I really hope linux gets a little more attention for gaming and widespread driver support.  I plan on making the jump once Windows 7 comes to the end of it's life.  It is slowly getting better, but there is a long way to go.  
 
I think its better to start out by learning through the command line , rather than a desktop. It certainly isn't necessary, but you will be so much more efficient.  You can learn a little scripting along the way to automate stuff and realize the full potential of linux.
 
In my opinion, CentOS 6 is the most stable and logical version of linux, but that comes at the price of not getting any of the latest releases and waiting a long time for drivers, etc.  I grew up using CentOS, so I tend to install Fedora most often when I need a desktop, but I am slowly beginning to hate it.  They keep taking steps backwards like forcing us to use systemd and DNF.  It also sucks that they don't have LTS versions like Ubuntu.  I would eventually like to give arch linux a try, but I am not looking forward to learning everything from scratch again...

I tried Cinnamon but I couldn't get the video drivers to install. I'm getting tired of being constantly nagged to upgrade to Windows 10. The learning curve is going to be the worst part of it. I must have spent months if not years learning to navigate through Windows 7 and five years later I'm still finding new things. You can mod and alter LINUX to your hearts content and not violate any kind of EULA. LINUX is looking more and more like the ideal choice for an OS.

What a great post.
I was just reading that AMD Crimson is now going to be open source and will support Linux.

Ive had good luck with Ubuntu 15.  ATM, FreeCAD, Gimp"Gimps needs some delv love",SteamAPP (and a few games, Im not much of a gamer), Stani's Python Editor "wish we had a cleaner editor". So, Im not a heavy user by no means, software and games(at least on Steam_app) on Ubuntu feel like things are getting alot more smoother vs a few yrs ago.
 
With this last BS from MS, I can see Linux getting alot more headway. And now Vulcan getting native support for Linux, maybe we'll get some great games. Miss the dayz of great single player games, Loved Black Mesa(HL1 Remake), HL2's, and the ordinal counter strikes.
 
 

Hi all, I have build a new computer so got EVGA 960 SSC 4GB card and manage
to install nvidia driver successfully on PC-BSD 10.3 with nvidia 346.xx driver.

howto install nvidia drivers in PC-BSD 10.3:
1) from pc-bsd appcafe get / download latest nvidia drivers there (Production repo)
 
2) then change Production repo -> to Edge repo and get / download nvidia settings
and nvidia config by nvidia team.
 
note: remember to change back to Production repo.
 
(note steps 3 and 4: need root privaleges to edit and save loader.conf and to
run command grub command ! else any changes wont apply.)

3) edit loader.conf file at -> /boot/loader.conf add line there: nvidia_load="YES" and save file.
 
4) in terminal enter command: grub-mkconfig -o /boot/grub/grub.cfg
(note: the grub command is in loader.conf file its there so you can not miss it.)
 
5) go to pc-bsd -> control panel -> screen -> re-detect on next boot video card and screen.
and reboot system.
 
if all goes as planned on next boot system re-detects correctly your nvidia card succesfully.
 
6. in control panel theres new icon to nvidia settings and config.
 
7) you have succefully installed nvidia driver on pc-bsd !
 

Useful to know. Thanks for posting this, lummet. A quick question for anyone paying attention to this: is it feasible for me to run LINUX in a Virual Machine on this PC currently running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit? How much room will I have to allocate for this type of configuration? I am just basically trying to get an operational version of LINUX so I can do some learning about the ins and outs before I install it as the OS on an upcoming Z77 / 2600k build. Thanks in advance.

Zuhl3156
Useful to know. Thanks for posting this, lummet. A quick question for anyone paying attention to this: is it feasible for me to run LINUX in a Virual Machine on this PC currently running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit? How much room will I have to allocate for this type of configuration? I am just basically trying to get an operational version of LINUX so I can do some learning about the ins and outs before I install it as the OS on an upcoming Z77 / 2600k build. Thanks in advance.

Yes, it's no big deal using VirtualBox. Just be aware that the virtual machine will not be able to fully utilize your hardware properly through the virtual environment which means that its performance will be less and and drivers and hardware access will be different.

I just want and need to learn how to navigate through it for later use as my primary OS. I installed it once on my backup PC by swapping out a blank SSD I had laying around and I was totally lost. I couldn't even get the nVidia drivers to install. This will be a similar process for me that I went through when I bought my first desktop Dell with Vista.

Try mx15 mxlinux.org, its based off debian (jessie stable right now ) and has many different environments, xfce4 is the default but you can get one with kde, gnome, cinnamon etc.... Most steam games run great, you can use wine or play on linux for your other windows games and apps ( well a good portion of them ) nvidia drivers are still a huge pain and there are some great tutorials on installing them but each distro has its quirks. If you really want to try linux then do it in a VM or live version first, ive used just about everyone of them over the years ( i still have nightmares of getting symbolic links to work right for java lol ) and by far a debian based distro is my favorite ones.
Oh check out dont call me lenny on youtube, great video tutorials there

Anyone looking to replace windows might want to give Zorin a try... http://forums.evga.com/Zo...g-system-m2460313.aspx