I'm very much a linux newbie and looking for any suggestions that well help make the transition a little easier. I know linux isnt windows but id like to make things as familair as im able to. If some more experienced users could say name 1-5 distros they think are good starters and why, that would be greatly appreciated. I've read alot on forums and things but there are still so many distros its hard to know what one to start with.

I tried Ultimate Gamers Edition 2.0 had trouble with windows games installed through WINE crashing. So i installed Ultimate Edition 2.1 i assume this is an updated version but im not sure if its somthing differnt it looks simuler im hoping its more stable.

System Specs:

Sony VAIO Laptop
Intel 2gig dual core
2 gigs ram
160 gig hd
Wireless Network
15 inch screen
Built in webcam
CD-DVD RW

Any suggestions well be greatly appreciated

For me i advise you to begin with easiest to use distribution , so Ubuntu or Mandriva
You can read distributions review in the link below :
http://www.linuxquestions.org/reviews/index.php/cat/2

The usual advice is look here:

http://distrowatch.com/

Try some live cd's,see which disto's work for you.
The two already suggested are probably a good place to start.

Regards.
The trooper.

It seems to be the case that ex-windows users are moe likely to prefer kde than gnome, so I'd advise at least giving kde a try - maybe try a live CD of each, to see which you prefer.

I wouldn't advise kde 4.x just yet, unless you like the bleeding-edge-eye-candy end of things; kde 3.x is still out there and still viable and is a lot more likely to be stable.

The system spec isn't at all shabby, so there is no need to go with a lighter-weight gui (you might stll prefer a lighter-weight one, just there isn't a pressing need, for the sake of the machine resources, to go down that route).

...so choose a distro that gives you at least the GUI that you like, or, failing that, one that allows you to install multiple GUIs (actually, you can 'force' more-or-less any distro to run more or less any GUI, but, as a relative newcomer, just stick to what you can get supported by the supplier, for the moment.)

Note, in case this turns out to be relevant, that Ubuntu is the Gnome-ubuntu and Kubuntu is the kde-ubuntu and that you can (easily!) make one from he other just by adding the gui that you want to add with the package manager. Most distros don't do anything quite that confusing with their naming conventions.

The major distributions tend to have a more vivid community and better overall support, so for generic cases you should choose among: Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, Suse, Slackware. These distro's have been around for quite some time, so they are likely to stay.

If you have some specific field of interest, then it makes more sense to go for a specialized distribution. Someone looking for (just an example) audio editing tools would be better served with niche distros like: 64Studio (http://64studio.com/), Studio to Go! (http://www.ferventsoftware.com/), dyne:bolic (http://www.dynebolic.org/) or Musix (http://www.musix.org.ar/en/index.html). Those looking for video production would prefer ChainSaw Linux http://www.chainsawlinux.com/ ... you can extend the list for a lot of specific topics with some Googling.

Linux Archive

Best thing is to create a multidistro LiveDVD-that way you can have alot of different distro's and don't have to have 10 CD's.
Go to MultiCD.sh
( http://multicd.tuxfamily.org/ )
Get the latest version-4.4
Just right click on the link below and select "save as".
ftp://downloads.tuxfamily.org/multicd/multicd-4.4.sh
now download any of the distro's you want that it works with on the webpage.
Now-just like in the picture at the website-put all the distro's and the multicd-4.4.sh into a folder and execute the multicd.sh-NOTE the webpage just says this Obviously that's not going to work-it's really
This will make the iso image you want including all the distro's you selected from the webpage.
If you want-you can add even more distro's to the DVD that multicd.sh cannot do.
I am writing a tutorial now on how I did that using make_iso.sh.
Simply put-have multicd make the original iso from the distro's you selected at multicd's website.
Now, extract the iso image to a folder-in Ubuntu just right-click on the iso image and select "extract here".
After extracting the iso a folder will appear-this holds all the distro's and their folders.
Go into the folder and look around-noting that there are folders in the "boot" folder that hold the kernels and initrd's for each distro.
To add distro's to the working folder you have to try and loosely imitate the folder layout. For instance-say I wanna add BackTrack3 to my folder-multicd.sh doesn't do BT3-so you will have to download the BT3 iso, extract it and move it's contents to the working folder and arrange it just like or similar to what's already there.
It sounds complicated but it's not really-although it's hard to explain in words-if you want me to post the full tutorial here I will.
Anyway-you must be in Ubuntu or similar linux (Ultimate 2.0/2.1 is 8.10 based so it will do.

Hey linus72,
I have got to say i'm impressed!
I would be interested in reading your tutorial.

Regards.
The trooper.

thank you so much all for the great suggestions all give those a go. and the mutli distros on one cd awesome i well chk that out and see if i can do it. be very nice to have that to try and show others. thanks again everyone i well keep you posted as to how things go.

