₦airaland Forum

blackweaver:
@c.wolf, forget story; MS will still take over 85% of the market share; most of the people who
will try out thee google os are adventurous guys like the linux users, not the average joe
who doesn't even know what an operating system is

@bigrovar
how's the performance of kde 4.x? i used to hear that it was buggy (am sure by now it's much better)
the only os i have that uses kde 4.x is opensuse 11 i think, but men that thing drags - ok it's MUCH better than vista
but it still drags; i stil use kde3.5 on most of my kde-based distros

well am finding kde 4.3 to be quite stable , although its still very beta and i would not recommend it for everyday use , it still has some rough edges ,

texazzpete:
Google's OS will hurt linux far more than Windows.
windows users are usually comfortable with windows, and when Windows 7 comes out, there's bound to be a lot more satisfied customers. Not many will switch and lose compatibility with all their favourite apps.
#
The open source community is another matter.

perhaps u can enlighten us how in your opinion google chrome OS will hurt linux ,  that statement itself is a huge contradiction ,  but i will give u a chance to explain what you self , ( i can accept and respect a view contrary to mine , what i can not accept is general half baked , ill thought out statement , spitted out without any base on fact or reality)

KDE 4.3 , modern , clean , social and completely free and open source desktop , unpolluted by mono or any MS trapnology , so take that u gnome bitches


https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3524/3699909997_84b4c25623_o_d.png

Ex Inferis:
the fault does not lie in the browser itself, it lies with Active X which micropwsoft uses mostly for WGA. the reason firefox is touted is because it can better handle such frameworks than IE.

remember i said earlier that most modern malware are  plug-in based.

and


i do not agree with this. sure, certain apps may call the browser in order to redirect for either tech support or registration purposes,  but they always call in the *default* browser, which could be anything, not necessarily IE. this does not mean such apps need IE or any browser to function, just for auxiliary services.

I think we quite agree that IE is a flawed browser (to be fair i have not tried 8 so things might have changed) but what even amplifies this flaw is the way its hardwired into windows ,   Infact with windows xp things are soo bad that Both IE and windows explorer are almost one and the same. in fact both have shell integration which fuse them together as one application add to the fact that it will be almost impossible to remove Internet Explorer  doing so would cause Some applications that depend on libraries installed by IE to fail to function, or have unexpected behaviors. things like The Windows help and support system will also not function due to the heavy reliance on HTML help files and components of IE. (not sure if this also affect vista) it is also not possible to run Microsoft's Windows Update or Microsoft Update with any other browser due to the service's implementation of an ActiveX control, which no other browser supports.  ,  although such Integration has its advantages but from a security point of view the disadvantage out weigh its advantage ,

The Modern trend in application design is to have each application run in a sandbox environment hence ensuring that:

   1. that a compromised application cannot cause damage to the rest of the platform. This means an attacker may not be able to use one vulnerable application as a spring box for attacking the rest of the OS.
   2. Hiding information / data associated with applications from the rest of the applications running on the platform.
   3. Restricting access to only the parts of the system that an application needs to do its particular function.

The sandbox usually provide isolation of filesystem and privilege. A sandboxed application runs in a pre-defined subset of the filesystem that it cannot escape from. This is commonly referred to as a " chroot jail",  the sandbox must provide isolation of privilege. Privilege isolation is done in the traditional UNIX mechanism of UID/GID separation, where applications will be run with different user and group identifiers.   both andrioid, google chrome and even the One Laptop Per child suger Interface use this technology .

