Computer newbie looking for some advice.

[RoseArkana]

Hi there, I have been having some thoughts lately and because I am a newb when it comes to PCs as I was a console gamer most of my life, I'm not entirely sure what I should do. I've had my current PC for around 6 and a half months now, and I have had no problems, however I have been running Windows 8, and after so long, I've become tired of it. I have been experimenting with Linux a lot lately, running it on a laptop i keep for college and i really enjoy the feeling of using Linux, as it feels smoother, and overall better to me. Because of these experiences, I am currently consider making the switch between Windows 8 and Linux, however I do not know if there will be some problems making this switch.

To put it as simple as i can, there is a lot of things on my PC at this moment that I am not sure if they would be compatible with Linux, ranging from programs i use on a daily basis to all my games i have bought on steam, and I really don't want to switch over to find the majority of things I use are incompatible.

I have looked into the possibility of doing a dual-boot with Windows 8 and Linux, but I am not confident at working with things like the BIOS so to be honest I am afraid in-case i screw something up.

I'm terribly sorry if this isn't exactly clear of what I am worried about, but I have trouble wording things when making explanations, so if there are any details you need before helping me, please do ask.

 

[dmroeder]

There is a high possiblity that the programs you are currently using will not be compatible with Linux. Very few programs are "cross platform" where it will work with either operating system.

However there probably are equivalents in Linux for programs that you use for Windows. For example you will not be able to install Microsoft Office natively in Linux, but they do make clones that work almost the same called OpenOffice and Libre Office. Or if you use Photoshop, they have a program called GIMP. Not as powerful but it works pretty well.

Steam is natively supported but not all games are ported. See Steams Linux section for which games they currently have. They add more and more over time.

If you name some of the most common stuff you use, we can probably suggest if it will work or if there is something that will work in it's place.

edit: I guess one thing you'd have to work out is getting it installed on your Windows 8 hard drive too. I hear new machines use "secure boot" which is a hurtle in installing other operating systems. I've yet to deal with it so I'm not totally sure what those hurtles are.

 

[RoseArkana]

I mainly use Steam, blender, visual studio, google chrome, teamviewer, guitar pro 6 and skype. I'm pretty sure with programs Ill be fine, Its just games that Im worried about as I have a lot of games currently installed, including Garry's Mod, The Witcher 2, DOTA 2, and a lot more. I will have a look n.at the steam linux list soon.

 

[dmroeder]

It may be worthwhile to dual boot until you are comfortable with the solutions that are available for Linux.

At a quick glance Blender, Chrome, Teamviewer, Guitar-pro and Skype are supported (teamviewer and GP were a little of a surprise).

Visual Studio is a little different animal. You may have to install it in Wine (google it).

It looks like none of the games you listed are supported. I think it's pretty much valve titles at the moment. Not all of them either.

 

[RoseArkana]

How easy would it be to set-up a dual-boot? It's not like i don't have enough time to do it as College is finished for a few months, but I'd just like to know so I can find a good day as i tend to enjoy my sleep, and i want to do it as early as possible so I have the full day to experiment.

 

[stillblue]

This is a pretty good guide for the dual boot.

http://apcmag.com/how-to-dual-boot-windows-8-and-linux.htm

Once you have them installed which only takes a few minutes for Ubuntu, install Blender, GIMP and Wine to Linux and anything else you see you might like. What flavor of Linux are you using?

 

[RoseArkana]

What do you mean flavor? If you mean what specific kind, I've been experimenting with Kubuntu so I think I will install that.

 

[dmroeder]

You guessed it, he meant the distribution.

Although I haven't used Kubuntu specifically, KDE has become my desktop environment of choice (same environment used in Kubuntu). Not sure if you have played around with the any of the desktop effects, but Wobbly Windows is pretty slick. It's a novelty, but I like it.

Being that you are a big gamer, that might be where your problems come from. Linux is definitely not a gaming platform. Things have improved in this area, but not anywhere near where Windows is at. I have a hard time seeing it ever get there. Although I suppose if MS continues their whirlwind of failures, you never know!

What languages do you use in Visual Studio?

 

[RoseArkana]

Mainly VBA, C# and C++ at the moment, however I plan on beginning to learn Java and Python very soon as I plan on working in my later life as a programmer since I find myself enjoying solving problems and writing programs more than I even enjoy games sometimes.

I knew going to Linux may cause some problems with games, and from the look of it there aren't many games I own that are compatible with Linux, however if I set up a dual-boot I should be able to play games on Windows fine, while still having Linux installed and being another boot option yes?

 

[stillblue]

Your Windows and Linux are completely seperate, you choose at boot which you'll use and since both are booting much faster these days it's not as big an issue as before, still an issue, just not so much.

For programming I use Eclipse, Netbeans and gphpedit. PHP and Ruby are a couple more languages you may want to check out if you want to get into online aplications and who doesn't?

 

[RoseArkana]

Eclipse is one of the programs I've had a look at and will be testing soon to see if I like it, and I will have a look at Netbeans and gphpedit soon. I have a few books on Ruby which I got from a lecturer at college, so I will be looking through those to see if I can squeeze some more coding in my head.

Plan on installing the dual-boot within the next few hours, so will get back to you guys and let you know how it goes. Thanks for all the help!

 

[dmroeder]

You could also look into running Kubuntu in VMWare Player or VirtualBox.

 

[RoseArkana]

After around an hour of trying to get Kubuntu working, I'm close to giving up. It boots me into GRUB, and I was clueless what to do, looking around most people are saying to use the following code

root (hd0, 0)
kernel /vmlinuz<tab> root=<root device> [<any other options>]
initrd /initrd<tab>
boot

However, this doesn't work for me, and it just keeps returning errors 8 and 15. Is there no simple way to do this? As I'm really starting to lose hope in this, since I'm struggling to understand exactly what to do.

 

[stillblue]

OK, you probably have a problem with where you put the Kubuntu boot loader. root(hd0,0) is not where that link I gave you recommended. We should have been more specific. That would install the Kubuntu loader in the MBR spot where Windows wants to be.

Did you use a USB drive to install?
Did you use the easyBCD to create the new bootloader for Windows as in the instructions?
Next time you boot Kubuntu from the DVD or Flash please give us the output from sudo fdisk -l (that's a lowercase L).

 

[sam_p_lay]

Wobbly Windows is pretty slick.

Haha it's the best bit! :-D

I use a Windows program called EasyBCD to configure the boot menu. I'll boot the Linux DVD and install to a Linux drive/partition with bootloader installation set to the boot sector of that partition (so not the MBR of the whole drive) and then EasyBCD configures the MBR/BCD for a Windows option and Linux option(s).

 

[stillblue]

I finally have a computer with win8 on it. Fortunately the owner will not be in the least dissapointed if I destroy windows. So, I guess your problem is that you've got a computer with win8 pre-installed in UEFI (that's is the BIOS). Apparently you have to install both systems, windows and Kubuntu in the same manner, ie, uefi or legacy. If you install them differently then each time you want to change you have to change in the BIOS to UEFI for Windows or Legacy for Kubuntu. Working on how to geet around that now, check back soon, I hope.