Which OS?

I'm planning to get a laptop, but they all seem to be loaded with Windows8. This seems to be a 'Marmite' system - you love it or hate it. As a PC user who likes a classic desktup, I would have to load 'Classic Shell' or something similar.

So, I'm thinking of loading 'Ubantu' (with Firefox, Thunderbird and Open Office) in another partition and making the machine 'dual boot'.

Anyone got any experience of this or any other recommendations?

Re: Which OS?

From what I have seen of win 8 it's for phones/tablets and not really designed with laptops in mind so when I get a lap top after Christmas I am looking for one with win7 on it. I am told there are quite few available so hopefully won't be too hard to find.

Re: Which OS?

Thanks Julie. It never occurred to me that Win 7 would still be available as all new laptops seem to have Win 8. You're right that it's really best suited to Tablets etc.. and the PC version is just for consistency - not suitability.

Re: Which OS?

My server uses Ubuntu Server which is command line driven but I have tested out Ubuntu Desktop a few times.

You can download Ubuntu Desktop and run it off the CD to evaluate. Firefox is already installed if I remember rightly.

Probably a good idea to evaluate the software first to see if there are any problems with regard to software not being compatible or hardware not having suitable drivers and so on.

As for dual boot I haven't done this for a long while but it used to be very useful to me at one time. No-doubt there are other ways of running multiple operating systems these days.

Running Multiple Operating Systems

Re: Which OS?

Just had a quick look and amazon and pc world have quite a selection so I am guessing most places still have them.

Re: Which OS?

In spite of the horror stories I am getting on well with Windows 8 on my new laptop (which was a gift).

I dumped most of the silly tiles in the bin and although I still don't have a start button I found a shortcut..
Windows button +i
..to take me to sleep/hibernate etc.

Re: Which OS?

I couldnt find a Windows 7 Home edition laptop so I went for Windows 7 Professional.

Most of the 7 home editions I saw are upgraded ones.

Re: Which OS?

Windows 8.1 includes options for sleep, hibernate, shut down in the Quick Access menu. A fairly convenient way of getting at this plus other parts of the computer.



The Quick Access menu is opened by right-clicking the bottom left-hand corner of the screen.

Re: Which OS?

Thanks Mart yes I have been told about W8+1 but I have got this all set up now just how I want things to be and I don't want anything to mess it up...