openELEC

[ohara]

Hey guys not sure if this is in the right place. But I am currently building a computer that will be used for watching movies and downloaded tv shows ect. A couple of people have suggested running openelec so I don't have to pay for the windows os 8.1.
My question is
On a Windows computer I can jump on and do a Google search. Watch you tube what ever I want.
Can I do that on openelec os? In the YouTube demo videos it looks purely htpc and haven't seen anyone do a Web search ect... I am a complete noob to anything except windows. Please help

 

[ohara]

Sorry of this thread is in the wrong place.

And also keep in mind my non computer savvy wife uses the computer for the internet ect.... not sure if she wants word or similar on there either

 

[iFargle]

If you're considering OpenELEC, you might want to consider a more feature-rich distribution, like Ubuntu. From there you can install XMBC (the interface OpenELEC uses) as well as your regular software (Libre Office, Chrome, etc)

 

[Jayce]

I used to run openELEC. It is fabulous and runs on barebones hardware. That said, all it is... is XBMC. If you want a more feature full setup, perhaps you can consider doing what I did.

I set up Ubuntu on a HTPC system. I then installed XBMC. I set Ubuntu to auto login and XBMC to auto start. If you hit the back slash above the enter key, it toggles XBMC full screen/non full screen mode. If you use a wireless keyboard, such as the keyboard/touchpad combo with the Logitech K400, it's pretty brilliant. I like being able to just hit backslash, kick open Firefox, F11 it for full screen, and do my thing on YouTube, Google Maps, or whatever it may be.

My HTPC in question is simply a laptop. It has an older mobile i5, 4GB RAM, and a 500 GB hard drive. I store nothting on it, as I have XBMC mount samba (smb) shares for pictures, music, and videos, which streams from my file server in the basement. It's a pretty nice setup.