Aspire 4720 Compatibility
 

I own an aspire 4720 laptop, my current os is windows vista ultimate, i am running vmware workstation in order to study a certain kind of windows os, i heard from a friend that i should try to use linux before erasing my hard drive, but the question is, would it run on my computer, i dont know which is the best linux software i can use. I preferred to use redhat linux because my friend told me that this is a good os to start to. i am not ready ready yet to erase my whole hard drive without full knowledge of what linux is and what it can do to help me. i heard from the systems admin in the company i was working for that i should start learning about linux. because there would come a time that we might use the windows platform and linux. Can any body tell me now, if linux is going to work on my computer and how should i do it using simulation method. is there a free version of redhat linux that i can use. and what are the requirements before i start doing the simulation.

There is a free "version" of Red Hat. It is called Fedora. It is not exactly the same as Red Hat, as the Hat long ago became a pay-for distribution. The Fedora project is, for the most part, a parallel project and is 100% free.

To try it out, you can download and burn a "LiveCD" image. Boot from it and try it out without even touching your hard drive. If you like it, you can play with it for a while, get some comfort, and then, if you choose, reformat and install Linux with confidence.

I would encourage you to try out several distributions with their Live CDs/DVDs before you decide which you like best and install it.

The Fedora LiveCD is available here:
https://fedoraproject.org/wiki/FedoraLiveCD

Currently I run CentOS Linux 5.3 (http://www.centos.org) on my Acer Aspire 4720z,
all hardware works fine with exception of the Webcam (Crystal Eye ?) and
the Wifi for which you may need to compile your own kernel to support
these devices.

Best regards,

Thanks for response! I have gone to the url address that was posted on the board and i am currently downloading Fedora 11 installable live cd 11.