OS hunting!

[MasterOfABCs]

Well, I'm flat out sick of windows.

It crashes a lot (something which was noticeable even in my failure at Ubuntu).

I just want somthing different.

I dabbled and failed at Ubuntu - Hardy Heron.

Is their an Open Source OS's out their somewhere that can possibly give me what I want!?

I'd like to be able to game, nothing hard-core, just some CoD4 and maybe Guild Wars.

I'd like some interesting features and a nice feel.

I know that their are different "distros" of Linux out there, are any of them better than mine?

Or possibly someone knows of a knew cup of Operating System i've never heard of!

I'm open for any suggestions.

 

[n[u]ll]

Your best (two) choices are Windows and Mac OSX. They're the most supported by games. I've yet to see many highly played games for Linux and other distribution's of it. Mac has a smaller community than windows, so your best shot is windows.

Why are you tired of it?

 

[Prometheus]

Windows XP - Home or Pro
Make sure its legit so you can get the updates.
Use a good AV and AS.

 

[SFilip]

Here's the deal - if you want to play games, you're either bound to use Windows or need to get yourself some console.
Obviously enough, running a windows game in another OS will not work, at least not at 100% - you are to expect unusual crashes or reduces performance at the very least.

 

[n[u]ll]

Obviously enough, running a windows game in another OS will not work, at least not at 100% - you are to expect unusual crashes or reduces performance at the very least.

Ha, I run Mac OSX, and, even though the WoW box says it works with the Mac OS, when I exit out of WoW I get some cryptic error messages. You know, the kind that they said would never appear on a mac in those Mac VS Pc commercials..

So as you can see, Windows (preferably XP) is your best shot. Mac does have some games, but not a whole lot.

Spoiler

If I were a game designer and I was given a choice to program a game for only 1 OS, based on that graph.. I think I'd definitely choose XP. How 'bout you?

Edit: Oh and you mentioned you wanted cool features, new layout etc.. Try this website:
http://www.wincustomize.com/gallery.aspx

 

[sqrage]

If your Windows is crashing, it's typically something you're doing, not the OSs fault.

I've been running XP on this computer for 6-7 years now and it hasn't crashed for as long as I can remember.

 

[MasterOfABCs]

Well I have meet with an OS compromise.

While I finally got Ubuntu to work with just about everything, CoD4 has some multi-player issues.

This makes me sad since multi-player CoD4 is the only the best game EVER.

But; partitioning and running XP along side Ubuntu in order to run CoD4 works fine.

Additionally, since I may or may not be attempting to start a website here shortly, the Linux wave of OS's is were I'm going to be hanging out for a while.

On the subject of Windows XP :

Mine crashes due to a number of factors that are indeed not the OS's fault.

However, switching to Ubuntu has solved many of these issues.

My computer, though supposed to be personal, is not.

Many other people use my computer and subsequently it winds up with virus after virus due to some dumb ass downloading "god-knows-what".

Despite my removal of this nonsense the system won't run as well as Sqrage's.

Now with Ubuntu, "god-knows-what" doesn't work most of the time and if it works research has shown me that 99/100 "viruses" will be ineffective.

 

[Prometheus]

Thats true, there are minimal viruses for Mac and even less for Linux but that doesn't mean there aren't any.
I suggest formatting XP when it starts to get really slow and blah.

 

[Rad]

You just need to take care of your PC is all. Theres nothing wrong with windows. Proven by a fresh install of windows with updates and correct drivers, you will run flawlessly. It's spyware, adware, virus, crapware like toolbars etc. that make it run slow or crash.

Either pay top dollar and buy a new Mac (You can't put mac on a PC, you need to buy the actual computer), or stay with Linux. But even with linux you're going to be left with issues, probably even worse than crashes at times. I don't care what any Linux users have to say because 95% of games are designed to run on windows XP (or vista, now).

Heres what you should do if keeping it in good shape is difficult. Do a complete reformat, erase everything from your harddrive. When you install make two or three partitions. One of those being a backup drive with updates and drivers, one to put game patches, saves, virtual cds, and even music on.

Then your main partition (which should be the largest) which will have Windows installed to it. In a few months (hopefully more than just a few) if your PC seems to be unstable and you can't find out why, just reformat the main partition. I've been doing this for a couple years now on this PC. You will lose alot of information but ALOT LESS than reformatting completely. Its a good idea to backup your firefox bookmarks and addons, and anything else with alot of customization (For me, my sidebar and launchy)


Also, get a good virus scanner (I use AVG and Avast! which have worked well), do periodic disk defragments, and just be more careful surfing the internet. When I look at my 'family PC' that my little brother, sister, and parents use (all computer illiterate) there's always some "Zango" or "WePlay Games", "MyFreeWeb Toolbar" etc installed. If you have ANYTHING like this... Uninstall it, and be more careful surfing the web! And generally you should stay away from freeware/shareware unless its from a known source. Download.com is NOT a known source.


PS: It's not the OS's fault entirely. Although it should try to protect itself more, Windows is not the problem 90% of the time. It's whats you have installed. Virus's are not intentional, but are not caused by the operating system.

 

[SFilip]

> Theres nothing wrong with windows
Well that just made my day. Thanks
You really should be aware that the rest of your post is basically giving tips on how to avoid Windows-related problems.

> spyware, adware, virus, crapware like toolbars
> Virus's are not intentional, but are not caused by the operating system.
You think users are solely responsible for that crap? Think again - it's the countless holes in windows that these things often exploit to get in.

> You can't put mac on a PC
Google "Hackintosh".

 

[AceHart]

> You think users are solely responsible for that crap?

Yes. At least for some 99.97%...


On a related note, pointless OS bashing is not the way to continue this thread.

 

[MasterOfABCs]

Well, since I've gotten quite a conversation here, ill poke for a more definitive answer.

Rad & Ace Hart - Its' the users downloading bad stuff.

Yes, yes it is.

You know what my problem is?

Porn, music, and lame-ass games.

AVG, Avast and much more just aren't enough to the user base of my computer from straight raping it.

Personally, I spend most of time cleaning up this crap and trying to fix the other crap my silly mother breaks. (I hate ANYTHING wireless )

I've been amazed at how fast a good friend of mine can get IE to quite working. (Fastest time I can remember is slightly under 10 minutes after a de-frag n' all!)

Keep in mind, my PC isn't so much a Personal Computer.

It is much more a Public Computer.

I have armies of people such like the friend mentioned above who use my silly computer often.

So, Now that I have settled nicely into Ubuntu,

Things are looking up.

However, being a gamer at heart, i'm more than willing to go back to straight Windows. (But not Mac, screw them AND their computers)

However, id love some advice on how to wipe viruses quickly with out wiping my games and handy programs.

Hell, id love you forever if you had a good plan for me.

Yah, id pretty much love you forever, for as long and hard as you wanted.
(So long as i didn't get any virus, that is! )

 

[Prometheus]

Get a 8GB or 16GB usb 2.0 drive and run your games offa there. XD

 

[enouwee]

Get a 8GB or 16GB usb 2.0 drive and run your games offa there. XD

And the information kept in the registry?

A second partition on the disk will do the same job, while being substantially faster. Once you wipe your Windows installation, you have to reinstall most of your applications/games.

 

[Prometheus]

One of the idiot computer users will probably make it explode if there's a 2nd partition.

 

[moonrose]

as crappy as his comp is, it would explode.
ive personally seen it, dealt with it and tried fixing some things.
but also it would be so much better if he did reinstall everything.
OS and drivers.
even if it takes a while or so, its worth it.