Actually I posted here about where I could upload the 4.6GB DVD I had made using multicd-4.4.sh and make_iso.sh, I got basically negative responses because who wants to host a 4.6GB file and most poster's thought it was a fruitless idea-but it would save a newbie from having to burn multiple cd's and it would help them learn about how a cd image is put together. My DVD contains these distro's from multicd.sh
1-Ubuntu 8.04 desktop
2-Debian Lenny Netinstall
3-Fedora 10 netinstall
4-OpenSuse Netinstall
5-Mandriva Netinstall
6-DSL
7-Feather
8-Slitaz
9-Wolvix Cub
10-PupFlux412(Puppy)
11-Austrummi
12-GEEXBOX
13-a custom slax build heavy with dev tools and stuff
14-deli linux
15-system rescue cd
16-trinity rescue kit
17-Easeus disc copy
18-ntpassword
19-clonezilla
20-parted magic
This came up to about 2.6GB or something. I wanted to add more to make a complete DVD(4.7GB), but multicd.sh only does so many.
So, I added the slackware 12.2 mini iso netinstall from alien bob, zenwalk 5.2,backtrack3, and slack-mini-server.
The new multicd 4.4 has the slackware 12.2 install because I emailed the author of multicd and showed him everything I had done-though he has not yet added backtrack/zenwalk/or slack-mini-server, maybe he's working on it now.
Anyway-it's kind of a trial and error thing adding different distro's but I am going to try adding some more.
The best way I found to do it is build the iso you want with multicd.sh then as I said extract it and add distro's you want to it, then sew it back into an iso image with make_iso.sh-the run it on Qemu/VMWare to make sure it boots and runs.
tricky part with make_iso.sh is you must put it into the"boot" folder and have an isolinux folder in there too or it won't work.
Not really knowing the terminal commands(i am a newbie too), I used copy/paste, etc to move folders and stuff around-I even use make_iso.sh without the "cd /etc/etc/etc". I just double-click on the make_iso.sh and a box appears that says "run in terminal/display/run", pick run in terminal-the terminal will appear-now you must name your cd/dvd-MAKE SURE THE NAME ENDS WITH ".iso", as in mydvd.iso-because if you just name it mydvd it will make a mydvd.img-which you could install to a usb.
Anyway-make sure you right click on make_iso.sh select properties, select "make executable" before double-clicking it to run in terminal.
If a terminal pops up and disappears quickly then something's wrong-make sure the make_iso.sh is in the "boot" folder and that there is also a isolinux folder in the "boot" folder too. The isolinux folder must contain isolinux.bin, etc.
I'm trying to write the tutorial now-hopefully I can attach some screenshots so it's easier to understand.
In the meantime check out these posts and the screenshots there...
( http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...oad-it-713265/ )
( http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...nstall-709372/ )
Also, you can get make_iso.sh and other tools from alot of different distros-just download GoblinX-2.7-Micro(100MB)
( http://www.goblinx.com.br/en/?page_id=481 ), extract the iso and inside the "goblinx" folder you will find the "make_iso.sh", you will also see a folder called "tools", this contains some other good stuff.

I'm checking out Ubuntu but to make things even more confusing ok we got..

Ubuntu
Kubuntu
Xubuntu
Edubuntu

i know one is suppose to be Gnome and other kde what exactly are the differences here..and if Ubuntu is gnome adn Kubuntu is kde what are the other 2?

Again any help is very much appreciated.

Xubuntu: uses the xfce light weight desktop which uses less memory of you system.
Edubuntu: Its ubuntu enhanced by educational applications.

@ trident5

You can try PClinuxos 2009. PclinuxOS has a feature to administer an IBM thinkpad and a sony vaio laptop. It's found in settings -> System administration.

- Cheers

The differences are really minor-Kubuntu uses KDE which has alot of stuff but is resource and RAM hungry. Ubuntu uses Gnome-which like KDE has alot of good stuff-but also resource/RAM hungry. Xubuntu uses XFCE4-a "light-weight" window manager that uses less RAM and processor power than Gnome/KDE. Edubuntu is more aimed towards children and uses both KDE and Gnome by default.
There are also many Ubuntu variants-
There's Icebuntu 2.3 with the Ice window manager-very good for low-ram computers.
Ubuntu Satanic edition
Ubuntu Christian edition
Ubuntu Muslim edition
Basically you can modify a base ubuntu install into any of these variants.
The programs between all of them are similar.
Here's a pretty good list-
( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of...s#Ubuntu-based )

I personally think the idea is brilliant!
Every Newbie's dream!!

You could have regular (monthly?) releases based on distrowatches top 10, a couple of exotics (eg. Ubuntu Studio) and some promising new distros (mint?)


Did you consider distribution through the bittorrent network?
I, for one, would seed this permanently.


Dutch
(who really is too lazy to burn multiple cd's just to try distro's)

Ha! I'm such a Newbie I can't even setup Torrent-if I knew how it would already be on there. I tried "vsftpd" too, but no success.
If someone can tell me in "english" how to setup Torrent I'll put it on there now.