You're very welcome for the link!

Nearly every linux distro has a 64 bit version. Debian, Suse, Fedora, Gentoo, I think all but slackware, and they do have an unofficial port to 64 bit architectures.

You can get drivers from manufactures sites, but for the most part, you don't need to. The drivers are included in the kernel, and you only need to add drivers for things like video cards (NVidia and ATI) which have closed source drivers. All your network cards, many wireless, all soundcards have drivers built right in.

No, that doesn't in any way mean reinstalling the OS with any update! First off, the kernel and OS are not the same thing, which confuses most recent windows folks. You can update the kernel, and the OS is untouched. You also probably load most of the drivers as mosules, so if an update comes out, the module gets pulled, recompiled, and reinserted. No problem. Also, there is very few updates that come out for the drivers between kernel versions. You won't need to manage your kernel all that much, unless you choose to. Your distro will keep your kernel up to date.

Peace,
JimBass

I've never understood why they do that with KDE apps (starting them with K). It is a little annoying, not to mention some of it just sounds absurd. Ubuntu tends to do the same thing with Xubuntu , but with X. I guess the one good thing about it, is when searching the repositories, its easy to differentiate between what is intended for Xfce and KDE, vs Gnome.

As for 64bit distros, its been very hit and miss for me. Some stuff works, but software availability seems limited. Then you have to jump through hoops to make a 32bit app work on the 64bit OS. IIRC, My biggest problem was Web Browsers and their associated plugins. Everytime I turned around, someone was telling me to do this, or do that, so that the 32bit version of Firefox and Flash would work, etc. This was a while ago, so hopefully its changed, but given some posts I see here on occasion, it doesn't look like its changed enough to make me want to switch from 32bit.

Good luck

IGF

JimBass or IGF can you tell me if Linux OS uses restore points and can you back up the registry. Does it use a registry?? If not, how do you back up the system in case it goes pear shaped and heads for the hills, how do you retrieve things if it does or do you have to use back up software like Acronis.

No restore points, and no registry. There is also no formalized backup software. The most important thing to backup is the entire /etc directory. That is where virtually all of your configs are. You may also want a full backup of your home directory, usually /home/name. If you run a Debain based distro, you can use a command like dpkg --list > installed.programs which will create a file named installed.programs which will have the name of absolutely every package you installed. Then Moving to a new machine, you use that same list to install all those packages.

I like the software called backuppc, you can download it from most software repositories, or install it from source from http://backuppc.sourceforge.net

Peace,
JimBass

Thank your lucky stars there is no registry. Everything is just a text file easily edited w/ a simple text editor.

Speaking of error messages do you get BLUE SCREENS of death with Linux or is it more civilised. I like the look of DreamLinux but is this version just a glossy desktop with no guts or is it a fully functional version. If not I think I will give Xubunto a try. How well are USB devices supported i.e. scanners, printers, flash drives, missile launchers, headphones etc. Does the Linux OS work ok with AGP cards, dual core processors and PCI Express cards. So many questions and so many patient people. I am very grateful to you all.

P.S. I've just found LQ Radio - Great!!

No blue screens, ever. In the very unusual event that your linux kernel goes nuts, you get a kernel panic. In 4 years of linux usage at home and work, I've seen 3 kernel panics. 2 were badly built kernels I did myself (aka learning the hard way), and the other was a hardware failure. It prints a mess of text across the screen, and the machine stops responding. Happens with much much less frequency than it does in windows.

There is no such thing as a glossy linux with no guts. No matter how pretty it looks, the ability to work is what makes linux great, and it isn't even possible to make something that looks pretty but does nothing. That being said, I've never even heard of dream linux, and would advise you to stick to more popular distros, but all linux is the kernel wrapped in tools, and it has to be ok.

Xubuntu is probably a better choice for starters, but depending on your patience and how quickly you learn, anything is possible.

USB is very well supported. Check the hardware compatibility list for detailed info on which printers, scanners, etc work easily, and which to avoid. Flash drives are all fine, headphones also (think about it, did you ever need to install drivers for headphones? If no, than the OS has nothing to do with it). Missle launchers we'll leave up to you to figure out.

AGP yes, of course. Years ago all video cards were AGP, so of course linux can use them. You see many more dual core processors and 64 bit processors in linux than in winworld, as our OS supports them much longer and for free. I laughed when a friend paid $150 for 64 bit xp pro. I've been on 64 bit linux for 2 years for free. I know a ton of win people with 64 bit processors, that don't use the extra memory space, as default windows doesn't support 64 bit computing. I have both PCI X and PCI Ex in my debian desktop. Basically, there is very very very little hardware that isn't supported. It might take a bit longer, but if it exists, linux supports it sooner or later.

Peace,
JimBass

There's no BSOD on Linux. If your hardware is bad or you like testing bleeding edge code you might occasionally get application crashes or even kernel panics (the closest equivalent to a BSOD on Linux). But on the whole if you run on good quality hardware Linux is extremely stable.

