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So, you want to use an alternative operating system. What's next?
First, you need to decide what you want to do with it. Are you going to use it for all of your daily computing needs or is it going to be installed on a second computer just to be played around with? Is there name brand software you absolutely need or can you make do with lesser known alternatives?
The reason we ask these questions is simple. Not all software can be found on every alternative. Let's take for example, Dreamweaver. If you are in to web development and require Dreamweaver (for what ever reason) you will soon realize that it does not run on anything but Windows. On the other hand, if you can manage with an alternative to Dreamweaver you can most likely find one for just about any operating system.
Since we are on the topic of software we might as well be honest. There are quite a lot of operating systems that will run on just about any hardware but if you really want an alternative to Windows but need the same level of functionality, you will probably want to go with a flavor of Linux. Linux has a much larger software base than most other Windows alternatives and probably has better support. I won't get into Linux here as there are too many flavors and variations.
Last but not least. What are you willing to put up with? When using alternatives you must be patient. There are very nice people out there who put a lot of work into these operating systems without any payment. Sometimes it takes a while to get a new version of a piece of software ported over to your operating system. Let's take for example eComStation. New versions of Firefox and Thunderbird are usually ported over but it can often take a while after the Windows and Linux versions are released.
Although this may sound scary, using an alternative operating system can be very fun and rewarding. Many people spend many hours creating these operating systems as a hobby or some as a full-time job. If you find and OS you like please don't hesitate to send an email the official website telling them how much you like it.
Here are a few names of operating systems that you may or may not have seen:
1. eComStation (the successor to IBM’s OS/2)
2. ZetaOS (formerly BeOS)
3. SkyOS
4. Linux (many flavors)
5. ReactOS
6. AmigaOS
7. and many more.
Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com
Dennis d'Entremont is the owner and operator of SaveLoad Video Game Directory and SaveLoad.org - Operating System News and Information
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