Hello everyone

I am a long time windows user looking to get away from that devil that is microsoft.

I was wondering if anyone could tell me about their experiances switching from Windows to Linux, and some of their favorite aspects of the OS. (specifically Ubuntu users)

I have an AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+ processor, is Ubuntu compatable with that?




Also, if there is a driver availible for a Linksys Wireless G adapter, and someone could point me in the direction of that, it would be awesome

The short story...
The Ubuntu install CD is also a "LiveCD". Try it out and see how it works.
Since Linux is not Windows it really is best to dual boot rather than switch cold turkey.
Good Luck.

Try booting up the Ubuntu live CD to see how well it works with your hardware. Set your computer's BIOS to boot from the CDROM drive and boot from the live CD. Then open a terminal (applications > accessories > terminal) and run "sudo lspci -v". This will list all the hardware that Ubuntu recognizes. Your wireless adapter should be near the end of the output. You can then search this forum or http://google.com/linux or the ubuntuforums.org for a wireless driver for it. You may get lucky and Ubuntu may get it working out of the box. It all depends on the driver it uses.
To dual boot with Vista first use Vista's partitioning tool to make some space for Ubuntu:
http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/h...windows-vista/
You could go with as little as 10GB if you are short on space. More will give you more space for storing data in your home partition. A default Ubuntu install only uses about 3GB or so, plus a swap partition (512mb to 1GB depending on how much RAM you have). You could always repartition and reinstall Ubuntu later if you decide you really want to switch from Windows.
For some good advice on getting started with Ubuntu:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/
Also lots of tutorials here:
http://www.ubuntugeek.com/

Welcome to LQ!!

As hinted above, you will find that Linux very often has the necessary drivers built-in. This is one of the major advantages over Windows.

The other thing that many people miss as the beginning is the package manager (Adept or Synaptic for Ubuntu). Be sure to get comfortable with it ASAP.

The links below might help also...

well you'have asked for our experiences, here is mine..

do NOT totally get rid of windows. Linux in not Windows, will never be and there will always be something that you can not do using linux. The easiest example i have, i play warcraft3 using hamachi with same friends over internet, the installation of all of them takes max. 20 minutes in windows. i don't if you can do that in linux.

just as 2damncommon has written, do not switch to cold turkey all of sudden, just install ubuntu as second operating system and give yourself time getting used to it.
(who knows maybe you won't like it, evil windows!)

The live CD is a good idea however, it does not allow you to experience the full potential of Linux. Dual booting is also an option but I think there is a better one.

Hard drives these days are dirt cheap. I installed a mobile rack http://www.directron.com/kf72bk.html in my PC and have 80 GB drives for XP, Ubuntu (main install), Ubuntu (to play with so I don't mess up my main install) and another one to try anything else that appeals. I also have a 320 GB drive mounted in the PC which I can use to share data between the various operating systems and for backup. It is as simple as powering down the PC, unlocking and swapping the drive and booting to the desired OS.

Ken

I ordered the Ubuntu CD from the website, but it says its going to take from 4-6 weeks to get my CD, is there a place I can download the LiveCD version?

Wow, thank all of you, this had to be one of the most helpful forums I've ever used.



Downloading now!

Ok, now that I downloaded the ISO file, Windows wont let me run it.

Whats the program I need to run this thing?

You need to burn the .iso file as an iso image. You can't just copy it to a CD. In Windows you can get the free iso burning tools Infrarecorder or Isorecorder. See this page for how to:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Bu...9%7C%28burn%29
Burn the .iso at a very slow speed to reduce the possibility of a bad burn. It is also a good idea to check the md5sums of the file you downloaded. There is a Windows tool for that too:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ho...t=%28md5sum%29
Then set your computer's BIOS to boot from the CDROM drive to boot from the CD. You can try it out without installing anything on the hard drive. You can also install Ubuntu from the live CD.

Welcome to the Dark side!

You will find the transition from vista to ubuntu rather strange and somewhat difficult, but trust me, hang on in there you will seriously see the benefits after a month or so

If you have any specific issues, these places are your best friend..

Here, LQ
the numerous IRC Channels, such as ubuntu, WINE etc
your local Linux User group
Google


Good luck!

Hows does Ubuntu handle new versions?

like when I go from Gutsy Gibbon to the Hering one, is it getting a service pack from microsoft, or do I have to uninstall gibbon and install hering?

Ubuntu puts out new versions every 6 months. Most versions are supported for 18 months. The next one, Ubuntu 8.04 LTS "Hardy Heron" will be a long term support (LTS) version that will be supported for at least 3 years, but you will probably want to upgrade to a newer version well before that.
I always do a fresh install when a new version comes out. It is the best way to avoid problems imo. When you partition Ubuntu you can make a separate /home partition for your personal files, so that partition is unaffected by a reinstall. See this for some partitioning guidlines:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/partitioning
You can also upgrade directly from one version to the next one (eg. 7.10 to 8.04). When the next version becomes available you have the option to directly upgrade to the new version without doing a reinstall:
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Gu...=%28upgrade%29
https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Ha...=%28upgrade%29

Welcome dude !
To quickly describe my OS situation : I use Gutsy for development + "everyday life " and krosoftXP for Cubase (...) and games To my mind, the penguin spirit has other claims than being close to the latest music hardware or game creators ($) But I'm sure you'll be fascinated by the free (and open source) software opulence offered by Linux.
Concerning the Ubuntu new version handling, there are different ways to tackle the question :
1- I think the safest way to update to Hardy is to download the ISO image, burn it and launch it while Gutsy runs (or mount it in a virtual drive)
2- Your favorite Ubuntu update wizard (Synaptic) will ask you if you want to upgrade to Hardy
3- Finally (and not safe solution) change your sources in /etc/apt/sources.list to Hardy ones + apt-get update + apt-get upgrade. You'll have to work a lot after that...
Actually, if you are able to apply a good partition strategy in order not to lose your personal data, I really think that a Gibbon/Gutsy hard replacement (killing OS partition...) is the best way to avoid troubles