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Hi Everyone,
I've finally had it with Redmond and I'm ready to make the jump to Red Hat!
Please let me know if I'm barking up the wrong tree. I am considering a Dell Precision 470. I went to Linux HCL and picked this model. Should I order this machine without an OS or should I install a second HD and set up a dual boot machine? Also with the current version of Red Hat can I run ,err, MS Office for example? Thank you so much for all your help, Arathi

you use wine- the windows emulator to run MS Office

"Should I order this machine without an OS or should I install a second HD and set up a dual boot machine?"

You can set up a dual boot machine on a single drive. You don't need a second drive to install a second OS.

If you aren't going to use any of the operating systems sold with the machine then order one with no OS installed. Why pay for something you don't need?

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Steve Stites

I'll 2nd what Steve said. No OS. All vendor OS's (ie: windows from Dell) have so much vendor crap on there that it can be a real pain. If you load form scratch you'll be in control of what is loaded.
With large hard drives there is no need for a 2nd drive to dual boot.
I've never looked at the RH HCL and survived, but I have had some interesting problems so for a newbie it is good that you checked the HCL. Good job.

Back to the OS. Are you asking if you should have Red Hat preloaded? I didn't know Dell did that ...and I'm curious as to how much more it costs. The main disadvantage would be the Dell vendor crapola that they always add to the machines they build.

Welcome to the dark side. Best of luck with your first Linux OS.

You might want to look into Openoffice (native) rather than MS office. There is also a windows version if you want to test drive Openoffice before you make the jump. It is free as in beer.

You can get a system from Dell with linux preloaded on it but it's ubuntu. If this is not want you want then just get a clean system and install what you want on it.

ubuntu?
 

Hi Duck,
Is Ubuntu a good choice for a newbie? I'm not necessarily stuck on 'Red Hat' but it was suggested to me by our office IT guy. Also do you have any suggestions about hardware or should I stick to the Linux HCL? Thanks, Arathi

Red Hat is more for businesses, Ubuntu is what you would want as a newbie, or a home user

For a simple solution you might like to try dual boot sys. using Mandriva Linux 2008.I have installed it on old Dell also on old IBM,for experimental purposes Windows & Mandriva Chat to each others office programs even (supprise)WAB. The good thing,it is directed at windows users and it looks a lot and performs much like windows. If all goes as expected I will let it Graduate From P111 up to next stage P4 dual boot. So I think you might find your answers in this System Re windows compatibility.

+1 for this

MP3 player
 

I like loading my CD's onto my computer and changing them to MP3's which I place on my MP3 player. (RCA Pearl) How would one do this in Ubuntu? Thanks, Arathi

You can use Sound Juicer to extract the cds in mp3 format