Geek Question
By Mitch Berg
So let’s say, hypothetically, that a guy were to find a deal on a scratch ‘n dent Thinkpad T60 laptop (1.8gHz Core Duo, 60GB HD, 11.a/b/g wireless) that ships with XP.
Would you – hypothetically – keep running XP on it, or flip to Ubuntu?
I’m looking My friend is looking for pros and cons here.
March 18th, 2010 at 5:48 pm
What are you using it for?
March 18th, 2010 at 6:24 pm
Until a few weeks ago I had an R60, dual boot with XP & Debian Linux.
Unless your friend plans to use it as web or database server I’d stick with XP. That way you can play WoW & watch netflix.
A good, clean XP machine is a perfectly suitable consumer device, and your friend won’t have the maintenance hassels of Linux.
These days I have an T43 (1400×1050 native resolution!) running XP. I also have debian running on a T41 on the home network. If I want to use the linux box I ssh to it with Cygwin and startup vnc.
March 18th, 2010 at 6:39 pm
I’d put Ubuntu on it – then use VirtualBox if you really wanted to run XP. If it has the Core 2 Duo, then you get very fast virtualization — but even without it, you can run Office just fine in a virtual machine. (Virtualbox is free.)
Especially if you only have a 60GB drive, I’d go with Ubuntu. It uses less space, does everything you want it to, and tends to work very well with older machines. Plus, you don’t have to run an anti-virus app.
Unless you have an urgent need to use Windows for something, I’d go with Ubuntu. And even if you do, VirtualBox works fine for running office apps.
March 18th, 2010 at 6:48 pm
Image the HD with XP installed so you can restore to XP whenever you want then wipe the HD and install Ubuntu if you like and use Virtualbox like Jay mentioned.
Personally unless MS-Office is required for work related activities I haven’t found anything lacking in Oracle’s OpenOffice: http://download.openoffice.org/
March 18th, 2010 at 8:14 pm
I’ve had issues with firefox plugins on Debian (kernel 2.6.21). Shockwave requires using Wine. Or so they say, I’ve never been able to get it going on wine. Some flash objects swamp the CPU and memory. Plus some flash objects won’t play at all.
XP really has gotten better.
XP running on virtual box under Ubuntu will run multimedia like a 386. Plus you need to sacrifice system memory when virtualbox is running.
March 18th, 2010 at 9:52 pm
Wingnuts are PCs. Angryclown is a Mac.
March 18th, 2010 at 10:43 pm
mac=”Garsh! Please let me copy this file, Mr. Jobs!”
March 18th, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Mitch, if you give the system specs of the R60 the mitchketeers will be better able to advise.
From the start button do run and type in ‘dxdiag’ in the test field. Post the ‘system model’.
March 18th, 2010 at 10:49 pm
Uh . . . “test’ field should be ‘text’ field.
But by all means follow Mr. Clowns advice re XP or Linux vs. Mac if you are a retard.
March 19th, 2010 at 6:52 am
Wingnuts are PCs. Angryclown is a Mac.
Mitch is Solaris.
March 19th, 2010 at 7:54 am
I would leave whatever OS is installed on it alone, the possible exception being Vista. Besides, XP is the best OS Microsoft ever put out.
March 19th, 2010 at 8:17 am
I’ve been running Ubunto on my internet machine at home for over a year and I love it, love it, love it. Mac’s are fine machines…pity they’ve become identified as the machine of choice for assnozzles.
March 19th, 2010 at 8:35 am
If you do decide to install Ubuntu on it, try one of the Live versions first, and maybe wait for the next LTS (in April, I think).
March 19th, 2010 at 8:58 am
On my flight from Atlanta to Buenos Aires, plane’s entertainment system went on the fritz. Imagine my surprise when while constantly rebooting, it kept displaying the cute little penguin in the corner. I thought Linux was unflappable? Indestructable? Unbreakable? Uninfiltratable? The absolute cat’s meow? I’d take the XP – at least you know what you are getting, warts and all.
Mac is waaaaay overrated and even more importantly, overpriced. Funny how whenever anybody talks how much they love their Mac, they always say how well it runs Windows in a virtual environment. Does anybody else detect irony here?
March 19th, 2010 at 9:37 am
I’ve also been running Ubuntu on the home desktop – the one the kids use – for almost a year. I installed it after one of the kids inadvertently let the “GreenAV” worm in, which completely paralyzed the machine (while running XP). It’s been great. Pretty bulletproof. No more worrying about worms!
As a UI designer, I love Macs – but they are just too expensive. And yes, they’ve come down a lot, but they’re still way, way more than I want to spend at the moment.
Someone asked for the specs: I don’t actually possess the machine yet. It’s an INCREDIBLE deal, so I’m thinking hard about it.
Second question, for those tuned in: XP, or upgrade to Win7?
March 19th, 2010 at 9:56 am
As a Linux geek, unless there’s some reason to change, I wouldn’t. XP is solid enough for general use, and on a laptop Ubuntu can be problematic for power management. Which is not to say that I don’t run Ubuntu on my Dell M90, just that it can take more tweaking than you might like on a laptop in my experience.
Now kids who can’t resist downloading everything under the sun IS a reason to think about switching, but I’d first create their own limited accounts so that they can’t install software and run XP that way first before installing Ubuntu.
March 19th, 2010 at 10:21 am
Anything more than $250 is not a deal unless it is really loaded.
If the R60 has bluetooth & you want to use a headset with it (for skype, for example), setting it up will be a chore with Linux.
I’m using XP for most daily tasks. The only security software I use is Windows Defender. No problem so far, but I don’t share my laptop with teenagers.
March 19th, 2010 at 10:48 am
nerbert said:
“it can take more tweaking than you might like on a laptop in my experience”
Very true, but booting from a “Live” version before installing can give you a good idea about what hardware is detected correctly, and how it handles media. If everything goes smoothly there, most likely it will remain that way after a real install.
I don’t mind Windows 7, but it does use up more RAM. I wouldn’t have it on a laptop with less than 2 GB, just because I don’t want it dipping into virtual memory at all (with it’s battery sucking disk access).
March 19th, 2010 at 11:19 am
Dual Boot is fine. Might get sketchy with a 60 GB HD, but personally I keep very little data on a machine. WIN 7 will still like more horsepower, but it should run OK. Does it have an XP with COA on it now?
RAM. RAM. RAM.
Did I mention RAM?
For the kids, I have some VMs running on one of the numerous boxes I have on my rack (damn electric bills). Go ahead little darlings, break it.