Ok, so what are people looking at for the next PC?
I’m interested firstly in whether people are still looking at Windows or whether Linux has Won them over, and secondly whether they’re going for a moderate machine to surf the web / run desktop applications, or whether they’re looking for a performance machine … (or indeed whether Netbooks are still the “in” thing …)
My next machine would probably be a Linux-based Laptop. I’m happy with my eeePC notebook, and my gaming machine has plenty of upgrade space left in it 
Is their any question, NO!
I am a recent convert to Linux (Mint), would I give more money to Microsoft for an unstable product. When I can get such a great product for a small donation. Same answer, Is their any question, NO!
Cockney Mack!
I’m 4 months past due, but hey, what could it hurt?
Me, personally, I think dual-boot installs are going to be standard for me. I need windows—I have a high-def gaming addiction to indulge, and until linux can serve me up something better to feed it, that’s just the way it’s got to be . . . for now.
However, for everything else? I chose Linux relatively recently (Ubuntu 11.04) for matters of productivity, security, stability, light to moderate gaming (downloaded an FPS that was pretty intense) and for experimenting with—various computer-related areas of interest.
I keep windows 7 tucked in a corner on the laptop too (seemed a shame to get rid having had to pay handsomely for it…) but if I’m honest weeks go by without ever booting it up. I’ve recently started freelance programming/design work and built 2 machines for this purpose. Obviously I’m looking for stability and reliability… a no brainer really. Noobuntu - I used to keep windows for the gaming too, but in the end opted for a 360 to fuel the addiction, and stable computers which aren’t ground to a halt with shoddy updates and half-effective anti-virus software.
Well, I also bought a really decent video card, so in order to justify that particular investment, Windows was necessary as the whole “unreliability of 360 and PS3” war was still raging. And good on you for freelance programming/design work! I’ve been considering doing something like that when I get enough practice in with all the computer programming languages out there. Still way too new to feel comfortable accepting money for what little I do now. But who knows? And I manage to keep Windows 7 running fairly efficiently. I run defrag/registry fixer/disk cleanups/SUPERAntiSpyware daily, and malwarebytes and avast every two weeks.
OH! and while we’re (semi) on-the-subject, ever heard of a website called www.w3schools.com ?
All righty, I got off in a tangent in another thread, so I figured I’d better move it here.
Now, I started off with this post:
EDIT: I got a tiny little netbook that has been just—sitting for a while now, being it’s nice, neat little “Windows XP” running self. What sort’ve stuff can be done on a netbook with Linux? I bought it to get me through a semester when my desktop took a turn for the worse. That was a little over a year ago, and it’s begging to be horribly reengineered in some way, with it’s pristine, factory-issue paint and 160 GB hdd with 132 GB just floating around, doing nothing.
EDIT: It’s an Acer Aspire One. It has 1GB RAM, 160 GB HDD, 1.60 GHZ processor. . . Do these things even have slots to upgrade RAM or something–? I could use an extra GB or so. Maybe find a 4 GB (thinking it needs DDR2, but I could be wrong. . . )
which led me to this post
Okay, so, there is a RAM slot and it’ll take a stick of ram, and the way this tutorial:
http://www.crunchgear.com/2008/08/28/how-to-add-ram-to-the-acer-aspire-one-netbook/
lays things out makes me think there’s a hardwired RAM stick into it, plus whatever you can plug in, OR there’s 512 MB ram plugged in and the 1 GB models just come with a 512 stick model already plugged in. I got halfway into mine (the keyboard is pulled up but still connected) before it occurred to me that maybe I ought to order the RAM first before I just leave my tiny PC’s precious innards exposed to the dusty environs of my room while I wait for a stick to arrive.
But as a proof of concept goes, it seems like it can be “slightly” modified to run heftier programs. All that makes me wonder is, if there is a bigger RAM stick, will Linux recognize anything more than 3 GB of ram?
OK, the so called 32bit 4GB RAM limit is not an OS limit, more an address space limit… so applies to ALL 32bit CPU’s and therefore OS’s.
That’s where PAE (Physical Address Extension) comes in, PAE as added to nearly all CPU’s since the Intel Pentium Pro allows for a greater than 32bit physical address space, usually 36bit giving a maximum RAM size of 64GB.
32bit Linux DOES support PAE through a PAE kernel, so more than 4GB IS possible with a 32bit CPU.
Here’s the cat /proc/cpuinfo for an Intel Atom N270 CPU (if that’s what you have).
processor : 0 vendor_id : GenuineIntel cpu family : 6 model : 28 model name : Intel(R) Atom(TM) CPU N270 @ 1.60GHz stepping : 2 cpu MHz : 1600.000 cache size : 512 KB fdiv_bug : no hlt_bug : no f00f_bug : no coma_bug : no fpu : yes fpu_exception : yes cpuid level : 10 wp : yes flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr [b]pae[/b] mce cx8 apic sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat clflush dts acpi mmx fxsr sse sse2 ss ht tm pbe nx constant_tsc pni monitor ds_cpl est tm2 ssse3 xtpr lahf_lm bogomips : 3203.25 clflush size : 64
As you can see from the flags, PAE is supported by the CPU.
That DOESN’T however mean your AA1 can support 64GB of RAM… it CAN’T… this is a limit of the motherboard chipset.
It would help to have the EXACT model of AA1 you have as the maximum RAM differs from model to model.
Looking around now for the exact AA1 model number; internet is acting a bit buggy about displaying stuff at the moment. But in my searches I did discover that most posts tend to think 1.5 GB of RAM is the max that this netbook can be upgraded to. So, with a mini PCI-e vid card, I could about pull off most net-browsing and some basic word-processing. . .