Choosing an Operating System for Your DIY Computer

One of the most important decisions you make with a computer is not one processor you have or how much ram is in your computer but it is what operating system you are using.  Most people when they think about computers they think about getting Windows or an apple computer.

Though these paid operating systems have their limits.  For Windows you have to pay hundreds of dollars to get their operating system to install on your new computer and use up 16GB to install Windows 7  on your computer.  For Apple OS you have to buy their hardware to be able to get their OS which costs hundreds to thousands more for their computer.  With Apple your locked into the apple experience and will be the same as everyone else who has an apple computer. 

When people think about Linux they think of geeky people and what not. And that is only if they have heard about Linux before.  Though what they don't know is Linux is generally the best option for most people specially when they are on a budget.  Most people have used Linux in their lifetime and probably do not even know it.  Android is build off of Linux,  Apple OS is built off of Unix which is very close to Linux,  and lot of other things like smart tvs,  Google glasses,  refrigerators,  and much more are built around Linux.  So why not use Linux as a Desktop or a Gaming machine?  Lot of people who game have heard of steam OS which is being developed on a Linux system as its core.  Linux has taken off a lot in the gaming industry over the last 2 years with more and more game companies developing games for Linux along side their windows counter part.  With APIs like Mantle from AMC coming out this will only help the Linux community to get game companies away from their dependency on Windows and the windows directx requirements. 

So more importantly why chose Linux?  Linux is an operating system that you use to install your software on.  If you are a hard core gamer and all you do is play games then Linux is starting to get there where you can use though it may be to soon.  Though if your like most people out there and surf the Web,  email,  Facebook,  google+,  play online browser games,  and WordPress.  Then Linux is the best thing that ever happened for you.  Ubuntu one of the leaders in the Linux community for customer desktops is probably where you want to check out. 

Ubuntu like Apple OS is not vulnerable to the Windows viruses out there.  Though this does not mean it's virus free as it can get malware just like apple OS can get malware though the amount of viruses and malware out there is almost none. Linux is used on a large percentage of the Web servers out there  and more and it still is hardy compared to Windows.  Though back on topic if your a normal user then you still have your Facebook,  browser with Google Chrome or Firefox.  But unlock Windows or Apple Ubuntu and other Linux distributions are free of charge and don't cost you any money.  Let along with out having the viruses of Windows you will save on virus removals and repairs of your computer like you normally would have to pay.  Ubuntu and it's Ubuntu store has thousands of free pieces of software that are just like you would be used to getting free software in your Google play store or your Apple ios store.  All you do is open up the Ubuntu store and search or browse by category for a peace of software that you would like.  Ubuntu also comes with a free integrated Ubuntu one to help you back up your documents like you would with software like Dropbox or Google drive. 

Performance for Ubuntu is a lot better performing and requires less hardware than that of Windows.  You will get better performance and disk space out of your Linux installs than out of your Windows installs.  Ubuntu uses around 4GB to install on a disk space and your up likely to ever use more than 10GB of space on your computer for installed apps since they use a lot of shared libraries.  This is a large difference than Windows where each app packages their libraries with their apps.  This causes Windows to have large amount of duplicate libraries and causes Windows to get very bulky even with a few applications installed. 

But one thing that Linux does better than any other operating system is that it gives you freedom.  You have freedom of choice and freedom to be unique.  You don't have to have the same look as everyone else as Apple forces you to have.  If you do not like the desktop environment that you have installed by default you can install another one and use it.  Just like on Android you are not forced into the default desktop launcher that comes with your phone and you can use a third party launcher.  Ubuntu for instance comes with unity as their launcher,  though you can install KDE,  cinnamon,  gnome,  and others.  This gives you the ability to change the feeling of the operating system to best fit you. There are so many things that you can do with Linux it would be way to long of an article.  But the key to it is if you do not like it on your computer or it just does not fix.  With Linux you have the ability to change it.

Give Linux a try. 

- Local Tech Repair Admin

Bringing DIY computers to everyone.