The Firefox on windows is safer because its has less integration to the rest of the OS and if compromised is less likely to affect the rest of the system,  a flaw in IE or any of its libraries for example goes deep affecting every other application that use such libraries ,  this is why IE cant be removed in previous version of windows. and why its windows 1 security hole ,


in other news


am test running windows 7 and it looks good ,  NAT ,  its actually a screenshot of kde 4.3 running on kubuntu 9.04
https://farm3.static.flickr.com/2654/3699860911_0189b40e40_o_d.png

Ralvy:
Okay, this is awesome
The built in Network Manager connected to the Internet with my Nokia E71, sweet
When I selected my country during the setup, it had all major careers listed
[list][li]MTN[/li]
[li]Zain[/li]
[li]Glo NG[/li][/list]

-[n3rve]

see? linux is gets to work nowadays without any tweaking that its starting to get boring . miss does days of PPP and wvdials ,

@Ex Inferis
No u didnt , i was actually reading having a cup of tea while reading ur post , my bad , cause i almost split tea all over my laptop , the things u say coming from u , i dont really know where to start , but i will really u , first i need to clear my head

texazzpete:
@bigrovar
My point was, you were comparing Vista on your laptop to Windows 7 on your friend's PC.
When carrying out a test, you need to use the same base hardware to ensure there's a level playing ground. Got it?

oh i see were u are coming from but FYI i dont have a vista installation on any of my PCs at least not since the last 2 years, , but like you said my experience can in no way be taken as gospel since !, pre beta, 2 not my hardware , it was a general comparison , thankfully a friend is here for a visit and has a windows 7 laptop with him , i hope to try it out and see what all the fuss is about ,

Ex Inferis:
the fault does not lie in the browser itself, it lies with Active X which micropwsoft uses mostly for WGA. the reason firefox is touted is because it can better handle such frameworks than IE.

remember i said earlier that most modern malware are plug-in based.

and


i do not agree with this. sure, certain apps may call the browser in order to redirect for either tech support or registration purposes, but they always call in the *default* browser, which could be anything, not necessarily IE. this does not mean such apps need IE or any browser to function, just for auxiliary services.

My friend its a known facts that the biggest flaw of Windows has been the way IE is hardwire into the OS , IE is more just a web browser on windows, its a component of the OS , up till vista u can install updates on windows without IE, the configuring network proxies (and infact many other network settings ) on widnows are built right into IE, hence when there is a flaw in IE it tends to goes deep into the heart of the OS , the reason why FF is more secured is that , its has little hardwiring into the OS (just like in linux) i can easily remove it and replace it with something else , IE can not be so easlily removed ,

I'm glad you finally admit that your hands-on review of Win 7 beta was critically flawed. nope Not only did you have a brief hands-on with it, you used it on a days old install with no control over what had been installed so far and you were comparing it with a vista installation on a different laptop.

how can u describe a user experience as flawed , i used something and came out to state my experience with it , how is that flawed , fine i used a pre beta version of vista, and it wasnt my system, and it was for a brief period , all of which i disclosed when i spoke my mind back then , it was an experience and i told it as it was , fully disclosing the circumstance. it would be flawed if i told a lie ,

In science experiments you always need a control, which should preserve as much as possible the base conditions of the experimental hardware.
Glad you finally deign to admit the public's happiness with Windows 7.

I would rather really on a user experience than a science experience , when it comes to things like an OS which is expected to be used on all types of hardware for various reasons by different type of users scientific experience are done in a controlled enviroments and as such not a true test of how rugged an OS is , A ship may be safe in the Harbor , but ships are not built to stay in Harbors

Did it have to take the Ubuntu guy's word before you finally believed?

well it took the fact that almost everybody that had something positive to say about it. I have not tried windows 7 BETA of the RC , i tried that pre beta and started my experience with it , for that i have no apologies

don't get me wrong, i'm not trying to re-start an old quarrel. I have a friend (chxta) who feels the same as you do about OSS and i respect the fact that it's your personal choice. However, as a system administrator it is your duty to spend as much time with Windows 7 as possible so as to provide the best possible support. Windows 7 will be the best version of Windows EVER, and it extremely likely that that is what you'll be recommending to your clients that choose to stick with Windows OS.

well u have a point there , and but then i work mostly with Linux , and would like to specialize in it , in case u dont know sysads are the most conservative people in the word , the focus is always on stability than features , so as a sysad i would prefer a tried and test OS like XP over Win7 not because i feel Win7 is crap but its too bleeding edge and might not work with legacy applications ,

PS: Windows 7 includes Powershell 2.0, an improved version of the original with better features. you can see details on the additions here

yeah i have heard nice things said about powershell and i even mentioned it in the preview post about windows 7.

