Quote:
Originally Posted by dcb
Linux is a good alternative, a lot of real smart and hardworking folks making it better all the time. It is nothing like it used to be. You can detune windows, but first make sure you have plugged a kill-a-watt into your printer and monitor, etc. The effort involved with detuning windows could be lost when MS decides to pull the rug out on you though, and having to get a new registration key when you mess things up is a PITA.
Course there is also the XO laptop, which wouldn't even exist without linux.
One Laptop per Child (OLPC): Laptop Hardware > Specs
It could be kind of trendy to press an XO into service  Myself, I have an old 400mhz laptop I still use everyday (XP). |
You won't need a new regkey - you can find it in the registry.
I dont have much experience with linux either, except I know that you can safely run it on the net w/o a firewall or a/v software, since I do it every day for about the last 5 years now... that's not saying you don't need to scan it, but saying that it's not as vulnerable, mostly b/c people don't pick on linux as much as windows... same with apple.
If you want a MAME, there are barebones linux systems that you can get which actually support using the system for emulation only... also, there are OS's that you can download free which support DVD playback and VG emulation for a complete home theater experience.
It depends on how far you really want to take an old machine. My 700MHZ athlon is a movie-watcher most of the time, before we got the Div-X DVD player w/ the USB hub on it.
Conversely, it's not hard to edit windows to do what you want as well, but troubleshooting it afterward isn't noob-friendly... just a warning.
BTW - Check Distrowatch.com (.org?) for linux distros that will do what you need, if you're interested.