After YEARS of talking about Linux, I am finally ready to make the switch. I have a laptop that came with Vista pre-installed and with the exception of it's looks, it is a garbage operating system. I have saved all crucial files from the laptop to a cd and I am ready to REMOVE VISTA COMPLETELY (FORMAT) and install Linux. Only problem is - I'm clueless as to how to do this. I have a Ubuntu disk and I also have a SUSE version that a friend burned for me a couple years ago (I think the SUSE version is 10.1 or 10.2). I think I would prefer SUSE but I would like more opinions. Your tips and advice are greatly appreciated but please keep in mind that I know NOTHING about Linux - absolutely NOTHING so please go easy on me with instructions, etc..

Thanks!

Looking to do this over the weekend so let me know!

:-)

1 vote for ubuntu

I would advise against just nuking Vista; once you do that you have burned your bridges and might have cause to regret it.

Instead set up a dual boot with Vista and your choice of Linux (Ubuntu is popular and relatively easy for beginners). This way, if you have problems with the distro, or if you for some particular reason have to use Windows, you can.

Dual booting Vista is very difficult - it was made that way by MS so you wouldn't do it. If you try it then research it first so you don't screw things up and have 2 operating systems that don't work.

I'd nuke Vista and go with Ubuntu 7.10 - don't put anything less that a new distro on a new machine. SuSE 10.1 is good but old and you will be playing catch-up all the while wishing you weren't. I mean, if you're going to do SuSe then get the latest one, after all they are free.

Just my 2 cents worth....

I don't buy that, at all. There really isn't much that M$ can do to affect the booting of the OS, at a point in the startup prior to the booting of the OS.

Grub will chainload Vista just as it does with any other Windows OS.

In fact, this link describes a perfectly standard Linux installation on a Vista machine, resulting in a dual-boot configuration.

I don't know if what CouchMaster said is true, but I am running a dual boot on XP Tablet and Ubuntu 7.04 and it is pretty nice. I kept Windows for the engineering programs I use that I already have for Windows and don't want to pay for all over again, but if you have never used Linux before, it might be advantageous to run a dual boot for a while. It helped me at least, gave me a chance to learn how to use Linux better, while still giving me the option to jump back to Windows if need be... Just a thought.

As far as installing, just put the Ubuntu CD into the comp, go into the BIOS and boot from it. It will start Linux from the CD and there will be an icon on the desktop to install it on the hard drive... I do agree that you should find the newest version of whatever you install, it will make things that much smoother.

You're right to nuke Vista, it's the worst OS since the maiden release of Windows 95.

I would also recommend dual boot, (but with XP if you can find an XP SP2 disk).

Think of it this way, if you bork your Linux install, how are you going to get back here for help on fixing it???

You said that it's a laptop though, so maybe you already have a desktop with Windows running? If that's the case then go the Linux laptop all the way .

Not true; I installed Suse 10.2 dual boot with Vista, it couldn't be simpler. The Grub bootloader sets it all up, nothing needs set or changed.

As a new Linux user myself, I'd recommend keeping Vista for the moment; remember, all you hardware works with vista. You may need to keep going back to it to find out details and drivers for your various hardware; wireless card/graphics etc.

Once you've set linux up and everything works then you could probably reformat the partition that windows is on inside of linux.

I agree with niallmccune, absolutly Not true. I dont just have a dual boot, but multiple boot. I am running the dreaded Vista (don't ask) along with suse 10.1 and fedora 6. And more importantly they all work.

Although if you know nothing about Linux do not go doing an install like this over the weekend. If you've never done it and you jump into the deep end you my find yourself with no operating system. So do your reasearch thoroughly.

hey dude here is a linux that seems similar to Vista....... if u need the look of vista.... have a try on that.......
its LINK:http://vixta.sourceforge.net/
cool..... its name is VIXTA.......

I used to be in the same boat, man. I nuked Vista and installed openSUSE 10.2. I had some problems with my wireless so after a while I upgraded to 10.3 and was very happy. Right now I'm using Ubuntu 7.10 but I think suse is easier for beginners.

That would be my input.

If you want to try to dual boot vista and ubuntu, first shrink down vista's partition to make room for ubuntu.
http://vistarewired.com/2007/02/16/h...windows-vista/
I would suggest half the hard drive for vista and half for ubuntu. If you decide to stick with linux you can always reformat and reinstall ubuntu or put another linux on the vista partition.
Here is a good site to get started with ubuntu:
http://www.psychocats.net/ubuntu/
Ubuntu specific problems can be searched for on the ubuntu forums, or ask a question there if you need to:
http://ubuntuforums.org/
Good luck, and remember, linux is a lot different than windows. It will take you a while to learn how to do things, so don't get discouraged if it seems difficult at first. You will learn.

go with opensuse 10.3 it boots up much faster than 10.2
i am dual booting vista and suse. good thing i did cuz i need vista (IE) for some school sites.
i dont think you want to completely wipe out vista. the learning curve of linux is harsh. so youll be back to vista in no time.
therefore, dual boot

Try & download & burn puppy linux 2.17. It is less than 100 megs. It will run right off the cd, very fast. Then you always have an operating system to use if anything goes wrong.
www.puppylinux.org

Lets get a few facts right.

Vista cost money to buy. It has its own resizer that can be used to shrink its partition to free up hard disk space for the Linux installation. So why destroy something that cost money when its presence does not obstruct other operating systems. Whatever data inside is as good as a backup and availble to be read by other OSes.

Vista isn't hard to boot. It boots just like a Dos, Win9x, Win2k or Xp. I cloned Vista from an internal Sata to an eSata and booted it from an external hard disk. Then I cloned it back into an internal Pata and it still boots with the original activation after I passed it through 4 disks, as reported here. I had installed Grub without being attached to a Linux to boot two Vista, one is a clone of the other, and made Vista to boot Grub too. Therefore I don't think Linux users should be afraid of Vista as far as booting is concerned, as long as Vista is in a hard disk partitioned to the PC standard.

A Vista may have a problem in booting if the user goes with the new hard disk partition scheme of trusted computing so that M$ can check the signature of the software, the hardware and every Word document and spreadsheet so that the computer can refuse to work if any one of them is not licensed with M$. In such a case installing a Linux would not help in a computer where a user has surrendered everything to M$.

If Vista is nuked how can we know Linux is good when there isn't something inferior to compare with?