Should i change from xp to Linux?

Jimpowers79 · 22 Jun 2015 at 23:51

Hello,

Since xp support finished, my computer has slowly but surely ground to a halt. It is an old computer (almost 10 years old) but up until the xp support deadline was still a very dependable and relatively fast computer (for what i needed it for). Would be great if someone could answer these questions:

1. Is the deterioration of my computer due to the stopping of xp support? And, if so, why?

2. Whilst xp support has finished, why do i still get the occasional installed update when closing down?

3. Would installing Linux improve my system?

Thank you for anyone that takes the time to help!

Rroff · 23 Jun 2015 at 00:01

XP needs quite a bit of house keeping to keep its performance up - a lot of people used to reckon to reinstall every 1-2 years to get its back to relatively snappy performance.

While XP support has finished I think they still push critical security updates as there are still some corporate users.

Throrik · 23 Jun 2015 at 01:33

Linux could speed your system up, if you used a lightweight desktop environment, chances are if you went full Unity or KDE you wouldn't notice much, but a nice LXDE or Openbox based system would speed it up.

However, dependent on what you use your PC for Linux requires just as much house-keeping with installing updates, and invariably if you aren't a technical user if something goes wrong it could potentially take you a bit longer to correct any issues.

I would give something like Lubuntu a go on a Live CD to see how the performance is.

TubbyGreg · 23 Jun 2015 at 02:12

Both have their pros and cons. But both are fun to fiddle with, just Linux gives you more freedom to do so.

bledd · 23 Jun 2015 at 07:44

It hasn't ground to a halt because XP support has finished.

Derp · 23 Jun 2015 at 14:27

I think it depends. What software are you using under XP? Is there an equivalent for Linux? If so, then it may be something to consider. Linux can be stripped down to run very quickly on fairly old hardware, so you may find it is more responsive than XP... although maybe doing some housekeeping, e.g. defragging your HDD, on your XP install would help.

If you do decide to go down the Linux route, then I'd suggest firstly trying running it from a USB stick before you blitz your XP drive. It'll run slower than it does from a hard drive, but you may find that you don't get on with Linux for whatever reason and will be grateful you didn't format the drive.

Tom B · 23 Jun 2015 at 15:13

I'd definitely give linux a try, as others have said, try a Live USB Stick first just to check it out. Keep in mind, of course, that a lot of your programs won't work and you will have to find suitable replacements. If you're just using the PC for basic office work/web browsing/media/email then linux is great

silversurfer · 23 Jun 2015 at 15:50

linux mint runs from the usb stick i think but doesnt save anything ? not sure

You dont say what you want to use it for, just browsing yea sure do it. Something specific would need to be checked

I just saw a benchmark showing nvidia can run twice the speed over directx apps, its possible it would be faster in some places.

stopper · 23 Jun 2015 at 16:14

silversurfer said:
You dont say what you want to use it for, just browsing yea sure do it. Something specific would need to be checked

Exactly this.

But as the PC is old I'm going to guess it's being used as a web browser and emailer. So yeah go for it, no reason not to really.
Take a look at ChaletOS.

mattyfez · 24 Jun 2015 at 21:34

I have an old core2 box, 2gb ram, onboard crappy intel graphix chip ( a shoddy lenovo 'business' PC) that I now run Ubuntu on, previously Mint.
I just prefer Ubuntu.

Its just a media box for my bedroom, films, torrents, surfing really.
Works brilliantly, no messing about with drivers and setting up, it all just works and is hassle free. The only thing I did was install VLC media player, as I just like it better than the bundled media player, and also installed qbitorrent as I prefer it to the torrent client that comes with it.

If you have netflix ubuntu is less hassle as it comes with chrome, or you can add chrome from the app store, can't remember, and I couldnt get netflix to work with firefox, the default linux browser.

99% of the apps you could possibly want for a basic pc are installable via an 'app store' type program thats bundled with it, but it all works straight from the get go, come with firefox/chrome, torrent client and media player.

I'm half tempted to put ubuntu on my main rig as I don't really play games any more.

I find Ubuntu seems snappier than win7 on this box, and its nicer to look at.

Libre office is also a great free alternative to ms office, not quite as pretty or functional, but unless your an excel wizard you won't be lacking for any features, and its compatible with ms office documents/spreadsheets.

I say go for it, I'd not go back to windows for a simple media/browser rig, windows is a complete faf in comparison.

What I really found a breath of fresh air is fresh installs, windows takes forever to set up and install all the junk you need/want, it's all bundled in with Ubuntu and MINT, so there literately might be only one or two apps you want to grab from the app manager (store) and it's all free.

There's a bit of a leaning curve as things are done slightly differently to windows, but linux has come so far in user friendliness, in particular mint and ubuntu ( id suggest trying both via a usb stick to test out and pick your fave) that it's not that much more of a stretch than transitioning from xp to win7 or mac OS.

Mint cinnamon is slightly more window- esqe than ubuntu, but I found myself preferring Ubuntu.