Microsoft created a system where any flaw in Internet Explorer could expose your Windows desktop to risks that go far beyond what you do with your browser. A single flaw in Internet Explorer is therefore exposed in countless other applications, many of which may use Internet Explorer in a way that is not obvious to the user, giving the user a false sense of security.

SeXy~DiVa:
I'm afraid of upgrading, last time I did, wireless stopped working?
Was the upgrade smooth for anyone?

there are quite a number of improvement that jaunty has over ibex , faster bootup ( my system boots in 20secs) better notification UI , updated version or applications in the repositories , nothing really major just general polish of the system , i have never been an upgrade person , i always prefer the clean install , and since i have my home dir on a seperate partition i can clean install my system and still have the same user settings ,

Ex Inferis:
forgot to mention, you really ought to try Win 7, its darn good.

Again nothing against windows , windows 7 might be the best thing since slice bread to come out of Redmond , which is all well and good , but really am not a windows guy , the windows ways are not my way , windows wont give me the power, customization, freedom, and a sense of community i get from linux, it just not built that way ,
Am having a swell time on ubuntu and arch and there is now way windows can give me that type of power over my hardware that i currently enjoy on linux , I run a free (as in freedom) desktop and am loving every minute of it , in the end u use what works for u ,

sound like another pyramid scam that will soon fall on its head , papa always say if its too good to be true , its probably is

I tried Windows 7 somethings last december ,  and my experience with it was anything but Meh, didnt see any remarkable diff btw it and vista. but then my time on it was very short and the version i was on was pre beta, i have not had the had the opportunity or need to try it again. However most of the feed backs coming from people including the founder of ubuntu has described it as great. so i guess its a major improvement over vista. will i be using it anytime soon ,  not a chance in hell ,  this is not because i dont think its good enough ,  windows is just not my thing, for reasons i have discussed in the past.

@Double N

any Wacom-enabled tablet will do.

nope not really . to take advantage of the touch screen capabilities of windows 7 the touch screen needs have ability to take multiple input at a time (multi touch) a feature which most of the wacom tablets arent capable of AFAIK
@Flyuche

no matter how tight you make your OS, the greatest threat has always been the human factor; most identity thefts result from insecure emails, phishing attacks etc. all these correlate with human discretion and caution. no matter how tight you lock an OS or an app, the errant employee looking for p0rn or woteva can still make nonsense of security.

true ,  in many cases a computer is as good and secured as its user, but often times most of the virus affecting windows today took advantage of security holes/ vonurabilities in the OS ,  the problem with windows is that it still uses this principle of open all then close ,  hence most systems ports are left open by default ,  for the sake of ease of use. (not sure if things have improved with windows 7/ vista)   annoyance aside ,  many analyst agree that vista is the most secured os ever to come out of Redmond . that is why most of the viruses ravaging windows today are xp malwares ,  Not sure if Conflicker affect vista ,  this goes to show that make an OS secured and u will reduce the problem of viruses to a minimum ,

The Idea that Linux is secured by obscurity downplays the amount of security measures that goes into the os ,  i have used both windows and linux extensively and i can say that linux has been built from ground up to be secured ,  security is built into linux ,  and when a security vulnerability is found ,  it is fixed almost immediately ,  the fact that its open source allows many eyes to watch the code and every security hole is blocked before a malicious hacker can take advantage, 

 

besides, i dont buy into your opinion that OS X by default is tighter than windows: OS X comes with its firewall turned OFF, while windows comes with windows defender running at full tilt, firewall on on all but essential ports, and security center constantly nagging you for an antivirus app.

