i just installed slack10.0 on my notebook and it has a 2.6.7 kernel (extra) on the 2nd cd... the stock 2.4 is working well (except for my winmodem and my usb mouse not working with touchpad -- i dont know how to make them work at the same time... )...

my question is, do i need to upgrade to 2.6.x? what are the benefits of doing so?

thanks...

alixx

In short, kernel upgrades are useful for hardware compatibility purposes.

Of course, if you're hardware is older or more obscure, you may find the 2.6 series doesn't have the same hardware support as the 2.4 series.

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do i need to upgrade to 2.6.x?
[/quote

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

The 2.6 kernel is an improvement in many areas over the 2.4 series, and you may find that you get better performance out of your box with a newer kernel. You might not, of course. =)

I'm afraid I couldn't tell you in advance if you'll get better performance, it'd be a try-it-and-see affair with me.

You can always install it anyway, and see if you feel better. If not, take it out.

- Piete.

On new laptops especially those Centrino machines. You really would like to upgrade to 2.6.*

Hardware support and speed (Dell Inspiron 6000) is VERY noticable. Partly because on 2.4* kernel DMA is not enabled because chipset (915) was not fully supported.

Stick with the 2.4 series for another year or so! Actually, no need to use 2.6 if your hardware is compatible under 2.4. the 2.4 kernels are much more versatile.

Should be post here to help you with your touchpad, the winmodem won't do any better under 2.6

i got my touchpad and usbmouse working with the help of search here in linuxquestions.org...

thanks for the replies.... i will stick with 2.4 for the moment... i tried 2.6 for a while and everything went slow... i really dont know the problem... in any case... i like how 2.4 works as of the moment...

thanks again...

I know very little about kernels, but from my experience going from the stock 2.4.29 from 10.1 to 2.6.13 I noticed huge startup improvements.

For a safe trial run of 2.6.x, why not download Knoppix or some other Live CD, and give it a try? Additionally, you can download the new kernel, recompile it, and "dual boot" between 2.4.x and 2.6.x That's actually a useful exercise, and really the only thing you need to do is make sure that you aren't using a symlink in lilo.conf to reference the kernel. In other words, use the actual kernel name in lilo rather than a generic vmlinuz softlink, that makes it easier to handle the "dual boot". Good luck with it -- J.W.