Never heard of DreamLinux so I can't help you there.

USB support is quite good, but check your particular device for compatibility. Most flash drives just work. Printers are usually good too, but check out Linux printing and other Web sites and compatibility lists.

As for other hardware, remember Linux is run on devices from handhelds to supercomputers (read top500.org -- a large percentage of the most powerful machines on the planet run Linux). Linux actually supports much, much more hardware than Windows and does it out of the box without fiddling with installing drivers by hand. However, you probably have never heard of most of it and certain manufacturers of consumer devices who expect user to run Windows or Mac don't release Linux drivers. Happily, with the growing acceptance of Linux this is changing, but there are still some problem areas, most often with very new hardware. Please check the HCL here or with your Linux distributor. By in large though most things will work fine (Linux supports every bus on the PC architecture from ISA to PCIe but you'll need to check individual peripherals for compatibility).

JimBass I looked on the distrowatch page and found this link http://www.linuxsoft.cz/en/article.php?id_article=1394 about DreamLinux. The screen shots look really good. I think it's based on xfce, isn't that the same as Xubunto or have I got things a bit muddled.
Thanks for the info btmiller I did wander if the Linux OS would pick up the motherboard setup automatically. I noticed you are a senior member, how come you bother with the newbie section? (and what is slackware for goodness sake)

have a look on the wiki at this page. It gives some excellent cross reference apps from windows to linux:

http://wiki.linuxquestions.org/wiki/...ndows_software

Just saw your last post. I've looked at Dream Linux but for someone just starting out you should use one of the Ubuntu's as they are better supported with a large user base. Personally I would start with Kubuntu rather than Xubuntu but they are both free so try them both. It's been said, and to a point I agree, Ubuntu is more for a power user.

In the end there are many choices out there-which is one of the things that make linux so great. Some people get 'paralyzed' by all of that. Try not to. Just dive in and try one that looks or sounds appealing to you.

Thanks for that xjlittle there is some impressive software there. I didn't expect to see an equivalent to 3DS Max and Maya. I hadn't noticed you popped another message in while I was typing this one. I did give Kubunto a quick try out running from the disc, but to have everything begin with 'K' drives me up the wall!

Heh ... I post in the newbie section for fun and because I enjoy helping people out (when I actually know the answer to something ). Being a senior member just means I have a high post count (i.e. I like to blather a lot).

Slackware is yet another Linux distribution. I find it easier to use than most because it does not get in my way. However, "easy" doesn't mean "GUI point and click wizards" -- just the opposite in fact. Configuration in various much text file oriented. This is daunting for some but once you know how to do it it's extremely efficient. As a newbie, though, I'd say your best sticking with Xubuntu like xjlittle suggests. I have Kubuntu running on my laptop and I really like it -- the setup is very painless (note: all of the Ubuntu distributions are essentially the same, just differeing in which graphical environment they use. Xubuntu uses XFCE -- if you liked the looks of it from the DreamLinux page, I think you'll like Xubuntu, and if not there's plenty of other stuff to choose from).

Xfce is one type of window manager, or desktop enviornment. Dream linux appears to also use Xfce. One version of Xfce does not mean out of the box it is the same as another. As with windows, you can always pick your background picture, and also you theme. The theme is a set of customized icons and fonts, centered along some design.

Simply choosing Xubuntu and expecting it will look exactly like dream out of the box isn't right, as they mave have used different themes, styles, and all of that. From the dream description you sent us, It seems that it uses Xfce 4.4 with OS X interace and thunar window manager. Now if you were to pick those same things in an Xubuntu install, it would look identical, it just doesn't default to looking identical.

It looks like Dream is a derivative of the (x)(k)ubuntu family, which itself is a derivative of debian. That makes Dream sort of a debian grandchild. The reason we are urging you towards xubuntu instead of dream is for the software possibilities. Dream seems centered around multimedia, which is fine, but what happens when you want to install something from outside multimedia, like an email client. Dream may have one email client, but Xubuntu probably has like 15. The more mainline distro gives you more choices than a streamlined one. You may want/need a piece of software that just doesn't exist in Dream's repositoires, but probably does in the Ubuntu family, and certainly does in main line Debian.

Basically, it seems like the time to think and talk about it is over. Just install something and try it out. If you install Xubuntu and don't like it, no problem, it was free! Just download a new distro, and proceed again. You probably won't start out with what you stay with. Moving around is fine and encouraged. See what feels good through use. Its like the difference between talking about the best car for you, and driving the car. You can plan and scheme all you want, but until you're behind the wheel, you just don't know.

Peace,
JimBass

OK JimBass Xubunto it is, here goes. Getting sick of Big Brother Gates software anyway. Buster (MyDog) is standing by to see what happens and if it all goes horribly wrong I'll just take him for a walk and try again.