Even ubuntu has firewall turned off by default ,  for home use ,  this shouldnt be a problem as long has every port is closed by default except expressly opened by an admin,  also the root user is disabled with further reduces the changes of brute force attack , 

sure, a few companies set up servers on Linux, but where does the bulk of MS's income lies? OEMs and Enterprise Site licenses! corporations utilize linux to serve its online needs, but the workforce uses windows and office apps to do their spreadsheeting/wordprocessing/presentations/desktop publishings/Payroll/Taxes/CAD etc. consequently, mcrosoft sells a line of windows tagged ENTERPRISE or BUSINESS editions.

you have spoken not the whole truth my friend ,  indeed most of MS money come from the enterprise user. but most of this enterprise users ( the serious one with mission critical files) use ther windows machine as client system to the linux database/ server ,  how many business run their database on windows? infact most companies have their entire networking stack built on linux, and this windows client can run happily and save because there is a linux firewall in the background making sure things are safe,  in the end the windows client is just a disposable frontend which can be easily replaced since it has no data stored on it ,  ,  The killer MS product for enterprise is not even Windows ,  its MS Office, Exchange, and AD ,  open office although very good and free, its doesnt get looked at because of the interoperability issues it has opening OOXML and doc files which are both not open standard ,  this is no fault of open office but MS way of keeping its self in monopoly

one thing you ought to know; malware on most platforms have ONE purpose, and consequently work in significantly the same way. these days most malware are browser/plugin reliant (be it activeX, Flash, Javascript) and thus the same exploitable holes are used in woteva platform because plugins and browsers work almost the same on almost all OS.

that is why a thing like web browser should never be too integrated into the OS, like IE is hardware into windows (dont know if things have changed with Win7) on Linux the browser is just a user land app ,  if its compromised its isolated and the rest of the system is safe,

4llerbe:
na wah o lynx, u have a thing against desktop icons? i do too anyway. quick question at all, how do i install yf and open vpn , man must survive ko. dt thingy is veeerrrrry essential.

What version of Ubuntu are you running ? if you are running ubuntu 9.04 aka jaunty jackalope then vpn can be configured from the network manager applet  ,  but you will need to install two packages network-manager-openvpn and network-manager-vpnc both can be installed from synaptic . once installed go to the network manager icon. right click on it and choose edit connections ,  go to the VPN tab you can always take it from there

Ralvy:
(Shoutout: Hey Bigbrovar, wassup?)

Regarding 3G, I'll offer my opinions based on those I've tested (MTN and GLO). I tested both in Abuja. Glo is far too unstable for me, apparently I was helping them 'beta' test the package, the connection turns out to be pretty slow even with decent weather conditions, I have to say it was a bit disappointing after all the noise they made 

MTN is by far the best IMO, connection springs up to about 300KBps at night (in Abuja), but with that type of speed, you'd be tempted to initiate multiple downloads which will, in no time exhaust the allowed 3GB limit. I found myself spending above N40,000 (12GB) in a month. I feel our local carriers are being unfair with all these limitations

ETA: Being a fellow Linux user, how do you intend to use the phone as a modem? I've been unable to accomplish this, sadly. So I currently dual boot with Windows 7 (taking that down soon to replace with Vista). However, on both Windows operating systems (Vista and W7), I can use my phone (Nokia E71) as a modem, but trying to make this work on Ubuntu jaunty Jackalope has been a PITA.

Thanks mate for the heads up, although i have not heard much about glo's 3g offer. i have heard quite a lot about mtn's and the conscious seem to be that its the best in term of speed and reliability unfortunately the 3gb cap is a real deal breaker for me. the service is not cheap and putting 3gb cap amount to extortion and blackmail from mtn. where i leave and work we have a good internet connection but we also have strict rules preventing the use of Torrent , a rule which (even though am an admin) most keep , since what i need is a connection i could use for Torrenting stuff the 3gb cap of mtn is a real no no , how ever i am hopeful that something would have to give way

about the linux issue , infact that is the least of my problem, i have many options and am pretty confident that (if not all ) at least one would work , i could use the inbuilt network manager that comes with ubuntu which makes connecting to modems a breeze and u will be up and runing with 3 clicks , or i could use good old wvdial which has never failed me in the past , and if push comes to shove then i could always use blueman which allows me to connect to a phone and use it as a modem to browse on my PC , am sure all three would work without problems so am not in anyway bothered.

