Switching back to Linux after a few years of Windows

[Vulcan219]

Okay I am not sure where I am supposed to post this or if I am allowed, so bear with me on this.

It has been quite a few years since I have used Linux for an O/S, and I am thinking about going back to it as I am tired of Microsoft and all their BS updates, I now have a crapload of hard drive space taken up and wasted by MS, so I'm thinking of going back to Linux, but do have a question of four.

I am a CG graphic artist, and wondering if my cg programs will work on the Ultimate Edition, and also if the Game Engines I use for animation and for making games with will work as well, mainly these 3 game engines, Unity, Unreal and Panda.

I use a whole host of different CG software, depending on what I am working on or designing. I am just hoping this version will work with what I want to do, I also game on the computer and play online games like EVE Online and such. Thanks in advance for any help. I just want to take my computer back, MS has screwed me to many times now and want to go back.

Vulcan

My system is:
Asus M5A97 EVO/Pro motherboard
12 Gigs Coursair 1066 ram DDR 3, 2 4 gig and 2 2 gig.
AMD Phenom II AM3 B55 Quad core 3.2 gig processor O/C to 3.6 gig
OCZ 750 watt power supply
2 nVidia 9800 GTX video cards SLi PCIe x16 x8

[Micro]

Not to sure what graphic programs you run but you can grab a live DVD and play around with a bunch of related software http://www.linuxlinks.com/article/2008091312364896/Graphics.html. Check this out for the compatibility of games too http://appdb.winehq.org/, and welcome back to the world of open source software. Ultimate Edition is a great OS and the community is a knowlege base in itself. Pick a flavor and check it out, your box should have no problem running these apps. They arent as labor intensive like 3d Max and CAD is on windows with 4GB page file, so all you would ever need is 1GB of swap, if any at all. Good Luck...

[Vulcan219]

Thanks for the reply Micro. I run Blender, Daz 3D studio 4.5, Cararra 8, Bryce 7, Hexagon 2.5, 3DS Max, Maya 2012, SolidWorks 2012, Wings 3D, Inkscape most of them have 32 bit and 64 bit versions.

I also have a 1 terrabyte hard drive, will be going for a 2 terrabyte soon, and when I can afford it eithera couple of 120Gigs ssd or a ssd hybrid around the size I currently use, the ssd or the hybrid would contain the 2 O/S's and Online Games, and the standard HD's would be completely for storage.

[Vulcan219]

Micro, just a question, are you the Micro that has played Trade Wars? Just curious. If you are then you should know me, if not, then thanks for the help and I am looking forward to being back in the open source O/S community again, now I will have to dust off my old programming books, and get back into programming again too, due to a couple of games I am working on developing. Both are 3D CG games that are either going to be online as a MMORPG or done as a Gameserver, similar to Trade Wars except that it will be a 3D CG setup, with network call protocals. I am now working on the python scripting languages used by my 3 game engines Unity, Unreal and Panda, as well as Blenders Game engine.

[Micro]

No sir, the only gaming i do is on my PS3. I wanted to point out that you can run a virtual machine on top of a linux host. This way you dont have to wory about your software and such. I guarentee it runs better in a virtual environment than on your machine. Eliminating driver issues and such. Plus you can take a snapshot or clone and back up your guest with ease. I would recommend VMware Workstation 9 for Linux as i use it currently, ands it compiles nicely on the latest linux kernels. Virtualbox is free and is a nice alternative, but is Oracle's and i would never suggest anything this company makes, but to be fair to you it is a option. lol If you plan on using VMware i would suggest a 4GB Swap as it will make your installation run smoothly and will complain of nothing when spinning up machines. Although you can make it smaller and select the option to fit all virtual machine memmory in host RAM. (remember to encrypt your swap if you use it) Good luck...

[Vulcan219]

Thanks Micro, I use vmware on my windows now for other things like to be able to use the windows xp, because the windows 7 vm emulator doesn't work worth a crap. I am thinking about just setting up Linux on the machine for dual boot and setting up a file section on my windows side for storage for both, because I hate to make too many partitions on my hard drive, so I am thinking on making a folder on my windows install partition labled Linux and placing folders in that for the linux files and pointing a path to those for linux to store and retreive from, to make the installs simple and easy, that way I can use the Linux for my everyday things then use the windows for the gaming only plus a couple of other things as well. That way for all my main computing and programming I have the Linux for that and for the fun I have the Windows.

I am sure Linux still will let you store files in the windows partition in the way I described, well I hope so, I will find out when I try it. Thanks for the help and advice and all. I am just glad to get back to something that I feel more comfortable with and can easily adjust to my personal needs, because windows is too rigid, and hard to manipulate unless you crack it, and I get tired of cracking the O/S just to change something, when in Linux it is easy because it is open for all to work on it and change things as they want it to be for their own personal tastes on everything.

Then again I may just wipe the Windows off the computer completely and just install Linux and the vmware and put the Windows 7 in the virtual machine, or I may just put xp pro64 bit in the vm and leave it at that, and use that for the gaming

Thanks for all the options to do, now... Decisions, decisions....

Vulcan

[Micro]

Np at all. I just want to say that the experience you have with VMware running on windows with windows guests, is not going to be the same as if Linux is your host. At work i run Debian Sid with a Windows 7 image as a guest. It runs flawlessly and better than it did on the machine itself. I'm not saying a dual boot wouldnt fit your needs but, i firmly believe its not the best choice. You can always share a drive to the guests (as easy as adding folder for linux as stated above) And not to mention you can always spin up an XP box or any other guest you like without any problems. If you need any advice on partitioning, there are several routes to go. Give us a shout...

[Vulcan219]

THanks Mico,

I was thinking of the dual boot just as a temporary thing till I port my data to a hard drive to save then wipe it out and then reinstall it all in the vmware and then restore everything i need to it then, that way I don't lose my data, then I can reinstall Windows 7 within the Linux as a guest then install the XP Pro as a guest, as well, I need the xp for certain things that need the older O/S because some programs just won't work on Windows 7, then when all is done, then I get all the speed I need and none of the headaches. The partitioning is easy for me, I have done it enough times, that I can probably do it in my sleep, I just like to keep the partitions low on my computers, mainly for keeping the HD clean. But if I do need some infor or something on the partitioning, then I will be glad to give you a shout...

[Micro]

Roger that, and welcome back...

[Vulcan219]

Thanks, it is great to be back, Howard, lmao, I always wanted to say that from Howard the Duck. But really Micro it is great to be back into the Linux fold again, after a few years of MS Misery.