Computer help - Calgary

[jasond]

Interesting, so you can still run all of the same programs with Linux? Word, Excel, etc? Sounds like I could handle the install, so worth a try. Thank-you, I will do some research but definately sounds appealing. What are the drawbacks?

I have definately heard that wiping the machine is a worthwhile try, so maybe I will give it a shot. One thing I dont understand, I thought if your PC had a virus, even reloading windows will not necessarily get rid of it?

[wolf_bluejay]

Originally Posted by jasond

Interesting, so you can still run all of the same programs with Linux? Word, Excel, etc? Sounds like I could handle the install, so worth a try. Thank-you, I will do some research but definately sounds appealing. What are the drawbacks?

I have definately heard that wiping the machine is a worthwhile try, so maybe I will give it a shot. One thing I dont understand, I thought if your PC had a virus, even reloading windows will not necessarily get rid of it?

Well, It's not Word and Excel, it's OpenOffice. But it does run the same way and can read/save all your existing stuff without a problem.

As for the viruses, linux (mac's as well) can't get viruses. And I mean CAN'T. So there is a noticable speed up from not having to have AV software running all the time.

The only downsides that I have come across, are if you need a very specific program that runs on windows. Some do run just fine, but most do not. There is always a comparable bit of software, IE : no photoshop, but there is "GIMP" that is very similar. And linux software is free and easy to install. There is about 170,000 software packages available for free.

It never ceases to amaze me how much windows users limit the email they read, or what web sites they go to for fear of viruses and the like. Mac users can agree with me on this one, do whatever you want and never worry..... Once you have it running it stays that way without the usual windows re-install.

[mark]

Though rare, still can have problems on a Linux platform with viruses, thinking the recent Samba Server problem. Little funny though considering Samba is to emulate a Windows file server.

[wolf_bluejay]

Originally Posted by mark

Though rare, still can have problems on a Linux platform with viruses, thinking the recent Samba Server problem. Little funny though considering Samba is to emulate a Windows file server.

Strange, considering the 65 samba servers I run, I've never heard of this. And I do keep up on the security notices a lot. I have heard of windows machines passing virus around by a samba share, but never the actual linux machine being affected.

[mark]

Issue we had was with Sality.ao. Guess technically Linex itself wasn't vulnerable but could host infected files.