

The easyest to use is the old windows XP 2007

Answer 3

Those who believe Macs are virus proof are mistaken. Mac are just as prone to viruses and Windows. The major reason Mac "seem" to not get viruses or other malware is simply because Macintosh has such a low market share. The Mac has only a 5 percent share of the market, but that is slowly increasing as more individuals, especially students, buy Mac laptops. Virus and other malware writers write for the largest population of systems, and currently that is for Windows, as Windows has about a 90 percent market share. So, if you do go for a Mac, please install some type of security to be on the safe side. Better safe than sorry is my motto.

Macintosh is a good OS and a good machine overall. However, unless you already have another Mac OS installed you cannot install one over the top of your Windows system, or even install a fresh copy of Mac OS onto a HDD. This is because Apple does not sell retail copies to system builders. Well, not to home system builders or system upgraders.

This means that your options are either another version of Windows, and Vista is a really good OS contrary to what some wish to believe. It simply is a bit of a resource hog because of the backwards compatibility built into it. So many individuals complain in one breath about how there isn't enough compatible options, such as drivers, etc, (though that has been taken care of) and in the next breath complain of the fact it is so compatible backwards for programs and hardware that it requires a lot of resources to run. Then, people enjoy the new look of the graphical user interface, or the GUI, but complain of the resources it takes to run it. It can be turned off though. Very easily as a matter of fact. Additionally, hardware components such as RAM has drastically reduced in priced in the past year. 4 gigabytes of RAM, or two packages containing two 1 gigabyte sticks cost $650.00 plus tax a little over a year ago, sell today for $70.00 plus tax. I know as I bought that RAM a little over a year ago for that ugly price, and bought the same 4 gigs a month ago for the amazing lower price. So, even though Vista may require more resources, those resources are very affordable these days.

If not a Windows OS you are left with a Linux system. This is not a fun OS to use. It does not have the GUI of a Mac or Windows; you simply enter commands that you must memorize or have a cheat sheet for, which to me isn't much use. However, it is usually free, and not much malware is written for it, so it seems safer. It is as prone to malware as any other OS, but as malware writers prefer the popular machines, it usually is left alone. The Linux has many different versions, so there is a wide choice. You may even find one with some level of GUI to make it more bearable. Then there are those who swear by it, so it is at least worthwhile to look into. Some do charge as they have created a popular customized version that they put a lot of effort into, but it is still far less expensive than a retail copy of Windows.

Good luck and have a nice day.

Answer 4

the SATA hd is nothing special...  You dont tell us the RAM you have.  Some OS's are better with low RAM (some versions of Linux,for example).  Seems the XPS200 has 1gig of RAM?

Partition the hd and install several OS's on the 250G HD.  Try them all and choose the one you lke the best!

Answer 5

Mac for sure

Answer 6

I throw my vote in for a good Linux distribution.  Unlike hackintosh and black xp, Linux is legal.

Contrary to what some believe, you do not have to use the command line to use Linux.  Also, unlike Windows or Mac, you are not tied down to a single Desktop environment.  You can choose from literally dozens, many of which can be given your choice of appearance.

Linux can also give you far superior performance for your hardware.  While Windows seems to be designed to use the greatest resources available, Linux software is usually designed to do the most it can with the least resources possible.  If you have good hardware, Linux will give you an astounding user experience.

There are many distributions to choose from, all of which are both similar and unique.  These include:

Mandriva http://www.mandriva.com/ (My favourite for new users)

Ubuntu/Kubuntu/Xubuntu/etc http://www.ubuntu.com/

Mint http://www.linuxmint.com/

Fedora http://fedoraproject.org/

openSUSE http://www.opensuse.org/ (My favourite)

Debian http://www.debian.org/

...and many others.  For a comprehensive index check out http://distrowatch.com/

Answer 7

Fedora Linux is very good and easy to use. It ships with Fire fox and is supported by it's Real Player and many other popular media software. All Sun Systems and Java installed by packets that you need not configure as with .exe files. It's Red Hat's free OS version.

Answer 8

macintosh has big hard drives and you dont have to worry about viruses (yet) and easy to use and faster software

Answer 9

linux

Answer 10

hackintosh and black XP are illegal in some places (or maybe all) but Ubuntu Linux (ubuntu.com) or linux mint (linuxmint.com)

TRY THEM BOTH! choose which one you like!