Zapping the Virus

Recently,a friend was racing to meet a deadline,when his computer started acting up.

Its virus-proof and easy to install. Is Linux Mint the operating system for you?

Recently,a friend was racing to meet a deadline,when his computer started acting up. It wouldnt play any sound,the internet was slow and his start button went missing. He couldnt even fire up his task manager. A virus had struck. He was on the verge of giving up when he remembered that he had installed another operating system beside Windows Ubuntu. He booted it,finished his assignment,and submitted it in time.

Even the best anti-virus cannot guard against all threats. But what if you had an OS which was more or less impervious? That is where Linux-based operating systems like Ubuntu or Linux Mint come in.

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Almost all viruses are targeted at Windows machines. Even those targeted at Linux are unlikely to infect your desktop because of safeguards against viruses and the OSs design. On Linux,viruses cannot do much without knowing your password.

But is protection against viruses enough of an incentive to switch to Linux? For many,yes. Linux-based operating systems have several other advantages. Once,using Linux was cumbersome because one had to type a number of commands for activities that were a click away in Windows. Today,operating systems like Ubuntu and Linux Mint have become much more user-friendly. So,unless you are itching to go retro,a click or two should suffice.

Linux Mint earns brownie points on configuration. Configuring a new Windows machine is time-consuming as the pre-installed applications are not enough for basic use. So we have to manually download software to customise PCs. Linux Mint,on the other hand,gives you the basic software,be it a browser,an office suite,a chat client or a music player. Even if you want to perform slightly advanced tasks like photo editing,you are set. All the other software can be found in the in-built software manager.

All of this is free. The funding comes from the community. The user base voluntarily donates to free,open-source projects while advertisements on official websites and sponsors make up the rest of the revenue. Non-monetary ways of contributing include reporting problems found in the software,offering to help code software and helping users solve problems.

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Mint has gone the extra mile by having something for everyone. Fans of Apples user interface can install Compiz Fusion,an open-source software project which brightens its up with attractive interfaces. For those in search of pre-configured visual brilliance,Linux Mint KDE edition is recommended.

Linux is particularly endearing to those with old hardware,due to its relatively low system requirements. It supports a wide variety of printer and audio drivers and is quick to add support for latest technologies like motion sensing,etc.

A word of caution. If you rely on proprietary software like Adobe Photoshop,QuarkXPress,etc,Linux versions are not available. Hardcore gamers might be disappointed as well,even though several independent developers make games for Linux. Linux-based systems also sometimes suffer due to infrequent or bad video driver updates,although this has improved of late.

So unless you are a gamer or a professional designer,why not give it a try?