Windows or Linux

Forum 2005-2010 (read only) General Frequently-Asked Questions
1

Hi

I'm just about to get my hands dirty oomlout's Arduino Starter Kit. Does anyone have an opinion about whether its easier/more advisable to use Windows or Linux for the task (specifically Windows 7 and Ubuntu)?

Thanks.

2

Does anyone have an opinion about whether its easier/more advisable to use Windows or Linux for the task (specifically Windows 7 and Ubuntu)?

My advice, and worth every penny you paid for it, is to use the one you like.

There are more issues getting the IDE to compile and link and talk to the Arduino on Linux, primarily due to permissions issues.

There are issues with Win7 installs (primarily 64 bit, IIRC) and getting drivers installed.

Neither set of issues is insurmountable, depending on you level of patience and familiarity with the OS that is causing the problems.

Of course, lots of people on all OSs have installed and used the software with no issues at all.

3

You shouldnt have any problem with the latest ubuntu.
So far following the instructions Ive never had any problems setting the ide up and no problems uploading to the board. No mucking about with ftdi drivers, or downloading and installing the gcc toolchain. Its all available to install directly from the synaptic package manager or follow the apt-get instructions.
Some people have had problems with permissions, but it takes moments to change that if you already have not got the correct permissions.

Gordon

4

windowx XP is pretty much unzip and go, as noted above there are issues with newer versions of windows but anyone that has ever fought a driver should be able to clear that up, there are a billion threads on how to do so

linux is a little bit different of a beast as you need to install dependencies manually for your distro, ubuntu (and other debian variants) is fairly easy, couldnt tell you much bout other systems

otherwise it makes no difference cause once you launch the application its the same

5

Windows is better for starters.

6

From experience, linux is far easier (literally, as mentioned, unzip.. and start it up, no need to install drivers or whatnots).
On all windows boxes I tried to get arduino to work (vista and XP), I had no success.
The vista machine just kept on whining the way we expect it to, XP just didn't appear to take the USB to serial driver, later on it did accept it.. but it just wasn't as simple as unzip and run like it was on ubuntu.

Please do realise I only tried to get it working on 3 systems (ie: one ubuntu 9.10, one windows vista and one windows XP), so it isn't a large test group.

7

I use xp on an old laptop and the arduino IDE application works easily without any significant issues.

8

Personally, I use Linux. Since Linux is opensource, it fits in the opensource spirit of Arduino quite well :slight_smile: Besides, there's really nothing much to setup. It's pretty much just download and unzip...

9

I think you're right Alphazeta. It does seem somehow right to be using the Arduino in Linux. And in any case, I've found that Win7 hasn't found the drivers automatically and doesnt even find them when I point it at the right folder in the Arduino IDE. I did the same in Win XP and the drivers were installed no problem... Not sure what to do.

10

i dunno, I have a spare machine which is under my work table, it just has whatever was on it

for example, I was messing with some pic stuff, so for the longest time it was winxp

then I needed to do some magic on a mac hard drive, now its linux

but now I want to mess with the launch pad some more and its pretty much windows, probally just slap another hard drive in there and dual boot it lol

11

I tried both windows XP and ubuntu.
I has no issue with both.
Concerning Linux you should follow the installation informations on arduino.cc and check you have the sun java runtime

12

I use Linux for this application. I have been using Linux for years so it is just less work for me to use it.

I can see no difference between OS once you get every thing working. If you know Linux use it. If you want to learn Linux use it. If you don't know Linux and don't want to learn it use what you know.

13

The easiest for you to use.

We do not know your skill level with either system so I would recomend to start with the one you know the best and work up from there with a working example and code.

14

I got it working fine on my Ubuntu laptop. I did have to do some additional steps but they were clearly defined on the arduino page so it was no problem.

15

I've found that Win7 hasn't found the drivers automatically and doesnt even find them when I point it at the right folder in the Arduino IDE

I had no significant problems getting everything up and running on Windows 7 32-bit. I hear there are bigger issues with 64-bit though not sure what they are.

In my case, I popped open the Device Manager and found three (if memory serves) unaccounted for USB devices and for each one, told Windows to use the drivers from the downloaded IDE/driver pack. After that everything has worked perfectly.

16

I use a mac mostly, but linux is generally easier to install things on, just use the package manager.

17

I have an Asus 900 EEEPC Celeron processor with XP on the SSD and Linux Mint 9 LXDE on an 8 GB SD. The IDE works fine and is fast for both OS but overall the Linux side is MUCH faster.