A Very Large Audience For Linux

Discussion in 'all things UNIX' started by Cruise, Aug 15, 2013.

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  1. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    While I actively use Win7 on my year-old laptop, this is about my 9-year old desktop which still runs WinXP (and rather swiftly).

    As I'm sure many of you know, 8-months from now Microsoft will discontinue all support of WinXP (they already discontinued support of IE8, the last XP-compatible version of IE). Like myself, a great many XP users (>40% of all current PC users!) will soon be stranded with a dead OS, so are not most XP users Linux candidates?

    Of course this assumes that there are some relevant Linux distros that will run quite well on 7 - 12 year old PCs. For example, the configuration of my 9-year old desktop is 2.4MHz P4, 1GB RAM, 40GB HDD - would not some Linux distros run on this box at least as well as XP?

    If the answer is no then my idea is as dead as XP is about to become. But if the answer is yes then there's a very large target audience out there for Linux!

    Cruise
     
  2. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Sure, linux will easily run on those specs.. I would suggest you start having a look at the live cd's/dvd's that most distros offer, and get familiar with them, then by the time you need to make the switch, you'll know what you like best (there are many choices for desktop environments, etc).
     
  3. moontan

    moontan Registered Member

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    the only thing i see running well on a computer more than 7 years old is Bodhi Linux or or some LXDE based distro.

    Lubuntu 10.04 should work on almost anything.
     
  4. Kerodo

    Kerodo Registered Member

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    Wouldn't any Xfce based distro run ok on that hardware? Or am I dreaming, and underestimating the age of it? :)
     
  5. guest

    guest Guest

    What about Puppy Linux? *puppy*
     
  6. noone_particular

    noone_particular Registered Member

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    I'm also running a P4 2.4 with 1GB RAM. Mint with XFCE runs well on it as does Puppy linux.
     
  7. zapjb

    zapjb Registered Member

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    Linux Mint LTS will rock most all 7-10yr old puters I'd think.
    It's thrashs on my 7yr old Fujitsu LifeBook B6210 1.2GHz 2GB single core.
    And LTS is supported till April 2017.

    Although I do love puppy. But I don't like no root & user accts. And the save don't save, encrypt don't encrypt options.

    And thinking ootb PartedMagic has so many current versions that are hardware architecture specific (i486, i686, x86_64). And that thing is stable & light. And you can add whatever. Sometimes PartedMagic is just the ticket.
     
  8. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Truth. Pentiums are pretty weak.

    But there are lots of 4-6 year old machines running Core Duo quad core CPUs. With enough RAM and fast storage, they even make nice VM hosts :)
     
  9. guest

    guest Guest

    "dead as XP is about to become" o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O o_O

    I don't think so but Linux would make a good choice to go to if you leave xp

    maybe this one http://www.reactos.org/ if they would ever get on the ball and complete it
     
  10. NormanF

    NormanF Registered Member

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    You have Puppy, Enlightenment, LXDE, XFCE, Pantheon Shell and MATE as desktop environments on old hardware.

    Thanks to recent improvements, Unity and Cinnamon will also run well on low spec computers.

    You have lots of Linux desktop environment choices should you decide to upgrade from XP! :thumb:
     
  11. Baserk

    Baserk Registered Member

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    Heck, I run a Fedora 19 XFCE spin on an old single core PentiumM 1.6GHz/1GB from the previous decade and it's purring nicely.
    Less graphics-tasking environments like XFCE, LXDE and Mate will run fine on an P4 2.4GHz.
    Fedora is an 'acquired taste' though. I'd start out with something like Mint Mate or Xubuntu.
    Check for instance some reviews from WSF member Mrkvonic on f.i. resource usage for specific linux versions/distros link
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  12. moontan

    moontan Registered Member

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    totally forgot about the doggy! *puppy* :D

    i certainly would try XFCE first as this is my favorite windows/desktop manager for Linux.
    it is light yet offers nice eye-candy and great functionality.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2013
  13. mirimir

    mirimir Registered Member

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    Crunchbang is very light too, in both size and RAM requirement..
     
  14. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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    yes ofcourse p4 with 1gb ram awesome for xubuntu try 32 bit xubuntu you wont be disappointed or linux mint xfce, you feel like home or go for bodhi or any lxde base

    IF you are new to linux try linuxmint xfce you feel like home or bodhi

    if you looking for more light go for lxde base and bodhi

    more light puppy and i guess antix

    http://mylinuxexplore.blogspot.in/2013/07/antix-131-luddite-review-superb.html

    this guy give lot of info about antix i never tried it but look very interesting distro i heard its name a lot :)
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2013
  15. SirDrexl

    SirDrexl Registered Member

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    Eh, I don't know about this "large audience." Most current XP users will probably do one of 2 things:

    1. Buy a new computer which will naturally have Windows 8 installed, or maybe switch to Mac or even a tablet. This is probably the more likely option for those that actually get infected, IF they realize it.

    2. Keep on using it. I'd bet the majority of casual users don't know what EOL means, and won't find it suspicious they're no longer getting updates. Many people don't follow tech news, and I don't think MS will be running PSAs or something for this. They may just think there's nothing left to update after so long.

    The more tech-savvy users are using XP because they like it, and they won't let the lack of updates stop them - especially if they don't feel threatened because of their knowledge and/or security software running on top of it.

    I suppose there may be some cases where a PC gets infected and whoever works on it suggests Linux, but other than that I don't see a big migration happening.
     
  16. Nanobot

    Nanobot Registered Member

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  17. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    SirDrexl~ Although you don't agree with me, you are the only responder (so far) who seems to have gotten the gist of my message.

    Certainly some of the XP-user community will do what you are suggesting, but I still contend that XP's EOL could easily result in Linux doubling, tripling or even quadrupling it's current 1.25% representation of all PC operating systems in use. After all, no other supported version of Windows will run on those 7- 12 year old PCs and (apparently) quite a few Linux distros will run very well on those vintage PCs. As pointed out in my first post, XP users represent more than 40% of PC operating systems in use today. That's a huge base and so I believe this is a terrific opportunity for Linux 'penetration'!

    Cruise
     
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2013
  18. mack_guy911

    mack_guy911 Registered Member

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    i dont mind using xp along with linux even after xp update close for internet i use linux and some very rare software which only work on xp or offline old games i use windows ;)
     
  19. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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    That's what people said about Win95/98SE/NT/2000, but all together they now comprise less PC users than Linux!
     
  20. Cruise

    Cruise Registered Member

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  21. Kyle1420

    Kyle1420 Registered Member

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    I recommend Xubuntu in your situation..
     
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