hey everyone I have a toshiba satellite l505 laptop and I was wondering which distro you guys would recommend. I'm fairly new to linux so I'm not a power user by any means but I was thinking Ubuntu 11.10 or Mint 11, they both seem pretty functional to me. They have smooth transitions. I have mint 11 on my desktop but Win7 on my laptop and would like to switch it over to linux finally. So any suggestions you guys have on which distro I should use or why my choices wouldn't work, would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

If it is a somewhat modern laptop (and I assume that, since it runs Windows 7) any distribution will run on it. So just use a distribution that you like or are already familiar with.
The only problems that may arise are if that laptop has the Nvidia Optimus graphics setup.

it was originally running Vista when I bought it about 4 years ago and only has one vga port. How would I check what graphics set up I have? Also the processor is an Intel Pentium 4, if that makes any difference.

Do you have anymore information on it? there are a few specifications listed for that number ranging from Core 2 to Pentium and that is the first page a of a Google search. If you flip it over there well be stickers underneath it with all the model information and you can the Google that to give us a better idea of what you have.

Apart from that, from what I have just seen, it seems to be a low range but fairly modern laptop. It should run most distros that haven't migrated to Gnome 3 or the latest KDE. So Debian 6 (Squeeze) or Ubuntu 10.04 and 11.04, Mint of the same vintage as the Ubuntu variations are also highly likely to work (if, as Tobi points out, your hardware is up to scratch).

You could try lighter desktop environments such as LXDE or XFCE. Debian has these available and supported for a good length of time.

If your hardware is more modern than it appears to be you could certainly run KDE and Gnome 3. I have run both on my laptop and I've had it 12 months now.

can you explain the different stuff? Like KDE and everything? Also do you think Ubuntu 11.10 would work? I'm a programmer so I want something functional, lightweight( meaning hard disk space), if possible, and something easy to work with.

Gnome and KDE are resource hungry compared to LXDE and XFCE. However Gnome and KDE are full desktops environments where LXDE and XFCE are not but do a pretty good job with the addition of Gnome and/or KDE applications. I like, for ease of use, full desktop environments but I'm not adverse to using lighter ones when I know I can install practically anything on any environment.

Ubuntu is resource hungry compared to Debian (I have seen up to twice as much RAM usage with Ubuntu compared to Debian on the exact same machine, this is one of the reasons I use Debian). Mint (Ubuntu variants use numbers and girls names) can be a resource hog and frustrating with its updating policy, some people like it I don't. Mint (Debian variants are called LMDE or similar) are pretty good but have added Mint applications that are, to me, just bling and another means to confuse new users.

If you want programming there is Anjuta (Gnome) for graphical application development and SciTEand other plain text editors for things like scripts or web pages. I don't really know, because I don't use it much, what is available for KDE.

Ubuntu 11.10 may work. It has Unity (another reason I stopped using Ubuntu) which is a graphical front end, designed by Canonical, to Gnome 3. Some people like it some people don't. Without knowing the specs of your unit it is hard to say.

The thing with Linux is you have options. You can have nearly any desktop environment you want with any application you want. You get to choose what is best for you.

well I'm actually at work right now and don't know the specs of my system I just know the processor type and I'm running win7 32bit. Are there any distros you would suggest? Could Mint 11 work? Is Linux backward compatible? Like if I wanna run a much older version (i.e. Slackware 1.0)

I'd really doubt that you've got a Pentium 4 CPU in a laptop from 2007-2008. The last of the P4 Moblie CPUs came out in 2005.

More likely you have some Pentium dual-core.

You can check that with various windows tools, or lshw (and other stuff) with linux distros.

KDE, Gnome3, XFCE and LXDE are 'desktop enviroments' (DEs).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desktop_environment

Short version- the different DEs will have a diffferent appearance, use different default applications, and have various different RAM, CPU and GPU requirements.

Ubuntu is not lightweight. Normal mint versons (not linux mint debian edition, or LMDE) are based on ubuntu and not light either.

I believe I have already done that.
Yes probably but I wont say definately. I know Ubuntu and the MInt variants based on Ubuntu did have some difficulty for a while with some hardware. Things like Plymouth (a friend of mine on here still cannot get his PC running with Plymouth as part of Ubuntu) and ureadahead are Ubuntu add ons (I think Fedora also has Plymouth) that have been know to cripple some systems.
Um I think you have that the wrong way around. Yes Linux is backward compatible but you cannot get an old version of Linux and expect it to run on modern hardware. What you just proposed if future proofing, not backward compatibility. It's like asking MS-Word 2000 to open a file made in Word 2010 with a .docx extension. It wont happen but Word 2010 can open a file made in Word 2000 with a .doc extension.

So would you suggest a Debian based distro for a laptop? Would Mint 11 be possible? Because like I said I have it on my desktop system and I love it and was hoping to put it on my laptop too. Or maybe Ubuntu 11.10? The lightweight factor isn't a must for my laptop I have a 2TB external hard drive that I can use. I just want something like either Ubuntu 11.10 or Mint 11, because from what I've read they are the best for beginners.

In the name of God.
I have a laptop with same specs you have. I already have Ubuntu on it and it s works not bad. But I dont offer mint, Because I find that so bogus.
Beside that I offer you disros like Centos or Archlinux. They are more comfortable and reliable.
Regards.

thanks and sorry didn't mean to annoy you.

Yes I would suggest a Debian based distro.

I would not suggest an Ubuntu based distro.

Yes Ubuntu and Mint would probably both work but I will not say definitely work because I do not know your hardware specs. I know for a fact that Ubuntu and Mint based on Ubuntu have things like Plymouth and ureadahead and these two things alone can cripple a system. It doesn't happen on many but it does happen.

If you want any more of a recommendation I will suggest you just give them all a go with a LiveCD. If they work fine, if they don't try something else.

You're brave, considering where you are from.
Do you? Do you mind filling us all in on what spec his machine has? We don't even know the full model number.
Mint serves a purpose same as Ubuntu. Mint is actually more reliable than Ubuntu even if it is a horrible pukey green colour.
You offer someone who is "fairly new" and "not a power user", Arch? Sorry but I would advise him against Arch until he can figure out for himself if Ubuntu will even run on it. Centos is rock solid but he may as well use an older version of Fedora for the same experience.

With Ubuntu and other distro you can try them live before installing. So you can try them and see if everything works.