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best linux

post #1 of 7
10/5/11 at 5:19am
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dont want to pay for windows 7 cos tryna do this on a budget, so just wondering. wat is the best distro that is similar to windows (looks functionality),free, can run with my hardware on my HTPC thnx in advance htpc is in my systems basically GT220, pentium dual core e2160 4G RAM 800mhz ddr2
2 Play games on!
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i5 2500K@ 4.5 ASUS P8P67 LE GTX 460 2Gb 805/1800/1650 samsung 30nm 4x2Gb 
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western digital black caviar  DVD+R DL Cooler Master HYPER 212 EVO 120mmx2 front intake. 120mm side intake aimed a... 
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core2duo e2200 GA-G33-DSR GT220  4Gb DDR2 800 
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windows 7 home premium 50 inch HD plasma 500W Big ant home built acrylic black 
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i3 2100 ASUS P8H61 M USB3 ASUS 8800 GT 8Gb 1333 
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250Gb seagate barracuda CM 212+ W7 64 Bit coolermaster extreme powerplus 550W 
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nzxt source 210 
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2 Play games on!
(18 items)
 
Custom built case >>>HTPC
(15 items)
 
wife simcity rig
(9 items)
 
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500K@ 4.5 ASUS P8P67 LE GTX 460 2Gb 805/1800/1650 samsung 30nm 4x2Gb 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingCooling
western digital black caviar  DVD+R DL Cooler Master HYPER 212 EVO 120mmx2 front intake. 120mm side intake aimed a... 
OSOSMonitorMonitor
Windows 8 PRO x64 ubuntu 12.xx ASUS 23" HD LED WS 2MS (VH238H) ASUS 24" HD LED WS 2MS 
KeyboardPowerCaseMouse
cooler master quickfire pro red cherry MX seasonic G series 650W gold plus NZXT SOURCE 210 cooler master sentinel advance II 
Mouse PadAudio
desk logitech 2.1 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
core2duo e2200 GA-G33-DSR GT220  4Gb DDR2 800 
Hard DriveOptical DriveCoolingCooling
WD 500G LG DVD R DL 2 80mm green led intakes aywun V4 cpu cooler push pull 
OSMonitorPowerCase
windows 7 home premium 50 inch HD plasma 500W Big ant home built acrylic black 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i3 2100 ASUS P8H61 M USB3 ASUS 8800 GT 8Gb 1333 
Hard DriveCoolingOSPower
250Gb seagate barracuda CM 212+ W7 64 Bit coolermaster extreme powerplus 550W 
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nzxt source 210 
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post #2 of 7
10/5/11 at 7:05am
The easiest Linux to understand imho is Ubuntu. Here's a guide on how to configure Ubuntu as a HTPC: CLICK

There might be other options more optimized to be used as HTPC, but Ubuntu is overall easier to understand as far as I have used.
Centurion
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Centurion
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post #3 of 7
10/5/11 at 7:14am
You also can try Linux Mint, it is one of those distros that come with most default windows like functionality preinstalled
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2x1TB WD Caviar Black RAID0 + 2TB WD Caviar Green Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Samsung 22" T220 CM Storm QuickFire TK (MX Red) 
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Hard DriveOSMonitorKeyboard
2x1TB WD Caviar Black RAID0 + 2TB WD Caviar Green Windows 7 Enterprise x64 Samsung 22" T220 CM Storm QuickFire TK (MX Red) 
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Chieftech 850W Thermaltake Kandalf Roccat Savu Creative X-Fi Xtreme Audio 
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post #4 of 7
10/5/11 at 7:16am
+1 for Linux Mint. As far as I know it's based on Ubuntu but is designed for people like who you want Windows-like functionality.
lulwut
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post #5 of 7
10/5/11 at 7:42am
i just use ubuntu 11.04 64bit for all my quick builds and i used it on my htpc. don't worry about having to strip it or anything like that. just install it, configure your audio and video, then install xbmc and enjoy. the only thing you may need to change with 11.04, is installing compiz config settings manager and changing a setting in composite mode which may cause video tearing if you are running an nvidia card. other than that, don't bother stripping anything out of the OS. when i first installed 11.04 on my htpc, i went through and removed apps and programs and things i thought i wouldn't need, i then started having problems. i am now using a fresh install with xbmc, and it's been flawless. and i also have been using everything else that's on there as well. my kids and i were playing excite bike through gfce nes emulator. my wife will shrink xbmc and open firefox and hit up facebook and stuff while the kids watch a movie.

so, in short, i really like have ubuntu, and a full install of it. ubuntu is easy to get, easy to use, tons of documentation and just about everything is tested and running on it.
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90GB Corsair Force Series 3 Western Digital Green 1TB Samsung F3 1TB Microcenter 64GB SSD 
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Samsung 18x SATA DVD Burner Corsair H100i 4 x Corsair AC120 fans 2 x Corsair SP120 fans 
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Windows 8 Pro Ubuntu 12.04 19" Acer Logitech G15 
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Corsair HX750 Corsair Carbide 500R Logitech MX518 
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AMD A6-3650 Biostar A75M Radeon 6540 G.Skill 
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Stock Windows 7 32 Bit Winbook 37" HDTV Lenovo n5902a / Logitech Harmony 650 / FLiRC 
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1982 Chevy Citation II
(20 items)
 
