[lonewolf1313]

I'm thinking of switching over to linux (OpenSUSE to be exact) and I wanted to ask a couple of things.

First, is it true that linux will not crash as often and does not have the same security flaws as windows, and if so, should I feel more secure with keeping my family photos/videos on the computer, without having to worry about data loss?

Second, I usually use the built-in OS for my computer (HP Media Center) but if I reinstalled it the last time I needed to reformat I would have lost precious data on my second partition (don't ask why HP is weird) so I installed the version of WinXP that I had before that did not have the built in drivers, which also I couldn't find on the internet, so a couple of things on my PC haven't been working well. Would Linux have this problem, or do most Linux builds have a way of dealing with driver things like this?

Finally, this is kind of like the first question but what maintenance is required on linux? I.E. Virus scans, spyware, de-fragmentation etc.

*edit*
Forgot to ask, I have a pentium D processor, and according to the OpenSUSE website that should be able to run 64-bit, but my system never came with a 64-bit OS so I was wondering if I could run in 64-bit?

[saikee]

Here is my answers

Linux by design is much more secure than Windows. Never use any antivirus scan or spyware myself. Never have to defrag.

You can download "Gparted" or "Parted Magic" to resize any ntfs partition to make space for Linux installation. No need to reformat.

Drivers, what drivers? Never had a need for one. Linux is supplied with generic drivers which I find adequate for the general usage.

You can download 64 bit of OpenSuse. You can install another 100 distros too. The boot loader Grub in Suse or in other Linux can boot all of them.

[walla299]

Linux is MUCH more reliable and secure by its design than Windows. You said you have a Pentium D -- I'm running an Acer Power series with the same processor. I'm running with 1 Gb of RAM, and OpenSuse 10.2 also. OpenSuse will run pretty well on 512Mb, and I got it to go on an old 633Mhz Celeron, but it was really slow.

For drivers: The Pentium D type machines have been around long enough that you shouldn't have too much trouble getting things going "out of the box" so to speak. Suse found all the hardware on my system without any trouble, but if you have a problem don't be afraid to ask for help. Many people have trouble with wireless networking at first, but standard ethernet connections usually aren't a problem.

Maintainence is pretty simple for most Linux systems, and Linux has its own firewall software which in Suse is set up through Yast. Antivirus isn't really needed unless you've got some Windows machines on a home or office network. If that's the case, there are anti virus programs to do that.

As far as whether to go with 32 or 64 bit, I went with 32 bit because it seemed easier when I did my last install. There were still problems with multimedia and some other issues with 64 bit back then, and I don't know whether they have been fixed yet or not. I would recommend going with the 32 bit version, especially if you are just starting out with Linux. Its simpler and will give you time to get used to the Linux way of doing things. You can always upgrade later, when you're ready.

Hope this helps.....