Why Windows?

Buying a new PC on a low budget can be a nightmare! You want to buy at a low price but you do not want to lose out on the vital additions like an extra 1GB of memory or Vista Business or XP Pro instead of Vista Home Premium. How can you reduce the cost and still have a fully functioning PC?

Have you considered using Linux instead of Windows as it is free? I can hear many of you cringing as you read that but if you decided to use Linux you would only have to pay for the components and not any licence fees for the Windows operating system or Microsoft Office. Based on my PC usage (and that of my friends and family) either would be more than suitable. A home PC generally only has a handful of tasks to perform:

- Check email
- Browse the web
- Chat with instant messenger
- Write & print letters
- Listen to music
- Play solitaire

There will be one or two others for your particular circumstances but this probably makes up 95% of what your computer does so why do you need Windows for that?

I recently set up a new computer for myself and decided to try a Linux alternative and after having a quick look on Google I found that Ubuntu was supposed to be a relatively user friendly variation so I downloaded it for free from their website and installed it.

The installation was straight forward and anyone who has installed Windows before could follow it without any problems. From a default installation it had a email client, web browser, OpenOffice (a free alternative to Microsoft Office), solitaire, music player and an instant messenger client capable of connecting to about a dozen instant messenger services including MSN, AOL, ICQ and Yahoo. I even connected up my USB printer, went through the â€oeAdd Printerâ€� wizard and was able to print right away… no fuss… no downloading drivers.

Now from that basic list above my Ubuntu computer will perform all the daily tasks I need to do and I have not had to pay for an operating system or a licence for Microsoft Office, which in itself could save a few hundred pounds. Ubuntu is no harder to use than Windows, but like with anything that new it will take a little time to find where everything is. If you’ve changed your Windows version before then you will already be aware that you have to find where things are again in the new version anyway.

Businesses are literally throwing away thousands of pounds on Windows and Office licences which are not required as many of their staff are simply using features which are free and readily available on a Linux operating system. OpenOffice gives you the equivalent of Microsoft Word, Excel and Power Point and can also open files made by these programs and save them so they can be opened on a Windows system. There is even a free Linux alternative to Exchange Server so as you can see there is plenty of opportunity to reduce costs and save money!