HTPC
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
i5 2500k MSI Z77A-GD65 MSI GTX 560 Ti 16GB Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600 
Hard DriveHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
90GB Corsair Force Series 3 Western Digital Green 1TB Samsung F3 1TB Microcenter 64GB SSD 
Optical DriveCoolingCoolingCooling
Samsung 18x SATA DVD Burner Corsair H100i 4 x Corsair AC120 fans 2 x Corsair SP120 fans 
OSOSMonitorKeyboard
Windows 8 Pro Ubuntu 12.04 19" Acer Logitech G15 
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Corsair HX750 Corsair Carbide 500R Logitech MX518 
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AMD A6-3650 Biostar A75M Radeon 6540 G.Skill 
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OCZ Agility 3 60GB Samsung 1.5TB WD 640GB Blue Microcenter 64GB SSD 
CoolingOSMonitorKeyboard
Stock Windows 7 32 Bit Winbook 37" HDTV Lenovo n5902a / Logitech Harmony 650 / FLiRC 
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post #6 of 7
10/5/11 at 8:05am
If you're going HTPC then just try XBMC in whatever distro you want. You really won't notice a difference then because you'll likely spend most of your time in XBMC and not in the DE.

PS: When you get XBMC setup make sure you have the VDPAU color correction and acceleration turned on. It's just so much better than anything I've seen out of DXVA. Oh, and make sure you have compositing turned off from the DE as it tends to screw with VDPAU.
Slappy Tappy Lappy Happy
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Got what I paid for...
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pad Humiliator AKA Right OS, Better Performance
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Generic DVDRW Kubuntu 13.04 64bit Win7 Home Premium 64bit Bodhi Linux 64bit 
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Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830T 
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AthlonIIX4 640 3.62GHz (250x14.5) 2.5GHz NB Asus M4A785TD-M EVO MSI GTX275 (Stock 666) 8GBs of GSkill 1600 
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4GBs of Adata 1333 WD Caviar Black 500GB Hitachi Deskstar 1TB Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB 
Optical DriveCoolingOSOS
LG 8X BDR (WHL08S20) Cooler Master Hyper 212+ Kubuntu x64 Windows 7 x64 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Bodhi Linux x64 Acer G215H (1920x1080) Seasonic 520 HAF912 
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N450 1.8GHz AC and 1.66GHz batt ASUS proprietary for 1001P GMA3150 (can play bluray now!?) 1GB DDR2 
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160GB LGLHDLBDRE32X Bodhi Linux Fedora LXDE 
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Kubuntu SLAX 1280x600 + Dell 15inch Excellent! 
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Slappy Tappy Lappy Happy
(9 items)
 
Got what I paid for...
(19 items)
 
pad Humiliator AKA Right OS, Better Performance
(16 items)
 
CPUGraphicsRAMHard Drive
Core i3 2370M Intel HD3000M Eplida 4GB DDR3 1333 Toshiba 5400RPM 
Optical DriveOSOSOS
Generic DVDRW Kubuntu 13.04 64bit Win7 Home Premium 64bit Bodhi Linux 64bit 
Case
Acer Aspire TimelineX 4830T 
View all
CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
AthlonIIX4 640 3.62GHz (250x14.5) 2.5GHz NB Asus M4A785TD-M EVO MSI GTX275 (Stock 666) 8GBs of GSkill 1600 
RAMHard DriveHard DriveHard Drive
4GBs of Adata 1333 WD Caviar Black 500GB Hitachi Deskstar 1TB Kingston HyperX 3k 120GB 
Optical DriveCoolingOSOS
LG 8X BDR (WHL08S20) Cooler Master Hyper 212+ Kubuntu x64 Windows 7 x64 
OSMonitorPowerCase
Bodhi Linux x64 Acer G215H (1920x1080) Seasonic 520 HAF912 
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CPUMotherboardGraphicsRAM
N450 1.8GHz AC and 1.66GHz batt ASUS proprietary for 1001P GMA3150 (can play bluray now!?) 1GB DDR2 
Hard DriveOptical DriveOSOS
160GB LGLHDLBDRE32X Bodhi Linux Fedora LXDE 
OSOSMonitorKeyboard
Kubuntu SLAX 1280x600 + Dell 15inch Excellent! 
PowerCase
6 cells=6-12hrs and a charger 1001P MU17 Black 
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post #7 of 7
10/8/11 at 11:15am
If its a pure media center, you could just use the XBMC Live disk and choose the install option, instead of just running it off the CD. It'll be all you need to get a media center running. It runs on top of a stripped down Ubuntu 10.04.

Although in linux there is no guarantee about your hardware, most of it will run fine, but sometimes it can be a pita
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The 2600k
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Intel i7 2600k GA-Z68XP-UD4 MSI ATI 6950(unlocked) XFX ATI 6950(unlocked) 
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Mushkin 997015 8GB(2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-17000 10-11-... Crucial M4 128GB SSD Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB Custom Watercooled 
OSMonitorMonitorKeyboard
Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate Viewsonic VX2739wm Viewsonic VX2739wm Logitech G15(original) 
PowerCaseMouseMouse Pad
Coolermaster Silent Pro M 1000 DangerDen Torture Rack Razer Diamondback Everglide Titan 
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Creative xFi Titanium 
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