Am looking to get a 3g capable phone which i hope to utilize as an internet modem for my laptop. that way i hope to stay connected without caring an extra usb/express card dongle , I would appreciate if anyone can share their experience with me on which network is best for this kind of service , i have heard about mtn. but their 3gb a month data caps is a huge deal breaker for me. but i have not used the service before so i just might change my mind , please i would appreciate if you have any experience to share , thanks in advance

God i hate anything qine , i cant never forget how much itching i got from drug which are brands of choloroqine , while growing up

Guys am working on a custom version of ubuntu optimized for maths, statistics, and science students generally. It is originally developed for the University were i work. but i hope to share it with people freely once am done. This version of ubuntu is based on jaunty jackalope. and its will be called Ubuntu AUST Edition (after African University of Science and Technology the school were i work and which i developed it for use by our students) currently all is done. but the cd is till at beta and am currently testing it. but its been stable so far. it comes preinstalled with many science educational tools like Scilab, Octave, kile Latex etc. Once am done i hope to distribute it freely.

Its strange that some people think that adding our native language to windows or computer in general was a bad move, or an unnecessary. all i can say is that computer is not just meant for the well educated (who seems to have forgotten how to use their native language) but also for the farmer in the village, and for the grandmother to keep in touch with friends and family. This is how technologies is being used in places like Venezuela, kenya, and many other developing countries. Information Technology has been used to cut out middle mehn and help poor farmers get better prices for their goods. I use linux and we have had locale support for most Nigerian Language for such a long time. Its always a good thing anything that brings computer closer masses. It just beats me why some will feel this is a bad idea

lynxnoon:
Guys oh!
Need ur help seriously!! I was upgrading frm felicia 2 gloria using d safe steps i saw on mint blog; i was almost done but cdnt cmplit cos of NEPA & nw i find it hard 2 sucesfuly boot in2 d gmone dsktp,it logs in smtyms but most tym it givs an error msg & i hv 2 punch in CRTL+D keys in order 2 restat again
Pls hw can i resolve dis cos reinstalln i'll hv 2 stat updating all ova again!!
Tnx

First off Linux is good for many things and i can stick my neck for its stability etc. but upgrade? that is one area i will not touch with a pole. even ubuntu (which mint is based on ) recommend a clean install. which is what i always do. that said majority of people go the upgrade route and say its works really well, just that i always prefer starting on a clean slate , then are ways i can do that and still preserve my user settings and have all my applications back in no time , i have never upgraded before and would advise you go to the mint forum with this problem as you would likely get better advise on how to fix it.

blackweaver:
another browser i could mention is dillo; or links, there's a graphical version of links too
sometimes use a command line text editor called joe; nano too's ok
but always gets me lost; don't know the keystrokes

for minimal browsers the best i have used is arora. uses webkit and based on qt , but integrate well with gnome , very light and very fast , just like what firefox use to be

4llerbe:
hi, quick question @ all. i often find myself stuck wit dialup as my only means of gettin online esp on travels. so i need my pc suite 2 connect my fone. hw do i install my pc suite? or even beta my .exe files? i hav some stuff am into like football mgr. av not seen .deb versions n google has not given me answers. hw man wan cope wit? esp d dial up issue anyway

First they is no Nokia PC Suite for linux, Nokia doesnt make one. However there are ways to use your phone as a dialup on linux without a pc suite. The Ubuntu network manager is really good and might just work out of the box. connect your phone and select the carrier, put your username and password and it should work. if not then you can follow a couple of guide i have written here http://ubuntunigeria./category/connectivity/

about your football manager , again football manager was not ported to linux (along with many major games) there are some cool linux games. but linux is not known as a major gaming platform

