ive been thinking about this.
i was hoping the blender linux users could please clear up some questions i have
1)Depends on hardware, but it’s easier to optimize than XP
2)Depends on the hardware, but typically yes
3)Ehh, totally depends on the game
I just keep a Slackware Linux hard drive and a Windows2k hard drive in the case and switch the ribbon cable to use one or the other. Isn’t a huge hassle, and I think of it like any other tool. Don’t use a hammer to drive screws, don’t use a screwdriver to hammer nails.
[quote=“Shapeshift”]
about 2x faster for blender rendering on most machines
hell no i have things crash all the bloody time in linux, also i can’t find the alt+ctrl+del equivalent so yeah IMO its way worse, but it just doesn’t take out the whole os, it normally just mucks up one program
dunno
Alltaken
My responses tend to echo weedwacker. For question #3, have a look at WineX from Transgaming. You might be pleasantly surprised.
In response to Alltaken, I’d say Linux is more stable than XP. Both of them have applications that crash. The difference, like he said, is that a crashing app in Linux typically doesn’t take down the whole OS (like it tends to in XP).
Oh… and:
If the executable for your application is “foo”, all you have to do is type “killall foo” in a terminal window. If that doesn’t shut down the app, try “killall -9 foo” for a hard kill. To see all the processes your user is running, type “ps ux”… if you want to know all process that are running by all users, type “ps aux”. You can also use top, but I tend to like ps better.
It can be faster in terms of having a faster workflow.
But that all depends on how you’re approaching things on Linux.
XFree86 (graphical subsystem used for almost every Linux distribution) is generally slower (and has less features) than (the graphical subsystem in) XP.
(fortunately that will change with the new freedesktop X server, which also features translucent windows, drop shadows and the ability to setup a custom compositing manager -> very cool stuff - see this site for technical screenshots of this new server)
In terms of display speed: If you’re using an NVIDIA video card you’re lucky because you’ll be able to use the official NVIDIA drivers (see NV website) which is known to be one of the fastest driver implementations for XFree86.
Dunno about other cards but haven’t heard many good things about them.
Latest NVIDIA driver seems to be very stable too.
is it more stable?
Depends.
An unstable graphics driver can make XFree86 unstable as well, and make it crash or lock up, altough it will usually (often) not lock up or crash the whole system (like Windows) and you can easily restart XFree86 (if you know what you’re doing).
Linux itself has almost never crashed or locked up on my system (only time it happened was when I tried an unstable beta version of the upcoming 2.6 kernel) so yeah, I think that part of the OS (ie. the kernel) is quite stable.
i have games and things, is there like a windows emulator i can use to easily run them from linux? if i do make the switch, i dont want to be changing between OS’s, i wanna stick to linux.
There’s Wine and Winex; these are no emulators, instead they’re just implementing the Windows API’s.
Be prepared to switch or fiddle a lot with different Wine(x) settings for each game, demo or other Windows program you’d like to run.
Fortunately, more and more games (only the better ones tho) are coming to Linux, including Doom3 
where can i find a basic low down on the different versions?
In addition to the URL above: http://distrowatch.com
Oh, and don’t expect to stick with Linux in one day; you most probably won’t
(though there are some exceptions out there)
If the executable for your application is “foo”, all you have to do is type “killall foo” in a terminal window. If that doesn’t shut down the app, try “killall -9 foo” for a hard kill. [/quote]
I also want to add that allthough the ‘killall’ and ‘kill’ commands are the best solution, when an application crashes, you can always press ‘Ctr+Alt+BackSpace’…
This combination of keys, kills and restarts the Xserver instantly, so it could be considered as a good substitute for ‘Alt+Ctr+Del’ …
About Linux compared to Windows, each OS has it’s weak and strong points… All the guys here, have covered the subject thoroughly, so I don’t think I have something to add…
if you system works, and you have everything you need there, and you are happy, then I suggest you keep the XP.
but, if you want something different, then try out linux.
linux can be better in many ways. but it all depends on what programs you use, and how you want to use them…
to test out the compatibility to your hardware, you could download knoppix-iso, and burn that. it’s a full linux OS in one cdrom, bootable. no need to install. easy to take a little peak on what it would look like, without the need of installation…
btw. why you keep on changing your nick? or are there just many guys with same avatar around? confusing.
.b
i dislike linux. but i keep it on my machine because … i need to learn it cos i know i wont be able to afford windows in the future (renued lisences and all that) plus rendering is faster (although win blender has improved latlly) and if i got a big render i just boot in linux and leave it alone.
yeah its faster … adn you get a few tools, windows users can just dream of 
… you can feel that the developpers use theyr tools by themselfs as well 
but for gaming i stick to windows. its easier and faster … a second os installed does not hurt
… and in the end you will need some time, to get familiar with linux. just dont forget that you are using windows for years
Post your computer specs
wow! thanks for the usefull responses!
my specs are:
AMD duron 1.3 Ghz
256 DDR ram (will upgrade to 768 in a few weeks though)
40gb Seagate HD
thats the worst of it, i think. i agree with basse though, i have no particular gripes about XP, i’ll see how it behaves with the new RAM, but theres no major reason for me to switch just yet. later on perhaps i’ll build a CG only box, with linux, perhaps.
thankyou!
Can you go into more detail?
Motherboard chipset, graphics card model, internet connection, modem/nic, cd-rom drive model, sound card, usb, printer, etc…
I don’t mean to be so nosy, but it matters! 
murgh, i’ll do my best
printer and internet are though a 100mb’s router, with a 56k shared modem (yukky :()
motherboard is a gigabyte 7vkml
gfx card is a geforce 4 mx 440 128mb DDr ram
not sure of the model of my cdrom, its 52x max, i’ve lost the box.
soundcard is pretty generic 5.1 surround (i have a proper 5.1 surround sound system)
ummm
mobo chipset is…
hang on
ok this is what it says on the side of the box:
GA 7vkml
VIA KM266 AGPset
FSB 200 /266
yeah, not sure if thats’ usefull for you 