I've never built a computer before but I've always planned on it. What I hope to do is have a triple boot system that will run Windows 7, Ubuntu (or some other flavor of linux) and OS X. I was thinking using three separate hard drives and putting one OS on each one. Is it possible to share data between the operating systems? I am sure there is a way to do it. Could I put them on three separate drives and then have a shared fourth drive for music and movies and whatever?

For those of you who have built your own, which companies do you recommend for the hardware?

That sounds like a blast!
Do people have parties for events such as this?

Newegg is where I buy most of my stuff.

Also, I have ubuntu on a netbook......not a fan at all.

Society wrote: That sounds like a blast!
Do people have parties for events such as this?

I have no idea what you are talking about. Everyday is a party in my household.

wes_mantooth wrote: Newegg is where I buy most of my stuff.

Also, I have ubuntu on a netbook......not a fan at all.

Really? I ran a dual boot of Ubuntu/XP on my old laptop and liked it. I also built a digital picture frame out of an old laptop and am running Ubuntu on it.

And yeah, newegg is sweet.

good place to get computer stuff is www.tigerdirect.com

It is probably just because I am not familiar with it and also, Ubuntu is kind of stripped down on a netbook from what I hear.

newegg is win

wes_mantooth wrote: Newegg is where I buy most of my stuff.

Also, I have ubuntu on a netbook......not a fan at all.

Is it the OS or the netbook that is pissing you off? Ubuntu 9.10 is pretty sweet (but I haven't run the netbook version)

I think if you setup the 4th drive with your data files as a FAT32 file system that you could see it from all the Operating Systems. Have never tried it though. If you set the 4th drive up as NTFS for instance then Linux isn't going to see it unless you find a third party app.

ts1227 wrote:

wes_mantooth wrote: Newegg is where I buy most of my stuff.

Also, I have ubuntu on a netbook......not a fan at all.

Is it the OS or the netbook that is pissing you off? Ubuntu 9.10 is pretty sweet (but I haven't run the netbook version)

Well, I have a Dell Netbook and I have read that the Ubuntu on it is pretty stripped down. Not a fan of netbooks either.....keyboards are too cramped for me.

The computer i'm posting on, I built myself. Get a raptor drive.

I've build many computers. No need to run 4 hard drives unless you want too. I would just you get a nice fast HD like a Raptor and make it for the OS' only. Partition them and put an OS on each partition. Use you other HD's for data.

I use my Raptor for just my OS and I have 4 other HD's that I put my data and all other programs on. And you will be able to share data between HDs, but not programs. Programs will need to be installed for each OS.

Dual booting Ubuntu and Windows is easy. Nothing hard about it, I'm currently running XP, Win 7, and Ubuntu on my desktop. The tricky part will be if you really want to run OS X because then you'll have to mess around with OS X86 to get it to work unless you're talking about using an actual Mac and bootcamp to install the other OS'.

Man, I just realized that I am incredibly good with consumer technology and software yet quite limited when it comes to any real programming/enterprise stuff. Probably because I'm twenty and poor. C'est la vie.

He builds it, they come and then he asks them to help him build a computer.

Most of the stuff on Newegg is good. If you've heard of it, its probably pretty good.

I ran Ubuntu on my XP machine and loved it. You gotta learn a few things and you gotta get Compiz. It's the program that lets you do all the sweet stuff with the desktops. I'll keep the Ubuntu when I install 7 too.

My computer:

Tower: COOLER MASTER Centurion 534 RC-534-KKN2-GP Black Aluminum & Mesh bezel / SECC Chassis ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
MOBO: GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Video Card: 2 x SAPPHIRE 100265L Radeon HD 4830 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card
PS: OCZ GameXStream OCZ700GXSSLI 700W ATX12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 Kentsfield 2.4GHz LGA 775 Quad-Core Processor Model BX80562Q6600
Card Reader: Koutech IO-RCM620 USB 2.0 3.5" Card Reader
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1000 (PC2 8000) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory
HD: Western Digital Caviar Blue WD6400AAKS 640GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive
DVD Drive: 2x LG 22X DVD±R DVD Burner Black SATA Model GH22NS30
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER RR-CCH-LB12-GP 120mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

Those are the Brands I'd recommend. That Card reader is shit so I wouldn't recommend it.

Newegg here too. I used Suse linux.