When buying a new home computer the word barebones may have missed the average buyer. The majority of desktop PC manufacturers supply their PCs with a preinstalled operating system and software for the home user to use. Much of this software is usually a trial version of the software and a much of it in most cases is unwanted or not needed by the user.

This is where a barebones PC differs from off the shelf PCs. A barebones PC has no operating system or software installed when purchased. It is the hardware only. Nothing is installed on the hard disk drive. As a result they are cheaper than their pre-installed counterparts.

Operating Systems Overview

The operating system on installed on a PC usually is a friendly easy to use interface that allows everyday computer users to use and carry out tasks on their PC. The current main stream operating systems that are found on home computers are Microsoft Windows which is currently on version 7 and Apples operating system.

The benefits of a barebones PC are not immediately obvious but the freedom to choose and install your own operating system can be a cheaper alternative to an off the shelf solution.

Say we wanted to purchase network storage for a home network to store our media files such as movies, music and pictures. We could buy a dedicated network storage hard disk or we could purchase a barebones PC with as much hard disk storage as we can afford. Then by installing a version of Linux which is an alternative operating system we can set it up to be a network storage device.

Which operating system

There are plenty of operating systems available to use. Some are free and some must be purchased in order to use them.

Windows

Windows operating systems must be purchased and it is usually cheaper to have this pre installed on your system at purchase as manufacturers get discounts on bulk license purchases. The latest version of Windows, Seven has a number of versions, Windows Seven Starter, Home, Professional and Ultimate. Each version has extra functionality and features so it is important to purchase the version that fits your requirements to the full.

Linux

Linux has been around for years and used to be a complicated operating system to install. Nowadays there are many versions and flavours of Linux and some of them are very easy to set up and get working on a PC. Linux can be a great alternative operating system especially if you are wanting a simple cheap barebones PC. Imagine that you just want a PC to surf the internet, send email and write the odd letter or work out the household finances. You buy a lower specification barebones PC and install Ubunto which is a version of Linux which is growing in popularity. Once installed you will find you have everything you need to start using your PC for the afore mentioned tasks.

As you can see buy a barebones PC can enable you to save some money but also can give you control to create specialist PCs and servers for use around the home.