Installation is dead easy, just download the .iso disk image for ubuntu or whatever, and an app called rufus, which will convert a usb stick to a bootable drive, boot from USB and off you go. https://rufus.akeo.ie/

Jimpowers79 · 28 Jun 2015 at 11:44

Thank you all for all the messages. I'm going to give Linux a try on a USB stick as some of you suggested, just to see how it goes. I mostly use my computer for internet browsing because it has become impossible to use things like photoshop, dreamweaver etc. I'm probably just going to bite the bullet and build a new system.

To be honest, things have improved slightly after getting rid of chrome as my browser. Was so damn slow. I'm now using firefox which takes up only 80mb on the harddrive, as opposed to chrome which was over 400mb! Any ideas why chrome is so big on space? And why is it so sluggish on my system compared to firefox?

Jimpowers79 · 28 Jun 2015 at 11:47

I had been getting a recurring problem with chrome where it would frequently crash. I tried reinstalling it but kept happening. It's just happened once on firefox since i installed it 30 minutes ago. But, if the problem persists, is it likely to be a problem with my computer causing the browser to crash? I've installed the necessary updates for firefox too. The only thing i've noticed is that the latest java update is unstable with xp, but that shouldn't be an issue with the browser right?

bledd · 28 Jun 2015 at 11:50

What spec is your existing machine?

In your new machine, buy an SSD. You will punch yourself for not doing it sooner!

Cat_J · 28 Jun 2015 at 21:13

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OspreyO · 28 Jun 2015 at 22:05

My main machine at home is 9yr old laptop with 3.5GB of RAM. I have Windows 8 and a SSD in it. Also a WiFI N usb stick. It also has a half decent video card which helps for hardware acceleration of video and browsing. It can play 1080 video no problem.

I think Windows 8 and a SSD works well on a old machine. I have another slower laptop machine, with 2GB of RAM. That doesn't have the video card, so browsing and web stuff is a little slower. I will probably up the RAM to 4GB in that, and put a SSD into it. As I only use it for office, web stuff.

fadetoblack · 1 Jul 2015 at 15:38

I went from windows 7 to peppermint os why did not do this sooner really fast and 100% stable running on a Atom CPU

mattyfez · 1 Jul 2015 at 19:54

Jimpowers79 said:
I had been getting a recurring problem with chrome where it would frequently crash. I tried reinstalling it but kept happening. It's just happened once on firefox since i installed it 30 minutes ago. But, if the problem persists, is it likely to be a problem with my computer causing the browser to crash? I've installed the necessary updates for firefox too. The only thing i've noticed is that the latest java update is unstable with xp, but that shouldn't be an issue with the browser right?

The issue is probably due to xp, you can't even run the latest version of IE on it, possibly similar for other browsers.

mattyfez · 1 Jul 2015 at 19:57

Jimpowers79 said:
Thank you all for all the messages. I'm going to give Linux a try on a USB stick as some of you suggested, just to see how it goes. I mostly use my computer for internet browsing because it has become impossible to use things like photoshop, dreamweaver etc. I'm probably just going to bite the bullet and build a new system.

To be honest, things have improved slightly after getting rid of chrome as my browser. Was so damn slow. I'm now using firefox which takes up only 80mb on the harddrive, as opposed to chrome which was over 400mb! Any ideas why chrome is so big on space? And why is it so sluggish on my system compared to firefox?

Just bear in mind it won't run as well on usb as it would installed properly, I imagine your USB is 1, rather than 2.0 or higher, so try not to judge the experience on any lag you get.

Rainmaker · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:39

Try lighter distros such as Manjaro. Manjaro's XFCE (XFCE is one of many desktop environments you can choose from) is light and XP-like, but depending on your system RAM even Cinnamon - another desktop environment very intuitive for ex Windows users - only uses 350MB RAM at idle. You can try very light stuff such as Crunchbang (prepare for a learning curve on how the menus work), or whatever. Other very lightweight but familiar looking distros include the longer term support releases. For example the older Debian Etch is still supported for years to come but runs on about 200MB RAM and is VERY responsive. You can also try something like CentOS 6 (not the newer 7) which runs on Gnome2 and is very light, supported for years to come, and is fairly easy to add your codecs/multimedia stuff to. Distros like Manjaro and Mint/Ubuntu come with all that stuff set up though, which will likely be much easier for you.

What are the actual system specs? You'd be surprised how well Linux runs compared to Windows. My desktop is almost as old as yours (an old Athlon x2 affair). I threw in a SATA2 SSD (£30) and upgraded to 4GB RAM (£20 from the MM) and it flies along on Manjaro, Mint, Ubuntu or whatever else I throw at it. It's no Core i7 of course, but it's made a very serviceable web/mail/torrent box out of something that would otherwise have ended up in a recycling centre.

OspreyO · 8 Jul 2015 at 15:59

An SSD and extra 2GB would light a rocket under most systems, Windows or Linux.