[babybash]

Hi
Ive got a new laptop arriving in a couple of days and im considering running linux on it as it comes with vista ready installed, so many of my friends have vista and they all complain about it!!
Before i go ahead and install linux i need a little help as the laptop is already set up for wireless and i will need to use this function so would i have many probs setting this up?
I was running ubuntu on a partition on my pc alongside windows a couple of years ago. I saw linux had good features and seemed to run quite well but i had very little pc experiance then and i really did struggle so gave it up in the end,
Im not affraid of a challenge when it omes to my pc but i really dont want to destroy a perfectly good laptop i can do the basics like creating partitions and repair damaged hard drives eg the dreded black screen on windows xp whenit just wont load, I can do this without loosing my data and pics ect!
Any help and advice on this subject would be great as i really do want to avoid vista for the time being.

[Advertisements]

I recommend the Ubuntu forums. I had an experience similar to yours. I tried Linux and then just got tired of fighting with it.
I gave it another shot about 4 months ago and have found Ubuntu to be alot friendlier than Fedora or Redhat. The newest release makes wireless configuration much easier and if you get stuck, there are some tutorials in the forums. Now I just use Ubuntu and if I need to run XP, I use Virtual Box by Innotek to run it inside of Ubuntu. Good luck!

http://www.ubuntu.co...unity/webforums

Edited by 98springer, 16 February 2008 - 10:50 PM.

[98springer]

I recommend the Ubuntu forums. I had an experience similar to yours. I tried Linux and then just got tired of fighting with it.
I gave it another shot about 4 months ago and have found Ubuntu to be alot friendlier than Fedora or Redhat. The newest release makes wireless configuration much easier and if you get stuck, there are some tutorials in the forums. Now I just use Ubuntu and if I need to run XP, I use Virtual Box by Innotek to run it inside of Ubuntu. Good luck!

http://www.ubuntu.co...unity/webforums

Edited by 98springer, 16 February 2008 - 10:50 PM.

[fleamailman]

depends at lot on ones level, I think mint linux is the easiest because everything is buddled in instead of having to allow it in later(mp3, streams, codexes, etc), the downside is that it is gnome and not kde but driver recognition seems better with gnome ubuntu than let's say kubuntu kde. either way, running the laptop from the live CD and then connecting the laptop onto the Internet tells one if ones WIFI is recognised, and in the worse case that the WIFI doesn't get recognised, looking up the list of WIFI keys on distro's forum tells you which one to go for, in fact I find often there is no WIFI configuration to do, it just works, and it's a little price to pay compared to the uncertainty of vista, but just avoid the latest version of any distro

Edited by fleamailman, 17 February 2008 - 12:50 AM.

[babybash]

Cool i think ill do a little more lookin into it and then just take the dive lol!!
There doesnt seem to be many people with a bad word to say about linux, one oncern i do have is, with xp and vist you have the problems of malware and all the other rubish that cause probs! Will i need to go hunting for protection against this kinda stuff or am i Correct in thinkin i dont have to worry too much??
Thanks in advance.

[fleamailman]

No malware on linux, it may come or it might exist but I have never seen it, nor do you see a malware removal forum for linux anywhere, simply put yourself in the malware maker's situation asking yourself "...now if I want to make malware, I would like a system that is hidden partly from the end user, a system that doesn't like being reinstalled(activation bla bla), a system that is used by most computer users and a system that is running as admin, and yes please only one system too, in fact I would like it to be just like windows is now..." but I can run linux from a CD on a computer that doesn't even have a harddrive, or I can run linux from a USB pendrive, or I can reinstall the system without fuss, and worst of all for a possible malware maker, there are near 400 distros out there in the linux world, crack one and there are 399 others left to work on, and since it is an open system where is the malware going to hide I wonder

glad you asked, thanks