Linux vs XP

I'm in the market for a netbook for school and i think i've narrowed it down to an acer aspire one. between the linux version (8 SDD, 6 cell, 1gig RAM) and the XP (120 HDD, 6 cell, 1gig ram) which would be a better choice? I can get both for about the same price so cost isn't an issue, i'm wondering which performs better and is the best for taking notes in class and surfing the web (I have a larger laptop for games/videos).

I've heard that the XP version can be sluggish and more of a battery drain than the linux version, however the linux version has been said to be hard to install new programs and has a smaller storage.

Anyone have experience with both that can provide a vote one way or another?

EDIT: Oh one more thing, i read that the XP version only comes with the 60 day trial of Office, which really sucks for me since mainly i'm using this for word processing, is there anyway i can get something to process word .docs that i can get for the AAO relatively cheap?

 

You could download OpenOffice for $0, Free, Nada and it works fine with MS Office created documents.

 

The Linux version comes with Open Office 2.3 installed. You would be hard pressed to tell the difference between that and Microsoft Word if all you're doing is creating Word documents. It's Open Source, so there's no "we'll send the boys around to collect the fee" threat there at all. If you have basic Word skills you'll love writing on the One.

The Linux version absolutely performs better because the whole OS evolved around legacy hardware and therefore was designed from the ground up to be less wasteful ... and the version on the One is even more optimised for the specific hardware. XP, on the other hand, is the same XP that has to be able to run on the latest & greatest multicore CPU's and yet still include drivers for Grandad's SCSI scanner.

With this forum and other internet resources you should be able to install far more applications than would be supported on the XP version. Just imagine the support phone-call to Adobe when you tell them you're running Photoshop on a netbook. If you persevere with Linux however, you'll find that somebody somewhere has surely gotten that Bluetooth wristwatch to boot up ....

 

Bump,

Anyone else have experience with the two different versions? Does the XP version run well in practice? How long is do you find teh battery life of the XP and linux versions through everyday use?

 

I just wanted to add that it is a bit weird to try to figure out Linux if your not used to it but it is nice to have this forum and that the Open Office on Linux does open Windows docs. HOWEVER if you create on it and then send it to others that have Windows they CAN"T open it unless they too download the Open Office program. So....that would be the only downfall there.

 

I played around with a Linux machine at futureshop and i found that on open office you can choose to save your document as .doc which should work with normal office progarms

 

ive had my linux aspire for 1 week and im a beginner, maybe its me but i cannot work it out, i cannot find anything ive downloaded, apparantley a lot of stuff on linux is locked acording to people on here, somtimes i wish i had windows but im going to keep at it

 

-I just wanted to add: You can also export to pdf in open office!

 

I've had my Aspire One for about two weeks now.. thank god I found this place!!! Im a complete linux n0000bbb bt this forum has helped loads

I was ready to sling it back to the shop because I really wanted to be able to play divx/xvid on it and for some reason, despite having a default icon for avi files, the aspire can't play them out of the box..

I was trying to find out what the locked root password was for about 6hours straight!! Came across a post on here that its the password that you put in when you first boot up the aspire and not the BIOS passwords, now I've got VLC working perfectly even with an icon on the desktop


now all i've got to do is try and get my 3 ZTE usb modem working and I'm sorted


linus is really hard to even udnerstand when you've used windows (mainly xp) your whole life but I really like how customizable linux is! good stuff

 

I just received by AA1 two days ago. It is (XP, 3 cell, 1 GB RAM, 120 GB HDD)

I find that the battery life lasts about 2 hours on a charge. I would have opted for the 6 cell version with 160 GB HDD but could not find it to purchase it; I don't think it is available anywhere yet despite the recent Acer press release :evil:

http://news.cnet.com/acer-aspire-one-ne ... y-cheaper/
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/a ... aspx?guid={DA12E182-9176-4834-A985-5090FF8C4171}&dist=hppr

The XP model comes with a 60 day trial of Office 2007 Home and student version. It nags you to enter a real product code that you have to purchase. :roll: The XP model also comes with a Microsoft Works installed. It is like Microsoft's cheap answer to OpenOffice. It includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentation, calendar--you can manipulate MS Office documents, take notes, etc. MS Works is free, pre-installed and will do the same basic tasks as Office does but is limited and looks like Wordpad.

I think Microsoft Office 2007 is currently on sale for $59 at academic price, if you want to take that route.

I am going to resize the partition with freeware/shareware and install either Linpus or Ubuntu. So I will run my computer as a dual boot (XP and Linpus or Ubuntu). Linpus is free and you can find the file to download on this website. However, you can't get WIndows XP Home for free.

The other thing is, Linux (Linpus or Ubuntu or any other distro) does not support a 3G USB dongle (like for the AT&T wireless card) as of yet, but XP does.
http://www.aspireoneuser.com/2008/08/29 ... -imminent/

Personally, I would opt for the XP version and install Linpus onto a newly made partition to see if you like, if you so choose. (supposedly it is fast and suits the Aspire One very well). I think going with XP gives you one more option

edit: I have not actually installed Linpus onto a newly made partition that also has XP installed. I assumed that it would be simple, but no one in these forums has been able to do it and if someone has, they have not detailed how they did it. Plenty of people have installed Ubuntu or some other Linux distro, even OSX, but not a dual boot with Linpus and XP together.

 

Scratch that--you can create a word processing file in Open Office Writer and click Save As and save it as a .doc file instead of only an .odt file. And you can open that file in MS Office. I just tried it. Just correcting myself so not as to confuse you :mrgreen:

 

To answer one other question I forgot to address

If you opt for 8 GB solid state drive, there are two versions of SSD that get installed on the Aspire One. One version is terribly slow, the other works okay. But the SSD that you will actually get in your model of the Aspire One is up to chance. It's random.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aspire_One#SSD_drive

People are recommending that if you get the model with the bad SSD, return it immediately (it's that bad) and hope you get the better one on the next shipment. But even if you get the "good" one, supposedly it is still not acceptable (too slow) for use with an after-market installation of Windows XP. However Vista might run better than XP

So there is a trade off. If you're klumsy and accident prone, the SSD might be better in case you drop or bang your machine often, but you still have to deal with the possibility of getting a defective one and also the small storage space. If you get the 120 GB, there is more space but the chance of HDD failure if you drop it.

I opted for the 120 GB :ugeek: