Vista Business or Ubuntu ???
#1
Hi,

Running a AMD 4600 with onboard ATI 3200 and 2 GB of RAM. What will run leaner Vista Business (no MCE) or Ubuntu ??

Without the alternate ffmpeg files I see some judder.

Kryspy
Reply
#2
I don't think lean and vista anything belong in the same sentence. I would try XBMC Live if I were you. That is an easy way to try XBMC on linux. I would have to say I would throw my hat into the Ubuntu circle. I personally don't run it anymore, but I would say it is pretty speedy. You can really strip it down if you know what you are doing and make it run even faster.

Note: I'm no linux expert. I played with it for a few weeks and it seemed pretty snappy compared to my vista ultimate install on the same machine.
Reply
#3
My decision was for Vista Business since I wanted to play some PC Games and use Blu-Ray playback. But if this is a 100% HTPC where you only want to run XBMC then ubuntu is probably the way to go.

The only issue I can see with ubuntu is hibernation and sleep. Some configurations have problems with it while others work nicely. You might want to test this before making a final decision.

From a speed perspective you shouldn't have any issues since XBMC is really well coded and optimized and will run very fast.
Reply
#4
ubuntu!!
Image
Reply
#5
Hey Kryspy. Good question, and one that I struggled with as well.

I started off by running Vista Ultimate, because I wanted all the functionality of my HiperGroup HiperMedia case, including the built in IR and VFD display. Pretty cool case with AMD chipset and ATU Express 1200 graphics. http://www.hipergroup.com/products.php?l...27&pid=124

After installing and using the Atlantis Beta 2 release of XBMC for a while, meaning about 2 weeks, I quickly grew tired of all the Windows "crap" that was constantly processing in the background. By that I mean that the hard drive was always spinning and chugging on something for no apparent reason? What is so important that Windows is constantly reading/writing to the hard drive? Not only that, but I had periodic hangs and crashes of XBMC on Vista. I'm not blaming the code at all since I LOVE XBMC. I blame Windows.

That said, I took the Ubuntu 8.04 plunge. I'm mildly Linux savvy so I knew I could get around the expected hardware specific hurdles that I was sure to encounter. So after installing Ubuntu nearly 6 different times to get as close to perfect version of Ubuntu installed, I now have what I think is a solid XBMC system. Why did I install it so many times you ask? Well, I tried many many different combinations of ATI drivers before I got it down. I tried the restricted drivers, then the 8.10 Catalyst drivers from amd.com and both gave me issues like garbled fullscreen, tearing, and XBMC crashes. I finally found a post suggesting the EnvyNB drivers and that's what worked for me.

I plan on posting a complete tutorial soon that will detail my entire 3 day experience trying to get things just right with this Hipermedia box and Ubuntu. Everyone on this forum was extremely helpful with solving issues. There's such a wealth of knowledge that I tapped in to that I feel obligated to give back, even if just a little.

So that's the long winded answer to me saying, use Ubuntu!
Reply
#6
Do you want to playback Hulu and Netflix in XBMC?
You can with Playon, but it Needs Windows, which is why I run Vista.
I just don't want to run on a different PC.

I also have an AMD 780g based motherboard, which I hear is hit and miss under linux at the moment. It might be a different story in 6 months. (HDMI audio)

Have Linux friendly hardware and either a different Windows PC to do transcoding or don't care about Hulu and Netflix? Stick to the live build.
Reply
#7
Ubuntu. It does everything Vista does (except Windows games) and more, and it's faster, more stable and more secure (viruses and malware is more or less a non-issue).

Add to that that the money you save by not getting Vista is enough to buy you a cheap computer, say an ASUS Eee or a cheap desktop, and it's a no brainer.
Reply

Logout Mark Read Team Forum Stats Members Help
Vista Business or Ubuntu ???0