blackweaver:
@bigrovar, flyuche i know you guys like getting the best graphics out of your pcs you probably have
state of the art hardware; unfortunately my graphics card is onboard and not
particularly impressive. Anyway i'm more on the performance stuff;
i like to get as much speed out of my hardware as possible. 'cos of this
i generally prefer to use "barebone" oses like slackware and arch to ubuntu and co and on those
oses i ALWAYS use runlevel 3 i.e always start in command line (don't really like gdm, xdm or kdm).
of course i still go into X but i prefer starting from command line; i believe it's faster
Now my question is this do you ever decide to use a distro that's not as graphically enhanced as
those images that you've been oppressing us with and if so, which window managers do you like using?
for instance i use icewm on slackware (even though i have all the other window managers too but i
dislike the delay) also on arch linux(where i don't have kde or gnome or xfce) and for my file manager i use
pcmanfm (but sometimes use konqueror too) i've used rox as my file manager but i don't like the fact that it doesn't
have an address bar which is something i dislike aboutt gnome's file manager too (i can't even remember the name)

when i want to go the minimalist route i use lxde which uses gtk but comes with the openbox window manager. it uses pcmanfm as filemanager and comes with very light tools , the desktop enviroment is still very young and although its very stable and has its one tools for heavy gnome evivalent its still under heavy development as work is in place to replace things like network manager, Totem player with lighter lxde based equivalents. i dont start my system on runlevel 3 by default , but i use slim instead of gdm which can be very heavy on a little resourced machine. when i want to keep it light i stick with arch because its built to be modular and by defaults worsk in such a way that allows you to enable only what you need , or most modules and daemons are disabled by default which is just fine with me when am trying to keep it light,

also for everyday computing here are the tools i use when am on a resource starved machine
Note= leafpad
Music= MPD + sonata
Word processing = abiword
Terminal = terminator/xfce4-terminal
filemanager = pcmanfm
mail = Claws
Pictures = GPicView
web browser = midori but preferably arora both are based on webkit very fast and light
etc

lynxnoon:
@4llerbe
Where do u stay in lag?
I hv Ubuntu 8.10, 9.04, netbook remix9.04, Kubuntu 9.04 & Linuxmint6 &7(tho i may hv 2 redwnld 7 again sha)
I wok @ mushin & live in oshodi/isolo
Cheers

I think he would be better off with linux mint due to the fact that one, its more nooby friendly, and 2 its has a better out of the box experience compared to ubuntu because it ships non free codecs for playing mp3 and dvds by default , codecs ubuntu doesnt ship for legal and political reasons.

4llerbe:
hey u didnt ans any of my questions. i hav an adventurous side too. ok they are- 1. can i do them on an intel based p3, 2.  wat is d size of d average install footprint? cause i went googling n i was seeing stuff lyk 2-4 dvds!!? 3. is d installation something i can manage on my own? i knw my way around a pc. 4. i dnt think i can download files of that size n be burning em. i saw retail versions of redhat being sold. 4 cds or more can i use that?

Linux is a platform which many OS are based on hence we have many types of linux all for different type of people. the watch word in linux is choice and freedom. we have systems like ubuntum linux mint, mandriva which are a good starting point for new users due to their ease of use. then we have things like fedora,redhat,centos which are for more experienced users ,  then we have archlinux, gentoo etc for power users. also when it comes to desktop enviroment (how your desktop is laid out),  there are quite a few to choose from: there is the kde desktop enviroment which is quite close to the windows look, and is considered an heavy desktop requiring at least 256mb or ram on a fairly decent processor like P4,  then there is gnome which uses the same resources like kde. but has a different feel. for your case you can download xubuntu which is an ubuntu variance of xfce (xfce is a light weight desktop enviroment) the average size of a linux distros like ubuntu, mint and mandriva is 690mb which fits a cd fine.  most linux OS comes as live cds which allows you to run the OS on your computer without installing it

4llerbe:
well they look nice! i always sort of just thot that the things were like windows 95. not as in looks but i just remember those days you had to learn the exact command to play prince of persia or chess!!!!javascript:void(0); any ways iv spent many years learning my way round windows, the thot of starting the process allover is not appealing. u knw wat, can i install one of them thingys on a p3? i have one i can sacrifice for experimenting, God help me! then av seen this redhat blabla in ikeja with them boys. is that one safe to try and will it be just as fine? at least i an oppress my friend with the stuff? heh?

