<p>Hey,
I will buy a laptop for Fall 2008, however I'm not sure what to buy. I've recently seen Ubuntu and Dell already sells preloaded Ubuntu laptops for cheap prices. You can see them here Dell</a> PCs Featuring Ubuntu . I was also considering buying a macbook, but it is considerably more expensive. I currently use windows, so I am unfamiliarized with both, but have tried them on a friend's machine. I'd still be pretty much a newbie to both, and would have to learn them quickly. I just wanted to know what do you guys think ? Are there compability issues in most colleges with Ubuntu ? Is each a user friendly interface for an average computer users, or does it use a lot of command line ? I will major in business by the way.</p>
<p>Ubuntu is pretty user-friendly, really, but if you've never used anything but windows I wouldn't suggest switching all-out to Ubuntu, I'd at least consider putting XP onto the laptop, leaving maybe 30 GBs of your hard-drive on a partition running Ubuntu, until you decide whether you want to use it or not. I don't think Ubuntu is going to give you any great bonuses as far as functionality or anything...</p>
<p>You can install Windows in a virtual machine, in case you need some Windows-only program that won't run in WINE. There's a free program called VirtualBox that will do that, much like Parallels does on Mac.</p>
<p>I'd recommend buying a laptop with the Windows license and downloading Ubuntu separately.
CD-R to get Ubuntu: $1.00 for expensive ones
Cost of a Windows OEM License separately: $100+
Cost of the Windows OEM License if purchased by Dell: $50-$100 depending on version, built into cost of the machine.</p>
<p>Even the laptops that come preinstalled with Windows have great Linux compatibility- I have 2 Dell Laptops that came with XP that have great Linux compatibility (esp with ubuntu) and Linux drivers available separately.</p>
<p>If you decide Ubuntu is better and want to use it full time, the Windows license improves the resale value of the laptop. If you want to dual boot, you wouldn't have to spend any additional money. If you want to use Windows only, you don't have to buy it separately.</p>
<p>I dual boot XP Pro & Ubuntu 8.04, I use the Ubuntu more but there are a few essential apps I need XP for.</p>
<p>I would just dual boot windows and ubuntu.</p>
<p>I'd get the one with Ubuntu, since you can just install a virtual copy of Windows in VirtualBox. That's what I did, and I haven't used the physical Windows install that I've got in months. Also, if you buy a laptop with Windows, it will probably have Vista. So you'd have to buy XP whether you got Windows or Ubuntu preinstalled. Also, reinstalling Windows if it's in a virtual machine is really easy, whereas if you reinstall a physical copy of Windows, it clears the master boot record, making Ubuntu unbootable until you use the Ubuntu install CD to fix it.</p>
<p>You shouldn't have any compatibility issues, other than any Windows specific programs you need, some of which you can run in WINE (e.g. Office 2003, Photoshop CS2). In VirtualBox, however, everything is guaranteed to run, as long as it doesn't require graphics acceleration (i.e. games).</p>
<p>So the only reason for a physical Windows install is to play games. Though some of those run in WINE too - check Wine</a> AppDB - Wine Application Database. Sometimes they run even faster than in Windows ;/</p>
<p>And if you get Ubuntu preinstalled, you'll never have to use the command line. The only time people have to use it is while getting the hardware working. If you get it preinstalled, you don't have to do that.</p>
<p>better be ready for some frustrating installation/configuration hell for at least 3 days.</p>
<p>edit: if you reformat your computer, otherwise don't do anything to your pre-configured dell or you'll be sorry</p>
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better be ready for some frustrating installation/configuration hell for at least 3 days.
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<p>How so? If you dual boot, you can always go back to Windows, and if you buy Ubuntu preinstalled, no worries.</p>
<p>I'm pretty positive that anywhere you go to college (except maybe MIT), you're going to have very minimal support for Ubuntu. Because of that, I would (and will, in fact) buy something with either Windows or Mac pre-installed so that if something goes wrong, you're not completely screwed because of your OS. It's then free to upgrade to Linux from there.</p>
<p>Oh, and the Ubuntu CD comes with free stickers. Can't miss out on that! :P</p>
<p>By the way, you can get FREE professionally made Ubuntu CDs (no catch- funded by donations and airmailed from Europe, 4-6 weeks unfortunately :( or you can buy locally, or just burn a CD-R) at <a href="https://shipit.ubuntu.com/%5B/url%5D">https://shipit.ubuntu.com/</a> . Last time I ordered a 32-bit (standard) 8.04 CD from there I got every non-server one (the one I ordered, the x64 standard, Kubuntu, and the Educational addons, as well as stickers). I do some hardware testing, so I guess that's why I got the extras?... (it really only takes 5 minutes, there is an app builtin to Ubuntu for it...)</p>
<p>I'm going to rehash my recommendation for getting the one with preinstalled Windows. I ordered a (Windows XP Pro) laptop from Dell 2 years ago and it included all the Linux drivers on support.dell.com, and Linux compatibility is excellent, so it's not really an issue.</p>
<p>-Make sure you get one with integrated (Intel) or nVidia graphics- ATI cannot make Linux drivers correctly for some reason.
-Wireless support for the intel wireless cards is much better than many of the broadcom/Dell cards.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm pretty positive that anywhere you go to college (except maybe MIT), you're going to have very minimal support for Ubuntu. Because of that, I would (and will, in fact) buy something with either Windows or Mac pre-installed so that if something goes wrong, you're not completely screwed because of your OS. It's then free to upgrade to Linux from there.
[/quote]
Actually, MIT only supports Athena, Red Hat, and SuSE: MIT</a> IS&T: Linux Support Statement. Fedora/Red Hat are still the main OS's in large institutions - most of the Ubuntu users are just individual home users.</p>
<p>Regardless, if you buy Ubuntu preinstalled, you can get support for it through Dell. If you don't buy it preinstalled, you willl still have support, but only for Windows and the hardware.</p>
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-Make sure you get one with integrated (Intel) or nVidia graphics- ATI cannot make Linux drivers correctly for some reason.
-Wireless support for the intel wireless cards is much better than many of the broadcom/Dell cards.
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</p>
<p>make sure your laptop component has Intel brand. Nvidia has few problems in the past. Broadcom wireless is a *****, it's not fun installing ndis wrapper if you're still a linux newbie.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I'm pretty positive that anywhere you go to college (except maybe MIT), you're going to have very minimal support for Ubuntu. Because of that, I would (and will, in fact) buy something with either Windows or Mac pre-installed so that if something goes wrong, you're not completely screwed because of your OS. It's then free to upgrade to Linux from there.
[/quote]
Actually, MIT only supports Athena, Red Hat, and SuSE: MIT IS&T: Linux Support Statement. Fedora/Red Hat are still the main OS's in large institutions - most of the Ubuntu users are just individual home users.</p>
<p>Regardless, if you buy Ubuntu preinstalled, you can get support for it through Dell. If you don't buy it preinstalled, you willl still have support, but only for Windows and the hardware.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>I was kidding, actually. :P I've never looked into MIT's computer support, I just saying it wouldn't surprise me for them to support any flavor of Linux. Back to the topic, though, just be aware that if you buy an Ubuntu system, you're going to have to turn to your manufacturer instead of just waltzing into your campus IT center.</p>
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just be aware that if you buy an Ubuntu system, you're going to have to turn to your manufacturer instead of just waltzing into your campus IT center.
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Unless you go to WashU, because I'll probably getting a job at the IT center next year and I'd be more than glad to help anyone running Linux ;/</p>