Hark a Linux Guru to point this newbie to his right Linux flavor.
 

I am looking to explore the land of Linux but am unsure of the correct path to take so I come to you Linux Guru in search of an answer!

My system specs are:

AthlonXP 1800+
Kingston 1GB DDR400
Nvidia 5900FX
WD 80GB 7200 8mb cache
MSI KT4AV motherboard

I have WindowsXP installed and wish to keep it as my main OS ... you see I just want to dabble in Linux first.

It would be great if I did not have to partition my hard drive to Install Linux ... but I would not mind it taking up 30-50gb of hard drive space.

So what version of Linux is for me?

http://www.distrowatch.com/ try a live cd first

i agree with the live cd approach for starters. give knoppix a look. if you like it from the live cd version, you have the choice of installing it to your hard drive, or going for another distro if you so choose after having "dabbled."

hope this helps.

After taking a quick look it appears that a live cd is not what I am looking for. I want an install that runs off the hard drive not a cd-rom ... I want something I can just download and install (I do not have a burner)

If you don't want to partition your hard drive, get a live CD. Knoppix, Mepis, PCLinuxOS, and MandrakeMove are all good live CDs. All you have to do is set your BIOS to boot from the CD drive first, insert the CD, and boot up. Everything will run from the CD and your hard drive won't be touched.

If you want to install to the hard drive, I recommend buying a commercial program for re-sizing NTFS partitions. I good choice is Partition Expert from Acronis. All you need to do is create free (unpartitioned) space on the drive. Depending on what version of Linux you try, the Linux installer will partition the free space as needed or as you specify.

I think Mandrake is a good choice for personal/hobbyist beginners. Xandros would be my choice for beginners in an office environment. However, you'll get many differing opinions. Read about your options on Distrowatch.com. My personal favorite is Libranet. I use it at home and work.

If you don't want to burn a CD, go to cheapbytes.com or a similar store and buy a CD for a couple of bucks. For example: http://www.linuxcd.org/view_item.php?id_version=205 offers a whole collection of different live CDs for $16.

So there is no version of Linux that I can just download from a website while in Windows and then double click on it and have it install itself without the need for a partition?

Sorry but I just had to laugh,ha ha

Linux is an operating system
it would be like double-clicking on Windows.exe and having it install...
would that work? no
you'll have to have cd's
i tried an install from a hard-drive.. it doesnt work

Well I remember sometime back in 2000 I downloaded BeOS and it had an .exe file that made a .dat file that was its partition and everything the OS used was installed into that file. When you would click on it windows would shutdown and BeOS would boot up ... I was just wondering if anything like that was possible with Linux.

---edit---

This is what I am talking about:
http://download.com.com/BeOS%205%20P...ml?tag=lst-0-1

"Thanks to new innovative technology from Be, you can download BeOS 5 Personal Edition via a Web browser and store it as a file within Windows. No repartitioning is necessary, and launching BeOS 5 is as simple as double-clicking an icon on your desktop."

The nearest thing I know of is: http://cygwin.com/

I've never used it and I think it only provides console developer tools to run on windows, not a desktop environment. I assume you want a point and click graphical environment. I think your best bet would be to spend the $1.99 for a pre-burned live Linux CD.

I do not want it to run on windows. I want to be able to launch it from windows. Windows would shut down and then Linux would boot up.

the only option you can try then is using VMWARE

thats only if you do not want to burn and do not want to by

then you will have to mount the iso images in windows and install linux with your virtual machine on to another disk

it works
but i have had errors doing this
you will have to partition a second hard drive while your in the virtual machine....


otherwise your shit out a luck and you going to have buy the cds

"Windows 95, Windows 98 or Windows Millennium. Note that Windows NT, Windows 2000, and Windows XP are NOT supported by WinLinux 2003 yet."