Other Basic Browsing PC: Ubuntu or XP?

Evening guys

I have got a site (not yet launched, will be here the end of the month hopefully) and a blog (link in my sig), and am currently checking them from my main PC. Now, while this is no problem to me, it would be nice to have it seperate from my day to day rig.

The two OS's that the choice is between are Ubuntu and XP. I will be installing the essentials (AV, Firefox... yada yada yada) as well as Dropbox and Skype. I'll be storing all my imagesand files assosiated with the site on the PC too, and ideally need to access them from my main PC (Win 7).

The base specs are:

1.8Ghz Socket 468 CPU
40GB IDE OS drive (not sure if working)
320GB storage drive
1GB RAM

If I haven't been too clear, please ask me for more details (obviously telling me what you want answering).
Thanks in advance for the responses which will no doubt follow

 

Get VMWare player and have a fiddle with ubuntu.
I have fedora in a vm for some stuff my girlfriend needs for doing weird biology stuff id

 

Fedora is a nice alternative, especially for science and some exotic hardware (National Instrument drivers works with Fedora). Ubuntu is more user friendly. Give them a try with virtualbox, it's free.

 

5th attempt, bloody phone.

Try a distro in VMWare player.

 

I'm knowledgeable on Ubuntu already (had a stint with it as my only OS, as well as having to use it at college), so I have no real need for putting it in a VM, but thanks for the ideas anyway

 

Then I'd suggest Ubuntu with a light desktop manager (XFCE, LXDE, etc.)

 

Thanks. May need help at a later date on how to set up FTP and get the machine talking to the WIndows ones.

 

You can install ubuntu off the minimal cd, then just add packages as you see fit. Good way to get a really tiny install that flies, especially if you don't want any of the gubbins that comes with gnome or kde.

 

Okay, I'll definately only be installing the essential packages and a couple of extras, and just leave the rest as storage for all the bits that go with the site and blog

 

If you're going to be updating the webiste with that PC, you'll probably want to check it using a variety of browsers and OSes - since the system spec may not be ideal for running VMs (does the processor support AMD-V or VT for example?) dual-boot may be a better option (though you'll need a later version of Windows to get access to the most recent versions of IE ).

 

Just to clarify, the website is powered by Wix and the blog by WordPress. The main reason for this PC is just to offload the files I have for them (logo's, videos, ect.) onto that, and make use of some old hardware. I only really need Flash (for the blog and site), support for FTP to be able to access my files away from home and to be able to access files from my Windows PC's when at home. Hope I've made this clear enough now, I hadn't initially .

If I was to want to check the website in other OSes and browsers, then I'd use my main PC for that

 

If you are not doing anything like gaming or some very specialised work, then Ubuntu (or any other distro) beats Windows hands down. Ubuntu is great because Canocial have put in so much work to get everything compatible and the repositories are full of the near-latest software. Other distros may also be compatible but no distro can beat the range of software that Ubuntu can offer. And if you don't like the look/applications/performance of it, then change it! It is Linux after all...

 

I thought linux was rubbish for games or has it come on leaps and bounds lately?

 

Just internet browsing and some file storage I'd go with Ubuntu

 

What packages would I have to get for FTP and to get it to talk to Windows PC's (from a sharing POV)?

 

You'll need samba for the sharing of files with the win 7 PC. Not too sure if that works for FTP. Hasn't had the need to do that yet so I've got no experience there.

 

I'd go Linux, Ubuntu being a good choice since it's so well supported, with a massive userbase.

Samba would deal with file sharing, not setup ftp on ubuntu myself but:
https://help.ubuntu.com/10.10/serverguide/C/ftp-server.html
Looks pretty easy.

 

Hi everyone, I'm a new guy here, this being my 1st post!

Yes, like everybody else, I would also recommend Linux if you don't need to do any Windows oriented programming. For internet surfing, playing movies, music, etc basic things, one should definitely opt for Linux based OS (Ubuntu, PCLinuxOS, OpenSuse, etc.)

Advantages of Linux over Windows:
1) It's free!
2) Doesn't really need an Antimalware solution for protection, you're totally fine as long as you keep your Linux OS updated.
3) No antivirus, more speed (well, even without this thing, a Linux based OS is generally much faster than Windows or even Mac!)

The only thing that you should consider is... you'll feel it a bit weird for the first couple of days or more if you're moving from Windows/Mac to Linux without any previous Linux experience.
Other than that, you're totally fine.

Hope this has been helpful.

 

Okay, thanks

Firstly, welcome, and hope you find your stay teaches you some new stuff (it certainly has me).
Secondly, as said in one of my other posts, I've already used Ubuntu before, and even had a stint of having it as my main OS before, so I know the basics already

Not a moan, but make sure that you read the other comments first as you will more often than not find that a question has already been asked or covered

 

Hehe, sorry, that was meant to be if you don't play games or do specialised work. my bad