Advertisement It’s never been harder to install Linux. Don’t believe me? Just cast your mind back 10 years. Back then, it was just a matter of downloading an ISO, burning it to disk, pressing “next” a few times, and hoping you weren’t unlucky enough to have a Broadcom WiFi card. And if you didn’t fancy burning your own install disk, Canonical would send you one – for free. It was a wonderful time.

Terranigma Download Fur Pc Deutsche more. Now, it’s less wonderful. Would-be Linux users have to contend with utterly awful hardware support, UEFI woes, and equipment designed to work with Windows, and Windows alone. If you want to break away from the yoke of Microsoft, you have to be a savvy hardware shopper. Here’s how to find the perfect Linux laptop.

Buy an Old Computer Last year, I met GNU project founder in a Liverpool cafe for an upcoming MakeUseOf feature. We sat, ate pastries, and talked about the usual suspects – software freedom, and the NSA. Funny thing about Stallman; you’d expect someone whose life is so closely based around technology to have an expensive, hyper-powerful behemoth of a computer. The type of computer toted by NSA analysts and defense contractors, capable of processing quadrillions of calculations per second. Stallman uses a refurbished.

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These computers have been – for over 20 years – the business laptop of choice. They’re robust. They hold their value like a Macbook. They’re easy to service and to repair, and they can take a beating. It is for this reason why their popularity has endured, despite the sale of IBM’s laptops devision to Lenovo, and the startling incompetence ( Chinese computer manufacturer Lenovo has admitted that laptops shipped to stores and consumers in late 2014 had malware preinstalled.) that followed.

It’s even possible (and surprisingly simple) to replace the low-level, What the heck is the BIOS, anyway? Is it really that important to know? We think so and fortunately it's pretty easy. Let us introduce you.

With one that’s entirely free, open-source software. If you’re balking at the idea of using an old, second-hand computer, let me ask you something. What do you use your computer for?

You’re a Linux user so (in most cases) gaming and video editing are things you’re likely not terribly concerned with (although if you are it is simple to Installing Steam on Linux computers is straightforward, and the result is usually the same seamless gaming experience you had on Windows. And start downloading compatible games).

No, chances are high you’re going to use your computer to code, browse the Internet, and use productivity apps. So then I ask you, why do you need to drop hundreds – if not thousands – of dollars on a brand new machine? These ThinkPad’s are cheap, solid, and do the job. If you’re based in the UK, you should consider getting a refurbished. For just short of £300, you get a machine that can comfortably handle any Linux distribution you could care to throw at it.

Including the perennially popular Ubuntu. More compellingly, it comes with the Libreboot BIOS, which offers more features compared to the standard, stock BIOS.

According to GluGlug. Libreboot offers several advantages over proprietary BIOS/UEFI firmware; faster boot speeds, better security and customization to name a few. You can install GNU/Linux with full disk encryption (including the /boot/ directory), verify GPG signatures on your kernel at boot time, run a full operating system from the flash chip (coming soon!), and more. Failing that, ThinkPads can be found on Amazon and eBay at rock-bottom prices. I’ve found perfectly adequate ThinkPad T61s online for as little as $50. Of course, your milage will vary, and remember you’re buying a second-hand, old computer.

You might need to lower your expectations accordingly. Get A Mac I’ve already made a jibe about While desktop Linux may be a tempting platform, there's one thing stopping a lot of people from making the plunge: PC gaming. Like it or not, Windows is the de facto platform for PC gaming. Now I’m telling you to get a Mac.

It’s almost like I’m trying to provoke the trolls. In 2006, Apple ditched its IBM PowerPC processors for ones made by semiconductor titan Intel. The writing had been on the wall for a long time – PowerPC was dead. They simply couldn’t compete with Intel’s fangled dual-core CPUs, which were simultaneously faster and more power efficient.

PowerPC had to go. For Mac users, this meant significantly more powerful computers. It also came with the enticing proposition of running Windows on Apple’s hardware. Eager to penetrate the business market, Apple released BootCamp, which allowed Mac users to dual-boot their systems, and issued Windows drivers for their hardware. But Linux got no such love.

However, some enterprising hackers were able to shoe-horn Linux onto the new, x86 Macs. At first, the implementations were shaky, and missing a lot of features. But nine years later, they’ve became more refined, and easier to install.