In that case you are better of with windows , if all you care about is a familiar environment and you dont have any problem using your windows as it is , then there is no point moving , the major reason people move to linux is the freedom that is gives the user , ( that is beside the stability, beauty, flexibility and other things that comes with it)

4llerbe:
sorry to butt in on this veeeerrrry interesting mumbo-jumbo, but as a mugun who has NEVER seen a linux pc before, does it have a user friendly point and click interface like windows or do u need a degree in command typing to use the damn thing. all the times av heard about the thing all i hear are fantastic names and what seems to be programming language! PLS WHAT IS WRONG WITH MACKINTOSH AS AN ALTERNATIVE TO WINDOWS EH?

Let me try and answer your questions the best i can. For me Linux is about what is called free and open source software. when i say free i don't mean free as in price (although most free softwares are also free as in price) the free here refers to freedom to own, distribution, improve the software. Most closed source softwares like windows and Mac among others comes with licenses that makes it illegal to redistribute their software (for example if you buy a copy of windows it is illegal to share it with your friend,  or even you wife if you have one) and if you see a fault in the software you are restricted from fixing it. basically ownership of closed source software like windows for example belong to Microsoft,  what you have is just the license to use the software.

another thing about open source software is that the source code (more like the ingredients and what was used in building the software) is available to the public and if you have the know how you are encouraged to improve the code and even make something better from it as long as you dont keep your improvements secret. you can read more about free and opensource software here  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_software 

for me the above is the major difference between linux and windows and Mac ,  LInux is free and open source ,  and because of this and the fact that the development process is very open and contributory most linux as OS are known for their stability, flexibility, and power ,  linux is also very secured and because it was built by millions of hacker to be secured from ground up ,  hence i have never had 1 virus problem even though i dont use an any virus ,  i have been running linux exclusively for close to 2 years last time i used an windows computer was a year and half ago ,  and i don't miss a thing ,

If you don't have a problem with using windows or things like freedom and open source software dont mean anything to you ,  then you are just better of with windows ,  because for me the important thing about linux is not because it is better than windows ,  but the fact that its a free and open source software

In case you want to try linux ,  were do you start ,  you can start by installing Linux mint or Ubuntu  ( reading about them ) Linux mint can be downloaded here http://www.linuxmint.com/download.php

you said you have never seen a Linux OS in action before ,  well here is one



[flash=500,500]http://www.youtube.com/watch/v/xC5uEe5OzNQ[/flash]


here is also a screenshot of my compaq mini 700 netbook running ubuntu netbook remix

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3643/3472998047_857ffb3418_d.jpg


and my laptop running ubuntu with the kde4 desktop

https://farm4.static.flickr.com/3429/3205467269_7384cd29b5_b_d.jpg

Linux mint 7 has been released. and am downloading it right now. you can read more about it here http://www.linuxmint.com/blog/?p=847 for esquire and the lagos peeps i hope to send a copy down to lagos through my colleague who should be coming down there on Thursday.

adybabs:
in rating, football in isreal is nothing. we can only know his true fitness when he comes to the major leagues: there, he will be tested with people like ronaldo,messi and the rest.

A player can only be as good as the challenge presented before him, and in the light Enyeama as done very well. Its never easy getting contracts with clubs from big leagues especially when u are a keeper from Africa. you have to start from somewhere and then proof that you are up to the task.

Well done Enyeama

blackweaver:
t least for ubuntu you could have used the wubi installer; then if you want to
get rid of it uninstall from windows; but is virtual box fast enough?
i can't stand the delay that occurs when am running an os in a virtual machine

flyuche already has ubuntu installed on his system, he just wants to use virtualbox to try out other linux distributions , i never recommend wubi for most people due to the fact that its just a way to test linux, and not meant to be a final solution.