Just setup a dual boot with XP and Linux...
 

I have a desktop computer that I setup XP and Fedora Core 3 with, and my laptop I setup XP and Suse 9 with.

I was wondering what the main differences/strengths/weaknesses were in comparison between the two distributions (FC and Suse)?

I was also wondering how to obtain my wireless router driver for my laptop (Gateway 6020gz, I know Gateway and Linux don't match :P)? I really want to connect to the internet with my linux so I don't have to become dependent on Windows (it's been really annoying lately). I have Wireless G. Also, for my laptop, there is a timer for the bootloader set to 8 seconds. How would I change the bootload settings graphically (no commands please, unless that's the only way) for my Suse 9 distribution? I want to change the time settings, and possibly change the default selection (it's set to Suse instead of XP). Also, would I be able to use Adobe Photoshop or any other graphical web development/java programming development software on Linux? Or be able to use Winamp, or Microsoft Word (.doc settings) on Linux or is this only available for Windows?

For my Fedora Core, I also need to know how to setup the Internet (I have a driver software on a cd)? More importantly, how do I configure the Bootloader? There are three options that show up, Fedora Core (2.6.9-1.667smp), Fedora Core-up (2.69-1.667), and Other. How would I change the other option so it says Windows XP instead? And what is the difference between the first two options? How do I delete one of the options?

Thanks, any other advice that will facilitate my migration to Linux would be great!!

http://www.linuxcompatible.org/Fedor....0_t33597.html

For your wireless gateway you'll need to find the drivers from somewhere for these (on the internet most probably). I use the ethernet interface through my NIC (fortunately there were drivers for that already in my debian distrubution).

What is the bootloader installed on your laptop? Grub or Lilo?
LILO: For lilo you'll need to open up a file called /etc/lilo.conf for editing. Look for the line called "delay = number" and change the value of number to how many tenths of a second you want it to delay. (If delay is not there create it on a new line).
Grub: Open up the file /boot/grub/menu.lst for editing, and change the number for "timeout = number" (This is done in seconds and not tenths of a second).

A lot of the programs mentioned will have counterparts in linux, e.g Microsoft Office has an almost exact replica called Openoffice.org in linux. Just run a search for the others.

Fedora Core (2.6.9-1.667smp), Fedora Core-up (2.69-1.667. Those are the same operating system using different versins of the linux kernel (or the same kernel in safe mode and normal mode I think). If its safe and normal then your probably better off in keeping them both because if something goes wrong you might need to use the safe mode.

Changing of the menu entry names etc. has to be done in their configuration files.
/etc/lilo.conf and /boot/grub/menu.lst respectively.

Hope this helps.

I'd say you are in a pretty good position to answer this question yourself...What are YOU finding? Which one do you like the best?

If you look at the top distros (as listed on--eg--distrowatch), they will all get the job done. I really comes done to your particular needs and tastes.

I have Ubuntu 6.06 installed as the main system here. In the "play" section I als have Arch, Slackware, and Knoppix. I also use RHEL at work (its the only Linux they support). I have not yet found a reason to abandon Ubuntu as the main system.