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I am just interested in Linux, I have no real knowledge of linux been a windows user. Basicly if I wanted to switch from Windows XP to Linux in one day, is it possible? If so what are some things I should know?
that is a loaded question if i've ever heard one :-)
If all your going to do is surf, do email and basic desktop user stuff and your computer/hardware is not bleeding edge than you should be able too.
However there are many, many variables. What "things" do you use your current win desktop for? What hardware are you running?, and the most important question... are you willing to Re-Learn what you think you know about computers? Because Linux is NOT windows.
Download Mandrake 9.1 (in my opinion anyways) if you want to give it a shot.
*edit* Also if at all possible make a dual boot and "play" around with it to get a feel for it before you decide to switch. There is nothing worse than a win user hard switching to Linux to find it's not for them.
Iam a Web Developer. I program in PHP mainly. I game often and my computer is about 2 years old. A Dell. What is it like? I just want to see it in action and see if its faster? better? cooler? than windows.
Well you can certainly have your own apache webserver running with php support from the off with a distro like Mandrake9.1, though you might want to spend time learning about: The file system of linux, the idea of permissions and user accounts, and how to configure your internet+firewall+apache.
If you install linux in a dual boot style, then you can easily have a working desktop within 2 hours. To do your web development, it might take a while to read and get familiar to the linux way.
Oh also, if you install it don't use ext2 or 3, ReiserFS is a much faster filesystem.
As far as faster than winodws? On boot up not really but in overall operation it might be a little. You see the big thing (for me) in Linux is the control, you have NO control over windows even though you think you might. Once you see how much "power" you have over every aspect of Linux, you'll kick yourself for staying with win for so long.
It depends what you mean. If you boot to the command line instead of X, then it'll boot faster. If you run a light window manager like Fluxbox instead of a fully featured desktop environment like KDE then normal load will be less. If you turn off many checks and services then it'll run faster. If you recompile everything for your exact hardware it'll be faster.
Basically at first it may be a little slower, but once you learn what you can turn off or do without, it'll fly. It's all about being able to configure it for what you need.
Yes and ... yes.
Don't be fooled, Linux can be very frustrating... but very rewarding too. It's nothing like winders to me, I may be in the minority here but I see windows as simply an OS and Linux is Your computer. It's far more personal because you put so much of yourself into it. (at least I do) :-P
If you can, get a second small harddrive for linux (10gigs should be fine). This way you can easily avoid breaking windows, expecially XP because of it's NTFS filesystem which linux can only read from atm.
Research for support for your graphics card and modem, the rest should be automatically configured.
Also having a dual boot system means you could use windows to get online to fix any linux problem you have.
Oh! Oh! This looks like a gem of a link for installing Mandrake 9.1, as it had lots of perty screenshots for each stage which often makes a newbie relaxed and feel familiar with the thing.
If it doesnt say, I suggest picking 'Individual package selection' and spending about 10-15mins reading about and picking each piece of software which you're not sure you need. Also be sure to install the development packages.
good luck...and beleive me...once you go Tux you never go back
(just give Linux I few days before you give up, chances you won't love it immediatly because everything (mostly filesystem and configuration) are quite different)
If you mean 'can I go from being a Windows User to being a Linux user in one day without having to engage my brain?' then the answer is no.
If you mean 'can I install Linux, curse, swear and as a last resort read the manual, while trying to get some kind of basically usable system' the answer is yes.
Be aware that I was a complete Linux newbie a week ago, in 24 hours I had a system that would load a desktop and that I could use e-mail and browse the internet from. Little niceties like printing and sound are still on my list of things to do. They're not particularly simple to configure... It's also worth noting that you MUST back up everything that you value from your current operating system before you begin. I trashed everything on my hard disk when I got cocky and thought I knew what I was doing, I had a backup, but please don't learn the hard way.
It's also worth knowing exactly what hardware you have inside your PC before you begin. For example, knowing that you have a 32MB graphics card is not enough. You need to know the manufacturer, the model and probably the chipset manufacturer as well.
Having said all that, I think it's worth it eventually, but it's been a bit of a jolt to go from knowing my way around my PC really well (house techie) to being a complete know-nothing again.
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